A Historian at the Cinema: When The Moors Ruled Europe

For most of us, world history classes are really just a bad code word for European history. Most people are aware of the basic of European history (Roman Empire, then Dark Ages, then Renaissance, the fast forward to World Wars and that's the gist of it). A part of European history that is often overlooked due to an agenda or pure ignorance is the period of 700 years in which the Moors, North African Muslims, controlled and ruled Spain and Portugal between 711 to 1492 CE. What resulted from this conquest of the Iberian peninsula was a thriving, modern, and sophisticated society during a time when the rest of Europe was living through the Dark Ages.

The documentary film, When the Moors Ruled Europe, produced by the British Acorn Media company and presented by historian Bettany Hughes, guides viewers through this history that although forgotten by many but that is still visually and physically present throughout the Spanish and Portuguese countryside. Sites such as Andalucia, Granada, and Cordoba contain the physically remains of this high period in European history. Hughes takes the audience through a history that began in conquest and the creation of the kingdom of Al-Andalus (modern day Spain, Portugal, and southern France). Tariq ibn Ziyad lead the Moorish army against the Visigoths, who would eventually surrender. However, life under the new Moorish empire in southern Europe was complex. Moorish rulers allowed Christians to be governed by Visigoth law and the many willing Muslim converts, who converted despite little immigration from north Africa, to live under Moorish law. In addition, Arabic became the language of the land. These two factors help explains the large influence Islam had on Iberian (and as a result South American) culture and customs and the large amount of Arabic origins in the Spanish language. These long lasting influences of the Moors demonstrate how deep an impact the 700 years of Moorish rule had upon the people of southern Europe. More interestingly, the documentary is quick to point out that Moorish Europe experienced a Renaissance many hundreds of years before the rest of Europe. During this period, the Moors developed renowned learning centers and libraries, advanced medicine that would not be seen in Europe until the discovery of germs, and practical technology such as sewer and water systems. However, the Moorish Empire of Al-Andalus would eventually come to an end during the Reconquista which would end with Ferdinand and Isabella as king and queen of the newly re-Christian Spain in 1492. With Christian rulers in control of the region, Spain would quickly move to forget and cover up their Moorish history. This effort to forget the Muslim empire in Europe would prove successful up until current day when the majority of text books gloss over or omit any references to Moorish Europe. This documentary aims to bring back this history to the general population and to the popular record.

Alhambra: masterpiece of Moorish art and
architecture located in Granada, Spain. 

The high light of this film, aside from the clearly explained and rich history narrative, is that it draws upon the architectural heritage of Moorish Spain. Hughes explores and narrates this complex history while strolling through the regal and geometrically designed palaces such as Alhambra. Audiences are presented with the beautifully preserved remains of Moorish Spain as they learn about the civilization that built them. Instead of the typical Ken Burns style of slowing panning past antique photos of people and places, the producers of this documentary chose to film on site of each of the Moorish palaces or cities and used reconstructions or images during certain moments. This decision enriches the experience because it reveals to audiences the physical impact of this civilization. More importantly, the documentary does excellent work at explaining a complex 700 year history in only two hours. It serves as a primer, a well detailed one, for those interested in learning about this missing chapter in European and Arab history.

I found this documentary through a recommendation from my Arabic professor. My background as South American made this documentary all the more interesting. Learning about how Latin American traditions came from Arab and Muslim culture was enlightening and something that is rarely talked about. It revealed an aspect of the history of the Spanish language that I had never heard before and helped answer many of the questions I had about our deep seeded traditions. For this reason, I most definitely recommend this documentary to people of South and Central American decent. It provides an understanding of another layer in our extremely multicultural history. For others, it will also provide an enlightening re-examination of that European history you learned in high school social science class. The beauty of history is that it is constantly in a process of discovery and rediscovery, and it is this process that makes us richer as a society and as people.

A Historian at the Cinema: The Violent Years

Teens, Drugs, Mischief! Oh My!

A recent injury has left me less mobile than usual so perfect time to crash on the couch and review some films. This time it is a selection from the Cult Classic collection I recently got from Fry's Electronics. The collection includes a variety of drug exploitation films from the 1930's to 1950's that represent the extreme and misinformed ideas about narcotics from the time period. Written by Ed Wood, it proves to be equal parts ridiculous and surprising.

The Violent Years (1956) tells the cautionary tale of Paula Parkins, daughter of the local newspaper editor and a socialite mother. Paula has become violent and reckless with her gang of friends from high school. They have become committing a string of gas station muggings that has the community and the local media in a frenzy. However the girls have ties to a greater mob in the area who asks the girls to do a small job. They are tasked with destroying the local high school and burning the American flag (clearly the Red Scare is in full bloom by the time of this film). The girls take no motivation to destroy the high school and for some reason that is never explained, the girls bring guns to vandalize the school. In a way they make today's school times seem tame. The vandalizing trip ends, unsurprisingly, with a gun fight and two of Paula's gang dead on the ground. Paula and her one left over accomplice quickly flee the scene and make it back to the house of the woman who is their contact with the greater gang. Once again, Paula uses her clearly proven leadership skills to outwit the police and fails. In the hospital, Paula discovers she is pregnant but dies during child birth. The child is left to the courts to decide parental rights.

Paula and her gang of worst decision makers ever!

The film was quite a surprise. I am familiar with the Reefer Madness type films of the 1930's but this one stood out. The idea that these girls are so quick to resort to violence due to drugs and alcohol are typical of these morality tales from the mid-century. However, rarely do these films show women gang raping a male victim. Reread that sentence once or twice. I was shocked. There is very little denying what happens during this scene, but the films avoids using the word rape and instead terms the event a "criminal assault". The Violent Years makes it clear to the audience that these are bad and irredeemable women, a theme that is heavily prevalent during this time period. Gender roles were much more rigid during this era than in our own (not to say we have achieved full equality yet) but this film represent the full extent of what these gender roles meant for women. There is no room for women to express themselves outside of what American society deemed appropriate. Women who demonstrated an ounce of assertiveness or self determination were quickly labeled a deviant and guilty of all that is wrong with society. This is never more apparent in the film than with the case of Paula's mother. She is a socialite and active in a variety of groups that keep her out of the home and away from her motherly duties. Keep in mind, her father is even less present in the home, but clearly that is not the issue. It is all her mother's fault and when it comes time to decide parental rights over Paula's baby, the judge deems the mother, and by default her husband, too irresponsible to handle a child and gives the baby to foster parents.

Do I recommend The Violent Years? Yes, but not because of its filmmaking, acting, message or anything intended by the director. Instead, because it is a great example of the anti-drug and juvenile delinquent hysteria of the 1950's. Also it is incredibly bad and therefore funny to watch. This being an Ed Woods film, what else do you expect? Despite this, I did have fun watching this film and it might work its way into my thesis. And be honest, who doesn't enjoy really bad movies from the 1950's?

New Series! A Historian at the Cinema: Cocaine Cowboys

Aside from traveling and studying, these historians also like to watch films (and tv). It's a great way to relax after a long day at work and school. This new series in our blog will be dedicated to reviewing films and series that have a historical slant. They can be fiction or non-fiction. As historians, it can be hard to watch any programs that deal with our thesis or emphasis. We can and will provide our invaluable expert commentary (clearly we are super fun to watch tv with). With this new series, we will provide our opinion on a variety of shows or films that we watch. We will discuss accuracy but also review them as a source of entertainment. Snarky comment will most definitely be included!

The first film to be reviewed is not a recent release. Cocaine Cowboys, released in 2006, is a documentary by filmmaker Billy Corben about the 1970's and 80's era of South Florida as a capital of drug smuggling and violence. Florida native Corben traces the the drug trade from Colombian cartels to the Floridian distributors that turned South Florida from retirement town to the real life set of Miami Vice. The story is not as simple as just drugs arriving in the United States and violence occurring. As the film demonstrates, the drug trade had been flowing for decades without resulting in the level of violence that would become the Cocaine Cowboy era. The 1980's and early 1990's happened after what most see as a huge economic boom during the 1970's. The cause of the boom? Drug money. While the rest of the nation was experiencing a recession, South Florida was inundated in hard cash and lots of it. The Miami skyline that we see today is a direct result of the inflow of capital and the city's new found attention as a hot spot for the young and wealthy.

A scene from the 1979 Dadeland Mall murders. 

Through a series of interviews with people who had lived through the period, Corben tells the story of wealth, criminal activity, violence, and fear. Reporters, law enforcement, Miami residents, and most interestingly, some of the cocaine cowboys themselves, each tell their story and their role in the cocaine cowboy wars. After the Dadeland Mall massacre, Miami dissolved from a tourist destination into what Time magazine would describe as "Paradise Lost." Corben allows each participant to tell their story as they recalled it. Those surrounded by the violence of the era remembered a time of fear and heightened tensions. Corben also allows the cocaine cowboys he interviewed an equal amount of freedom to express their perspective. This became part of the emotional power of the film. Despite some of the horrendous acts the cocaine cowboys participated in, Corben reserves judgment of the individuals for the audience. However, Corben is not completely detached from his film. There is indeed an argument to be found in this documentary.

Griselda Blanco "La Madrina"
Translated: The Godmother

 He places blame on one individual for the rise in violence in Miami. Medellin native, Griselda Blanco began her career in the drug trade while living in New York in the mid 1970's. When law enforcement began catching up with her activities, she relocated to Miami where her drug empire grew to an unimaginable size. It is often Pablo Escobar who is remembered as the king of cocaine. However, Blanco's empire and income makes Escobar look like an amateur. Corben follows the evolution of Blanco's presence in Miami through her associates. Smugglers, contract killers, and distributors recalled the extreme violence Blanco used to take over the industry. Her influence was felt across the United States and into her native country, Colombia. Tensions between her organization and others fueled the cocaine cowboy wars which made South Florida the most dangerous state to be in during the 1980's.

This documentary is one of my personal favorites because of its frank and blunt approach. The story Corben is telling is already so explosive and dramatic that it does not need sentimentalization. The first hand accounts by the different individuals interviewed take a very little understood topic and return the complicated nuances that are vital to understand what was really occurring during the reign of the cocaine cowboys. Corben also takes the time to look at how the cocaine cowboys changed the life of regular people in Florida. The film highlights that even if people were not fearing the next gun fight outside of their local malls, Florida residents had to change their lives to protect themselves from the escalating violence.

Croben offers a definite answer
to Time's question in this film.

There was very little research or exploration of the cocaine cowboys and the cocaine cowboys wars until this film's release. As a historian, I find this film extremely daring because of its attempt to explore all aspects of the cocaine cowboy wars. By the time the film ends, you will have learned about the economic, industrial, housing, personal, legal, political, and emotional impact the cocaine cowboys had on Florida, the United States, and even South America. There is a lot of information and it is surprisingly well communicated. Corben seems to understand how much is in this film and for the follow up, Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin with the Godmother, focuses exclusively on the shadowy villain that is Griselda Blanco. I will be reviewing this film in the future.

I recommend this film wholeheartedly. Corben is a professional filmmaker and despite the overwhelming amount of information he includes, it is done in a manageable and effective way. When the drug war is talked about today, the scenes of violence we think of are those occurring in Mexico but we are quick to forget when the violence was within the United States. This is not a film for all audiences. There is very graphic violence shown and discussed. One interview that may be difficult for some viewers is an interview with Jorge Ayala, currently serving several life terms in prison, who cheerfully describes murders he committed while in the service of Griselda Blanco. However, despite those reservations, I commend Corben for bringing this story to light and taking on the challenge of a story that is still fresh in the memories of many Floridians but forgotten by the rest of the world.