Narco Cinema, Narco Soap Operas and Narco Literature

Narco Cinema, Narco Soap Operas and Narco Literature

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Narco Cinema, Narco Soap Operas and Narco Literature
By Julian Fernando Trujillo Amaya
This probe is based on the supposition that the drug trafficking phenomenon is accompanied by
fundamental changes in our social conception and a broad range of communicative interactions susceptible
to description through the ethnography of communication as applied to narrative discourse and speech
situations serving as the stage or context of a narration (Hymes, 1972; Bordieu, 1988b). The “semiotic
market” created by narco literature allows for the circulation and positioning of a cultural and symbolic
capital which determines the actions and disposition to act within a large majority of the Colombian and
Latin American populations.
Systems of disposition or "habitus" exist in society (Bordieu, 1988) which determines social classes and
class access. According to Bordieu, habitus is composed of "systems of durable, transposable disposition,
structured structure predisposed to function as structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate
and organize practices and representations..." (Bordieu, 1988). For this reason, a subject’s social class can
be defined by their practices of consumption. The communalities in habits and actions within a social class
generate styles and practices. It can also be claimed that regular behaviors extending beyond a specific
time period and related to ethical and aesthetic conceptions and life are seen in both dominant and
emergent-marginal social classes (Bordieu, 1995). Drug traffickers officially belong to a marginal social
group which attempts to utilize its economic position to rise socially. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of
social composition are much more sophisticated and do not accept the entrance of new members solely
because they have the economic capacity. Each social class is distinguished from others by its
consumption of cultural products and the creation of lifestyles (Bordieu, 1991).
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Hence, describing the social practices characterized by the narco lifestyle represents a method of
objectifying its world conception, and its ethical and aesthetic values. These social practices are described
in luxurious detail in narco literature, which represents an excellent channel to deepen the understanding of
the cultural and symbolic capital generated by drug trafficking. As indicated by Oscar Collazo, drug
trafficking “turns into a literary narrative when it has been introduced into the social conception, when its
effects on social reality are shown as catastrophic, when it has won ground in the collective conscience and
corrupts even broader sectors of society” (2007: 133).
If narco cinema, narco soap operas and narco literature are reflections of what society conceives to be
worthy of admiration and what individuals are willing to do to obtain admiration and recognition, then
analyzing the meaning of drug trafficking, its effects on the means of representation and the creation of
models and examples, constitutes a question of even greater importance. “Soap operas are present in all
sectors of society and they are not as was previously assumed, during the 1970´s, when drug trafficking
was still incipient, a subject of “rebels”, but since then a horrible silence that has established itself, in the
collective of millions of viewers who night after night turn on their television sets to suffer, cry or laugh, with
the narco stories” (Semana Magazine, Oct., 2009).
The Soap operas contribute, in a decisive way, to the construction of the audience's identity and not the
other way around. People immediately identify the language games and signs (indices, symbols, icons)
from narco culture, and the conclusions that they take away from these signs generate individual and
collective identities. Hence the conclusion – as Monsivais said: “We weren't like this until our image was
distorted, and then were like this because we had to live up to the image portrayed of us. The narco in the
movies has hotrod cars, lives part time in Florida, shows off diamond rings, revolvers with gold and silver
handles and snake skin boots. Why wouldn’t the armchair narcos appropriate this image?" (Monsivais,
2004: 35).
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Regarding cinematic analysis, there is abundant material on La Virgin de los Sicarios directed by Barber
Schroeder and Rosario Tijeras directed by Emilio Maillé. However, a more in-depth analysis is still lacking
of Sin Tetas no hay Paraíso by Gustavo Bolivar (2008); El Arriero (2008) directed by Guillermo Calle; Perro
Come Perro (2007) directed by Carlos Moreno; Apocalipsur (2007) directed by David Mejía; El Colombian
Dream (2006) directed by Felipe Aljure; Soñar No Cuesta Nada (2006) directed by Rodrigo Triana; El Trato
(2006) directed by Francisco Norden; María llena eres de gracia (2004) directed by Joshua Marston; El
Rey (2004) directed by José Antonio Dorado Zúñiga; and Sumas y Restas (2004) directed by Victor
Gaviria.
The drug trafficking phenomenon
Due to the impact on the world economy and the social and political effects, the drug trafficking
phenomenon has been consolidated as an industry with a global reach (Ovalle, 2010). In effect, according
to the 2005 report from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, the production, trafficking and
consumption of illicit drugs currently constitutes one of the world’s main problems. The world market for
cocaine amounts to 71 trillion dollars. Colombia is the largest producer with approximately 50% of the
market, followed by Peru with 32% and Bolivia with 15% of the market. Since 1997 Colombia is the largest
producer of coca leaf and according to reports Colombia not only grows 70% of the coca leaf but also
processes 90% of the cocaine (Thoumi, 1997). It is paradoxical that Colombia began to occupy the first
position in the production and processing of cocaine precisely after the concept of extradition was
reestablished and the main drug cartels were dismantled. The paradox lies in the fact that Colombia
occupies this position after receiving Plan Colombia funds and the largest amount of foreign aid for fight
against drugs for six years. This reveals both the failure of international policy in the war against drugs and
the transnational character of illicit drugs production, trafficking and consumption. Drug trafficking is no
longer a local business run by organized crime in one Latin American country. It has become an economic,
political and social actor on the continental and world-wide scene (Duncan, 2005).
The recent history of the drug trafficking phenomenon, as well as the political and social reaches of drug
trafficking have not yet been written (De la O, 2012;Thoumi, 1997). Nevertheless, “lo narco” is not a single
economic phenomenon that can be boiled down to the drug business or the trafficking and consumption of
drugs. “Lo narco” is also understood as a way of life, the word games and social praxis connected to drug
trafficking activities (Rincon, 2009; Blair, 1999).
It is evident that drug trafficking has become not only a mechanism for social ascent and projection, but that
it has also reached the point of generating its own symbolic forms. A world conception based on drug
trafficking and hence the transformation of identities and a means of representing individuals and
communities has been introduced into society. This is a dimension of the narco phenomenon that can only
be sufficiently understood by looking at its cultural manifestations. Its study is a challenge for the social
sciences (Ovalle, 2010: 78; Fischer y López de Abiada, 2009).
Drug trafficking not only facilitated the access of the most disadvantaged social classes to a lifestyle
previously only known by the elite class, but at the same time created a new lifestyle for a wide population
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of marginalized persons (Cervantes, 2005). Society has been modified and transformed on all levels by
drug trafficking. Its ethical principles, aesthetic criteria, moral and beauty codes influenced politics, the
church, the government, public institutions, sports, the mass media, etc. It is undeniable that there is a
"narco" lifestyle and a cultural structure that is a product of drug trafficking. Different cultural products
ranging from music, dance, film and literature, to architecture, fashion and the arts, to soap operas, popular
culture, cuisine and crafts, express or manifest the drug trafficking culture, its modes of representation,
value systems and maxims of conduct.
The Culture of Drug Trafficking and Colombian Soap Opera
The drug trafficking cultural phenomenon has managed to transform literature, cinema and soap operas
into a transnational industry that contributes to the creation of a “narco aesthetic" and “narco ethics” with
effects and a scope that are still to be understood. The boom of cultural products inspired by drug
trafficking brings various questions to the forefront. Does a drug trafficking culture exist? Or on the contrary,
as indicated by Carlos Monsivais, have narcos been invented by film actors? “The cinematic industry has
an enormous role in the creation of understanding what the narco is, which, among other things, shapes
the idea that they themselves are the direct causes of the cinematic subgenre” (Monsivais, 2004).
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One of the most popular cultural products is the soap opera and they have the greatest reach among Latin
America’s most disadvantaged groups. Since the creation of the first soap operas in the 60´s, television has
facilitated the collective construction of social conflicts. The Latin American soap opera based on, radio
dramas, booklets, popular literature and melodramas, focused on the primary subjects of love triangles,
social ascent, class conflicts and the clash between traditionalism and modernism (Benavides, 2008). The
narco soap opera has similar characteristics to the traditional soap opera, but leave behind the melodrama
and sentimental emphasis, to focus on the construction of characters that are presented as examples,
models or illustrations of real life and therefore become symbols of ethical and aesthetic values (Monsivais,
2004, 2009; Cfr García Canclini, 1989, 1995).
Unlike the traditional soap opera which resorts to fiction as the central element of its narrative, the narco
soap opera is based on characters and stories from real life. Social ascent, projection and recognition are
not only a scenario for compensatory fantasy but a real possibility for the viewer, who enjoys the realism
that the narco novel proposes with its credibility and moral indifference. The mythology surrounding drug
trafficking, its legends and avatars are put into play as a reference point for the collective identity and a
possible life model.
Thus, it is significant that Colombian soap operas have been flooded with a drug trafficking subject matter
(Rivera, 2010; Henao, 2010). They tell the story of the lives of drug traffickers, the hired assassins
connected to drug trafficking, the most important cartels and their struggles, the successes and failures of
drug traffickers, the widows of drug traffickers, etc. The books that have the highest sales records, which in
many instances serve as a guide for soap operas, are precisely those that deal with the life and work of the
capos , hired assassins, prostitutes, politicians and all of the people who surround drug trafficking and its
way of life. “The soap opera has prompted the recognition of identities in multiple segments of viewers,
simultaneously constructing, reproducing, and recreating class, gender, race and age stereotypes, even
ancestral stereotypes, and petrified and perpetuated cultural characteristics and undesirable
characteristics, such as machismo” (Benavides, 2008: 14).
The success of the narco soap opera in Colombia and Mexico should have us ask ourselves, why these
societies, stigmatized by drug trafficking and victims of its violent and criminal activity, are so fascinated by
the life of narcos and seduced by the lifestyle that narco culture promotes? It is worth analyzing the fact that
each day millions of people follow the life stories of drug traffickers and that its vicissitudes place drug
trafficking on the frontline, creating a mass cultural phenomenon that goes beyond the realm of literature
and enters into the cinematic and television arenas with such a surprising success (Cervantes, 2005;
Benavides, 2008; Henao, 2010).
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The Narco Literature
There is not only narco politics, which is the political activity and institutions permeated by drug trafficking,
but also narco literature that has extended into cinema and television. Many literary works about drug
trafficking have become film or television successes: La reina del sur by Arturo Pérez Reverte, Rosario
Tijeras by Jorge Franco, La Virgen de los Sicarios by Fernando Vallejo, Sin Tetas no hay Paraíso by
Gustavo Bolívar, and Las Fantásticas and El Cartel de los Sapos by Andrés López. In fact, the list of
literary creations permeated by drug trafficking is already long and many are books where the central
theme is the reality of drug trafficking. When looking at the relationship between novels and drug trafficking,
many different novel categories can be included, the testimonial novel (eg. Sangre Ajena by Arturo Alape),
the political novel (eg. El eskimal y la mariposa by Nahum Mont), the personal novel (eg. Happy Brithday
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Capo by Jose Libardo Porras), the queer novel (eg. La Virgin of the Sicarios by Fernando Vallejo), the
social novel (eg. Delirio de Laura Restrepo), among other identifiable categories.
Often the studies of literature with drug trafficking as a central theme have mainly been focused on the
evaluation and analysis of the different forms of violence associated with the drug trafficking phenomenon
based on the texts that they come from (White, 2008; Collazos, 2007; Contreras, 2007; Jácome, 2006;
Jaramillo, 2006; Polit, 2006; Restrepo, 2005; Van der Walde, 2001). In many studies the literary analysis
seems to be a pretext to pass value judgments on the phenomenon of drug trafficking or to evaluate the
socio-political impact of the phenomenon. These studies have not lacked those who attempt to find
historical facts within literary creations to understand the origin of the illegal drug industry. This literary
analysis and research on drug trafficking from a perspective of violence, as the broader phenomenon and
context where drug trafficking has the greatest impact, have focused on the "hit man novel" (the hired
assassin, their social condition, personal history, ethics and values) or in the search for historical elements
present in literature to understand the most representative figures in drug trafficking. In this vein, several
works are found on Pablo Escobar, his origins, life and death (Blanco, 2008;) Altafaj, 2008; Jácome, 2006;
Polit, 2006; Vargas Llosa, 1999; Vitoria, 2002; Van der Walde, 2001, 2000).
The fact that literary works address an issue in a recurrent manner does not mean that there is a specific
genre; this is why some people doubt the existence of a literary genre that we can call "narco literature".
Nevertheless, it is evident that there has been an increase in literary creations that are not only focused on
the subject of drug trafficking but additionally over the last several years there has been a swell in drug
trafficking in literature where the drug traffickers have become writers or have made their voices heard in
stories and confessions that are published in book format.
In the first instance we can find that literary figures take on the subject of drug trafficking. This can be called
literature “about drug trafficking”, created by writers who have learned about the drug trafficking
phenomenon through indirect knowledge and not as drug traffickers or participants of criminal businesses.
Additionally, the narrative voices are those of intellectuals, academics and writers. Examples of works that
belong to this category are Delirio (2004) by Laura Restrepo, where one of the narrative voices is a
professor of literature who discovers a network of relationships linked to the Medellín Cartel and Pablo
Escobar. Another example is the classic novel La Virgen of the Sicarios (1994) by Fernando Vallejo, where
the protagonist is a university literature professor who after receiving his PhD begins to launder money from
drug trafficking. In Cartas Cruzadas (1995) by Darío Jaramillo Agudelo, the narrative revolves around the
influence of drug trafficking on society, reaching its most dramatic moment when the societal deterioration
reaches the academic world and it becomes preferable to be a drug trafficker instead of a professor.
Finally, we have El Cronista y el Espejo (2008) by Oscar Osorio, where a university literature professor
ends up connected to drug trafficking and he turns into the mastermind and chronicler of a crime. All of this
literature about drug trafficking constitutes an intellectual foundation which recreates the collective thinking
and constructs its own representation on the drug trafficking phenomenon (Jácome, 2006; Jaramillo, 2006;
Giraldo, 2000; Collazos, 2007).
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However, in the second instance we can also find authentic drug trafficking literature, written by drug
traffickers who have participated directly in the processing and trafficking of illegal drugs, or by persons
who were directly connected to the participants in drug trafficking and have firsthand experience. The book
Amando a Pablo, odiando a Escobar (2007) by Virginia Vallejo, is a testimony where the diva describes her
relationship with the Medellín Cartel capo and the connections he had with Colombia's political class. Other
works that belong to this same category are, El Otro Pablo (2010) by Alba Marina Escobar, Pablo
Escobar's sister. She offers an intimate picture of the drug trafficker and his life. Along the same lines are
others books, such as El hijo del Ajedrecista Iand II (2007, 2008) by Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón, son
of the extradited Cali Cartel capo Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, where he narrates and denounce all the
intimate details of the famous mafia capo.
What is the meaning of El Cartel de los Sapos as a Cultural Symbol?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGmctl7MQps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTGubog4ZPQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRt6_KFPTQ
In the midst of this outpouring of literature produced by people directly related to drug trafficking, El Cartel
de los Sapos (2008) by Andrés López López is a case particularly worthy of attention. It is the confession of
a drug trafficker and the novel is a testimony without precedents, as it is a literary work about drug
trafficking that was written by a drug trafficker while he served his prison term for drug trafficking. It is not
only highly autobiographical writing but is also a credible example of what we can unquestionably call “drug
trafficking literature”. In other words, drug trafficking literature exists, through which drug trafficking creates
a literary space within society and it objectifies itself as a cultural phenomenon. Through El Cartel de los
Sapos and, later, his second book (2010) co-authored with Juan Camilo Ferrand, Andrés López the drug
trafficker is transformed into a writer whose literary work is a singular testimony of the drug trafficking
culture.
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Unlike La Virgen de los Sicarios, which focuses on the figure of a hired assassin, but is narrated from the
perspective of an intellectual with the resources and literary mastery of a writer like Fernando Vallejo, or
Noticia de un Secuestro by Gabriel García Márquez, which tells the story of the kidnapping of several
journalists at the hands people facing extradition, or in contrast to Happy Birthday Capo by Jose Libardo
Porras, where a literary fiction explores the subjective world of Pablo Escobar shortly before his death, or El
Eskimal y la Mariposa where Nahum Montt explores a historical narrative, El Cartel de los Sapos reclaims
the testimonial character thus giving the drug trafficker the protagonist´s voice. The literary style cannot
fulfill the standards of high level literature, but it manages to create a narrative that captures the imagination
of the average reader and common citizen, pulling them into the world of drug trafficking, its values and
intimate details. It is a cultural product which condenses a clear conception of drug trafficking, its value
system and life conception.
Through the critic analysis of the different versions of El Cartel de los Sapos (literary, film and television),
the plot graphs from these texts and in contrast with the interpretations that sociology and cultural studies
have been developing regarding the phenomenon of drug trafficking, and the different critiques which have
been made regarding El Cartel de los Sapos, We can see and describe the codes and ethical and aesthetic
value systems that characterize narco culture. In other words, I tend to believe that those cultural symbols
explicitly show to Latin American Audience the ethical and aesthetic implications derived from the current
conception of drug trafficking, therefore the question is what is the meaning of drug trafficking in El Cartel
de Los Sapos and what are its ethical and aesthetic implications?
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