Luis Valdez's Los Venditos
"Los Venditos," which means "the sold out ones," is a play that was directed by Luis Valdez and produced by the Farm Workers Theatre of Atzlan. They have based their theatre society on the old drama clubs that were prevalent in the striker’s communities of the sixties and seventies. In these communities, actors and actresses would play roles that would make fun of certain groups or individuals that they were rebelling against. For example, if the produce pickers were striking against a grower, then the play would bring out every stereotype that person believed in or every bad quality that that person had and would embellish it. They would make their target out to be stupid and ignorant. "Los Venditos" accomplishes this task very well because it shows every stereotype that Anglos have against Mexican Americans, and puts it in a way that will make almost any Anglo be ashamed for having believed such falsities. Everything that was put into the play was put there for a reason, whether it is an actual incident or a common stereotype.
The narrator before the play explains what the Theatre Society of Aztlan is all about. The narrator is costumed as the Aztec sun god in an Aztec high-rise temple. The area around the sun god was the ancient Aztec calendar. It shows that the Aztlans have a good knowledge about their past. They are proud that they are from the area that the Aztecs originated from.
The play starts off with a man, named Honest Sancho, that recently aquired a shop that sold used Mexican models. One might notice, however, that his shop is located in an area that has trash all around it. Many Anglos believe that even if a Mexican were to own his own establishment, it would have to be in their own neighborhood, which is most likely a slum, because they might bring their property value down with their presence. It was, and still is in some places, frowned upon when Mexican Americans try to move their business out of their usual surroundings.
A woman, named Ms. Jimenez, who worked for the governor’s office, walked into the store because she said that she needed a Mexican for her office. This was obviously only for appearance because that person would have to do everything he/she was told without question. That person would be used for the good of the office where he would be a puppet for the Anglos.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
Literary magazines were not remotely interested in publishing Gilb’s stories, which focus primarily on the professional and personal struggles of working-class Mexican Americans. But his unapologetic stories about working-class Mexican Americans have made him a voice of his people (Reid130). Gilb’s short stories are set vividly in cites of the desert Southwest and usually feature a Hispanic protagonist who is good-hearted but often irresponsible and is forever one pink slip or automotive breakdown away from disaster (Reid130).
Los Vendidos means the sell-outs. All the characters in the play sold-out at some point during the play. The characters sold out both their races and their way of life. I would say that the person who sold out the most was the Mexican-American because he sold-out both his Mexican, his American heritage and way of life. He wanted to be perfect, so when he found that the Americans and the Mexicans had their flaws he sold them out. He now has to search for a new and perfect race to identify with.
The fundamental conflict that led to their arrest and unfair trial was a clash between Mexican-Americans and the dominant White American culture. Acting as a host, El Pachuco is the spirit of the ideal, defiant Pachuco and serves as Henry’s Reyna’s alter ego throughout the play, intermingling past Mexican culture with the current Zoot Suit culture. El Pachuco serves as a corrective to illustrate the heavy biases that the court and media displayed throughout the 1940s against Chicano people. Through his constant interjections during the courtroom scene, and his final confrontation with the reporter at the conclusion of the play, he points out the injustices that Mexican-Americans had to endure. El Pachuco highlights each point in which the court discriminates or treats the Zoot Suiters unfairly.
The second creation myth I will examine in this essay is of Greek origin and is known as The Five Ages of Man. This myth begins wit...
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
Through studies such as comparative mythology, researchers and philosophers have discover hundreds of parallels between the myths that make up every culture, including their creation myths. As most are deeply rooted in religion, comparisons based on geographic area, themes, and similar story lines emerge as religions form and migrate. Campbell recognized these similarities an...
As a journalist in 1920 for the New York Herald Tribune, Sophie Treadwell was assigned to go to Mexico to follow the situation after the Mexican Revolution. (Mexican Revolution 1910-1917) She covered many important aspects of the Mexican Revolution during this time, including relations between the U.S. and Mexico. She was even permitted an interview with Pancho Villa in August 1921 at his headquarters. This interview and other events that she experienced in Mexico are presumably what led her to write the play Gringo. In Gringo Treadwell tries to depict the stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes that Mexicans and Americans have about each other. There is a demonstration of how Mexican women are looked at in the Mexican culture and how they see themselves. The play also corresponds to similar events that occurred during the Mexican Revolution.
Imagine yourself in a world where you are constantly having to fear not being able to ever be free from this cage that you've been wanting to get out of for so long. Now imagine that suddenly just being your real life and not just a world that was just imagined, it’s almost too unbearable to think about but this happens. The book “Before We Were Free is a good example of that. The books takes place in the Dominican Republic in the 20th century, when the Dictator at the time was Rafael Trujillo, or in other words El Jefe. Dictators are a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force. Till this day there are countries that are still ruled by dictators, for example, North Korea However, having a dictator
I think this play is a lot about what does race mean, and to what extent do we perform race either onstage or in life:
The creation of the universe, gods, and humans is one of the most popular topics among myths. Many cultures have passed down creation stories by mouth and through writing so that we are able to know them today. Creation stories were important pieces of information to help humans understand and rationalize their place in life. Cris Campbell of Genealogy of Religion writes, “Though there are undoubtedly other reasons, one of the most important surely is orientation. People need to situate themselves in both time and space. Creation myths serve this need: they provide a temporal and spatial anchor.”
The theme of social status and society is prevalent in the novel of Emma, through the characters Emma, Mr. Knightley, Mr. Churchill, and their situations and perspectives on life. Austen describes Emma as, “handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her” makes her outlook disparate from characters such as Harriet (Austen, Emma 3). Immediately through her description, Austen indicates Emma’s haughty perspective on society through her referencing her friends as “first set” and “second set.” Through Emma’s classification of her friends by their social status and importance, first set being the superior and second set being the inferior and locum, the reader is able to have a glimpse of Emma’s outlook on society and it’s classes. (Knowledge Notes). Emma once again portrays the theme of social status and society through her views of people in lower classes than she such as Harriet and Mr. Martin. After Emma meets Harriet for the first time, she immediately decides that Harriet’s “soft blue eyes, and all those natural graces, should not be wasted on the inferior society of Highbury, and its connections” (Austen, Emma 20). Because of the social class difference between her and Mr. Martin, Emma regards him as someone who is inferior and advises Harriet to refuse his proposal. She claims that though “his appearance was very neat, and he looked like a sensible young man, but his person had no other advantage; and when he came to be contrasted with a gentleman, she thought he must lose all the ground…” (Austen, Emma 27) and that Harriet deserves someone more advantageo...
Throughout history many civilizations and cultures have had their own ways of explaining the world and its creation. Each of these civilizations has created unique descriptions and accounts of such events. However, when comparing them to each other, are they really different? Look at the ancient Greco - Roman creation myths as told by Hesiod in his Theogony and Works and Days and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when compared to the creation myths as seen in the Old Testament’s book of Genesis they may not be as different as one would think. Taking a more in-depth look at both Genesis and Hesiod’s and Ovid’s work more closely, the reader can see that on multiple occasions the myths have almost identical similarities which reflect their views in society. The similarities in particular are the myths of the creation of man, women with their subsequent role of evil in ancient times, and the great floods. These similarities prove that even though these two scriptures were centuries apart, the concepts presented in each myth were almost identical to one another.
Creation myths always explain the origin of world and human being as well as some natural phenomenons. There are thousands of myths in the world along with the thousands of ethnic groups in different areas. Though the contents of these creation myths may vary, there are several common elements among them such as wars, disasters and creation of creatures, etc. The myth above not only contains several common elements but also combine some unique features of other creation myths.
... her daughters call him “Mama’s Lover”. People got used to seeing them together and there was not much talk about them anymore. He remained on her confident for twenty years. When John Brown Died in 1883, the queen wrote, “The shock-the blow, the blank, the constant missing at every turn of one strong, powerful reliable arm and head almost stunned me and I am, truly over whelmed.” His room, like Albert’s, became a shrine. A flower was placed on his pillow everyday until she died. Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81. This was forty years of widowhood. She left major instructions for her funeral. She wanted her sons to lift her in to her coffin; she would wear a white dress and her wedding veil. London was to be festooned in purple and white. She was buried next to Prince Albert in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum at Windsor Castle. Victoria had reigned for nearly 64 years-the longest reign in British History. A statue of the Queen made in 1862 was brought out of storage and placed next to her husband in the mausoleum. Victoria’s statue looks at Albert, her love, devotion, and sorrow at his early death and her long widowhood always will be captured in that stone.