{"id":12005,"date":"2018-10-25T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=12005"},"modified":"2018-10-19T06:40:22","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T10:40:22","slug":"commercializing-the-day-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/commercializing-the-day-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Commercializing the Day of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next week, Mexicans all over the world will celebrate\u00a0el d\u00eda de los\u00a0muertos\u00a0<\/em>or day of the dead with\u00a0ofrendas<\/em> (offerings),\u00a0pan de muerto\u00a0<\/em>(day of the dead bread), and photographs of their loved ones. While the celebration has always been strong in Mexico, it has recently become much more commercial. But how did this happen?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo taken by Esparta Palma found on Flickr.com with license CC BY 2.0<\/p><\/div>\n

Halloween<\/h3>\n

Because of its geographic location, Mexico is heavily influenced by the U.S. From food to clothes to music, American culture quickly seeps through the border. When I was little, no one really celebrated Halloween. Children would set up the\u00a0ofrendas<\/em> at school, usually to someone of educational relevance to them; some schools held contests to see who had the most original\u00a0ofrenda<\/em> and the winner was announced. Nowadays, schools have begun mixing\u00a0d\u00eda de los\u00a0muertos<\/em> and Halloween with the same\u00a0ofrenda\u00a0<\/em>contests, but also with costume contests. Costume parties are quite common and stores are filled with the typical\u00a0Halloween goodies. This\u00a0mezcla<\/em> of traditions has certainly made\u00a0d\u00eda de los muertos\u00a0<\/em>much more commercial with stores making available Frida Kahlo costumes (she is probably the one dead person who gets the most\u00a0ofrendas<\/em>),\u00a0Catrina<\/em> costumes as well as the typical Halloween paraphernalia.<\/p>\n

James Bond<\/h3>\n

I would have never expected to link James Bond to\u00a0el dia de los muertos,\u00a0<\/em>but here we are. “Spectre”, the 2015 James Bond movie, starts off in the beautiful\u00a0ciudad de M\u00e9xico\u00a0<\/em>with James Bond chasing and being chased in true badass style. During this scene, he is walking around a\u00a0desfile<\/em>\u00a0(parade) of the\u00a0d\u00eda de los muertos <\/em>that resembles a procession. When I saw the movie, I was quite impressed with this parade because it looks amazing (thank you Hollywood) and it also didn’t exist. The movie made this parade so popular that\u00a0ciudad de Mexico<\/em> began one shortly after the movie attracting tourists from all over. The video below shows part of this opening scene.<\/p>\n