It's time for Spain to have its own 'Hispawood'

In fact, war cinema was born in 1897 with the film tearing the Spanish flag, an apology of US participation in the Cuba War in its role as saviors.Of course, without counting what Cubans think.

The use of visual propaganda to influence the collective imaginary is not new.It appears with the use of the printing press, through the flying leaf and the pamphlet, but also of the book illustrations (such as the malevolent of the Belgian Theodor of Bry in the work of Bartolomé de las Casas), to extend certain Hispanophobic clichés.

The fishing of souls (1614), by Adriaen Pietrsz Van de Venne.

Then painting and art would come.It is enough to pass today through the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam and observe the Adriaen Pietersz's picture Vanne the fishing of souls, from 1614. A river separates Protestants and Catholics with boats that try to fish souls: the first ones under a blue sky and leafy trees,neat, serene, virtuous, with the Bible and the commandments.The latter, under a storm and scarce and leave trees, appear fat, with a vicious face, vain, looking for gold and honors.

In each era, the Anglo -Saxon world has made use of the means available to insist machaconally in the same dichotomy.But the target was not only the Spanish, but the Spanish in general (and the Catholic in particular).There is nothing more to see how Pancho Villa is presented or how the presence of independent Mexico already in the center of the United States is deleted or misrepresented.

The famous jeans show Wasp heroes in front of some evil Indians accompanied by some Mexican, normally poor, drunk or sleeping the nap.And yet, in the original Fort Apache version, John Ford classic of 1948, the interview between the representatives of the United States and Cochise, head of the Apache Nation, could only take place in Spanish with an interpreterMexican, since that language was (still in the nineteenth century) the one used by most of the Indians of the current southwest of the United States.

Actually, although the number of armed conflicts between nations is limited and has an end, the propaganda war is permanent and knows does not know physical limits.It is fought in our mind and that of our neighbors, children and potential customers or visitors.The black legend constituted the first case of planned and autonomous cultural war (it was not necessary to dominate the terrain as in the time of the Roman Empire), but it has not certainly been the only one.

French historian Stonor Saunders (the CIA and the Cultural Cold War) showed that, in full cold war, the CIA, with the collaboration of British secret services, not only published and translated known authors who followed the line preferred by states by statesUnited to deal with the communist cultural offer, but sponsored abstract art to counteract art with social content.The same or similar did the KGB.

In the current globalized world, all nations (except one?) Compete in prestige as a prelude to a good marketing for their products and companies.Hollywood is only the tip of the iceberg.

For the Empires of History Channel, propaganda channel belonging to Hearst Communications, the Spanish empire did not exist.The spectator attends an accumulation of British successes, including the looting of pirate Morgan, without trace of Francis Drake in San Juan de Ulúa, Coruña, Panama or Caribbean (in this case with the slavery John Hawkins) or theLosses of Walter Raleigh, Vernon's in Cartagena de Indias or Nelson's in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

This strategy exceeds the historical dimension to flood fiction.If we ask our students who have been their referents, they can hardly cite any Spanish character, except perhaps that of Red Eagle.On the contrary, an endless cast of superheroes will mention without much difficulty, including Captain America.They do know Robin Hood, King Arturo, Sherlock Holmes or James Bond's last film, all false characters, but who have been formed our worldview of the world, good and evil, and heroism.

❗️The a lot of remom click the search end, curiosity kicks in and must of the tweets under "Felix p-" Belong ... https://t.co/kg6dqghmno

— Stays' Reminder Wed Jun 23 23:41:57 +0000 2021

That is, our psyche.

While others use all the means available to enlarge their history (denigrating that of others if necessary, and hiding their mistakes and horrors), in the Hispanic world we not only have very few films about our historical exploits, but when we put ourselvesTo this, paradoxically, we usually use them to throw stones against our roof.

It is enough to compare the approach of films such as Gold (2017) or the TV series La Peste with the variety of films and series on British monarchs and rulers (Henry VIII, Isabel I, Victoria, Jorge VI, Churchill, Isabel II, the famous The Famous TheCrown).All of them with budgets of more than 50 million euros.

Or see how to transform a defeat into a moral victory playing invented heroism (Dunkerque, 2017 and Anglo -American production, with a budget of 100 million dollars) while an real feat honest by the Filipinos themselves is overshadowed (1898. thelast of the Philippines, of 2016, with six million euros of budget).

And yet, maybe something is changing.But in the (few) cases in which we start promoting our epic in a very meritorious way (hostile zone, 2017, or the series on Isabel la Católica and Carlos I) we cannot get rid of complexes or compare approach,Budget and promotion.

The documentary The first globalization, for example, has had to be financed largely with private micromecenazgo and has not even been nominated for the Goya.A special case is the series La Fortuna, where for the first time a Spanish director dares to portray an Anglo -Saxon as the bad of the film that also appears as a pirate (modern).Of course he has not had to invent anything.

They are green sprouts, no doubt, but still show any forest.Hollywood means holly forest, although it is enough to remove an L to mean sacred forest (nothing is casual), when it has more diabolical.And we already know that evil overcome because the good (or naive) do nothing.

In front of Evilwood, for now we prefer to stay in Sillywood [Silly translates as stupid, silly or ridiculous in Spanish].There are also Bollywood in India and even Nollywood in Nigeria.When a Hispawood that is directed to 500 million Spanish speakers?When will films like Castelnuovo, Bazán: the invincible sailor, María Pita: the woman who defeated English or Lezo: the mutilated warrior?

They are neither expected.

*** Alberto Gil Ibáñez is a writer and essayist.His last book is the cultural war.Internal enemies of Spain and the West.

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