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Brief Summary
"Gimme the Power" is a documentary about the Latin Grammy Award-Winning Mexican rock band Molotov. Filmed in Mexico City, Mexico, this “rockumentary” illustrates the band’s trajectory by providing a satirical account of Mexico’s political history which serves as a backdrop for the film and evidently describes how social and political events taking place in Mexico directly came to influence the band’s music across the years. It begins with a brief description of the Porfiriato era, which, according to the film, constituted the beginning of a never ending tradition of “dictatorial” presidents in Mexico, and transitions into its description of the rise of Rock music in Mexico and its crucial role in "La Onda" ( a countercultural movement that struck Mexico during the 1960’s). The latter half of the film focuses on the band completely, featuring several of the band’s most popular songs and commentary from Molotov’s band members.

Production
The film was written and directed by Olallo Rubio. It was released in theatres on June 1 of 2012 (in Mexico) and released on DVD on May 14 of 2013. It has a running time of 101 minutes.The film features commentaries from a number of Mexican journalists and artists including Sergio Arau, Alex Lora, and the band members themselves.

Colonialism and Díaz
The film opens with a brief description of Mexico’s richness, its culture, and considered as one of the best places in America. Yet the history of México and its people are marked as “exploited, deprived, submitted, and terrorized”. Starting from the colonial period, Mexico has paid a high price for defending their right to freedom of expression; much involvement began with the church’s involvement that contested with abuse and fear to the indigenous. They were successful in modifying the Mexican culture and aside from this a more serious problem arose with Mexico’s victimization of multiple dictators, after Profirio, who only disguised themselves as worshippers of freedom of expression. Olallo uses Molotov to illustrate his own point of view of Mexico’s history, of what is kept a secret and the many injustices that its people have endured by the Mexican government. Mexico’s culture was written by the colonizers, as of now the state makes all the necessary changes to modify what is being transmitted across nations through the media on the events that take place in Mexico. A recurring problem has been the state’s natural view of rich living; yet millions live in poverty in Mexico. By the end of the 19th century, Porfirio Diaz imposed a dictatorship by his winning the presidential post through the use of illegal elections and repression on those who ran against him. Porfirio became an icon and great example for the following Mexican dictators: (List all of them)

Rock and Roll- a counterrevolutionary movement
The film presents Rock music as a “manifestation of liberty,” one that defied all traditional aspects of Mexican culture in the face of oppression, specifically under the “authoritarian” rule of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, president of Mexico during the 1960’s who became infamous for his rather coercive political agenda that ultimately led to the massacre of hundreds of student protesters in La Plaza de las Tres Culturas de Tlalteloco in October of 1968. The film attributes the emergence of la Onda, the counter-revolutionary movement that took place in Mexico during the 1960’s, to a number of factors, including the cosmopolitanization of the nation’s capital, the hippy movement, the sexual revolution, and the emergence of Rock and Roll which gradually manifested themselves in the Mexican culture. With these also emerged a tradition of “informality” that included the use of jeans and tennis shoes. In essence, they represented a culture completely different from that of previous generations. As the counter-revolution ascended to popularity, especially amongst the younger generation of Mexican citizens, rock came to represent all that was deemed “provocative, sexual, inmoral, dangerous, and satanic” for the general population at the time. Under the shadow of the Cold War, it also became associated with communism and therein a political threat for the government. A few months after la Matanza del Jueves del Corpus, an attack on student protesters from the University of Monterey that took place in June of 1971, the country is struck by what the film refers to as a terrorist attack against the state in form of a cultural rock movement. On September 11 of 1971, el Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avandaro (what has been referred to as the “Mexican Woodstock”) was held on the shores of Lake Avandaro in the town of Valle de Bravo, Mexico City. Under the direction of Armando Molina (also featured in the film), what was originally supposed to be a car-racing event transformed into a historical, counter-revolutionary cultural festival which featured a showcase of Mexican rock bands, open drug use, nudity, and profane language. At one point, while the festival was being broadcasted live on the radio, the Mexican government cut the radio transmission in order to censor the many inappropriate things being said. The turnout at the event was overwhelming, equivalating to over 250,000 people, and although it has been referred to as “el dia de libertad de Mexico,” or “the day of liberty of Mexico” by some supporters of the festival, the event was ultimately shut down by the government and sensationalized by the media as a satanic event. Thereafter began a brief period of strict government censorship of rock music, and thus emerged a movement of underground rock bands. Musicians and fanatics of the music would usually gather in “hoyos funky” or “funky holes” to play and listen to rock music. One of the bands that survived this episode was Three Souls in My Mind (later known as El Tri). One of the band’s songs, Abuso de Autoridad, is featured in the film, and this speaks of the prohibition of rock and the abuses lived specifically under Diaz Ordaz.

Molotov (1995)
The media has played a huge role in producing false information where people within the nation consume and become blind to the reality of Mexico’s history of abuse and censorship of expression, sex, language, victims of racism and colonialism. Amidst the rise of Rock and Roll, a new wave of freedom of expression emerged in the 90s with Molotov’s music. Olallo uses the Mexican rock band Molotov, despite their censorship in the media and their controversial lyrics, as an example of daring men who took these issues at hand and used the freedom to express themselves through music in raising “issues of cross-cultural relations” (Schelonka 103). In the film, the members of Molotov, are described as “disrespectful, protesters, fun, and with a sense of humor,” made up of four men Miky Huidobro, Tito Fuentes, Paco Ayala, and Randy Ebright who play with the lyrics, with themselves, and with everybody else while making their music. While their music was controversial and censored in Mexico, aside from being a rock band, they were seen as a social movement rather than political with their playful yet serious lyrics concerning issues of racism, immigration, corruption, and control of the government in Mexico. Although their “songs could not be played on the radio due to offensive lyrics”, they became a voice for the people of Mexico.

“PUTO”
An example of their offensive lyrics is seen in their signature song titled “Puto” which is a derogatory term for gays, but later confirmed that it is used to refer to cowards. This song was controversial and the gay community across the world felt offended because of the derogatory term, especially in Spain. The group makes it clear that their lyrics are not in any way a sign of homophobia or critique to the gay community but rather the government. Their music lyrics were interpreted in different forms, some were taken in a serious matter, offensively, and sometimes playful.

“QUE NO TE HAGA BOBO JACOBO”
In their release of “Donde Jugaran las Niñas” one of the band songs, “Que no te haga bobo Jacobo,”which literally means “Do not let Jacobo fool you” is directed towards the Mexican journalist Jacobo Zabludovsky who at the time was accused of receiving bribes from Carlos Salinas on what was to be broadcast on the news as well as the government. Molotov was not necessarily attacking him but rather the image and political role he took in the media, he was supporter of the PRI and was therefore part of the government involvement of misinterpretations and corruption in the media of the occurrences in Mexico. The song also describes the way that the media corrupts one with the control and power it has upon individuals who believe everything they see or hear on the media; referring to one as ‘bobos’ fools.

“FRIJOLERO”
September 11, 2001 marked a historical moment for the U.S. and Mexico border. After the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York, the reaction to the attack influenced the immigration reform by enforcing the security of the México-U.S. border under control. Released in 2003, “Frijolero,” from the album Dance and Dense Denso, is “an exploration into the racism found on both sides of the border with no holds barred on the offensive language used in such racist characterizations” (103). Randy describes an unforgettable experience traveling to the United States where his wife and daughter were separated at the airport because they obtained U.S. passports. This made the band member furious as he describes the moment where officials were wearing gloves to inspect his wife and young daughter, which led to him writing the song that showed the racism and discrimination in between the borders.

“GIMME THE POWER”
The title of the documentary was influenced by the their hit single “Gimme Tha Power,” which was considered a national hymn to the youth in Mexico because of it’s powerful lyrics. The song itself follows the connotation in which one could not trust the government and forms of racism and discrimination that Mexicans face to date. For those who listened to Molotov,this song fits many societal struggles around the world.



