Film from Chile Has Lessons for Americans

The Rochester Labor Council hosted The Maid at the Dryden Theater March 26. The film was produced in Chile, directed by Sebastian Silva. It looks at the plight of domestic workers through the starring character Racquel. Racquel has worked for the same family of university professors for 20 years as a maid, cook and nanny for their four children. The story is set in Santiago, Chile but could just as well have taken place in Los Angeles, Miami or Rochester.

Silva looks into the difficulty of life for domestic workers. They are often isolated from their families. While they, especially those who live with their employers, form bonds, the bonds are less passionate and more easily broken than those between relatives. Often these workers are immigrants forced off their homeland by economic development policies.

The story opens with the family celebrating Racquel's 41st birthday. She feels uncomfortable dining with them, even though she baked the birthday cake herself. But Racquel isn't feeling well. She is having headaches, attempting to relieve them with non-prescription medication. Thinking she is just overworked the family hires another maid to assist her. Racquel's behavior toward the new person is anything but welcoming. The assistant quits, another is hired and Racquel's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre. Unknown to her employers, her physical symptoms are worsening as well. Finally she collapses while serving breakfast and wakes up unable to move her legs. The family takes her to the hospital. Her medical condition is not revealed and the next time we see her she is home in her room resting. The family must hire another maid while she recovers.

There are lessons for Americans in this film and one involves health care. Racquel is very ill but no one recognizes it. She does not seek help until her condition physically disables her, possibly becoming life-threatening. It is not known what type of care was available to her. Chile has a combination public-private health care system much like the Public Option proposed by President Obama. Supposedly no one in Chile will be denied care due to inability to pay; wealthier Chileans can buy additional insurance for more coverage. The World Health Organization in 2009 rated Chile's health care system at number 33, slightly ahead of the USA at number 37.

Another lesson is the way society looks differently at physical versus mental illness. She was able to hide her physical symptoms for some time with medication, but her strange behavior should have been cause for alarm. Instead it was just attributed to personal conflicts and stress.

There are over 200,000 domestic caregivers in New York State alone. They are mostly women, hired as nannies, housekeepers and companions. Working in private homes, they are isolated not only from their own families but from other domestic workers in other homes. They are also removed from many of the legal protections afforded other workers including rules on working conditions and the right to organize. Without them, many of their employers would not be able to participate in the workforce and in society. Yet often the only time their work gets noticed is when it's not done.

In the end Racquel is shown going jogging, having made a full recovery. She is fortunate. Had she been stricken in the United States she would likely be either bankrupt or dead. We need to change that in America. We need to make sure that those who fall ill get proper care for both and mental diseases.
That goes for professors and the people who do their vacuuming as well.