Narco Cultura Documentary Analysis

Glorifying War and Death
With all the media available these days, everyone is familiar with the drug war in México, the damage it has caused, and the thousands of innocent people left dead in its wake. Every day hundreds of innocent people are killed because of this war, and media is misrepresenting the moral idea or it. What most people do not know however, is the culture surrounding the narco-trafficking war. Singers and songwriters are making “art,” that glorifies this horrible war, their songs are based in detailed descriptions of decapitations, executions, nights out, a consistent obsession with alcoholic drinks and name brand clothing. It sad to realize that this has become the culture of modern México. This trendy music genre called
It shows a way of life where is normal for people to idolize death, and the luxury life of the drug lords, while others see it as simply accepting the miserable reality of this new culture. The documentary alternates between the criminal investigations of Ricardo Soto, a member of SEMEFO (Forensic Medical Service) of the city Ciudad Juarez, and the rise in the world of narco-corrido of the artist Edgar Quintero. This documentary is very clear with both stands, and it lets the viewer take their own stand on the
He shows that working in the industry of producing narco-corridos is indeed a lifestyle and a culture. Quintero is gaining fame and power through his music, which is filled with violent content, taken from the real life drug war going on in México. “If there was not so much violence in Mexico, we wouldn’t have such badass corridos,” he says in the documentary. This singer looks up to many powerful and influential drug lords, he writes songs about their luxurious lives and their particular techniques of executing people. When the lyrics of his songs are listened carefully it is unbelievable that people actually like the content. These songs are just cruel narrations of killing. Deborah Hastings, a journalist from New York Daily News, wrote an Article called, “Narcocorridos,” in which she translates a verse of one of Quintero’s songs called “Sanguinarios del M1,” (The Bloodthirsty from M1) and the lyrics say, “"With an AK-47 and a bazooka behind my head/ Mess with my path and I'll chop your head off/ I’m insane and I enjoy to kill my enemies.” This is the music that Mexico’s young generations