Transcript
>> HINOJOSA: With his hit film
The Motorcycle Diaries, he took
us on Che Guevara's epic road
trip across South America.
Since then, he's continued to
take us on unexpected journeys
on the big screen and on the
stage-- playwright and Academy
Award nominated screenwriter
Jose Rivera.
I'm Maria Hinojosa, this is One
On One.
Jose Rivera, you are an
award-winning playwright, but
people probably know you most
because of the fact that you're
the screenwriter for The
Motorcycle Diaries, and let's,
yes, say you were nominated for
an Oscar for that.
Pretty extraordinary.
But when you think about the
fact that you took on writing
about Che Guevara for your first
screenplay that was made into a
movie...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm?
>> HINOJOSA: ...people were
like, "Che Guevara?"
>> RIVERA: I know.
>> HINOJOSA: "I'm not going to
touch it."
>> RIVERA: I know, it's huge.
It's huge.
>> HINOJOSA: Huge.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
I mean, part of the process that
I went through writing it was to
put the legend aside, you know?
You know, because obviously, I
wasn't there when he took that
trip, and I had to find a way
into the film.
Like, what is it that I will
contribute to this movie?
And you know, through
discussions with the director,
we decided, you know, this
should be a coming of age story.
It's a young man who comes from
a sheltered, middle-class home,
who discovers because of the
beauty of the road, he discovers
the inner political animal that
he had.
And that's... you know, I did
that, and everyone does that at
one point in their lives.
>> HINOJOSA: In fact, I wrote
down, I said, you know, you
actually... for anyone who comes
into The Motorcycle Diaries
thinking that they're going to
see Che Guevara-- the one that
they know from the posters and
the t-shirts and the coffee cups
and all that kind of stuff--
actually, you've destroyed that
image...
>> RIVERA: Yeah...
>> HINOJOSA: ...in the sense
that there's just no visual
connection, really.
>> RIVERA: Right, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: It's Gael GarcÌa
Bernal, amazing Mexican actor...
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
We effectively avoided things
that would link that Che to the
later Che.
For instance, in the diary,
there's a scene where he's on
the Amazon, he gets an asthma
attack, and there's a doctor on
board, and the doctor rushes up
to him with a cigar and says,
"Take this, it will help your
asthma."
We didn't use that scene in the
film...
>> HINOJOSA: Oh, my God, because
it was a cigar.
>> RIVERA: ...it would look like that
iconic image, so we didn't
want... we purposely avoided
anything that referenced the
future, because obviously, he
didn't know the future.
>> HINOJOSA: So you spent nine
months thinking about The
Motorcycle Diaries...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...before you even
wrote it.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: But you actually
didn't do the road trip that Che
Guevara did, and when you told
me that, I was like, "How could
you... you're an amazing writer!
How could you write that without
having taken that road trip?"
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
A lot... I mean, it takes a lot
of other kinds of research, but
yeah, I mean, I tried to imagine
it for the most part, and his
own writing is so vivid, you
know?
His writing is so beautiful that
he puts you in that world.
>> HINOJOSA: Because he's a
poet.
>> RIVERA: He is a poet, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: And he kept a diary
while he was on this trip...
>> RIVERA: Yes, absolutely.
And his friend, Granado, he took
that trip obviously, and he kept
his own diary.
So we had both sources to work
from.
>> HINOJOSA: And this trip
really, perhaps more than
anything in Che Guevara's life,
was what formed him as a rev...
I mean, do you think that this
is what formed him as a
revolutionary?
>> RIVERA: I would say it was the
beginning.
His later trip really formed
him, because his later trip, you
know, he was in Guatemala
during... right after the coup;
he ended up in Mexico; he met
his first wife, who was a
Marxist; he met Fidel; he met
Raul; and that was the trip
really changed him.
This trip, the first one, was
really the opening of a door,
but he didn't pass through that
door until the later trip.
>> HINOJOSA: And there's a
moment in the film which is kind
of the crystallizing moment; the
moment at the-- and I feel like
I shouldn't even say the "leper
colony," because that's a
word...
>> RIVERA: It's derogatory.
>> HINOJOSA: ...right, a word of
disrespect.
The colony where people who have
leprosy live...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...and Che--
Ernesto...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...swims across the
river...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...separating those
who have leprosy those who don't
have leprosy, and he gives a
speech on that night.
>> RIVERA: A beautiful speech, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: Do you... when you
were writing, when you were
processing all the information
from Che, did you see that as
the central, kind of, moment?
>> RIVERA: Well, you know, yeah.
In my discussions with the
director, Walter Salles, the
great Brazilian director...
>> HINOJOSA: Amazing director.
>> RIVERA: Wonderful, and a great
colleague...
>> HINOJOSA: And did he call
you?
Did he say...
>> RIVERA: Well, we... yeah.
We met on a blind date,
essentially.
>> HINOJOSA: No!
>> RIVERA: Our agents set it up, and we
met for lunch and we hit it off,
and you know, he was every bit
as wonderful as his film Central
Station, so I knew I wanted to
collaborate with him, but you
know, when we talked about it,
we wanted to find out what is
the climax of our story, just on
very basic, you know,
screenwriting 101, you know,
what is the climax?
And we both decided that was the
climax-- when he made the
decision to swim from the
"healthy side" to the other
side, and...
>> HINOJOSA: To cross the
border, essentially.
>> RIVERA: To cross the border.
To cross an internal border,
cross, you know, all kinds of
psychological borders, and in
the diary itself, he mentions it
in two sentences-- it's not even
a big deal.
>> HINOJOSA: Two sentences?
>> RIVERA: And we made it, obviously,
the central piece of the film.
>> HINOJOSA: So you wrote the
screenplay...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...and then you
give the screenplay to a
director.
You are a director, yourself.
You've directed film, you're a
playwright, and you direct
plays.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: What's it like to
write something like this and
then give it to a director?
>> RIVERA: It's, you know, it's easy in
Walter's case, because you know
he's going to do a beautiful
job.
It's not always so easy.
You know, it's funny-- the thing
I learned from having The
Motorcycle Diaries produced is
that you can be the writer of a
film but not its author; that
the filmmaker is the ultimate
author of a film.
>> HINOJOSA: But is that hard
for you to kind of...
>> RIVERA: It's so hard.
Coming from the theater and
being the author of every,
single word, and... it's
humiliating, in fact.
Obviously, though, it's
humbling.
>> HINOJOSA: So what do you do?
I mean, do you stay out of
the... you were involved, right?
There was a lot of dialogue
being worked out?
You were involved?
>> RIVERA: Yes.
That process... I mean, Walter's
unique because he's tremendously
collaborative, so you know, I
was invited to the rehearsals, I
was invited to the auditions, I
was asked to be on the set.
And that's not typical for a
screenwriting experience, so in
that way, it's a lot more like
theater, you know, the way I
worked with Walter.
And I knew from having seen
Central Station that he will do
a beautiful, magnificent job.
>> HINOJOSA: And it's a
beautiful film.
I mean, actually, one of the
questions that I have-- and I've
watched it several times, and
I'm like, "Are they all actors?"
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
Yeah, not all of them, you know?
Some of them, Walter... the
thing about... well see, because
his background is documentaries,
he likes "accidents" on the
road.
He likes to find that things
were not planned.
>> HINOJOSA: So he might have
found people...
>> RIVERA: Oh, he definitely found
people.
>> HINOJOSA: Because there are
some...
>> RIVERA: A little boy...
>> HINOJOSA: Yeah!
>> RIVERA: ...you know, that guides
them...
>> HINOJOSA: Let's clue our
audience in, for those who
haven't seen.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: So essentially,
you've got a young Che Guevara
and his best friend, Granados,
and they're in Peru now...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...and just seeing
Peru visually on a screen like
that...
>> RIVERA: Yes, beautiful.
>> HINOJOSA: ...you had said you
hope it inspires people to
travel down there.
>> RIVERA: Yes.
>> HINOJOSA: But then all of a
sudden, you start seeing these
people who are so authentic.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: They are indigenous
people.
They are living in Cusco, Peru
at this time.
They're miners.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: So some of these
people were, in fact...
>> RIVERA: Some, yes.
Yeah, the indigenous women that
they meet in the plaza, and
they're sitting around talking,
and...
>> HINOJOSA: And how did they do
that?
Like, did they say, "He"...
>> RIVERA: They improvised it.
They improvised it.
Walter had his camera, the
actors were excited to do it,
they just sat down with the
women...
>> HINOJOSA: But did they say to
the women, "He's playing the
role of Che Guevara"?
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
Yeah, it was all explained that,
you know, "This is a film,
and... but just be yourself,
talk about whatever you want,
and let the conversation develop
organically," and that's exactly
what they did, and there were
several key moments in the film
where Walter did that.
>> HINOJOSA: So you spent some
time in the learning craft of
screenwriting and playwriting.
You spent some time with Gabriel
GarcÌa M·rquez...
>> RIVERA: I did, yes.
Very lucky.
>> HINOJOSA: Wow!
>> RIVERA: Yeah, that was in 1989.
He was allowed to visit the
United States.
You know, he wasn't... he was
banned for a long time.
He got a three-week visa to go
to the Sundance Institute, and
so he taught a three-week
writing workshop with about a
dozen writers from the States,
so I did get to know him.
>> HINOJOSA: That's pretty
special.
>> RIVERA: Yeah, it was.
It was a turning point, you
know?
Because he's...
>> HINOJOSA: Because...
>> RIVERA: Well, he's such a hero of
mine, and I had, you know, as a
playwright, I'd grown up in the
tradition of realism-- Tennessee
Williams, Eugene O'Neill,
Henrick Ibsen, you know?
And then here comes M·rquez with
this entirely new way to tell
story, and it hadn't been done
in the theater very much.
And so I... one of the things I
wanted to do as a playwright was
explore that form in the theater
where it didn't exist.
And so meeting him and working
with him was, you know, one of
the... revolutionary.
>> HINOJOSA: So what's the
greatest secret that you learned
from Gabriel GarcÌa M·rquez that
you can share with us?
>> RIVERA: Well, I'll tell you the
irony.
He would say... if he were here
today, he would say, "Keep it
real."
>> HINOJOSA: Authentic.
>> RIVERA: "Keep it real."
Grounded... every bit of "magic"
in his books is psychologically
grounded.
If you look at them all,
everything is tied to the
emotions of the characters.
The example I always give when I
talk to students is the storm
scene in King Lear.
Shakespeare writes a storm
because Lear is having his
internal storm-- he's going
mad-- and so Shakespeare gives
us the storm in the world.
When "magic" is used in this
world, you know, it's a
reflection of the psychological
truth of the characters.
>> HINOJOSA: Do you feel that
after spending time with Gabriel
GarcÌa M·rquez, that suddenly,
you would look around... did it
make you start seeing the
magical realism that we live
with here in this country?
>> RIVERA: Absolutely, yeah, because
when you really look around,
you'll see it everywhere.
>> HINOJOSA: It's true, right?
>> RIVERA: You know, you see
juxtapositions, you see
dream-like moments, you see
things you never expect.
You know, I was walking through
New York once, and there was a
man selling whips on the street
corner to the commuters.
You know, things like that
happen all the time, and if
you're... you just have to be
alert, you know?
I tell my students at times, you
know, "Be alert," you know,
"really see the world."
>> HINOJOSA: So as a writer...
and we were talking before we
came on set about the fact that
you grew up in Long Island.
You were born in Puerto Rico,
grew up in Long Island.
You've been in L.A., Hollywood,
for...
>> RIVERA: Since 1990.
>> HINOJOSA: So quite a bit of
time.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: And how it is that
you're able to kind of stay true
to your artistic self when you
are in the midst of Hollywood,
you're trying to survive, you
have kids, you have to pay the
bills.
How do you do that?
>> RIVERA: Yeah, it's not easy.
It's a lot of stubbornness goes
into, you know, trying to keep
your vision.
And you know, part of it is
having kids keep you grounded.
You know, my children keep me
real, as they say.
>> HINOJOSA: Yeah, but at the
same time, you've got the
pressure, I'm sure, that
Hollywood... once Motorcycle
Diaries came out, you were
nominated for an Oscar.
You're the first Puerto Rican to
be nominated for an Oscar as a
screenwriter.
I mean, did the calls just
suddenly start...
>> RIVERA: They did, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: They did.
>> RIVERA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: So it really does
happen?
>> RIVERA: Oh, yes.
>> HINOJOSA: Like, the next day?
>> RIVERA: Oh, yes, it was madness.
Actually, in a way it started a
little bit before.
It started after Sundance.
It was such a success at
Sundance.
>> HINOJOSA: And I was at
Sundance that year.
>> RIVERA: Really?
Did you go?
>> HINOJOSA: I couldn't... are
you kidding?
I was reporting at that time for
CNN, so I was live all the time,
but I actually had heard about
the film-- it was the big buzz.
You know, and people think that
somehow, this is all very easy,
but at Sundance, you guys were
kind of hanging by pins and
needles.
>> RIVERA: Oh, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: You didn't know.
>> RIVERA: We didn't know what was going
to happen, uh-uh.
>> HINOJOSA: Your film could
have been rejected and...
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: ...quashed, and...
>> RIVERA: Exactly.
No, but it sold that night, you
know, to Focus, and yeah, the
calls came in.
You know, I did a job for
DreamWorks right afterwards.
I did a job for Sony for Alicia
Keys, you know, so...
>> HINOJOSA: And when you say
you "did a job," what does that
mean?
>> RIVERA: It means that, you know,
these... for instance, Sony and
DreamWorks had books that they
want to turn into films, so they
needed someone to adapt them.
>> HINOJOSA: Oh!
>> RIVERA: And because I had adapted a
book, they figure, "Well, he's
good at that," and so they
called me to do those jobs.
>> HINOJOSA: And so how long
does it take to adapt a book to
a screenplay?
>> RIVERA: Yeah, it depends, you know?
Some books are easier than
others.
I had been adapting On The Road,
the Kerouac novel classic.
And I think I've been working on
that for about three years now,
you know?
Some things are harder.
The... I did The Brief, Wondrous
Life of Oscar Wao, which...
>> HINOJOSA: Which is
another.... just because you
said it kind of quickly and
people are like... The Brief,
Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao
from the Pulitzer Prize-winning
author Junot DÌaz...
>> RIVERA: Right.
>> HINOJOSA: ...about the
Dominican reality-- Dominican
Republic, immigrants...
>> RIVERA: Right.
>> HINOJOSA: Hugely popular
book.
People love that book.
I don't know, but when somebody
gives you a book like that and
says, "Make this into a movie,"
I mean, I would be like...
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
It's... you know, it's become my
craft.
You know, it's the thing that
I've learned to do.
I try to do it as well as I can,
and it's fun.
It's like a big puzzle, you
know?
It's trying to decide what is
cinematic in a novel, and
enhancing that and bringing that
out is the big trick.
>> HINOJOSA: Do you find
yourself... I mean, how do you
get to that place where you
learn to trust, "Okay, this is
the voice, this is the
centerpiece, this is the
through-line"?
>> RIVERA: Yeah, it takes doing, you
know?
I mean, you ask yourself basic
questions: who is this about,
what do they want, and what's
standing in their way?
And when you answer those three
questions, you pretty much cover
a lot of what a movie is.
And you ask yourself...
>> HINOJOSA: Hmm.
Just those three questions.
>> RIVERA: Just... yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: You make it sound
so simple!
>> RIVERA: What is a movie?
You know, you look at
Casablanca, you know?
Who is it about?
It's about Rick.
What does he want?
He's in love with the girl.
What's in his way?
The Nazis, you know?
And it sounds very elementary,
but if you can solve those
problems in a book, you're well
on your way to being able to
make it into a film.
>> HINOJOSA: A lot of people are
enthralled with the creative
process, and you've talked a lot
about this-- the creative
process, the fact that you spend
a lot of time thinking,
researching, and then sometimes
you can sit down, like in
Motorcycle Diaries, and you
wrote it in three weeks.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm, right.
>> HINOJOSA: That's pretty
extraordinary.
>> RIVERA: Yeah, I think that it was the
months of research beforehand,
and...
>> HINOJOSA: Are you taking
notes?
>> RIVERA: Taking notes, making mental
notes, listening to music.
I mean, I was immersed.
You can ask my kids-- they were
going crazy!
>> HINOJOSA: ( laughing ) What
would... what would happen with
your kids?
>> RIVERA: They were just like, "Dad,
are you still listening to the
Che music?" and all of that
stuff.
>> HINOJOSA: What were you
listening to?
>> RIVERA: Well, there's a lot of music
about him, you know?
He's a central character in a
lot of folk songs, and I was
listening to those, I was
listening to music from
obviously Golba and Argentina,
so I was really sort of trying
to get my head into that space.
And you know, I often think of
writing as a form of
self-hypnosis, you know?
You almost go into a trance, and
as it were... when you're
really, you know, working really
well.
>> HINOJOSA: That's hard for
kids.
>> RIVERA: Yeah, yeah, it's hard, but
it's doable.
>> HINOJOSA: Why do you think...
I mean, now, again, every
country that I've been to around
the world-- most recently,
Bangladesh-- somebody wearing a
Che T-shirt.
>> RIVERA: Oh, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: What is it about
Che?
I mean, you spent time with the
young Che.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: What do you think
about the fact that so many
people... and actually, do you
think that people now actually
know what Che really stands for?
>> RIVERA: Stood for, yeah.
I don't believe they do.
I mean, when I see the T-shirt,
I almost immediately think it's
a fashion idea as opposed to a
political idea.
You know, I mean, he... you
know, it's... he stood up to the
United States, basically, as a
Latin American man, saying, you
know, "Latin America-- Chile--
should run the mines in Chile."
You know, "In Argentina they
should be run by the
Argentines," you know, that's
what he said.
He said, "Hands off our country.
Hands off our resources and our
land," to the United States.
Not a very popular message, and
I think around the world that
message still resonates, because
obviously, we're still
everywhere in this country.
So I think that that is that
sense of resistance, you know?
And he took things too far.
I mean, he said, "I would love
to create 100 Vietnams."
You know, that's... that's not
cool, you know?
But that's the man; that's what
he stood for, and I don't think
people really understand this.
>> HINOJOSA: Also, one of the
things I loved in the film is
that he's human...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: ...and he's a
humanist...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: We see that part of
him.
You know, we oftentimes reduce
these people to, "He's a
hardened terrorist."
>> RIVERA: Right.
>> HINOJOSA: But he was, in a
lot of ways, very much a
humanist.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: Right?
>> RIVERA: Well, yeah.
I mean, one of his best-known
quotes is that, you know, "A
true revolutionary is guided by
feelings of love."
>> HINOJOSA: Yeah, I had
forgotten that quote until just
now.
>> RIVERA: It would have to, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: Wow, that's a
beautiful quote.
>> RIVERA: You know, if you're fighting
for la gente, if you're fighting
for rights, if you're fighting
for land and redistribution of
wealth, you are fighting for,
you know, the affection to the
people.
And I think... and they... you
know, a lot of people are very
cynical about Che, but I do
believe from all the research
I've done that he sincerely
believes that.
He was an idealist to the end
and was willing to die for it
and did die for it at a very
young age.
He was 39 when he was killed.
So you know, I take him at his
word, and I do believe that's
what he stood for.
His means may not have been my
means, you know?
There's that iconic moment in
his later life when, you know,
he was in battle and he had the
choice between picking up the
ammunition and picking up the
medicine-- he picked up the
ammunition, because he decided,
"I'm a warrior from this point
on."
You know, I might have not made
that choice, but he did and you
know, and now history will tell
us.
>> HINOJOSA: So you're growing
up on Long Island in the 19...
>> RIVERA: 1960s-1970s.
>> HINOJOSA: 1960s, okay.
And you didn't have a lot of
means at that time.
Your dad was a cab driver.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: And you didn't have
television, but that meant that
you spent a lot of time with
your extended family from Puerto
Rico being new migrants to Long
Island, New York, and there was
a tremendous amount of family
time that was spent around the
kitchen table telling stories?
>> RIVERA: Yes, when we... when my
grandparents came to stay with
us.
And there was that one year when
our... this is one... I kid and
say sometimes there are good
things about being poor-- when
our TV broke down, we couldn't
fix it, so there was about a
year or so when we had no
television, and that's what we'd
do is sat around and talked.
And you know, my mom is a
brilliant storyteller-- probably
the best I've ever met.
>> HINOJOSA: An actress, as
well?
>> RIVERA: My mom?
Oh, no, no, no.
>> HINOJOSA: But you know... but
in the sense that, I mean, isn't
storytelling part of, you know,
recre...
>> RIVERA: Yes, there is definitely
performance to it, yeah.
And she can tell her stories and
entertain people for hours and
hours.
>> HINOJOSA: So when you talk to
a young... let's say young
Latinos, and they're thinking,
"I don't got nothing here,"
you're saying to them, "If you
just think about the stories of
your own lives, maybe it's
there"?
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah.
Absolutely, I mean, everybody
has, you know, a trilogy of
novels in their life.
I mean, everyone's gotten deep
and amazing stories.
You know, the trick is to access
them, to find them and be able
to bring them out.
You know, I mean, one of the
things that I do often is that I
go to schools, you know, and I
try to meet young Latino writers
and actors and say, "Look, it's
doable; it can happen," you
know?
>> HINOJOSA: It's hard.
>> RIVERA: It's hard and there are a lot
of obstacles, but like anything
worthwhile in life, you know,
you're going to have to fight
for it.
So you know, but it's worth it.
You know, I've been so many
places, I've traveled so many
great destinations and met such
amazing people because of the
arts, you know, and because of
film, and I wouldn't trade this
life for anything.
>> HINOJOSA: You made a movie
that I happened to think was
really extraordinary.
It may have had a few faults
here and there, but I thought
that the movie Trade was
amazing.
It's a movie that deals with the
drama of human trafficking in a
way that has made it... that
made it so real.
>> RIVERA: Hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: What made you... I
mean, how did that one come
about?
Because that issue...
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: ...is such a secret
issue, so undercover, even as a
journalist I'm afraid to try to
go into the topic of human
trafficking.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
It... and I knew very little
before going into the process.
I mean, yeah, there was a very
well-known film director, Roland
Emmerich, was funding films that
were smaller, more
issue-oriented than his normal
work, and this was a film he
wanted to really, seriously
wanted to do about, you know,
sex slavery.
And I was just right after the
successes of The Motorcycle
Diaries asked to write this
film.
And you know, I went to Mexico
to do research and talked to
girls, and...
>> HINOJOSA: You met some young
girls who had been trafficked as
sex slaves in Mexico.
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
Some... I mean, there was a 12
year old girl...
>> HINOJOSA: Oh, my God.
>> RIVERA: ...who had done it since the
age of nine.
>> HINOJOSA: And she had been
kidnapped...
>> RIVERA: She had been sold.
>> HINOJOSA: Sold.
>> RIVERA: From... by family.
>> HINOJOSA: There are some
scenes in the movie Trade that I
don't know that I will soon
forget, even though I'd like to
forget them, because you know,
you just revealed what's
happening with these young women
and how they're treated like
meat.
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm, yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: I mean, literally,
they're auctioned off and... and
these are young girls who have
normal lives, and suddenly
they're... what?
Is it that they're kidnapped?
They're tricked into it?
>> RIVERA: Sometimes, yeah.
Sometimes it's kidnapping,
sometimes they're sold by their
family, sometimes they're
orphans or they're discarded,
you know?
They're taken by force, they're
drugged so they can't run away.
One of the reasons it's
international is that they'll
take girls from Thailand and
they'll go to Egypt or they'll
go... they'll go to places where
they can't speak the language,
and that's part of the technique
of controlling them, you know?
So even if they run away,
they're in a culture they have
no connection to.
>> HINOJOSA: And then no one
believes them is the other thing
that comes up in the movie
Trade...
>> RIVERA: It's horrible.
>> HINOJOSA: ...is that these
people want help, and they're
saying, "I've been kidnapped,"
and the officials are like,
"Hmm."
>> RIVERA: Yeah.
>> HINOJOSA: Let's talk for the
last few minutes about what it
is like now to be a Latino in
Hollywood...
>> RIVERA: Mm-hmm.
>> HINOJOSA: You know, you...
it's not like you came to
Hollywood saying, "I'm a Latino
screenwriter/playwright," you
know, but how is it... does
it... for you now?
Is it difficult?
Is it more open?
Is there a continuing
stereotype?
>> RIVERA: Well, it is... I mean, I've
been there now, as you know,
since 1990, and it has gotten
better.
It was not so good for a long
time.
I think the last few years with
the success of Y Tu Mam· TambiÈn
and these great Mexican
directors-- you know, CuarÛn and
all those great guys-- I think
it's helped a great deal, and I
think the prospect of movies in
Spanish, for instance, is much
more accepted now than ever.
So you know, it's never been
easy, it never will be easy, but
it is easier than it used to be.
>> HINOJOSA: And for example,
when you wrote Motorcycle
Diaries, were you thinking
about writing that for an
American audience?
>> RIVERA: Well, you know, the early on
the decision was made to have
the film be presented in
Spanish, so we were, you know--
at least I was-- thinking
internationally.
I mean, I had no idea how it
would do in the States, but my
feeling was, you know, Che was
an international figure, and
that this film would hopefully
be seen everywhere around the
world, and it has been.
>> HINOJOSA: So when you find
these young Latinos who want to
write plays-- which is your
first love and what you'd love
to be doing if you could only
make enough money to survive
doing that-- but what do you say
to them about tapping into that
central voice of theirs so that
they can, in fact, become a
budding screenwriter or a
budding playwright?
>> RIVERA: Well, that's the hardest
thing, you know?
Many writers-- young writers--
they go through a phase where
they imitate their heroes.
"I want to be like Sam Shepard,"
or "I want to be like"...
>> HINOJOSA: "I want to be like
Jose Rivera!"
>> RIVERA: ( laughing ) "I want to be
like Lorca," you know?
That's what they do, and then...
but the process has to...
something has to happen in that
process where you destroy your
hero-- you have to kill your
hero in order to find your
voice, and that's the hardest
part.
But I tell young writers, "Your
voice is there," you know, "you
think with it every, single day.
You dream with it every, single
night, and what you have to
learn to do is listen to your
voice and stop listening to the
voices of your heroes who you
want to copy."
Because eventually, you can't go
anywhere with that.
You know, it's a good way to
learn your craft, but when
you're really finding that
authentic self and bringing it
out, that's when you become a
writer.
>> HINOJOSA: So what's next for
you, Jose Rivera, in the scheme
of things?
>> RIVERA: I'm doing another film with
Walter Salles.
You know, a film for... called
American Rust, based on a new
novel, and I'm writing a novel
myself-- I'm writing my first
novel.
>> HINOJOSA: Wow!
Congratulations!
>> RIVERA: So yeah, I've been at it for
four years now.
It's getting close to being
finished.
>> HINOJOSA: Great.
>> RIVERA: Yeah, so not bad.
>> HINOJOSA: Thank you so much
for all of the work that you do,
Jose Rivera, and for opening up
our minds and our eyes to the
world through your eyes.
We really appreciate it.
>> RIVERA: Well, thank you so much.
>> HINOJOSA: And thanks for
being with us.
>> RIVERA: It's been a pleasure.
Continue the conversation at
wgbh.org/oneonone.
Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH
access.wgbh.org
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