Case Study: Gael García Bernal
discussing his star text in
relation to questions of racial
and national identity.
OUTLINE
 Biography
 Mexico’s national star?
 Promotion of the national
 Gael as a transnational star?
 Can Gael be considered as a global star?
 National identity… Mexican or Latin American?
 Challenging his ethnicity
 Expressions of sexuality
 Gael the humanitarian
 Conclusion
BIOGRAPHY
•
Born 30 Nov 1978 in Guadalajara, Mexico to two young actors.
•
Bernal began acting at age of 9.
•
At 11 years old he participated in the telenovela, Teresa, alongside
Salma Hayek.
•
First major role was in the telenovela ‘El abuelo y yo’ with Diego Luna.
•
Enrolled at Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City.
•
However, due to constant strikes he dropped out and explored his other
options, taking a trip to London.
•
He applied to Central School of Speech and Drama, London- First ever
Latin American to be accepted to Central.
NATIONAL STAR?
PROMOTION OF THE NATION
TRANSNATIONAL STAR?
GLOBAL STARDOM?
Letters to Juliet (2010)
2012 Gillette Advert
A Little Bit of Heaven (2011)
MEXICAN
VS.
LATIN AMERICAN IDENTITY
Gael and his wife
Vidas Privadas (2001)
RACIAL/ETHNIC IDENTITY
Babel (2006)
También la Lluvia (2010)
RACIAL/ETHNIC IDENTITY
The King (2005)
MASCULINITY & SEXUALITY
MASCULINITY & SEXUALITY
Y Tu mamá también (2001)
La Mala Educación (2004)
GAEL THE HUMANITARIAN
Oxfam: Make Trade Fair Campaign
KEEP AN EYE OUT….
FILMS REFERENCED
 Amores perros, (2000)
 Vidas Privadas (2001)
 Y tu mamá también(2001)
 El crimen del padre amaro (2002)
 Diarios de Motocicleta (2004)
 Mala educación (2004)
 The King (2005)
 Babel (2006)
 Rudo y Cursi (2008)
 Letters to Juliet (2010)
 También la lluvia, (2010)
 Little bit of heaven (2011)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allatson, P. 2007. Key terms in Latino/a cultural and literary studies. Oxford:Blackwell.
Chant, S. & N. Craske. 2003. Gender in Latin America. London: Latin America Bureau.
de la Mora, S. 2006. Cinemachismo: Masculinities and Sexuality in Mexican Film. Texas: University of Texas Press.
Dennison, S. ‘National, Transnational and Post-national: Issues in Contemporary Film-making in the Hispanic World’
Finnegan, N. 2007. “So What’s Mexico Really Like?”: Framing the Local, Negotiating the Global in Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu
Mamá También. In: D. shaw, ed. Contemporary Latin American Cinema: Breaking into the Global Market. Plymouth:
Rowman & Littlefield, pp.29-50.
Hayward, S. 2006. Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts. Oxon: Routledge.
Lewis, V. 2009. When “macho” bodies fail: spectacles of corporeality and the limits of the homosocial/sexual in Mexican cinema.
In: S. FOUZ-HERNANDEZ, ed. Mysterious Skin: male bodies in contemporary cinema. London: I.B. Tauris, pp.177-193.
Perriam, C. 2003. Stars and Masculinities in Spanish Cinema: From Banderas to Bardem. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Shaw, D. 2007. Contemporary Latin American Cinema: Breaking into the Global Market. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield.
Soutar, J. 2008. Gael García Bernal and the Latin American New Wave. London: Portico.
Video clips:
 2012 Gillette Advert YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHMDj7bUj6A
Scene from La Mala Educación http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ATj_v7Nro
Presented by:
Suzie Alway, Fiona Chan, M. Alexia Gaggero
& Jeran Richardson