My Reflections Of The Heroes Class

My experience in the Heroes class was an interesting discovery for me, in relation to my own culture and the idea of the “Heroes” as in a comic book, mythology or on a real person. This was because I don't know many of the characters that were described in the class text books, and also, because I have grown in another generation and in another country, with other unique archetypes, as the “Nagual” protector, and the inspiration for my work. So I believe that for these reasons, a different process of thinking for considering the Heroes of my past and present has awakened my senses.

How to think differently, analyze problems, ask questions, and even create more problems for which my mind now can easily produce solutions. By changing your perspectives, you can expand your possibilities. Seeing what no one else sees, and strategically knowing how to see, reveals the secrets to getting many possible answers, and/or perspectives on how to start the process of creation and answer the questions of how to start thinking differently.

But I also think that society influences the artist and in turn, he/she with the product of their work, will change and affect the social and cultural structures. In other words, the artist, through his work, has the power to change not only the sole archetypes implanted by the society and the culture, but also has the power to impose new cultural elements in these same or in other societies.
Another productive learning experience is realizing that all thoughts are simply a process of association and/or juxtaposition. The essence of creation, in all endeavors, is chance connections between ideas and facts that are previously segregated, risk taking and direct by-products of chance, as well as convoluted connections among ideas. In this thinking, one generates as many alternative approaches as one can, considering the least as well as the most likely approaches – as opposed to absolute rigid thinking.

The Hero class has presented to me a clear new way to organize and better understand the process of creativity, as well as the value of other collective influences of the people and places in my past and future. I am very happy with the result of the work in progress, “NAGUAL”.

Jennifer Stuller, Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors.

Stuller's book is a fascinating read about super-heroines and powerful women. This is a wonderful book that dives into the analysis of female characters in pop culture. Stuller covers superwomen throughout entertainment history, from Wonder Woman's early comic book days to television's relatively recent female characters, like Sydney Bristow, Dana Scully, and Xena the Warrior Princess. She observes their relationships with their fathers, mothers and mentors. In addition to the history of ‘superwomen’, Stuller includes a series of chapters about common issues in the portrayal of superwomen: compassion, redemption, and collaboration. Stuller point out, this kind of collaboration is common in the female hero "not because she is incapable of succeeding on her own, but because she is more successful when she recognizes, encourages, and utilizes the talents of others" (peg. 92).
Stuller's book definitely helps me better understand feminism in our media and mentoring relationships between women.

I am attaching photography of Mexican archetype woman, to illustrate the differences and similarities in our cultures.

Cuatlicue is the Aztec godes who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli.

Doña Marina (Malinche), the loyal interpreter and mistress of Hernando Cortés, Doña Isabel de Moctezuma, the daughter of the famous Mexica Huey Tlahtoani (supreme ruler) Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin is the most well-known and popular female personage of the late pre-Hispanic and early colonial history of Mexico.

La Malinche and Hernan Cortes, by Jose Clemente Orosco

Malinche by Diego Rivera

Doña Marina was a gift to the Conquistadores, a slave and after her intelligence and gift for languages was discovered she was “la lengua”, “tongue”.
In Mosiehuali, a the version of Nahuatl spoken in town of Tetelcingo, in the state of Morelos, Mexico. Nehualmoyecastemojmolunijtzinutinemisquiöni means, “You honorable people might have come along banging your noses so as to make them bleed, but in fact you didn’t”.

"La Adelita" came to be an archetype of a woman warrior in Mexico, during the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

María Félix is the most famous Mexican movie star. She created a larger-than-life character, La Doña, she constructed an image of a strong woman, that went beyond the traditional role of Latin American women.