“It’s a goddamn shame Mexicans even have to copy the parade of the Day of the Dead from a stupid James Bond movie,” a young Mexican man living in China told me. “Mexicans can’t be original. We’re copy cats even of our own traditions.”
He was talking about last year’s “Specter” directed by Hoyte Van Hoytem who made the most of the Day of the Dead celebrations by coming up with the opening scene of his otherwise tacky thriller.
The alleged parade of the dead in “Specter” was not part of the tradition until last Sunday, when 250,000 Mexican walking dead paraded and attended the march down Mexico City streets in a performance organized by Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera, Tourism Secretary Enrique de la Madrid and Mexico City Tourism Secretary Miguel Torruco.
One difference that stands out between the movie and the real life event is that it looked better live than on film, even if the film gave city authorities the opportunity to cash in politically and make the most of a day in which Mexicans deride life itself.
I pointed out to the young Mexican calling his fellow citizens “copy cats of their own traditions” that film director Van Hoytema was the copycat, because in several parts of the country there are small parades commemorating the dead and for the past five years in his hometown a group of enthusiasts have been staging a yearly parade in San Miguel de Allende. This too is a new thing, but it set precedent for the film.
As for the celebration itself, it is always held at the cemeteries where the dead lay buried, and not on the streets.
Yet the sheer size and richness of last Sunday’s parade was astounding in creativity with the participation of 200,000 performers and marching volunteers, 40 traditional folkloric dance groups, three giant puppets or “mojigangas,” 30 marionettes, three “alebrijes” (fantasy monsters) as well as floats and musical groups.
It was grandiose!
Adding excitement to celebration, the city also hosted the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix in which the Rodríguez Brothers Racing Course was packed by the rich and powerful.
Even though this was not an issue, the Halloween festivities, which have also become almost “traditional” in Mexico, were wiped out by the sheer size of the Living Dead Parade. And though there were children on the street walking around with a pumpkin-like basket asking for their traditional “calaverita” (little skull) or coin from the adults, this time Halloween marketers in Mexico surely lost money.
The Day of the Dead is an ancient Aztec tradition that the Spaniards converted to Catholicism and is linked to Halloween in the sense that it marked the end of harvesting crops and the beginning of winter. But in the case of Mexico, the power of the ancient tradition may have been buried under another religion, yet it prevails in the psyche of an entire population through the sugar skulls. Even the Spaniards could not erase this ancestral memory and love for those who lie underground with their arms crossed and their mouths shut.
Should we be ashamed because the Day of the Dead parade carried out last Sunday was inspired by an action film?
The answer is no, because in “Specter” Hoyte Van Hoytema gave his action film the feeling of death threatening the imaginary hero James Bond.
Bringing it to life the way it was done by the Mexican authorities was indeed a feat that, given its humongous success, will be repeated next year along with the Formula 1 car race.
As for the idea stemming from the “Specter” film, one must remember that Swiss born director Van Hoytema gave Mexicans an idea they hadn’t thought of before.
Copy cats? Maybe, but that’s the result of living in a global community and making the most out of it.
Encore!