Gooooooooooal!

Watching the World Cup: A tale of two Mexicos & one poor France

It was a tale of two Mexicos for me today. Searching for just the right place to watch Mexico-France took me first to La Tapatia (1749 Richmond), and then to Maria Selma’s new Orange Sports Bar a few blocks away (1613 Richmond). Why is it called the Orange Sports Bar? Because that’s the color they painted it.

And why do I say “two Mexicos?” If you know the country at all, you’re aware that there are several only slighted connected countries living together inside Mexico’s borders. Historian Lesley Byrd Simpson titled his well-received history of the country Many Mexicos. UT’s Center for Latin American Studies is currently conducting a year-long symposium also titled "Many Mexicos."

But in economic terms, there are only two Mexicos, rich and poor. I won’t say the fans at La Tapatia are poor. They’re paying $10 for their fajitas, and for that matter I don’t have much money myself. But the Tapatia crowd is definitely in Houston to work. They were an alegre blue-collar crowd, but I was pretty sure they’d be back on the job as soon as the match was over, or even sooner.

I left at half-time, with the score of the fast-paced game 0—0, not really happy with the chicken fajitas I’d just eaten. I wanted to find another place to watch the second half. I would’ve gone French, but when I called Au Petit Paris and the Brasserie Max and Julie, they told me they didn’t have televisions, and they didn’t know of any French places inside the Beltway that did.

Just as well for them, as it turned out. And for me too, as I decided to give the Orange a second look, and was very glad that I did. I’d gone by last week for Uruguay-France, and had liked the bar, which still smelled of new paint, but there were more televisions (10) than customers, so I hadn’t planned on going back. But today the parking lot was overflowing, so I went in to find a roaring, rowdy, and thoroughly excited mob—if I can use that word to describe the rather more upscale crowd I found there.

I bumped into an artist friend from Mexico who, as if reading my mind, immediately pointed out how many blondes were in the crowd. I hope this comes across as observational, rather than judgmental. I certainly had a better time, and a better margarita, at the Orange than at La Tapatia. And the crowd was in fact a joy.

When newly minted star Javier Hernandez (aka “El Chicharito,” or “Sweetpea”) scored immediately upon entering the game (at the 64th minute), the crowd erupted, and was still going off 15 minutes later when the venerable Cuauhtemoc Blanco became, at 37, the third oldest player to ever score in a World Cup, making the final tally 2-0. How the tequila flowed as both youth and age were served! I didn’t think that many of my fellow revelers were headed back to work.

This was Mexico’s first victory ever against a team that has won a World Cup, and, frankly, the team looks brilliant. Unlike the mopey French, who are perhaps embarrassed to even be in South Africa, given that it took an infamous handball by Thierry Henry against Ireland to book their spot.

After the game my artist friend and I watched scenes on Univision from a jubilant Mexico City, where crowds gathered to celebrate. When I ventured the opinion that Mexico was overdue for some good news, he more or less dismissed my naiveté.

“A new revolution is starting in Mexico,” he said. “It’s not just a drug war, even though that’s how the media reports it.”

He believes that the Mexican government, eager for bread and circus, has arranged for Mexico to win the World Cup, just to distract the people.

Like I said, there are many Mexicos.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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