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Cinematic Tourism in Cuba

  • Chloe
  • Apr 25, 2019
  • 4 min read

Entertainment media and the global cinematic market act as contributors to modern tourism. The film and television industries create a mythological- realist space that contrasts the real culture and landscape of a country. The Cinematic Tourist: Explorations in Globalization, Culture, and Resistance, written by Rodanthi Tzanelli, explains in a variety of ways how cinema has shifted the tourist market and how ‘movie magic’ plays a major role in the appearance of one’s native culture.

The country worth focusing on when it comes to the tourist gaze under cinema is Cuba. Cuba has a known history of being a country under communist rule with a myriad of rebellions and revolts. Havana has been the epicenter of both political unrest and a tourist hotspot.

Rodanthi Tzanelli, in The Cinematic Tourist, highlights the impacts cinema “based in Cuba” has on Havana and its people. He uses Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights as one of his prime examples.

Although tourism in Cuba originated after World War II due to the cigar trade and various dance styles being popularized in the States, its leisure based appeal formulated a solid tourist economy.

Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights is based in a pre-Fidel Castro Havana. The cliche of boy meets girl stays the same but the depictions of Havana and the culture in general are the true cliche within the film.

Tzanelli, whom I will quote a lot throughout this post, remarks the film as, "[a] narrative... to encourage associations between the American desire for exotic pleasures and the achievement of full economic colonization...It talks about an aspect of the 'other's' history in anodyne ways, objectifies culture and its performance without questioning the origins of this objectification, and naturalizes the racialization of ethnicity with no remorse" (p. 121-122).

"[a] narrative... to encourage associations between the American desire for exotic pleasures and the achievement of full economic colonization...It talks about an aspect of the 'other's' history in anodyne ways, objectifies culture an​d its performance without questioning the origins of this objectification, and naturalizes the racialization of ethnicity with no remorse" - Tzanelli, The Cinematic Tourist

The cinematic odes to salsa and 'exotic' dancing accentuate the blonde, light-skinned American against a predominantly Cuban crowd. This Hollywood tactic, used frequently in exotic settings, does nothing but articulate racial boundaries.

The racial boundaries are seen vividly when she, Katey, the main character, walks into La Rosa Negra. La Rosa Negra is the "famous working class club of Havana" (Tzanelli, p. 120). Katey becomes enamored with this lifestyle and works to understand it through her love interest, Javier. Cuban women are dressed to highly contrast Katey in her country club attire. The whole film formulates constant differences based on stereotypes of both the United States and Cuba. Tzanelli states, "a chain of associations is formed: whiteness vs. blackness, civilization vs. nature, innocence vs. sexuality, [and] intellect vs. physicality"and that it is the root of unauthentic tourism in Cuba.

"A chain of associations is formed: whiteness vs. blackness, civilization vs. nature, innocence vs. sexuality, [and] intellect vs. physicality"- Tzanelli

Stereotypes are heightened and often dramaticized in media, regardless of race or gender. Wannabe tourists who are looking for an exciting and exotic time in any Caribbean location, look to various forms of media before booking the trip. The effect media and the film industry have on tourism could be costly and detrimental to a country’s overall depiction.

Not only is the racial stereotyping problematic but the film lacks the correct setting. Although Havana covers the posters, dialogue, and politics, the locations for the production are filmed in Puerto Rico. The problem with different filming locations falls in the hands of tourists when they expect a Cuba they are not going to get.

Many reviewers of Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights, mostly females, expressed their desires to be whisked away by a Caribbean gentlemen on their trip to the islands. This established idea will become detrimental to Cuba's ability to provide a secure and family-oriented tourist environment.

In the 1960s Cuba, with the initiation of the National Tourist Institute, took steps into re-establishing itself as a familial tourist playground; however, Hollywood has obstructed this progress with the continuation of sensual themes in Cuban based films, Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights being a prime example along with others.

The unhealthy amount of inauthentic filmmaking, mainly involving the sexual nature of Cuban culture, define Cuban culture in a way that accelerates an infamous industry. Before the late 1950s, Cuban culture was ran by gambling, entertainment, and sex. According to Tzanelli, "[these tourist trends] were never replaced or eradicated. Prostitution remained a major economic resource nationally, further promoting the stereotype of the Cuban who is looking to marry a foreigner and flee the country" (p. 126).

"[these tourist trends] were never replaced or eradicated. Prostitution remained a major economic resource nationally, further promoting the stereotype of the Cuban who is looking to marry a foreigner and flee the country" -Tzanelli

I am not writing this blog to shame Cuba's cultural past, but I am here to show that the media has innate influence on how we view the world. It can shape our perspectives and lead us to impossible outcomes. Cuba is a beautiful place with a rich history and amazing people. Their culture is one whose light shown even on the darkest of days. The Cuban people are a strong and miraculous bunch.

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