La Pelicula

        I want to see the movie Maleficent which is called Malefica in Mexico. And I want to see it dubbed in Spanish, which is why one student decides not to go. "You're going to be miserable," she says. "It's better to see it in English with the subtitles."

            So it ends up being just me and Antonio. The tickets are nice and cheap, only five dollars for 3D. Even though Antonio's Spanish skills are stronger, he prefers to let me buy the tickets, pick out the seats, and ask directions to the correct theater.

            "Are you sure you want to see the dubbed version?" he asks me right before I pay for the tickets. "I did that during my first few weeks in Puebla and I was lost through the whole movie."

            I insist on the dubbed version. If no one is actively correcting or harassing me, I have a high tolerance for confusion. I like watching movies on planes with no headphones. Elf was actually better that way.

            Malefica is anti-Disney but it has enough Disney cues to make it very easy to follow. Although the movie's content is not quite right for children, its structure is perfect for them. And it is perfect for me, with my bad Spanish. I feel like I get about 65% of the dialogue and the stuff I don't get is lost anyway under all the images pushing along the story. It's a weird movie and I enjoy it, though the 3D could have been used to greater advantage.

            Antonio is even happier about the movie than I am. When we walk home discussing it in Spanish, I say, "La ex-novia y la hija del Rey matan él juntas. No príncipe. No boda. Es diferente."

            "Esto es porque me gusta la pelicula," Antonio says. "And best of all," he says, in Spanish, "for my first time, I understood every single word." He pauses and he has this beaming smile on his face. "Gracias a ti," he says.