Gregory Nava’s film “El Norte” depicts the immigrant’s hardship family of Enrique and Rosa, who escape their home country in Guatemala because of the violence they are facing and look for something better in the United States. This migration expedition not only exhibits their physical motion but also plunges into the in-depth transformations they experience upon their entry into the pulsating network of Los Angeles. Georg Simmel’s article, “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” serves as a theoretical framework underlying the lives of Enrique and Rosa, primarily emphasizing their psychological state and the quest for individual identity of urban life within the metropolis. By synthesizing “El Norte” and Simmel’s points of view, this paper will demonstrate how the metropolis makes individuals, social relations, and the individual pursuit of freedom depend on and be affected by economic and societal forces.
The Journey to the City
Enrique and Rosa’s journey from the Guatemalan rural scenery to the urban hustle and bustle of Los Angeles presents the lure of the metropolis as a symbol of freedom and individuality according to what Simmel describes as typical of the metropolitan allure. They embark on that route in a quest for full-fledged freedom from the oppressive conditions of their homelands and a good doom for them, as put by Simmel, a move to an urban centre that offers more freedom. The psychological transition which starts when their move is made, from a life controlled by familiar patterns to one that has the stamp of “the swift and uninterrupted change of outer and inner stimuli” makes relevant the extent to which urban life affects the mental and emotional states of individuals (Simmel para. 2). It is the beginning of a period of more profound experiences as well as new challenges that are faced while navigating the complex.
The Metropolitan Individual
While in Los Angeles, Enrique and Rosa underwent a process called metropolitan individualism, formulated by Simmel, who uses intellect rather than feelings to navigate the City. The City of Metropolis is a place that asks its inhabitants for a perpetual adaptation and a very strategic interaction, the theme of which is powerfully depicted through the way the siblings have to find work, shelter, and new friends. The conflict between the protagonists in keeping their identity in the face of the City’s pressuring forces, which is Simon’s idea that the metropolis acts as a potent psychological factor that forces one to express autonomy and specialness, is an indication of this.
A Monetarized Economy and Social Relationships
The money economy is a unique feature of “El Norte”, which shapes their way of life, sibling relationships and survival in the City. This always comes up when Simmel elaborates on the economic exchanges that are the fundamentals of social relations in the cities, which finally turn personal contacts into financial transactions. According to Simmel (para. 3.), the impersonal nature of their struggle for economic survival in Los Angeles illustrates Simmel’s observation that in the metropolis, relationships and individuality are often reduced to “the question: “How much?” This questioning of the meaningfulness of non-monetary values with monetary evaluations is a symptom of the dehumanizing side of urban life, where financial transactions frequently replace personal connections.
The Blasé Attitude and Personal Freedom
Simmel’s blase response to the City’s sensory overload is a defence mechanism evident in Enrique and Rosa’s changing attitudes towards the environment. It is revealed as processing, which means escaping from the perpetual stimuli of urban living, eventually leading to a disregard or indifference to the outside world that protects the individual’s core. Simmel’s notion of personal freedom in the metropolis, manifested by being released from the restricting and challenging tasks of being an individual, applies to what the siblings endured during their childhood. Their journey illustrates the dual nature of urban freedom: it gives people a chance to run away and discover new things, and yet, it also, at times, puts their identity and connection at risk.
In conclusion, scrutinizing “El Norte” using Georg Simmel’s “The Metropolis and Mental Life” framework helps understand the deep psychological and social issues of urban life that make life difficult for those who are beginning a new one. Conversely, the movie complements Simmel’s theoretical ideas by portraying the duality of the metropolis as a place of freedom and anonymity. Whether we read about Enrique and Rosa in his travels or their stay, the value of Simmel’s analysis of urban life and individuality is manifested, and the discussion about identity, home and the psychological effects of urban space on human beings is thus brought up.
Work Cited
Simmel, Georg. “Georg Simmel – The Metropolis of Mental Life | PDF | Mind | Reason.” The Sociology of Georg Simmel, Free Press, file:///C:/Users/Admin/Downloads/Simmel_Metropolis_Mental_Life.pdf65faa222d1ffa13586.pdf. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.
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