The Mexican and Chicano in Hollywood films

The Mexican and Chicano in Hollywood films 1910s-1970s

The Hollywood Formula, 1910s • Hollywood monopolized film production • Used assembly line methods of reproduction • Invented “the formula”—good v. evil and hero v. villain, white v. black (brown) • Ideological vision present: emphasis on individualism, material success, reductionism (issues reduced to black and white), promotion of superiority of WASPs and WASP womenhood.

The First Mexican Depictions • “Greaser films”—early films depicting Mexicans as villains, treacherous, untrustworthy, overly criminal and suspicious, • Gay Caballleros and Gangsters

1930s Protests by Mexicans and Chicanos • Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas and others protest the depictions of Mexicans • Chicanos throughout the Southwest protest through newspapers, etc. • One early example is the 1911 campaign by La Cronica, of Texas

1910s-1940s—The Gay Caballero • Semi-Spanish, sometimes musical, sometimes charming and handsome • Roles usually played by Cesar Romero, Duncan Renaldo and Gilbert Roland • Slightly complex characters, distinct from greasers and redeemable

1930s-1940s—The Dark Ladies • Usually depicted in dark dress, skin • Erratic, illiterate, unpredictable, emotional, overtly sexual

1930s—Gangster Films • Untrustworthy, ugly, oily, crude, overdressed and unromantic

1940s and the Good Neighbor Policy • President Rooselvelt attempted to not offend Latin America in its films and emphasized good relations with Latin American nations to build a war coalition during World War II • Disney films: the Three Caballeros, Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1950s—Social Problem Films • The exposure of social, political and racial issues • Often presented variations on roles and sometimes prominent female roles in films • Lawless, The Ring, Salt of the Earth, Bordertown, Touch of Evil, One-Eyed Jacks

1940s and 1950s “message films” • Consistent with the good neighbor policies • Includes such films as Juarez (1939), Viva Zapata (1952), The Pearl (1949) , Giant (1956) • Westerns appear also with the return of the Greaser characters.

1960s/1970s—The Brown Avenger • Similar to Black superstud movies • Rio Lobo, Valdez is Coming, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia • Clint Eastwood’s “spaghetti Westerns” such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More

1970s—Urban Violence, Gangs and Exploitation Films • Chicanos as gang members, violent, racist, anti-white, immoral, pariahs • Boulevard Nights, Walk Proud, Streets of Los Angeles,

1970s—The Emergence of Chicano Film • Films of Chicano identity, history, values and revisionism • I Am Joaquin , Raices de Sangre, Please Don’t Bury Me Alive (1976), Chicana, Agueda Martinez, Yo Soy Chicano, Requiem 29,

Chicano Films in context • Represent countervisions of history, identity, social reality, resistance and aesthetics • Represent oppositional forms of knowledge about Chicanos • Major creative and production decisions made by Chicanos • Consideration of the function/purpose • De-emphasize biological claims to authenticity-R. Fregoso

The Mexican and Chicano in Hollywood films