1. How do the two brothers, Federico (“Sombra”) and Tomás change or evolve during the course of their road trip? What things do they learn?In what ways do they stay the same?

1. How is the student protest movement portrayed inGüeros? What weaknesses and/or strengths are evident in the movementas it is presented in the film.

1. Whenever a character puts onheadphones to listen to the music of Epigmenio Cruz, the soundtrack goes silent and, the audience never actually hears what’s on the tape. Why do you think the director chose to do this? What do you think these scenes say about the importance (or lack thereof) of Cruz’s music to the characters.

1. What happens when the characters finally encounterEpigmenioCruz? How would you interpret this scene?
2. Why do you think the film is calledGüeros? Do you think the term is used in a derogatory or in an endearing manner (or perhaps both) in the film?

and short peer review on this one:

At the beginning of this film, Fede and Tomas shared an interesting relationship. I was very confused and stuck between them liking each other and them disliking each other. As the film went on, the relationship these two shared continue to grow. It was almost as if they didn’t trust each other when Tomas first showed up, but now they do. Fede defends Tomas in any way that he can, whether it be from people making talking about his skin color or having Mr. Cruz disrespect him. I think they also have this sense of knowledge for their age gaps as well. Fede is older and is writing a thesis for college and Tomas doesn’t understand any part of that. In a way their relationship has grown, but the fact that Fede is the “father figure” stays the same.

2. The student protest is shown as a violent situation. To me, this has to be one of the biggest weaknesses throughout the film. I say this because there are many ways to go about a protest that don’t involve fighting or hurting one another, but this is the route they choose to go. An example of the violence I am talking about could be when Ana was giving her speech up on stage and some man from the audience was not happy with what she was saying. Fede felt as if he needed to step in and say something, but he just made it even worse and as soon as he left the room, things went south and the whole room began to fight one another. One strength that I saw was that so many people cared about what was going on. Sure, they were protesting but people of all ages came together to try and make a difference and help out the college. Others might think different, but I see coming together as one as a strength rather than a low.

3. At first whenever the characters would put the headphones on and the film would go silent, I thought it was quite weird and confusing. As the film went on, I really began to focus on each person’s facial expression from the second they put the headphones on to the time they took them off. They seemed very focused and in connection with the music of Mr. Cruz. I think this is the reason that the director silenced the film during these scenes. To me, it seems as if he wanted you to realize that Mr. Cruz had made such an impact on these brothers. I don’t know about anybody else, but it caught my attention and even drew in some emotions that I didn’t know would come out from watching this film.

4. When the four main characters finally reached Epigmenio, Tomas went silent. I believe the reason he did this was because he was nervous to talk to and interrupt his breakfast. After Tomas introduced himself and explained why he encountered Mr. Cruz, he got blown off. What I mean by this is that Epigmenio gave Tomas the silent treatment and shoved his record on the ground. Fede was not happy about this and basically told Epigmenio that he was not a nice person and when he was done giving his little speech, it seemed as if Cruz had died. The four characters decided he wasn’t worth their time and left the cafe.

5. I believe that this meaning of this film is used in a derogatory way. Many people make fun of Tomas in a way saying “you weren’t cooked long enough” or “who’s the guero in the back” and so on. To me, it seems that these people are trying to get under his skin and make him feel less than them. In reality, Tomas is the bigger person because he does not once comment back about his skin color nor does he try and get into a fight about it. I did not notice one time in this film where someone used the term “guero” in a positive way, and with that being said, I don’t believe it was used in an endearing manner.