Occidental College’s Black Student Alliance (BSA) screened the film “Bravada Magenta” by director Aldo Villegas, whose stage name is Bocafloja, on Feb. 19. “Bravada Magenta” explores ideas about racialized masculinity and cultural norms and critically examines the intersectionality of colonialism and patriarchy.
“[The film] is visual poetry with the intention of using the body itself as a form of discourse,” Bocafloja said.
Anastasia Cusack-Mercedez (junior), BSA treasurer and external affairs officer, organized and ran the events during the week of Feb. 18 for Black History Month at Occidental, which included the “Bravada Magenta” screening and Apollo Night.
Bocafloja went to Cuba, Mexico and the U.S., for the interviews he used as narration in his documentary. Cusack-Mercedez said she thought it was interesting how the issues related to masculinity and colonialism he discussed in the documentary existed in all three communities.
Cusack-Mercedez said Bocafloja has come to campus before and she has spotted him off campus as well. According to Cusack-Mercedez, Bocafloja messaged her when he first started working on this film last semester and finished the documentary three weeks before he came to campus. She pitched the idea a few weeks before the screening to BSA e-board and it was well-received.
“The film is really relevant to Black History Month and it was perfect that he messaged me right around the time we were planning the events,” Cusack-Mercedez said.
The film, according to attendee Ilya Hora (sophomore), was accessible due to the film’s combination of narrators who spoke both English and Spanish. Because there were subtitles for everything including English, the film didn’t assume anything, Hora said.
“I thought that was really powerful,” Hora said. “Even though you couldn’t see their faces talking, I thought it was an interesting take on telling the story. I had no expectations because I had never seen a film like that,” Hora said.
Bocafloja talked about the relationship between race, politics and gender politics to the group during the screening. As voiced in the documentary, patriarchy in minority communities is enforced as a consequence of white oppression and domination.
“The final sequence is trying to undo masculinity … and trying to communicate how we, in a way, constructed this idea of masculinity,” Bocafloja said in a Q&A session that followed the screening.
During the Q&A session, several audience members commented that they liked the portrayal of men in the documentary — the film often showed them, but symbolically silenced them. Another audience member asked about how they should bring up these issues with people they are close with.
Bocafloja responded by acknowledging it is a difficult conversation, but in these communities of color, it is important to convey that if you have experienced racial oppression, you can show how it manifests itself in other contexts.
“[You can tell them] you can understand this form of oppression,” Bocafloja said.
According to Hora, the film and Q&A session reflected the voices and concerns of Occidental. Cusack-Mercedez said she appreciated the Q&Asession because it showed people at Occidental and in the audience connected well to the film.
“The film did a really good job of talking about issues that extend to different communities,” Cusack-Mercedez said.
When asked about how Bocafloja was able to convince people to open up about issues related to toxic masculinity, he said he relied on men who were open to sharing. He had an extended network of friends who helped create the film.
“It is important that we express solidarity [concerning toxic masculinity] even though we know there’s violence in order to deal with the patriarchy,” Bocafloja said.
Bocafloja reiterated during the Q&A session the importance of this film’s distinction as a performative documentary.
“It’s a performative documentary — and it takes a step away from the journalistic documentary [we] expect,” Bocafloja said.
