1. Reinaldo
Arenas: More
Than the Single
Story
Before Night Falls directed
by Schnabel, Global Arenas
by Jacqueline Loss

2. Introduction to Arenas
 Born July 16 1943 in the rural Cuban
countryside
 Joined rebel forces of Castro as a teenager
 Moved to Havana after the triumph of the
revolution
 Published first novel in 1967 Celestino antes
del alba
 Left Cuba in 1980 through the Mariel boat lift
 Arrived in Miami, then settled in New York City
 Committed suicide on December 7th 1990

3. Context Context Context!
 Batista’s Cuba- 1933- 1958
 City vs. Country conditions during this time
 Americas Imperial Arm
 1959 Castro gains power
 Approximately 1965-1968 UMAP (Military
Units to Aid Protection) labor camps for
“counterrevolutionaries” Sugar Cane
 What is a counterrevolutionary?

4. Context
 Homosexuals (gay men), Counterrevolutionary
intellectuals, Jehovah's witnesses, insubordinate
farmers
 In Fidel’s words homosexuals were…
 Sick
 Characteristic of capitalism
 Denounced homosexuals as agents of imperialism
 Believed work in UMAP would make them “true
revolutionary men”
 Dentro de la Revolucion: Todo. Contra de la
Revolucion: NADA

5. Intellectuals
 The Speech “Palabras a Los Intellectuales” 1961
 Cautions Intellectuals about producing work that
could be seen as “against” the revolution
 Explained that the revolution won Cuba freedom
and freedom of speech, and that any work that is
anti revolutionary is therefore anti the freedom
and undermines the well being and freedoms of
the collective whole
 Persecution of Intellectuals/artists
 P.M Saba Cabrera Infante and Orlando Jimenez
censored

6. PM
 PM 1:22
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0-
8gfWzBa8&list=PL6E2F51428B583AEF
 Bodies Represented
 Constraints
 Connect to Arenas
 Homosexual and intellectual/artist
 “The system has used any means necessary to
eradicate my existence.”
 Forced sending of manuscripts abroad

7. Before Night Falls as a Movie
 What did you think of the film?
 How was Cuban sexuality portrayed?
 Were there parts that stood out to you?
 Do you remember any important scenes
that depicted Arenas’ sexuality? How did
the movie’s portrayal of his sexuality differ
from or adhere to the texts we read for
Tuesday?

8. Symbolism
 Reinaldo looking up at Hot Air Balloon vs.
Skyscrapers
 Plants and nature in Cuba vs. NYC
 The I <3 NY bag
 Johnny Depp both as Bon Bon and
lieutenant Victor

9. Problematic Aspects
 Schnabel’s portrayal of Arenas and his sexuality
 Desexualized? In your face-ness? Why may this
be? Audience?
 Schnabel's production of the film 10 years after his
death
 Power dynamics of Author and Author’s identity
 The oversimplifying of a single story
 Fidelity Criticisms
 Commodification
 The issues of artistic liberty
 Miami, Suicide

10. Problematic Aspects
 Imperialist writing
 Speaking for someone else- prosopopeia
vs. testimino
 The danger of “rescuing” and “rescue
narratives”- “I feel I like I walked those
streets…”
 Voyeurism- American desire to see Cuba
(the “forbidden fruit”)

11. Questions
 Do you think Schnabel’s rendition of Reinaldo
Arenas’ life was understandable? Outright
Imperialist? Or necessary for filmic (American)
audiences?
 Loss prompts, “Whose cultural memory is
privileged if we accept the rescue paradigm?
In what aspects of consumerism lead us to
buy into the narrative of rescue and demise
that coincides with the markets whims.”
 What do you think?

12. Problematic Aspects
 Cutting of scenes at particularly chosen
moments
 Formation of relationships and sexual
encounters in film
 English in Cuba and Spanish in U.S
 Nosotros vs. Ustedes (Us vs. Them)-
touches back to voyeurism

13. The Danger of a Single Story
 Using a single story to define someone’s
many stories (Arenas as a writer vs. google
search as poet)
 Using a single story to characterize a
people (homosexuals, Cubans etc.)
 Can you think of any other stories that are
used as “universals” for a group/s of
people?
 Homogenization and absorption vs. plurality
and diversity

14. The Danger of a Single Story
 Novelist
Chimamanda Adichie, “The
Danger of a Single Story.”
 http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_a
dichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

15. Works Cited
 http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~jidomin
g/images/jid_batista.PDF
 http://www.glbtq.com/literature/arenas_r.ht
ml
 Global Arenas: Narrative and Filmic
Translation of Identity. Jacqueline Loss
 Before Night Falls. Julian Schnabel
 P.M by Saba Cabrera Infante
 The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda
Adichie