Unspoken desires: Transgressing representation in Mosquita y Mari (Guerrero 2012)

Abstract

This article explores how the film Mosquita y Mari lays claim to a sitio y lengua (space and discourse) from which migrant and diasporic lesbians transgress dominant codes of representation. The protagonists of the film do not ask for visibility; instead, they speak through silence and embodied gestures, offering a different approach to queer Latina sexuality that strategically manoeuvres through the burdens of representation. This cinematic register is what I engage as unspoken desires. When Mosquita and Mari imagine alternative futures, they rely on acts of care and mutual support – all the while, leaving their desires unspoken and thus, revealing the potential to create more possible worlds. Overall, I demonstrate that by creating their own sitios y lenguas, through embodied language and silence, the girls reclaim their difference in a world that renders them impossible. This article was recipient of the 2021 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Latino Caucus Graduate Student Writing Award.