I know we’re still a couple of months away from October, but I’m feeling a little spooky today. So I’m going to talk about La Llorona, aka The Weeping Woman, aka The Woman in White.

Let’s get started with her origins. First, while not the most ancient of myths, La Llorona has been showing up in Latin America since the 16th century. Also known as when Spain was on its conquistador bullshit. It may have been something that the Spanish brought with them and kind of got mixed in with the local culture, which isnt all that uncommon with stuff like this.

Like with most folklore, this tale has a few variations. Each variation has the same basic plot, however: a woman drowns her children in a river, and then herself, thus damning herself to wander the earth for eternity looking for them. She is often depicted in a white dress, and constantly weeping, hence the name.

In some versions of the story, La Llorona is tricked by a demon who tells her the only way to get into heaven is to find her kids’ souls and bring them with her. Joke’s on her, though, because her children are already in heaven. So, in her grief, she’s taken to finding and drowning other people’s children. Oh, that’s another thing that’s common in all these tales.

The one that’s more compelling to me, however, is a little more complex. In this one, a girl named Maria marries an extremely wealthy nobleman and bears two sons. The nobleman, however, starts spending less and less time with his family, though, and Maria believes that it’s because she’s getting older. This is confirmed when her husband comes back one day with a younger model.

Maria isn’t too happy about this, and expresses her rage by thowing her sons in the river. She immediately regrets this decision however, and tries to get them back. It’s too late, as the current has already dragged them away.

Her husband returns several days later, and Maria tearfully tells him what she’s done. The husband is, as you can probably imagine, fire pissed at his wife, and tells her not to come back until she finds them. Since that’s basically impossible, she drowns herself in the same river. She’s been wandering about, weeping with grief and looking for her children ever since.

What interests me about this version of the story is its similarities to a Greek mythological figure: Medea. Medea was the wife of Jason, who murders her children after he sets her aside for another woman. 

The story of La Llorona has kind of become one of those tales parents tell their kids to scare them into behaving, i.e., “Don’t stay out too late, or La Llorona will get you.” Besides the kid drowning, though, she’s also an extremely ill omen capable of bringing about horrific death and destruction. The best thing to do if you hear her weeping is to immediately turn and run in the other direction. Which, to be fair, is probably good advice for many dangers.

As one can imagine, La Llorona shows up in vaious films, TV series, and other media. The pilot for the TV series Supernatural, for instance, involves the Woman in White, which is the US version of the tale. Two movies have come out within the past year all about the legend: The Curse of La Llorona (US) and another simply titled La Llorona (Guatemalan). I havent seen either of these two movies, but my understanding is that the first one isn’t very good, not least because they cast a white woman as the Latina protagonist. (Side note: I am aware that white Latin American people exist, but my understanding is that the character in question isn’t supposed to be one of them.)

I’m kind of interested in the Guaemalan film, though. It’s currently on the streaming service Shudder, so I might give it a watch sometime soon.

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