S06.E01: Cuba

[ElectricBoogaloo]

In the season six premiere, Bourdain explores Cuba – just as the half-century U.S. embargo softens and economic and social progress loom – from its bustling capital city Havana, to the slower paced, music mecca Santiago. Sampled food includes pig’s head soup with plantains and pumpkin, flan in a beer can, and dogfish ceviche with pickled vegetables. The tour culminates with a dialogue-free tracking shot capturing the hopeful anxiety of its people, seemingly waiting for something to start.

[biakbiak]

Several things about the talk of the changes thought might come post embargo annoyed the shit out of me. Tony glossing over the fact that western tourists have been going to Cuba for years; hell I am American and have gone twice during the travel ban obviously not directly but with no consequences but when I was there I met tourists from all over the world. It's a pattern of tourism that has existed as long as tourism as a concept has existed that you can easily map out the trajectory. Yes, the lifting of the embargo will change things and make it a more appealing environment for investors worldwide but we have seen it happen in numerous places.

Tony romanticising the way Havana and Saintiago currently look not really addressing the lives of most of the population. The beautiful exterior look dilapidated old buildings and awesome looking old cars ignores that on the inside the buildings are hovels and the engines of the cars are put together with random parts (plus ingenuity of Cuban mechanics) and still breakdown on the regular.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yeah, that bothered me too. It's one thing to talk about how modernisation will affect, say, tribes living in remote parts of Africa (as he has discussed in a previous episode) and how that affects their culture because these are people living the same way their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. But to apply that same attitude to a country where there are all these once beautiful and now abandoned buildings that are falling down is really not the same thing to me. I totally get wanting to preserve traditions and culture and I agree that putting a Starbucks and McDonald's on every corner is not the answer, but idealizing these crumbling buildings seems insensitive and ridiculous.

[blixie]

I had no idea that Bourdain hated the W hotel so much. 

[RedHawk]

I had some "reservations" about Tony's constant mentions of the wealth that was coming to Cuba as well. It just seemed very insensitive. Yes, Cuba will change, we hope -- for its citizens -- for the better. My father visited Cuba in the 1950s and I've always wanted to go there, but I don't romanticize the poverty of crumbling buildings. Havana Bay at sunset was amazingly beautiful, and the final scene, the long shot of people along the waterfront was lovely.

 

I noticed in all the food scenes the plates seemed very small. I believe that used to be a standard size in the U.S. as well, but we've upsized everything over the past 50 years and had an abundance of food while the Cubans have had to make do with whatever they had. Seeing those small portions and how thin most of the people were made me hope that Tony's forecasted prosperity will help ALL Cubans.

[Macbeth]

I got the sense of everyone being in the same boat - more or less.  (The woman noted black Cubans are subject to police intimidation and it appears if you have rich relatives in the US or another means of making money you were in better shape.)  

 

A couple of things I noted:

          1.  Cubans have a very high literacy rate - for the poverty there - that's astounding.  

 

          2.  The Che Guevara biographer noted that it was only in his last visit a couple of years ago - he saw 8 homeless people.  In a land that saw such deprivation after the Soviets pulled out that would be unheard of in the First World.  I live in downtown Boston - I have easily 8 homeless people on my very busy street.  So as dictatorial as the government has clearly been, it has really tried to take care of all of its people.  

 

         3.  People didn't get great housing - but they got a school and a doctor in their building.  The buildings were dilapidated due to age and lack of money.

 

        4.  Because of the filming by CNN - I wonder if the police was told to keep a very low/no profile.  It was amazing to see so many black Cubans dancing in the streets and see no police.  Wouldn't happen here in America.  

 

      5.  I don't believe guns are a problem in Cuba - I believe it has very strict gun control laws.

 

      6.  There might not be an abundance of food - but it is not laden with hormones or heavily processed.

 

     7.  The rapper from TNT said change is great if everyone has a say.  Not everyone has a say in America.  For example - Alabama made it a requirement that you need a drivers ID to vote then closed many of the DMV offices in black communities.

 

  While I do feel that Anthony was romanticizing Cuba's past with the love of the architecture that is clearly dilapidated, I did understand the worry about the Americanizing of Cuba where many people would flourish - but many people would be left behind.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Macbeth

[Julia]

5. I don't believe guns are a problem in Cuba - I believe it has very strict gun control laws.

Wow. What a quandary that must have been for american politicians on the right. On the one hand, tolerating gun control when they could have tried for stupid NRA-backed laws as a condition of recognition. On the other hand, agitating to arm communists.

How delicious.

While I do feel that Anthony was romanticizing Cuba's past with the love of the architecture that is clearly dilapidated, I did understand the worry about the Americanizing of Cuba where many people would flourish - but many people would be left behind.

Yeah, grew up in pre-gentrification Manhattan, btdt with him. I'm going to guess this is the rare case where rising tides lift all boats, especially since a communist government has nothing to prove about the wonders of the free market by refusing to provide services to poor people.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Julia

[Macbeth]

I hope you are right and all boats are raised

[jumper sage]

As a Detroiter, the car porn was awesome!