''Macho'' is a 2016 Mexican

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

, directed by Antonio Serrano and starring Miguel Rodarte,

Cecilia Suárez María Cecilia Suárez de Garay (; born 22 November 1971) is a Mexican actress and activist working with the United Nations and European Union campaigning against femicide and violence against women. She has starred in film, television, and the ...

Aislinn Derbez Aislinn González Michel (born 18 March 1987), better known as Aislinn Derbez, is a Mexican actress. Early life and career Aislinn González Michel is the daughter of actors Eugenio Derbez and Gabriela Michel, who were married from 1986 to 198 ...

and

Renato López Renato López Uhthoff (March 11, 1983 – November 23, 2016) was a Mexican television presenter, actor and musician. Early life He was born in 1983 in Mexico City, but at an early age his family took him to the United States, where he lived in M ...

. Paul Julian Smith describes the film as a "post-homophobic comedy"; it is an example of the new wave of Mexican LGBT+ cinema.

Release

It was released to cinemas on November 11, 2016. In the first three weeks of its release, up to November 27, it grossed 32 million

Mexican peso The Mexican peso (Currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, currency code: MXN; also abbreviated Mex$ to distinguish it from peso, other peso-denominated currencies; referred to as the peso, Mexican peso, or colloquially varo) is the official curre ...

s (ca. 1.6 million

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

) and was seen by 740,000 viewers. Renato López was murdered less than two weeks after the box-office debut.

Response

Response to the film, from critics and viewers, has been negative. Smith notes that all critics have compared the film to the 1969 René Cardona Jr. and

Mauricio Garcés Mauricio Feres Yázbek (December 16, 1926 – February 27, 1989), known professionally as Mauricio Garces, was a Mexican actor and comedian. Personal life and career Garcés was of Lebanese descent and was born in the Mexican port of Tampico, T ...

film ''Modisto de señoras'' when reviewing it, and that these comparisons are not kind to the social representations in ''Macho'', especially considering it was made over 40 years after ''Modisto''; Serrano denied taking inspiration from the film. Reviewers also view the film negatively in comparison to Serrano's own earlier gay-themed film, '' Sex, Shame and Tears'' (which also starred Suárez), and condemn its vision of women as being "objectified for the straight male viewer or vilified". Smith says that the film's genre is "confused" and that it veers between "social critique, farce, and romantic comedy". He concludes that while it is relatively modern in theme, the handling of the gay narrative is no more advanced than the 1970s sex comedies.

References

External links

* * * 2016 films 2016 comedy films 2016 LGBTQ-related films Mexican comedy films Mexican LGBTQ-related films 2010s Mexican films {{2010s-Mexico-film-stub