Please write a one-page commentary on the films we saw for Units 5 and 6, in which you
address the development of a resistance cinema [films and documentaries] by Chicanos and
Puerto Ricans since the 1970s. Please use also the readings assigned for these units.
Date: Thu, Dec 3, 1998 (20:43)
From: Shakira Ramos (sramos)
In the article "Ya Basta con Yankee Imperialist Documentaries!," Cine-Aztlan
writes, "Cinema as a medium continues to close its lenses to the social and the
political realties of La Raza. Now we are entering a class struggle against "yankee
imperialism" and its puppet ruling oligarchies in America del Sur in which the film
medium will play a crucial role" (275). The quotation shows how Latinos are tired of
the distorted images of bandidos, drug addicts, gang members, prostitutes, spitfires, and
Latin Lovers, and how it is time for Latinos to resist to these negative representations
and teach others the reality. It is not till the 1960s and 70s that Latinos gained access
to the means of self-representation in film
and television. The three Latino groups which had great impact in this new mean of
resistance are the Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and Cubans. The resistance represented the
Latino struggle for identity and to display the horrible conditions that Latinos faced due
to Hollywood's distorted images.
The Chicano cinema became "an
expression of the Chicano civil rights movement" (Noriega 3). Francisco Camplis in
the article "Towards the Development of Raza Cinema" writes, "Chicano
represents the need for people of Mexican descent to come to grips with the elemental fact
of their identity" (286). These struggle for identity is seen in Valdez's Los
Vendidos, Zoot Suit, and La Bamba. Luis Valdez played an important role in
the social movement by founding El Teatro Campesino "in order to rally striking
farmworkers, developing collaborative agitprop actos that were performed on the flatbed of
trucks" (Noriega 5). Los Vendidos: The Sellouts (1972) is a great example of
how Valdez uses Chicano cinema as self-representation. The film begins with images of
skeletons, important historical figures, pyramids, Mayan, a mayan calendar and other
important images that would be part of Mexican history and culture. The play shows all the
different roles Mexican would be associated with like the greaser, Pachuco, "Pato
Loco", Zoot Suiter and revolutionary men. A Pachuco is described as violent, one that
swears, bilingual and recognized for its low rider. Pachuco was a derogative name for the
young Chicanos. The "Pato Loco" is a gang member who steals and is associated
with drugs and the Zoot Suiter becomes the scapegoat for U.S's problems and would die self
supporting himself. The lady wanted to buy a Mexican-American which was an Anglo model but
with dark complexion, one who is ambitious, intelligent, clean, and bilingual. As seen in
this play, the only Mexican the Anglo wanted to associate with was with one like Eric and
not the other Mexicans.
The film Zoot Suit(1982) also deals with the internal conflict of identity. The two
main character are Henry Reyna and The Pachuco, who represent an aspect of Reyna's
personality. In this film the Pachuco is in charge by controlling the pace of the film by
snapping his fingers to change scenes. In a Hollywood film, The Pachuco would never have
this control because it would be the Anglo who would have all the power. Barrera writes,
"It's obviously Henry's struggle with himself...the Pachuco is also goading Henry
into a greater level of self-consciousness... At the same time that he represents those
real-life Pachucos, he represents the essence of what Pachuquismo is all about, which is
this struggle for identity" (235). The Pachuco not only represents the 1950s Chicano
identity but he also is connected with the Aztec culture which is an important part in a
Mexican identity. After undressing El Pachuco of the American culture he is only left with
an Aztec attire. This indicates that after removing all the accessories which Chicanos can
wear in order to try to assimilate to American culture, they are left with their native
culture. Barrera writes, "El Pachuco is thus a symbol of our identity, out total
identity, with ancient roots"(236). Both Los Vendidos and Zoot Suit
reflects Chicano's struggle an it shows Anglos more about Chicano theater and art which
would have not been represented in Hollywood. Valdez's La
Bamba(1987) is also an example of resistance because it is a movie which follows a
Hollywood model but contains elements of cultural resistance. Some of the factors which
makes it a cultural resistance is the role of the curandero which allows Richie to return
to his roots, and the role of bilingualism which allows for Richie to communicate with
both Anglos and Chicanos. It also has a different representation of the women because in
the movie Richie's mother and Rosie are seen as hard working women which opposes the image
of the lazy female. Bob, Richie's brother, also plays an important role in being a
defender of the native culture.
Another form of art which was used to represent resistance was through music. In Ballad
of Gregorio Cortez (1982) the role of the "corrido" or ballad is essential.
Carl Gutierrez-Jones in the article "Legislating Languages..." writes, "the
Spanish romance, set the stage for the ballad as a cultural form that could engage
political issues by modifying a tradition of public dialogue... By 1901 the corrido
tradition was firmly established... for cultural tradition singing the praises of a hero
faced with a conflict of rights" (196). It is through the corrido in which the
Mexicans have the power to express their story; therefore, the corrido becomes the Chicano
narrative. The problem presented in this film is that of translation between Mexican and
Anglo-Texan. The corrido challenges the problem of translation "by creating their own
legitimating processes" (Guttierrez-Jones 200). The corrido also frames the film,
because the film begins and ends with a corrido which narrates the story.
Like Chicanos, Puerto Ricans wanted to defend their identity and human rights. Lillian
Jimenez in the article "From the Margin to the Center: Puerto Rican Cinema in New
York" writes how Puerto Ricans want "to expose the terrible conditions under
which Puerto Ricans of this generation had been raised; challenge the assumption under
which these conditions thrived; and re-create the institutions and society that had
engendered them... Puerto Rican took up the struggle to discover their history and to
expose, challenge and change their reality, and images were key in this life and death
struggle" (188-9). Documentaries like Manos A La Obra and La Operacion
show the conditions in which Puerto Ricans were raised and allows for other Puerto Ricans
to learn more about their history. The documentary Manos A La Obra tells how the
Operation Bootstrap affected the Puerto Ricans. When Operation Bootstrap is talked about
the United States makes it seem as if they were doing Puerto Rico a favor and helping the
people improve their living condition. The documentary first narrates the history and the
conditions and then show that Puerto Ricans were faced with discrimination and received
low housing, low paid and bad working conditions in the United States due to the Operation
Bootstrap. Ana Maria Garcia in the documentary La Operacion deals with the issue of
reproduction, population control and women in Puerto Rico. This is a political documentary
which is shown to teach others of the U.S. oppression in Puerto Rico. La Operacion
represents the problem of sterilization of women in Puerto Rico due to economic
development program. The Puerto Rican women were taken advantage by the U.S government
because many did not know what was good for them at that time. They did not know exactly
what the surgery was all about. In the 1950's contraceptive pills were tested on the women
living in poor housing. Due to all the testing 1/3 of the Puerto Rican women are
sterilized.
The new Raza cinema allowed for Latinos to create a new mean of self representation. This
cinema resisted all the negative stereotypes of Latinos which were created by Hollywood.
This period allowed more Chicanos and Puerto Ricans to have some control of the media.
