Monsters & Christian Myth Across Borders

From Dusk Till Dawn utilizes three major genres: the Western genre, which takes place in the American southwest and in Mexico, the crime/heist genre, and the traditional horror/monster genre. While the movie definitely feels a little bit all over the place, I feel that these genres each need one another to convey the message of the movie: a message about good versus evil using Mexico as its landscape. From Dusk Till Dawn begins with the sheriff of what appears to be a small, rural town in the American southwest discussing two escaped prisoners: two brothers named Seth and Richie Gecko. The movie’s introduction implies a fairly straightforward “cops and robbers” heist-type plotline, with a Western twist. The movie continues with Seth and Richie holding a family hostage, trying to use them to enter Mexico. The family includes a father—a preacher questioning his faith following the death of his wife— and his two children, a teenage girl and a younger boy. The inclusion of a preacher doubting his religion in the movie is what begins the constant underlying comparisons between good and evil: here is a character who would typically be seen as the epitome of all things morally “good” in our cultural diegesis— a man who has devoted his life to Christianity. However, he is leaning away from his morality, and this leads him theoretically open to be taken advantage of by the Gecko brothers: images of broken and nonexistent morality. The preacher (Jacob’s) daughter, Kate, becomes a central figure in the movie. Richie Gecko becomes fixated on Kate. Earlier we saw confirmation that Richie raped and murdered a woman that he and Seth were holding hostage, against Seth’s wishes. This scene sets Richie up as the completely morally bankrupt and evil brother, lacking all control of his violent impulses. Richie’s sexual obsession with Kate, an underage and presumably very “pure” girl—she is the daughter of a preacher and is intentionally portrayed in the beginning of the movie as a timid, innocent, girl-next-door archetype—confirms Richie’s place in the film as the epitome of evil: a lawless criminal hoping to rape an innocent, Christian girl. Seth remains a bit more innocuous: he seems disgusted by some of Richie’s actions, and yet, he continues to hold this innocent family hostage. Seth and Richie are reminiscent of “evil” in the typical Western zeitgeist: robbers, murderers, or rapists, who stand in firm opposition to Christianity. The entry to Mexico is what really allows all three genres in this film to be tied together. Mexico is depicted as a scary, lawless, almost hellish place, even in comparison to the lawless Western U.S. of the Gecko brothers. This depiction is unfortunately not uncommon in Western media, but the portrayal of the “Titty Twister” the bar/brothel that the Gecko brothers drag the family to, kicks this depiction into such high gear that it becomes fairly clear it is satire. The building housing the Titty Twister is quite literally surrounded by flames and pornographic images. A man stands outside the door yelling what are supposed to be advertisements for the establishment. He yells about “splitting pussy in half” and the pussies of various animals. This depiction of their first stop in Mexico as a violent, over dramatic, and sexually deviant place is the first indication that something about Mexico (or maybe this establishment specifically) is inherently wrong. While at this point in the movie we are still solidly in the Western/heist genre, this moment begins to present a type of evil that may go beyond the Gecko brothers, beyond even Richie. Of course, the prostitutes in the Titty Twister end up being vampires. Actress Salma Hayek dances seductively with a giant snake wrapped around her neck, before turning into an ugly beast and killing almost everyone. This plot twist is so absurd I found it hilarious the first time, but eventually it becomes clear that Rodriguez is trying to make a point about the alienation of Mexico as a hellscape. Salma Hayek’s character is described as “evil” but is clearly meant to be attractive. Here the audience is presented with a presumably Mexican woman who is very sexually attractive, yet has no moral depth. This is the point in the movie when the Western genre and the horror genre come together to make a point about the way we as a society view good and evil: Richie, as a typical criminal in a Western movie, is supposedly the epitome of evil in the beginning. However, once the characters make it to Mexico, and encounter a biblical, inhuman evil, the typical Western heist criminal no longer seems all that bad. My primary thought for this blog post was about how the genres work together to either challenge or reinforce our cultural perception of morality as it relates to Mexico, the U.S., and the presence of Christianity in both these countries. However, it would be almost irresponsible to not mention two important aspects of the ending of the film. The first is that the sole survivors are Kate and Seth. Kate seems to proposition Seth, saying, “you need some company?” Seth replies, “I’m a bastard, but I’m not a fucking bastard,” and leaves Kate to drive herself “home” (wherever that is now.) This indicates that Seth maintains a shred of morality: unlike his late brother Richie, he will not have sex with a teenager. Kate’s “innocence” remains intact, and this begs the obvious question: did Kate survive because of her moral purity? Is there something about Kate, in all her Christian virginity, that deserved survival more than everyone else? I don’t necessarily have the answer to that, but I think the fact that Kate is the only family member that survives only to be turned down by a criminal is significant in terms of discussing perceptions of morality. Finally, the movie ends with a zoomed out shot of the Titty Twister. The building itself is built on the ruins of an Aztec temple, and the metaphorical “bodies” of trucks whose drivers were presumably killed at the Titty Twister sit in a mass-truck-grave behind the temple. This final shot is overflowing with irony, and yet its message is unclear. Are we supposed to get from this that the characters (and the audience) were so wrapped up in their hedonistic view of Mexico that they missed the obvious? Is this supposed to be some sort of karmic retribution for the imperialist presence of Americans in Mexico? It’s never really explained, but either way, the inclusion of a place of ancient Aztec worship at the end of this film that has been so focused on Christianity as a metric for morality is definitely important. The fact that the demonic and vampire-infested “Titty Twister” is located on top of an ancient Aztec temple really ties together the film’s use of Western, heist, and horror elements to form a commentary on Mexploitation.

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