Cobardes

IB Class: Spanish



Two weeks ago, Senor Medina chose a movie, Cobardes, which means cowards, for us to watch in class. The movie is about two families and the two sons of the family play the protagonist and the antagonist. All of the characters have their own fear to face. The main fear of the protagonist, Gaby, is being bullied by Miguel and his gang everyday, and his parents are unable to help him.

In my opinion, the end of the movie is a tragedy. Gaby, the victim, succeeded in his revenge and became a bully instead. Throughout the whole movie, the characters' actions were driven by their emotions, such as fear, insecurity, anger, and uncertainty. (Connection to Emotion) Because of their emotions, the parents do not know how to help their children, whilst the children do not know how to express their fear. Negative emotions can make a person helpless, but it can also turn the person into someone stronger (although I don't agree turning into a bully as the best solution).

Another way of knowing that can be related to this movie is perception. What is seen is not always be the truth. The main reason that caused Gaby to change is his father's lack of trust in him. Gaby is the real victim, but the school thought that he is the bully whilst Miguel is the victim. That is what the school perceived, but it is not the truth. The knowledge issue here is that how do we know what we perceive is the truth? How can we decide? On what factors do we base our decision on?

I don't like this movie because it has a sad ending. It makes me very disappointed because I see a helpless boy who desperately needs his parents help but his parents do not believe in him and are unable to devote time to pay more attention to him. Thus, he takes things into his own hands and solves his problems himself - in a wrong way. Sadly enough, I see this situation happening around me - parents' lack of trust in their children. If our parents do not trust us, then how are we supposed to seek help whenever we need it?