Documentary Project: Cartel Land; Guided Refection Questions

  1. Was there a specific scene that got to you? Describe and explain how it moved you (Angry? Curious? Delighted? Motivated?). Give a lot of detail, and really dive in to how it affected you. Don’t hold back.

    -A specific scene that got to me was that there was a man lying dead in the street. There was blood everywhere and people were just standing around. This made me very upset, seeing that people could be so ruthless. There were a few concerned/sad people but it seemed as if people did not care. Seeing that type of scene made my mind roll, seeing that didn't sit right in my heart. It felt like the people who killed and stood around this mans body had no respect for him. I don't care about who did what no one should be treated in such a way. I felt kind of sick seeing how people could have no regard for another persons life. They had no problem shooting that man killing him, did they even think about who could have been waiting for him to return home. No one should have the power to take someone's life without being threatened with their life. I just can't there was so much unnecessary violence. This documentary really opened my eyes to the amount of chaos going on in Mexico.  

2. What surprised you? Why do you think it caught you off guard?

    -What I was very surprised by was how insensitive and unapologetic the cartel crews were, and how eventually the vigilantes went dark. What also shocked me was that not everyone is not who they say they are. Towards the end of the movie the leader of the vigilante group was kicked out. I learned that he was cheating on his wife and that he didn't live by what he preached. Hearing and seeing this information made me think did he really care about the people or did he just want power. Watching this made me realize that no matter what there will always be bad people in the world. 

3. What questions remain after the viewing? What feelings stayed with you after the film? Did they “pop up” in your life in unexpected ways? When? How? What was that like?

    -The only feeling that I had after watching this movie was sadness. I have always been a sensitive person and I saw how the cartels did not care who they came after. I didn't like the fact that the cartel crews, even the vigilantes went after innocent people. I feel like people want to help to make the world a better place but should not put themselves and their families in dangerous situations to do so. Think about it if people didn't want drugs there wouldn't be any cartels, however that isn't the case. 

4. Why might we avoid including research in our summaries? What could go wrong?

    -We might not include research in our summaries because it gives information that is not necessarily included in the documentary. Including research in a summary can possibly create a bias about the subject.