Valentina

I was very bothered by the traditional gender roles presented. When I say "too much sex" it isn't actually sexual acts that are presented, but the way the girl characters fixate and view their worth based on their acceptance of the male characters. The boys did the heavy lifting of the logs to build the bonfire. The girls sat around and sewed a dummy. The dummy was also frightening. I missed the part about the folktale and why a dummy would be suspended above the bonfire, but as an African-American seeing a human-like figure hung and tied over a fire was too close to the very real images of lynching in US history. It was bothersome. Then there's the fact that the main character's problem centers around getting the attention of a boy. During school scenes the kids pass notes, and school is presented as a place to be bored. The teacher is out of touch, and just shouts idle threats. At the end of the story, the main character, Valentina, doesn't even solve the problem in the crisis scene. Two male characters step in and become the heroes of the storyline in the most unrealistic way. Also the storyline is predictable, and isn't really resolved. I know this movie is from another country/culture, but I prefer for my kids not to absorb patriarchal attitudes - no matter where they come from.