Perdón, señor. Is that supposed to be us?
Ruminating on enemies of the ameriKKKan way of life and reworking a scene from Zoot Suit
Zoot Suit (1981) by Luis Valdez is one of my favorite films. I was fortunate to see it at a young age. It’s influence on me has been vast to say the least. I consider it one of the greatest Chicano films ever made. Maybe the best ever. That it takes its inspiration from real history makes it legendary.
As a young Chicano, seeing the film (on VHS no less!) helped dispel the myths of “America” during a time when I was being bombarded with them. The words and wisdom of El Pachuco still reverberate in my head, even now.
There are times in life when I am El Pachuco and other times when I am Henry Reyna. Hank Reyna. The story and the struggles of the characters are timeless and ever relevant to Chicano life.
There has not been a single moment in my lifetime since seeing the film that I did not have either character on my shoulders as a representation of the influence and dichotomy of Chicano life. Both are omnipresent in the Chicano experience.
The other evening I was trying to remember a quote from the film and I had to watch my copy of it again because there is little media from it online. That is telling but I’ll save that discussion for another day.
The scene in question is when El Pachuco confronts the media about the their role in amplifying the hate against Mexicans and Chicanos and their use of code words to do it.
The dialogue from that scene struck me as wickedly relevant to today — to now; particularly the part where the media man talks about “enemies if the american way of life.”
It may as well have been written today. We, Raza, are living this film…again.
The media of today and the army of right wing influencers and hate bots online have been churning their racist narrative for years now to sew hatred against the immigrant community.
Nearly a year ago now I wrote about how right wing rags were publishing false stories about immigrant crime syndicates that were ridiculously similar to Hollywood movie plotlines.
No, Nino Brown is not taking over Aurora
The hysteria surrounding the alleged Venezuelan gang taking over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado has to be one of the dumbest stories I’ve seen develop this year. I hesitated to even say anything about it until it became so ridiculous I had no choice.
The aftermath of that hate campaign is clearly visible today in the form of literal concentration camps and mass deportations and beatings of La Raza. Everything happening — the mass hatred and the media propaganda — is an echo of the zoot suit riots. It is a repeat of the colonization of Turtle Island.
All of these themes are explored in Zoot Suit and all of them are still relevant in real life.
So, I took the dialogue from that scene and reworked it to fit the context of what’s happening in Los and across the country today, cabrones.
It’s a work in progress for sure but I would love to see this recreated and modernized on the stage.
Maybe one day…
If you know the scene this will make sense. If not, I highly recommend watching Zoot Suit.
[Derogatory right wing media and social media figures enter quickly to vomit story after story about the immigrant crime wave plaguing the country and using the word ILLEGAL. El Pachuco steps in to confront them with hank by his side.]
EL PACHUCO: Why don't you tell them what I really am, ese? Or how you've been forbidden to use the very word.
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: We're complying in the interests of making ameriKKKa great again...
EL PACHUCO: How are you complying?
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: We're using other terms...
EL PACHUCO: Like "illegal" and "alien"?
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: What's wrong with that? The illegal crime wave is even beginning to push the war news off the front page.
EL PACHUCO: The press has distorted the very meaning of the word "immigrant." All it is is another way to say "wetback" without insulting your ally south of the border. But the idea of the original Raza to this land - indigenous, resilient, orgulloso - eternal! Finding a style of urban survival in the rural skirts and outskirts of the Brown metropolis of occupied Los, cabrón.
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: Come on! It's an affront to good taste!
EL PACHUCO: Like the Chicanos and Blacks who support it?
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: It's just as ridiculous when white kids support it.
EL PACHUCO: You mean the kids you call "socialists”?
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: Look sport, be honest; You weren't even wearing clothes when the white man pulled you out of the jungle. If citizenship is what you want do it the right way — the legal way!
EL PACHUCO: Why!
Media-Social Media: Because there's a war going on. What the hell are you trying to prove? You're no better than anyone else in the States. We've got shortages. Patriotic citizens are going without good ameriKKKan jobs.
EL PACHUCO: So…
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: So, what are we fighting for...if not to annihilate the enemies of the ameriKKKan way of life?
EL PACHUCO: Perdón, señor Is that supposed to be us?
[ICE enters stage right - it's a raid. El Pachuco fends them off.]
ICE: There's that spic. Come on! Let's get him!
Let's go!
Yeah, sucker! Come on! We got you now!
Asshole!
EL PACHUCO: I said is that supposed to be us?
Say it. Go on...say it!
MEDIA-SOCIAL MEDIA: Kill the illegal bastards!!
[El Pachuco is beaten, stripped and arrested. Henry falls to his knees in silence as the darkness envelops the stage]
S/C