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Latin American countries – particularly those with large indigenous popula- tions – hold a special place within Mormon thought owing to the belief that the inhabitants of these countries descend from the peoples of the Book of Mormon. Most Mormons view Lamanite identity as an honor, but white North American adherents of the faith also signal the descendants of the Book of Mor- mon as Other. This quintessentially (white, North American) Mormon approach to Mexican and Mexican-American identity lies at the heart of Hess’s cinema. Characters like Pedro and Nacho certainly affirm the humanity of Mexican sub- jects to a greater degree than do their counterparts in Hollywood. Neverthe- less, these films’ comedic representations of Mexican peoples and cultures create a clear division between North American and Mexican cultures. The fact that Hess’s cinema highlights cultural and linguistic distinctions between white America and Mexico does not make him unique. What distinguishes his work is the way that he so effectively posits white (particularly Mormon) and Mexi- can subjects as both brothers/sisters and Others. This interracial and interethnic union, predicated as it is on division, both highlights his religious referent and creates fertile ground for excellent comedy. BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, James B., 1998, The Rise and Decline of the LDS Indian Student Placement Program, 1947– 1996, in: Bitton, Davis (ed.), Mormons, Scripture, and the Ancient World: Studies in Honor of John L. Sorenson, Provo: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 85–119. Allen, Richard J, 2013, Beginning, Middle, End of an Era: Has Technology Trumped Aristotle?, Journal of Film and Video 65, 1–2, 9–22. Barberena, Laura, 2009, Mexican Wrestlers and the Portrayal of Politics in the Arena, in: Brummet, Barry (ed.), Sporting Rhetoric: Performance, Games, and Politics, New York: Peter Lang, 157– 172. Bonfil Batalla, Guillermo, 1987, México profundo: Una civilización negada, Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública, Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social. Buchbinder, David, 2008, Enter the Schlemiel: The Emergence of Inadequate or Incompetent Mas- culinities in Recent Film and Television, Canadian Review of American Studies 38, 2, 227–245. Campbell, Joseph, 1973 [1949], The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3rd ed. Criollo, Raúl / Nava, José Xavier / Aviña, Rafael, 2011, ¡Quiero ver sangre!, Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Dalton, David S., 2018, Mestizo Modernity: Race, Technology, and the Body in Postrevolutionary Mexico, Gainesville: University of Florida Press. Domingos do Amaral, Carlos Cesar, 2016, Luta livre nos filmes: Conepção, similaridade e justiça, Blucher Social Sciences Proceedings, 2, 4, 281–292. John-Charles Duffy, 2008, The Use of “Lamanite” in Official LDS Discourse, Journal of Mormon His- tory 34, 1, 118–167. Fowler, Lilly, 2016, Why Several Native Americans Are Suing the Mormon Church, The Atlantic, 23 October 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/why-some-native-ameri- cans-are-suing-the-mormon-church/504944/ [accessed 10 August 2018]. 162 | David S. Dalton www.jrfm.eu 2019, 5/2, 141–165