Film Analysis: La Mission

The year 2015 has constituted several monumental changes in regards to marriage equality in the U.S. After many years of debate and consideration, the United States Supreme Court finally decided to put an end to the discriminative legislature preventing homosexuals from being legally married. The film La Mission captures some of the harassment and intolerance homosexuals have to cope with from disapproving family members. La Mission conveys the story of a Latino, ex-convict named Che Rivera who finds out his son is in a relationship with another male. Che, played by actor Benjamin Pratt, is as “old school” as they come and is highly respected in the community. Because of his traditional values and ideas on certain topics, it is nearly impossible …show more content…
There was no part of Che that accepted or sympathized for his son, Jesse, who could not change the way he felt about other men. From the instant the audience witnessed Che discovering the pictures giving Jesse’s secret away, it was known that all hell was going to break loose. Che’s homophobic tendencies even went as far as using physical force towards Jessie. At this point in the movie, I felt angry at how cruel Che was being towards Jessie and I could not help but think that many people still feel that way towards homosexuality. I was shocked that Che could cut someone so important to him out of his life just because he did not agree with their partner choice. Watching the fight between Che and Jessie, made me realize how difficult and painful it is for homosexual individuals to announce their secret in fear that their loved ones will react the same way as …show more content…
The director of the film made it known in the beginning of the film that Che was highly respected in the community. Che walked with confidence and always made sure to look clean, wearing ironed clothes and a slick hairdo. Neighborhood gangsters even backed down to Che and stayed away from him knowing Che’s history of being an OG. In my mind, the main reason why Che could not accept his son’s homosexuality was because Che thought it would look bad on himself having a gay son. I felt that Che wanted to hide the fact the Jesse was gay from the community in fear that it would affect his reputation and manhood. I saw this happen during the movie when Che was on his way out of the house to play a pick-up basketball game and insisted that Jesse not tag along that time. It is not until the end of the movie when Jesse moves to attend UCLA, that Che realizes that his son was more important than himself and that it was crucial that he still be a part of his son’s life. Due to the old-fashioned value of displaying masculinity, Che was unable to put aside his own fears in order to provide his son with