José Álvaro Osorio Balvín

Thoughts on the Film: The Boy from Medellín by Sergio C. Muñoz

It is not fair to judge a film by all the films that have come before it but the over-saturation of the miserable star biopic is its own cliché. If you detail the elements in that type of film, they are all here. So, I am going to try to overlook and ignore the clichés and pretend like all the pain caused by money, fame and celebrity is truly real.

The first layer of the film, directed by Matthew Heineman, is a struggle between the (young) people of Medellín, Colombia and the government led by Iván Duque. The second layer of the film is the struggle lived by the hero, an immigrant in Miami, José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, who exports the culture of Medellín to the world in an attempt to bring closure to the last representation of the culture, Pablo Escobar. The third layer of the film is the struggle in the hero’s head about his identity as an artist.

I feel like I am a good case study of someone who knows nothing about J Balvin or J Balvin’s music. I have only heard his music in commercials and never has he crossed my social media as anything other than a superstar who happens to be from a country that I love, Colombia. I was so ignorant of this type of reggaeton music that I reached out to Xavier Campos to have him explain it to me. He told me all about the characters and then synthesized it for me with a quote. Xavier said:

“I’ve noticed that many of the Latin Urban artists, reggaeton artists, have power in unity and their fan engagement grows organically with each other via collaborations. It worked like this in hip hop. Like how Dr. Dre brought in Snoop Dogg, DJ Pope of Tres Pesos linked up with J Balvin. and then they collaborated with others like Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam, and Maluma … They saw the benefit of working with each other. They weren’t afraid to share the wealth which led to shared economic, social and cultural power.”

So, with that primer, with a few videos under my belt, and having just watched this film, I am trying to understand what exactly is the identity of this artist. How does Colombia get represented to the world through J Balvin? Id like to just pop down the street in Santa Ana and ask (the mostly Mexican and Chicano) teenagers what they know about Medellín’s culture from this music. The only thing that stands out at the front of my brain is the hook from Corona for The Rhythm of the Night which doesn’t feel at all like Medellín.

I asked the eminent music journalist Ernesto Lechner what he thought about this new sound. I told him that he could frame it with Balvin or with Bad Bunny because both artists are equally foreign to me. Ernesto told me this:

“What makes it so sticky and addictive is three things: The treatment of the beats; the atmospheric soundscapes; the openness in gender fluidity. Those elements combined make it more mysterious, sensitive, even sumptuous. In addition, these artists understand how to use social media and harness the power of fan engagement.”

In the film, a boy is murdered in the protests in Medellín. His name is Dilan Cruz. It becomes a social media post and the lead contemplation for Balvin. The existential question of: To post or not to post. He decides to post:

jbalvin

A post shared by @jbalvin

At the time, his Instagram had 34M followers. As I write this, he has 47M. Upon posting, he gets a visit and a lecture from Scooter Braun. Scooter could be voted the latest greatest villain representing the corporate music scene for his villainous anti-artist behavior against Taylor Swift. In this quick scene, Scooter implores Balvin to understand what is at stake if he decides to get political. As he considers his options, Balvin’s consults with his entourage, including his psychiatrist, his spiritual advisor, his physician, the Mayor of Medellín, DJ Khaled, Jay Z, Will I Am and, of course, his manager, Scooter Braun. At its conclusion, Balvin decides that it would be best to not be outright political but to be the voice for the youth struggling with anxiety, depression and ideation of suicide and offering a minute of silence during his sold out show.

I asked a Colombian in Medéllin what the beef against Balvin was all about. Here is what she told me:

“Lo que está pasando es que las protestas empezaron por la reforma tributaria. El gobierno decidió ponerle impuestos a todo, hasta la sal, el chocolate, el café, todo, eso perjudica a la gente de clase media y pobre. Todos menos los ricos por eso esta la gente en la calle protestando. Y la respuesta a las protestas es la policía y el Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios ((ESMAD) matando a gente durante protestas pacíficas. Llevamos más de 20 muertos. J Balvin nunca ha apoyado al pueblo. Es tibio como le decimos. El no sufre lo que está pasando. El gobierno roba la plata y la gente tiene hambre y ya no tiene nada que perder. Es como una avalancha de malas decisiones. Primero, decidir imponer la reforma tributaria mientras la gente esta aguantando hambre, después un año alargado de pandemia, el porcentaje de desempleo ya creció y precisamente salen a las calles y son atropellados por la policía y el ESMAD. Todos ya entendimos que los que ponen impuestos a los huevos no saben cuanto cuestan los huevos. Hoy el defensor del pueblo está en casa de recreo por el fin de semana. A los ricos no les afectan estas cosas. Los más ricos siempre tienen sus excepciones. El tendero y los dueños/dueñas de PYMES son los que sufren y ya no aguantan más. Al que no le toca está hablando desde su privilegio.”

At the conclusion of the doc, J Balvin hops into his G Wagon Benz with Valentina Ferrer, a bottle blonde Ms Argentina model and contestant, and drives off towards his mansion on the hill. The teenagers of Medellín pointing camera-phones at him as he lowers the tinted windows to take the selfie. I am hopeful that what Xavier said to me could possibly come true: A renewed economic, social and cultural power for the youth of Medellín specifically, and the youth of Colombia generally. Without them having to immigrate to Miami to make it happen.

There was one moment in the film, one line from Balvin, that struck me as the most obvious. He is preparing for the show at the conclusion of the film. His return to the place where he watched concerts as a boy. His homecoming. He calls his producer, DJ Pope, and he tells him to spare no expense on getting artists like Nicky Jam and others to show up at the venue on the day of the show. I imagine that Colombians who are living in this have/have not situation must want for their moneyed heroes to say the same thing to the right person, perhaps the Mayor of Medellín:

A) How much do I have to invest back into the pueblo to make things better?

B) How are we going to manage that investment to make the most impact?

To be fair, I imagine that Balvin doesn’t have that type of money. He seems to just have enough to prop up the personal wellness gurus that surround him. And its the pueblo that props up Balvin. I don’t write that lightly. It probably isn’t fair to Balvin to make him the first rock star that gives more than he takes but that is the doc that I would like to watch. A selfie on Instagram is not the type of currency that allows you to buy bread.

#INTELATIN