Luis Alfaro sets the scene for his modern interpretation of Medea in Los Angeles with a family that has immigrated from Mexico. Following their own struggles about crossing the border illegally, getting their lives set up in the United States, and their efforts to make a name for themselves, Alfaro goes into detail about their struggles. Taking a modern interpretation of Euripides Medea, Alfaro takes the plot line and reinterprets it to a modern audience, showing the struggles of 21st century immigration. Each character portrayed within the ancient version Medea, keeps the symbolism and purpose in the rewritten text. Alfaro continues the themes presented by Euripides but expands on each idea and brings them to light in a modern and more relatable way for the intended audience, those in the modern era wanting to reimagine Medea.

Female empowerment

Much like in Euripides' version of Medea, Luis Alfaro uses Medea within Mojada to convey the power that women have, and how women are now being able to reclaim their bodies. In the 21st century the empowering movement for women, is reclaiming their sexuality, instead of seeing sex as a negative act, women are beginning to allow themselves to think of it as empowering and another way to express themselves. Alfaro heavily leaned into that movement within Mojada with the talk of sex between most of the women in the play and putting a positive connotation on their sexuality. Alfaro made this most explicit when he wrote about Medea and Hason about to have sex in the front yard, "They began to kiss and touch, it’s sensual and sweet, Hason is taking his time, very careful. He attempts to take something off Medea, she is trying her best to be brave, but as it goes on, you can see that she is beginning to suffocate, it’s too much and she quickly freezes up in terror, trying to just breathe” (Alfaro 266). He uses her sexuality, not as a negative thing, but something that she is in control of, meaning she decides what she does with her body. This deliberate choice to make Medea stop Hason from continuing to kiss her and take off her clothes, contributes to Alfaro's support of the feminist movement that has been occurring since the early 2010s. Not only does he show his support for the female sexuality movement, but shows support for female mental health when regarding post traumatic stress disorder. Medea takes control of her body with Hason, but also advocates for her own mental health by stopping him from continuing to have sex. Because she was raped on her way to cross over the border, Alfaro chose this moment within the play for her to subtly advocate for her own mental health, and for her to heal from her trauma. Alfaro connects to his audience by appealing to the feminist movement, not only with their sexuality and body positivity but also their mental health and coping with trauma.

Machismo

Luis Alfaro takes a modern spin on the misogyny that is present within Euripides' version of Medea by playing into the traditional idea of machismo that is present within Latinx cultures. Hason's pride throughout the play, Alfaro uses him to subtly make the women in the play feel inferior and that the only way that they can be successful is if Hason is metaphorically bringing home the bacon. When Alfaro wrote Hason saying, “Oh come on. You need a man, why wouldn’t she? Look at these hands- less drywall, more paperwork. Look at yours, These hands are too special to look this way. She is letting us stay here” (Alfaro 268)., it shows that men are seen as superior and Medea and the family would not be able to live how they do without him. Alfaro made the deliberate choice for Hason to be the reason why they left Mexico because it plays into the machismo, or masculine pride, that he exudes and ties into the sexism present in the original version. As their story about crossing the border is shared, it shows Hason's concern for himself rather than the love of his life. When Alfaro wrote, “He looks at Medea and they silently agree that she should be sacrificed. She walks willingly into the desert with the soldier where she is raped” (Alfaro 273)., it shows the disregard for Medea and her body, and points to his own ego. If he had shown genuine care for Medea rather than his status, becoming a successful immigrant, then he would not have let his machismo get in the way and could have stopped his wife from getting raped. Alfaro uses Hason's pride and machismo within the text to play into the stereotypical version of sexism that is continually shown in Medea and Mojada. Even when he leaves Medea, his lack of remorse and regret for his actions care for what he has done to his family shows his inability to look outside of his own pride and focus on someone but himself. Luis Alfaro uses Hason's machismo within Mojada to connect the original Medea's idea of sexism and misogyny with the 21st century Latinx version of these problems.

Luis Alfaro took the original text written by Euripides and reworked it into a tale that shows grit and determination of the immigrants in the United States today. He connects the original piece to all these different groups of people in the modern society and makes them look outside of their comfort zone, of privilege, and look at the hardships of the immigrant experience. Alfaro was having his play performed during the Trump campaign and administration, subjectively one of the worst administrations to live through as an immigrant in the United States. He comments on the hardships of getting into America legally, which was virtually impossible at that point in American history, and shows that through Medea and Hason illegally crossing the border. Alfaro uses the original tale of Medea to bring to light the thousands of stories that are just like these, where an illegal immigrant family crosses the border to make a better life for themselves and end up in turmoil not paradise. Alfaro wanted to portray an accurate account of what happens when illegally crossing the border, not that the police will swarm you, but the psychological effects. He showed the resilience of the women who cross the border when he showed Medea getting raped, which is all too common for females who are trying to escape from Mexico. Alfaro wanted to allow women to have the spotlight in the story of coming to America, he took a somewhat unassuming character and made her story the most influential within this myth. His goal of this reinterpretation was to connect Medea to the women of the 21st century, making her relatable in light of the #MeToo movement where sexual assault survivors are telling their stories. Not only does Alfaro use Medea to relate to the readers of his work, he also uses Hason, who believes that everything that he is doing for his family is for the best. Although his intentions are in the right place, his actions do not follow and cause him to break Medea's heart, but helps more readers of his work see that intention is not what matters, it is the execution of the intention. Alfaro wanted to make his interpretation of Medea accurate to the immigration policies in America and relatable to how immigrants are viewed today.