Comments on: La voila! Voila la Carmencita!

La voila! Voila la Carmencita!

naxosaxur — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:10:31 -0800

Carmen, ah! souviens-toi du passé! The 233 [mostly] female cigar rollers (las cigarreras) at Seville's Altadis tobacco factory are urgently trying to defend the last remaining trace of the four-hundred-year-old tobacco industry in Seville, which is certain to cease production by 2007. Responsible for manufacturing six million cigarettes a year for Altadis, las cigarreras claim to be "the rightful heirs of the feisty Gypsy heroine" Carmen, idealized in Georges Bizet's 1875 opera of the same name. "Invoking what they see as Carmen's 'independent, unbending' spirit, these contemporary las cigarreras have organized a protest every Wednesday, between shifts, for more than a year to save well-paying local jobs as well as the factory itself, a link to the gritty history that spawned the romantic legends."

By: Faze

Faze — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 09:06:45 -0800

I hate to sound like Sister Mary Faze, but there's nothing romantic about lung cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and the scores of other chronic diseases caused or exacerbated by smoking. "Carmen" is the greatest of all operas, but don't forget how it ends: with a knife in the chest. Don't let YOUR life end with a surgeon's blade in YOUR chest, kids. Put these cigarette-rolling harpies out of business. Quit smoking today.

By: Sangre Azul

Sangre Azul — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 09:43:27 -0800

"Invoking what they see as Carmen's 'independent, unbending' spirit." I'd say she did quite a bit of bending when Escamillo came into town. I can't consider any of Carmen's spirit these days without first recalling my father leaning over to me during one performance and whispering "Carmen is a whoooore!" Nevermind it's one of our mutual favorite operas; the character really isn't someone you'd want to hold as champion if you're looking to fight for labor/women's rights.

By: Faze

Faze — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 09:48:49 -0800

Sangre Azul -- Your father had it right. And Don Jose is the biggest whuss of all time.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:21:42 -0800

Whoooooore!

By: Rumple

Rumple — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:28:13 -0800

You would think people would pay to watch the cigar rolling as part of a Carmen tour of Seville.

By: wendell

wendell — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:36:44 -0800

Insert Seinfeld reference to Kramer's imported "Cubans" here

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:10:51 -0800

The 233 [mostly] female cigar rollers (las cigarreras) at Seville's Altadis tobacco factory are urgently trying to defend the last remaining trace of the four-hundred-year-old tobacco industry in Seville, which is certain to cease production by 2007. Responsible for manufacturing six million cigarettes a year for Altadis... Is it cigarettes or cigars? I'm thinking cigars, and a little quick math shows that each rolls ~100 per day, which seems high from what I've read about the industry. I'm a Fuente man myself, but I do like Carmen.

By: bingo

bingo — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 14:38:25 -0800

Calling them cigarette-rolling harpies is a bit reductionist. Women in that region don't have a lot of employment options, and it's questionable how much the closing of the factory is related to a decreased demand for tobacco and how much it's related to the company consolidating its assets and updating its technologies.