The Use of Theatre in Mexican-American Culture Essay Example for Free

The Use of Theatre in Mexican-American Culture EssayLatinos are soon the largest minority aggroup in the United States, and Mexican-Americans are the largest group within the Latino world. It may be unfathomable for the younger generations to think of the Mexican population in the United States as a silent minority group however, it was not until after World War II that we see a exclude in Chicano nationality and individuation element movements. What was the role of the theatre in this discoin truth of identity, and how did the theatre give tender voice to this formerly unheard group?The clearest answer to this marvel can be found through the Teatro Chicano movement, Luis Valdezs character El Pachuco in Zoot Suit and the action art pieces and writings of Luis Alfaro. The name El Teatro Chicano is truly a blanket edge used to describe an entire theatrical movement by the Mexican-American population in the United States. Established in 1965, Luis Valdezs El Teatro Cam pesino (literally, Farmworkers Theatre) was the most famous of the Chicano Theatres however it was hardly the only participant within the movement.In 1971 there were over 25 groups that defined themselves as Chicano Theatres (Huerta 15). The elemental guidelines of El Teatro Chicano were simply to be a society- bagfuld movement committed to exposing social issues and injustices within the barrios, or hyper-segregated Mexican neighborhoods. The mission of Teatro Chicano was based on the understanding of the patrimonial Mayan concept of In Lakech, which states you are my another(prenominal) me, so I must respect you as I do myself. The foundation of Teatro Chicano not only traced acantha to the Native American ancestors of the Mexican-American community, only if it also sought to use this ancestry to restore a sense of identity and to encourage Mexicans in the United States to keep open onto their roots (Huerta 16). Un resembling other theatre and social lurch movements, El T eatro Chicano was not really interested in injustice as a whole, but instead injustice from the vantage point of the Mexican-American.The specificity of the movement also helped to distinguish the Mexican identity from a full general marginalized group identified by the blanked term of Hispanic or Latino to a unique faction with a personalized perspective (Huerta 15). There has been little research done on teatros other than Teatro Campesino, most likely collectible to the fact that El Teatro Chicano was not a very organized or professional movement. Pieces were often performed outdoors, on street corners or in other high traffic areas.Little concern was given to production quality because the content of the message was the primary focus (Kanellos 65). Valdez felt there was a want for more unity and communication between participants as well as a need for more training of Chicano performers in El Teatro Chicano, so in the summer 1971 he held the first meeting of El Teatro Naciona l de Aztlan, or TENAZ. The workshop was considered a success, and 15 participants were taught different Teatro techniques and swapped ideas for topics and themes for new performance art pieces (Huerto 14).Ironically Valdez, the founder of TENAZ, was eventually excluded from the workshop because he was criticized for creating works that were too spiritual and that avoided the real issues of poverty, employment and discrimination (Elam 116 117). The fundamental performance apply by El Teatro Chicano was the acto, a term coined by Luis Valdez. Actos are performance are pieces that are used to inspire the audience to social action and devote emphasis on the social vision (Broyles-Gonzalez 25).While they were usually scripted, they were never actually written d let and performers often took a lot of artistic liberty with the pieces (Broyles-Gonzalez 22). The actos performed by various Teatros Chicanos often faced serious opposition, even by members of the Mexican community. In an eff ort to remain true to reality the actos often contained radical profanity, coarse subject matters and graphic violence.It was not uncommon for Teatro Chicano performers to be thrown out of venues because of the vulgarity of the actos, so performers constantly struggled between the choice of softening the pieces for the pursuit of the audience or remaining true their perception of the social reality (Huerta 17). Though it may have lacked in unity and professionalism, the El Teatro Chicano helped to instill superbia in the Mexican identity and spur discussion of injustice and social action. In his essay Concerning Teatro Chicano, J. A.Huearta states Teatros are converting Chicanos who used to be ashamed of their heritage teatros are bringing socio-political realities to the people in a way they cannot ignore teatros are educating people (Huerta 18). During his work with El Teatro Campesino, Luis Valdez was commissioned to write Zoot Suit by the check into Taper Forum in Los Angele s. The play would tell the narration of the racially biased trials of the Sleepy Lagoon Murders, where seventeen pachucos, Mexican gang members, were convicted of first-degree murder, and the Zoot Suit Riots that ensued due to the verdict (Jacobs 27).Through much opposition from the Anglo-dominated theatre world, the play debuted at the Taper, made its way to Broadway in 1979 and was later made into a film in 1981. Much of the opposition to the play was due to the unwillingness to change the character of El Pachuco, the prototype of the 1940s Mexican gangster and Valdezs personification of the Chicano identity (Kanellos 97). In an interview soon after the release of the film Zoot Suit Valdez commented on the character of El Pachuco He is the rebel. The recalcitrant rebel who refuses to give in, who refuses to bend, refuses to go for that he is wrong. He is incorrigible.And the way that the Pachuco appears in the film and in the play makes a very strong statement. The stance is alm ost ideological, even cultural its mythical. They know then, the Anglo criticsthat what this figure represents is a self-determined identity it comes from its own base. Thats been my argument all along through my work that we have our own fundamental base from which to work (Kanellos 98). To Valdez, the idea of the Pachuco was not to glorify the lifestyle of the 1940s gangster (which many accused him of doing), but sooner find an archetype within whom the Mexican-American community could find their identity.The pachuco refused to assimilate to the dominant white culture, and while he may inhabit some extreme character flaws, Valdez finds his struggle for identity worthy of annunciate (Kanellos 101). Valdez also argues that he presents both good and bad sides to El Pachuco, as to not present him as a villain or hero, but rather and abstract person who acts as a sort of internal authority for the Mexican-American (Kanellos 98). The pachuco is clearly seen as the symbol of Chicano ide ntity in the second act of Zoot Suit.El Pachuco stands before the court and is stripped of his zoot suit, the representation of his new identity, and is reduced to nothing but a loin cloth, the representation of his ancestral Native-American identity (Valdez Act II, impression 6). Despite the persecution, El Pachuco still refuses to give into the dominant culture. It is clear that Valdez sought to instill ideas of pride and heritage within the Chicano community through his character of El Pachuco, but his plight did not go unopposed, even by members of his own racial community.Along with the disdain held for the lifestyle of the pachuco, Valdez was also criticized for marginalizing women through the machisimo or manly domination of his plays (Jacobs 28). In Zoot Suit and other Valdez plays womens roles were restricted to four characters mother, grandmother, sister and love interest. Women also strictly fell into the category of good adult female or bad woman and never had the cha racter complexity or struggle like that of El Pachuco (Broyles-Gonzalez).In her article Elizabeth Jacobs writes Valdez promotes an exclusively male adjustment of events and a perspective reflecting the essentializing tendencies of movement ideology which dichotomized a monolithic male Chicano identity in response to Anglo-American domination (Jacobs 29). It seems that though Valdez was attempting to fight the dominant group by creating a sense of identity for the Chicanos, he arguably did so by marginalizing another minority group.To this upbraiding Valdez has been cited as saying, Anytime that a new identity is created, it emerges as a power that is raw, terrible and disgusting to some, and glorious to others (Kanellos 99). A more recent example of the use of theatre to spur social change for the Mexican-American community can be found in the performance art pieces of Luis Alfaro. As seems to be a common thread linking Chicano theatre, Alfaros pieces have the disposal to disturb audiences with their subject matter and/or physical performance, but do not seem to be quite as offensive as the actos performed by El Teatro Chicano members.Through his writings Alfaro advocates throwing ones identity in the face of others, making oneself fabulous, daring to tell the truth, to tell ones own story (Bonney 296). In his piece entitled Abuelita Alfaro speaks from the perspective of a ten year old boy with an extreme disdain for his Abuelita (grandmother). As the piece continues it becomes rather obvious that Abuelita stands as a symbol for old Mexican heritage and tradition. He shows a bloody finger and tells of a time when his Abuelita stuck it in her noting that I was the only way that Abuelita knows how to stop the bleeding (Bonney 298).He later shows a bloody finger on his other hand and tells how other Latinos are shitless to touch his wound, alluding to the idea that they are afraid he is infected with HIV because hes gay. He ends the piece by how he wishes for Abuelita in these measure of plaguelosssorrowmourningand shame (Bonney 298 299). This comparison between the Abuelita, or the Mexican culture and heritage of old, who embraces him even if the manner seems simplistic and double-dyed(a) and the modernLatino community who rejects his wounds serves as a more subtle call to the Mexican community to embrace one another as their ancestors did (much like the afore mentioned Mayan concept of In Lakech). In another performance peace entitled Mu Mu Approaches, Alfaro consumes an entire box of Twinkies while a voice over tells a story of the rejection of Mu Mu, another woman who seems to stand for Mexican heritage and culture. (Bonney 299 300). Both the words of Alfaros piece and the gluttonous consumption of an entire box of Twinkies, a very American food, convey the dangers of over assimilation and neglect of ones heritage.While Alfaros theatrical pieces definitely contribute to the establishment of a Chicano identity, he does not fall d irectly in line with the movement of El Teatro Chicano or that of Luis Valdez. Alfaros pieces often rejected oppression and marginalization in general he did not only concern himself with the struggle of the Mexican-American. The lack of continuity could be attributed to many different things, but I think it is important to check off that Alfaros homosexuality could be a reason for his apparent deviation from the mission of El Teatro Chicano.Both the Teatro movement and Luis Valdez have received extreme criticism from both feminist and gay rights groups, and were even called homophobic by some (Elam 32). There is no present research linking Alfaros sexual orientation and his departure from El Teatro and Luis Valdez however the connection does seem possible. There is no denying that theatre has played a significant role in giving a social voice to the Chicano community as well as creating a distinguished identity for them in the United States.However, there also is no denying that the highlighted theatre movements are not without weaknesses, some more striking than others. El Teatro Chicano devoted itself entirely to the Mexican population, but in some ways it may have promoted the aforementioned(prenominal) type of ethnocentrisms that it was created to fight. Luis Valdez tried to create a sense of pride an identity for the Mexican-American through his character of El Pachuco, but it was arguably at the expense of the women of the Chicano community.Luis Alfaros performance pieces, while not without flaws, seem to have progressed some from those before him. Perhaps, as stated before, this has something to do with his sexual-orientation, or perhaps it is simply due to the intrinsic evolution of learning from those who have gone before you. Alfaros work gives hope that future Mexican performers, writers and directors will develop even farther graduate the path of social enlightenment, and that perhaps one day oppressed communities will be able to find liberat ion without the marginalization of someone else.