The Ideology of Escape

The Ideology of Escape

The world of Sin Nombre is a world presented, through the focused lens of Hollywood, of the Mexican gangs and immigrants. Not only does this present the true idea of escape from the life of poverty but the actions taken by the characters within the film.

In the beginning of them film, from :30 , the viewer is invited to gaze upon the image of an open field. While we feel as if this image is real we cut to the image Willy gazing into this image as if he is escaping into this world. Yet we come to see that is is within his own mind. To the viewer we being to see this as the form of escapism. This teenager is living within poverty , his imagines a field of lush wealth.

Yet when the camera cuts to Willy stands we see the image of a tattoo and the letters “SM”. Now we shift. The sympathies have changed. A viewer's shift. Without seeing any of the other points of the film we assume that he is a person with less of a good reputation. No words have been said, only music and cutting back between Willy and the image upon the wall.

This image becomes the symbol for escape, a theme of the film. Escape comes not only in the physical form; running, killing, diving and avoiding capture, but in the escape of the mind. Much of the beginning of film focuses on bringing people into the world when it comes to Willy and the gang. We see the images of violence, of corruption of the young. Yet the mind goes back to the image of the field. This is due to the counter balance of the first part of the film.

Willy is actively trying to keep his love life and gang life. His life with Martha is an escape much like the field, from the actions of the gang. His relationship is the field within his mind. The relationship is sexual, loving and fertile; it becomes the escape that he can rely on.

However he looses this escape. For as much as Willy tries to escape, how much he tries, he is forever tattooed by the gang both literally and metaphorically. The tattoos on his back give the physical icon of his status; his life belongs to the gang. His actions have also tied to him the gang life. Yet Willy still has the image of the field reoccur again when he is on the train.

This represents the chance still exists for Willy to escape this life. Though he is marked the ideology Willy creates still exists. The paintings are all within his head and not the physical realm. The idea is within his head to escape, the idea of a carnival is still there. Though Willy is an individual the ideology of escape is still existing. The viewer. now knowing Willy is a product of his location and situation have become sympathetic. Our own view has shifted; we desire to see Willy escape and make it into his field.

By using the ideology of escapism, Sin Nombre uses a shift in the paradigm. By shifting this we gain a new understanding of the character Willy and the dynamics of the film's narratives; the story of escape and survival.