Contested Border Crossings in Shifting Political Landscapes: Anti-Invasion Discourses and Human Trafficking Representations in US Film and Politics

• Main Authors: Lara Lengel, Victoria A. Newsom
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Prof. Dr. Vittoria Borsò, Prof. Dr. Frank Leinen, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Yasmin Temelli, Prof. Dr. Guido Rings 2020-07-01
• Series: iMex. México Interdisciplinario/Interdisciplinary Mexico
• Subjects: anti-immigration rhetoric of donald trump; filmic representations of mexico; sex trafficking; rambo; racism
• Online Access: https://www.imex-revista.com/en/xviii-contested-border-crossings/

Drawing upon hypermasculine, gun-wielding characteristics associated with the political right and its military industrial complex, this study critiques cinematic representations of the criminal enemy Other in changing political landscapes. Focusing in particular on the filmic representation of Mexicans in recently released US blockbuster film, Rambo: Last Blood (2019), we critique how the current political climate marked by alt-right, ethno-nationalist constructs in the era of Trump has given rise to anti-immigration discourses that reinforce racialised fears and the belief that nationalists are the rightful heirs to white privilege. Through original literary work on the five-film Rambo franchise, we trace the characterisation of John Rambo from Vietnam veteran anti-hero, via Reagan-era champion, to Trump-era anti-hero killing the Other as he invades the US southern border. This most-recent Rambo film evokes the frontier mythology and a fear of the foreign Other encroaching upon the homeland. We critique anti-Mexican and anti-immigration discourses of both Trump and Last Blood, and Rambo’s role necessitating empowering heteronormative masculinity and the American male prominence of the saviour figure. We illustrate topoi underlying these constructs and critique political and cultural influences and audience reception reflecting shifting