Bound By Honor

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Recommended: Essays on chicano literature

“Blood In…Blood Out”
Bound By Honor.

In the movie “Blood In…Blood Out,” there are three young Chicano teens just trying to survive in a white man’s world. First, you have Paco, a rebellious teen that loves a fight, and is in a small East Los Angeles street gang called “Vatos Locos.” Then, there is his half brother Cruz, he is trying to stray away from the gang life by painting, however, he still is and hangs with the Vatos Locos. Lastly, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin, there is Miklo the cousin of Cruz and Paco, who ran away from his white father to reconect with his Mexican roots. The only problem is Miklo does not look Chicano, and the Mexican community, including Paco, have a hard time accepting him into the world he so much wants to be a part of. His friends call him names like “white boy” or “guero” to make fun of his skin. Miklo though, is determined to gain the respect of his peers, he decides that he too wants to be a “Vato Loco,” which doesn’t sit very well with Paco. He tells Miklo, “Do white boys get VL placas (tattoos)? No, it doesn’t happen. Unless…” and that’s where it all starts.
Paco decides that his cousin can be part of the Vatos Locos, but since he is half white, he will have to prove himself to the group, by doing something big for them. Miklo quickly obliges, and bashes out the window of a rival gang called “Tres Puntos.” With that Miklo gets to be in the “in crowd” as he always wanted to be. Tres Puntos not agreeing with this, takes it out on Cruz, and thus starts a gang war. Things become even worse when at a war between the two gangs, Miklo shoots and kills the head member Spider. This brings on even bigger problems then Miklo can imagine: San Quentin Prison.
Suddenly, everything Miklo learned in the street gang becomes obsolete, and he is back to being an outsider with no one to turn to. The AV’ers, a clique of white males in prison, want Miklo to side with them, but Miklo does not want any part of them. Instead, he wants to hang with the Mexican clique, La Onda, which do not want anything to do with this “guero” (white boy in Spanish). They pick on him, call him names, and do not want him within their sight.

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