Poverty
The movie portrays the struggle with poverty and lack of opportunities. Gloria is desperate for money, not only to maintain her family, but also for herself, her addiction to anti-depressants. Being a housewife without much experience she finds it difficult to find opportunities to make money, managing to only work as a cleaning lady which doesn’t pay that well. The poverty is further amplified with her less than competent husband who dreams of the glories of his past and making very little as a taxi driver.
Abuse
Abuse is predominantly shown through Antonio, who mentally abuses Gloria through openly declaring his obsession with another woman. This is further amplified through the final scene between the two when he asks Gloria to iron his shirt that he will wear to meet Ingrid. There is also a mother-daughter for of abuse in the case of Gloria’s neighbors. The mother threatens to physically harm her daughter under the excuse of her past and how she also went through abuse.
Misogyny
The theme of misogyny is prevalent in the movie. Antonio is not only abusive towards Gloria, but is also threatened with her providing for the family with her job as a cleaning lady, arguing that it is not befitting for a woman to leave the house. The final scene with Gloria’s younger son returning home is also an example of deep-rooted misogyny with his argument that he returned to be a man of the house in his father’s stead.
Feminism
In order to lift-up the women in the movie, the male characters are brought down in the form of their intellect, compassion and sexual performance. The policemen who investigate Antonio’s death are unable to find the true cause, a male character that comes as Gloria’s sexual fantasy is unable to perform sexually, and her husband is shown as the worst case of misogynist. The movie portrays feminism through a woman’s extreme suffering and humiliation, because that is apparently the only way for her to find herself.
