El horror del duelo infantil en Veneno para las Hadas, de Carlos Enrique Taboada

Abstract

Through the character of nana Carmen, Veneno para las hadas evokes the wet nurses of the colonial and nineteenth-century eras in Mexico. Although wet nurses were central figures in Mexican social reproduction, their existence was problematized based on racial, class, and gender prejudices. This revolved around the belief that they could physically and mentally contaminate childhood. In the film, Carmen becomes the materialization of these fears through her fascination with witches, figures she articulates as diabolical. By telling stories about these characters to Veronica, an upper-class girl in her charge, the little girl gains a deep admiration for the sorceresses and seeks to become one of them. She lies, manipulates, and engages in satanic rituals to achieve this. Contrary to being pigeonholed as villains, both Carmen and Veronica escape from this framework through their admiration for witches. While through such figures, Carmen affirms an agency commonly denied to the nanas of Mexican cinema and television, Veronica uses them to cope with mourning her parents’ loss.

Keywords

• mexican cinema
• horror cinema
• childhood
• nanas
• witches