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A bilingual publication of the Missourian

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DECEMBER 2007

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Unmasking
the world of

LUCHA

LIBRE
Page 6

Cuban
recipe
yields juicy
citrus-flavored
turkey.
Page 12

Mexican
tradition
endures in
celebrations
of Our Lady of
Guadalupe.
Page 5

Families
in Missouri
face the
challenges of
adopting from
Guatemala.
Page 10

[ cover story ]

[ cover story ]

n the upcoming film Mil Mscaras: Resurrection, Mil Mscaras remains stoic
as an Aztec mummy tries to hypnotize
him in an ancient pyramid, sends a demon
with super strength to kill him in the
wrestling ring, and revives an army of
evil minions to wage war against modern
humanity.
Demonic enemies and evil schemes are the bread
and butter of lucha libre films, and major lucha libre
star Mil Mscaras has dealt with them many times
but only once in Missouri.
Resurrection and another, smaller lucha film
called Academy of Doom, were filmed in 2006 on
the MU campus and in other mid-Missouri locations.
Missourians will have their first chance to see Resurrection in the spring of 2008.
MU professor Jeffrey Uhlmann, who wrote, produced and plays the mummy in Resurrection, used
the making of the films to give computer science
students hands-on experience with film and video
production.
He learned about lucha from a friend who grew up
in Mexico. Thats also how he became interested in
building ties between U.S. and Mexican universities.
His enthusiasm convinced Mil Mscaras to star in
the film. It was a major coup for Uhlmann and fellow
professor Kannappan Palaniappan, who produced
the movie with him. After all, Mil Mscaras fame in
Mexico is about on a par with Arnold Schwarzeneggers action-movie fame in the U.S. He agreed to do
the movie because, like Uhlmann, he is committed to
making connections between U.S. and Mexican universities.

Jeffrey wants to promote science and engineering to Latinos, Mil Mscaras said. I have worked
for years to encourage more collaborations between
Mexican and American universities, so it was a great
match.
In a way, its a case of turnabout because luchas
roots go back to the 1930s with matches featuring
American wrestlers fighting in Mexico. The sport
sprang from the ring to movie screens in the 1950s,
and today the masks that the wrestlers wear are an
iconic symbol in Mexico.
In Columbia, the masks are a less common sight.
Uhlmann says that one night during the making of
the movie, he was chauffeuring Mil Mscaras back to
his hotel (the star never removes his mask in public)
when he pulled out of a gas station without turning on
his headlights. Suddenly, he saw the flashing lights of
a police car in the rearview mirror.
I couldnt even speak, Uhlmann recalled. Mil
says Its no problem officer, Im a wrestler and hes a
professor.
Once the two explained that they were filming a
movie, the officer let them go. Theres no stopping
lucha libre.

History of a sport

Salvador Lutteroth is regarded as the founder of

lucha libre. A native Mexican, Lutteroth began going
to wrestling matches while on a trip in the U.S. He
realized that organized wrestling could go over big
in Mexico, so he brought some wrestlers from the
U.S. to Mexico and rented an arena in Mexico City.
Though he met with commercial success from the
start, the masked wrestler personas that have made

lucha libre famous werent born immediately.

San Antonio-based artist Xavier Garza, author and
illustrator of books including Lucha Libre: The Man
in the Silver Mask, says that the first wrestler to
wear a mask in Mexico was a U.S. wrestler known as
Cyclone MacKey.
He came up with the Maravilla Enmascarada, and
he wore a leather mask, Garza said. But the mask
wasnt very well planned. It had ventilation problems,
and by the end of the match he was pretty much passing out.
After this inauspicious beginning, the mask concept
was cast aside for a few years. When it returned, it
was better thought out so the wrestler could breathe.
Soon it became the mark of the rudo, or bad guy, who
fought against the unmasked tcnicos, or good guys.
The first hero to achieve fame wearing a mask
was El Santo. According to Garza, El Santo began as
a rudo, but his charisma was so strong that crowds
loved him anyway. Through a plot twist, promoters
changed El Santo from a villain to a hero and raised
crowds adoration to an even higher level.
And so the masked hero was born.

Movie heroes

The offbeat comedy Nacho Libre brought the sport

to the attention of uninitiated U.S. audiences in 2006.
The film stars Jack Black as a Mexican friar who,
against all odds, becomes famous as a luchador.
Blacks character was loosely based on an actual
wrestler named Frey Tormenta, who wrestled to earn
money for an orphanage he founded.
But the history of lucha movies has a very long,
low-budget history that has little in common with the

WHAT IS LUCHA LIBRE?

In Spanish, lucha means struggle or fight, and libre
means free.
While the rules of lucha libre are similar to those
of North American wrestling, becoming a luchador
doesnt require a super-muscled, bruiser physique.
Luchadores can be downright diminutive, thanks to
broader weight classes than those you find in U.S.
wrestling.
Lucha Libre is also known for a more high-flying and
technical style than wrestling in the U.S., and wrestlers
from the smallest to the most massive execute dramatic dives from the ropes.
According to lucha expert Xavier Garza, the major
difference between U.S. and Mexican wrestling is that
a lucha libre match is won by two out of three falls, as
opposed to one fall in standard U.S wrestling. Garza
thinks the difference exists because American audiences dont have the patience for a match that lasts
45 minutes to an hour, as Mexican audiences do.
Some of the ultimate lucha libre matches revolve
around a bet between two masked fighters. The victor
unmasks the loser, revealing his identity.

ARE YOU READY FOR

LUCHA?
Mexican wrestling has
crossed the border
BY SARA SHAHRIARI

Adelante!

MU Professor Jeffrey Uhlmann, as the Aztec Mummy, threatens hero Mil Mscaras in a scene from Mil Mscaras:
Resurrection. The movie was filmed at several Missouri locations, including the MU campus.

adelantesi.com

December 2007

Adelante!

[ cover story ]

[ cover story ]

COURTESY OF XANIER GARZA

Masked Luchador El Toro Grande charges down the ring ready for action in a scene from Xavier Garzas book, Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask.

I think the thing with

it is that most people in
their heart of hearts know
that its a show, but they
suspend that disbelief,
because for that moment
its real ... But for some
people, when people
question that its real, those
are fighting words.
- Xavier Garza

high production values of Nacho Libre.

El Hacha Diablica, a 1965 film starring El Santo,
is typical of the lucha libre film genre. The plot begins
with an ancestor of El Santo in colonial times who is
surprise exactly the same as the modern El Santo.
In the film, a madman in love with the same woman as
the colonial El Santo sells his soul to an evil idol and
pursues the modern El Santo out of jealousy. The film
is painfully low on dialogue and budget and you never
see more of El Santos face than his eyes and lips.
Yet somehow he becomes a hero you root for, whether hes in the wrestling ring or battling the evil hatchet
man in a dungeon.
El Santo, along with El Demonio Azul and Mil Mscaras, became luchas biggest movie stars. El Santo,
who starred in around 50 films, died in 1984. He was
buried in his mask, and today his son, El Hijo del
Santo, fights wearing a disguise like his father wore
and uses similar moves.

Whats in a mask?

It cant be easy wearing a mask day in and day out

sweating in it during wrestling matches, hiding an

Adelante!

COURTESY OF XANIER GARZA

As the lucha battle rages on, the Man in the Silver Mask flies through the air ready to come crashing down on El Vampiro in another scene from Xavier Garzas book.

identity from the public, friends and neighbors. But not

taking credit for ones star luchador persona is seen as
the gentlemanly, classic way to handle the fame.
Of course a mask doesnt guarantee fame, and most
luchadores never reach the level of El Santo and Mil
Mscaras. Garza says that many luchadores spend a lot
of time on the road, earning little and taking constant
physical risks.
But celebrity did come to Mil Mscaras, who is 69,
and he says that the mask allows him to be a celebrity
and keep in touch with reality.
I can remove my mask and talk anonymously to
kids and people in different countries and learn what
they think, he said. Famous Hollywood people sometimes try to disguise themselves, but they never can be
completely in the real world. Thats why so many lose
touch and behave crazy. They become like movie characters and are no longer people. The difference for the
luchador is that he can remove his mask.
For example, one day several years ago Mil Mscaras, without his mask, went to pick his granddaughter
up at school. There he heard some of her schoolmates
talking about how they dont like to read. A few weeks

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later, Mil Mscaras, the luchador, appeared in school

to talk about the importance of reading. That is the
power of the mask, he said.

A show for the whole family

Though some parents might shy away from taking

kids to the stadium for an afternoon of watching
masked men and women beat each other, in Mexico
lucha libre matches are widely regarded as great
family entertainment.
Garza, who grew up in a Texas border town called
Rio Grande City, remembers taking the five-minute
drive to Mexico as a child with his family for a Sunday afternoon of watching matches.
Does anyone really believe that what is happening
is real, and not staged theater?
I think the thing with it is that most people in
their heart of hearts know that its a show, but they
suspend that disbelief, because for that moment its
real, Garza said. But for some people, when people
question that its real, those are fighting words.
Mil Mscaras sees lucha libres popularity continuing to grow in the U.S. and beyond.

December 2007

The popularity is already there, but it will grow.

Kids love to see colorful characters who can do amazing physical things in real life, and adults appreciate
the athletic skills and performance artistry of the
luchador he said. Many movies and wrestling in
the U.S. celebrate things that are no good for anyone.
All cultures are a mix of good and bad, thats why it
is best to seek out the good from other cultures and
push away the bad. Lucha libre is a tradition from
Mexico that is very positive, and thats why it continues to attract fans.
Right now, Lucha VaVoom brings large lucha
matches to Los Angeles, and the cartoon Mucha
Lucha brings it to kids. Lucha libre related products
are beginning to appear in the U.S. market.
Jess Duarte began California-based company
Lucha Libre Streetwear in 2004. Designing and selling T-shirts with lucha libre-inspired images, the
company has evolved from selling the shirts online
and in small shops to planning lines for large stores.
The companys growing success shows that what is
true in Mexico will probably be true in the U.S.: lucha
libre sells.

Duarte says the idea of struggle for positive things

is at the center of his business, and lucha libre is the
perfect way to represent this. In terms of trying to
provide a message to people, its yeah, it is a struggle, but you are free to wage that struggle on your
own, because youre free, he said.
Mil Mscaras defeats evil mummies in Missouri,
Duartes business grows and Nacho Libre makes
big money it seems the U.S. is ready to embrace
the sport. But as luchadores shot at fame and fortune
multiply, some worry the mask will become less a
lifestyle and just another prop in the dramatic world
of professional wrestling. Mil Mscaras thinks that
wise luchadores will always recognize the power of
the mask.
As a man I am a husband, a father, and a grandfather. Thats who I am, he said. Mil Mscaras
is superhuman. Sometimes a young luchador is not
satisfied being just a man, so he removes his mask
in public thinking that the man can become superhuman. It doesnt happen. People are people. The mask
in lucha libre represents an ideal that will live forever.

Adelante!