Regime of Truth

What is a regime of truth? Why is it important?

In Hall's text, one of the most important parts is his discussion of the topic of regimes of truth. Hall provides an example in his text that describes this notion:

"Many myths and legends told of a race of giant people... In the 1520's Magellan's crew brought back stories of having encountered... such a race of giants... The notion [of these giants and the land they came from] became fixed in the popular imagination, even though two Englishmen who visited Patagonia in 1741 described its people as being average size" (Hall 208).

We can take the example provided in his text to describe an idea of a regime of truth. One person comes up with an idea that they have about a topic, group of people, or place, and spreads this message to more and more people. As the amount of people that have heard this message increases, the fact that this idea may have been made up is lost to time. Therefore, regimes of truth are only seen as true until someone provides a counterexample or speaks out against what is happening.

A Game of Telephone

(Optional secondary explanation of telephone by Triple S Games on YT)

I like to think of regimes of truth as a long game of telephone. If you've never played, the game is simple. One person starts with a phrase, and then passes this phrase to the person next in line by whispering it in their ear, passing the message to the last person in line who then says the message aloud. If done correctly, the message should be completely unchanged from how it started. If everyone pays attention, they should be able to pass the message unchanged to the next person in line. However, when this game is played, it is very easy to mishear the phrase that was passed to you, or completely lie and change the phrase for comedic effect. Regimes of truth are like the game of telephone in this way as one message can become the truth as more and more people hear it and begin to believe it. Take for example, someone lying about the phrase in the line. The people after this person would have no idea that the phrase was changed before it got to them, so they will spread this message to those next in line. The lie is now seen as the truth for many people playing the game, hiding the original message that was spread.

Emilia Pérez is upholding a regime of truth that frames Mexican people as criminals and drug addicts, and that Mexico as a whole is therefore a place for criminals. For example, Anna Marta Marini gives a class that describes this issue in horror films specifically. The course description, hosted on the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, explains how many films in the horror genre "have contributed to the imagined position of Mexico as a familiar yet subordinate and dangerous Other, [and that] Mexico and the US-Mexican borderlands are a locus of danger" (Marini 2024). Even though Emilia Pérez is not a horror movie, it upholds this regime of truth. Throughout the course of the movie, we see many scenes where a majority of the people in the town where this movie takes place have been destroyed due to the effects of the Mexican cartel and drug abuse. In Emilia Pérez, we do not get to see much build up around Mexico that is separated from crime, even with the opening shots of the movie being focused on Manitas' cartel. We do not get to see the liveliness of Mexico and the pride that so many people have about this country. The closest scene in the film that takes inspiration from Mexican culture would be the ending scene of the film. This scene is not focused on the cartel, instead chooses to focus on how Mexican people mourn and celebrate their losses. In the movie's final moments, the townsfolk throw a parade to mourn the life of Emilia who dies at the end of the film alongside Jessi and her love interest(Audiard, 2:00:00-2:03:00). This parade is one of the few moments of genuine Mexican culture, as they are celebrating with music and art in a parade, which is a very common practice when someone influential in Mexico has died.

emilia perez end.mp4

Ending Scene of Emilia Pérez

We often see Mexico framed in this way in many films and TV as mentioned above, which can be seen as a system of representation that upholds this regime of truth. By playing into the stereotypes that many people have about Mexico, Emilia Pérez and many other films are upholding falsehoods about the country. To make matters worse, many of the producers and the director himself is not Mexican, which lead to this film having to take their information from already established regimes of truth. This movie has a solid foundation, however to spread a message that is more true to the people of Mexico, these producers should have done their research before tackling these issues.

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