Movie Review: Colao

Colao is a Dominican movie, similar to The Last American Virgin. It’s about a coffee grower, single and turning 40, that decides to search for the one thing he is missing in life: love. It was written by Jose Alama and Jose Pastor and released in November of 2017.

Here is a small trailer of the film.

Overall, Colao is a funny and warm-hearted movie. However, the film presents a dangerous lie – the idea that a poor man and a rich woman can fall in love. Therefore, men should be cautious when watching this film: i.e. enjoy the film, but disregard the theme(s).

Summary

We see the main character, a poor coffee grower named Antonio, leaving his home in the Dominican countryside. He heads to the capital city of Santo Domingo. There, we see the comedic tropes that have been used in countless films: i.e. the country bumpkin, stumbling through the modern world. And of course, it works again. Many laughs come from the protagonist trying to negotiate in a cosmopolitan city.

Eventually, Antonio falls is love. However, the woman (named Amarilis) happens to be part of the upper-class elite: a well-to-do lawyer that’s attractive and single (played by the talented Shailyn Sosa). Despite their socio-economic differences, the two hit it off. They fall in love and begin a whirlwind romance.

However, the conflict emerges in classic Aristotelian fashion.  Antonio is caught in a lie, putting their relationship in doubt. Eventually, the situation is rectified. The couple are reunited, their past troubles behind them, and they live “happily ever after.”

The poor farmer “gets” the rich socialite in the movie Colao.

Analysis 

The film presents a dangerous lie – the idea that a poor man and a rich woman can fall in love. Newsflash: Women are biologically incapable of loving a man that’s below them in social status (see the definition of hypergamy). For example, the secretary is usually sleeping with her boss and not the custodian of the building. The male teacher is dating a former female student…and on and on. I can list a thousand more examples in this regard. This fact is painfully obvious to anyone with a working pair of eyes.

The film Colao ignores the harsh reality of hypergamy.

*Note: Sometimes, in rare cases, a poor man and rich woman are together. However, there are usually extenuating circumstances attached to this coupling: i.e. he has an exceptionally large penis, she has baby rabies, etc. But these cases are the minority. And many times, these relationships end when the goal has been fulfilled.

Conclusion

Men should be cautious about the message of this film. Life is not a fantasy world, where unicorns fly out of a cotton-candy factory. Life is a battle of blood and guts, fought in Thunderdome cage. Therefore, men should continually seek to improve their sexual market value: i.e. get a college degree, start a business, gain wealth, etc. Only then will they be able to expand their pool of female prospects.

I recommend Colao as a piece of mindless entertainment. It has a few good laughs and gives you a nice, warm feeling. However, in terms of realism, it misses the mark.

See Related Article: Book Review: The Last Playboy by Porifrio Rubirosa

 

Movie Review: Tuberculo Presidente

Recently, I watched an excellent Dominican comedy entitled “Tuberculo  Presidente.” It’s only available in Spanish to my knowledge, so if you are interested in watching it, you’ll have to adjust your closed captioning. But I feel that it is worth it. It’s a foreign film that’s low on budget, but high on laughs.

The Plot

Two poor Dominicans become the President and Vice-President of their country. They’re placed in this position to do the bidding of corrupt politicians that are trying to insert a controversial pipeline in the national forest.  The poor Dominicans arrive at the Presidential Palace and bring their backward habits with them: they hang laundry from the rails, bring a goat into the facility, etc. It’s funny stuff.

Two poor countrymen become leaders of the DR…humor ensues.

Some of these gags are inside jokes, relating to Dominican culture. However, the humor is still broad enough to relate to a wider audience. It’s the haughty politician vs. the humble plebian – a scenario that has been seen many times, but it works well in this context.

Positives

There’s a lot of food humor in the movie. It reminded of Jim Gaffigan, with many jokes relating to eating, portion size, etc. The President believes that if everybody is well fed, the country will be a better place. So he gives food to the local gangsters, poor villagers, etc. The Dominican Republic becomes a magical place, all due to the perfect simplicity of his logic.

The new president: If everybody eats well, the world will be a better place!

What’s great about the movie is what’s missing – the subversive agenda  of Hollywood. For example, we don’t have the standard display of feminism (i.e. a scene where a 100 lb. woman beats up 20 men). Also, we don’t have racial division; even though the cast is black and white, the producers are not obsessed with the topic. We see people of different races behaving like they do everyday – without hatred for one another.

It’s refreshing to see a movie like this. It shows that when directors try to tell a story – instead of promoting Cultural Marxism – that magical things can happen.

See a link to the trailer here: Tuberculo Presidente