"Don't Cry for Me Argentina"

Have you ever heard this line? This famous line came from the most popular song of the musical Evita which later became a movie starring Madonna. Evita is about an Argentine leader named Eva Perón [ai-vah pear-own]. Evita [ai-veet-ah] was her nickname. She came from a poor family in a Buenos Aires suburb to become one of the most famous women in the world and without a doubt the most famous Argentine woman ever. Due to her incredible ambition, she rose from the slums as a radio actress and became increasingly famous.

During her rise to fame, she met a military man named Juan Perón [whuan pear-own]. The two eventually got married and Juan became president of Argentina. He and Evita claimed to be fighting for the poor and the working class. This was a welcome idea to them, people who had been ignored by their government and the upper class. Evita was very popular with the poor and had an incredible charisma. Even if you don't understand the words, watch this video and notice the emotion and passion with which Evita spoke.



Evita was popular with the poor because she fought for their rights. She pushed for the government to fix problems that would help the poor. She got the vote for women and established a foundation for helping less-privileged people. However, this meant that she was not as popular with the richer classes. She sought to take away their influence and power to help the poorer classes and, as many say, gain more power for herself. This represents the dispute that has existed since Evita died: some saw her as a saint while others saw her as power hungry. Look at this image from the cover of a book. The title is Santa Evita [sah-ntah ai-veet-ah], which means "Saint Evita" or "Holy Evita."

In the movie Evita appears a song called "Santa Evita" as well. It includes poor children singing to Eva as if she were a saint or a mediator with God. They asked her to help them and "tell heaven that I'm doing my best." This is how some people saw her. Yet during these praises of "holy Evita," Antonio Banderas' character tells Evita to "Turn the blind eye, Evita. Turn the blind eye." This could mean many things, but it seems like a suggestion to her to ignore her shady acts while the children praise her.

The movie and moreso the musical on which the movie is based talk about how Evita saved money raised for the poor for herself, how she tried to silence critics by undemocratic methods, and sought political power over all else. Hollywood and Broadway do a good job in most cases of exaggerating the truth, but the musical and movie are commentaries on how Evita was a controversial figure in Argentina and still is today. Check out the movie and the musical if you have a chance and look for the subtle commentaries that are made on both the good and bad things Evita was involved with. The music has great examples of this.

In any case, Evita is the most famous Argentine woman ever and has left a lasting impact on her country. To understand this, one needs to only see pictures of her funeral. She died of cancer at a very young age: 33. The song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is from the musical/movie when Evita is sick and unable to perform all of her duties with her characteristic energy. She asks her country to not have pity on her, but instead to thank them and to ask them to think of what she has done and become. At the end of the song, she says "I'm Argentina, and always will be." This was true especially for her husband's political career. With Evita died Juan's popularity in Argentina (for the time being; he later became president again). Here are pictures from her funeral procession of Evita in 1952. These pictures represent a country that was truly in mourning for a fallen leader and icon. In the last picture, Juan Perón is the second man from the left, with a hat in his hands and a military uniform on.