1979_04 The Daily Collegian April 1979

              la Voz de AztUn
Commentary
Lowrider,cholo
lifestyles
depicted in movie
finally escaping their
in the US society
We have been a neglected people
in the U S society from the day we
resettled on this stolen land
There has not been equal representa¬
tion for Chicanos in education, the pro¬
fessional field and in modern day
civilization
Chicanos have been neglected in the
movie industry Most Chicano chara¬
cters in American-made movies ex¬
ploited all the damaging stereotypes
about Mexicanos, all the way up to
taking the Mexican siesta
Now, with the Chicano-casted movie.
Boulevard Nights, Chicanos can say
that we have a film that represents
a segment of our population.
Although the movie was directed
by Michael Passman and produced
by Bill Benson (both Jewish) the film
has won high praise Charles Champlin
art critic for the Los Angeles Times
called Boulevard Nights a 'modest,
earnest, honest, authentic, dramatic,
and effective drama photographed in an
East LA barrio*
Those who have seen the movie can
tell you that this movie is not about
cruising the main at night. If anything,
the movie's title is a gimmick designed
to attrack an audience, .that is the
mass of people who make up the
'working class." There are few scenes
of the actual boulevard
The movie is a social documentary
about one aspect of Chicano life in
East LA The film starts out early on
by giving the viewer a look at the cen¬
tral characters  and  the  main  cruising
One first sees the boulevard when
RaymondfRichard Yniguez), the Central
character in the movie~a Chicano who
has abandoned being a "cholo"
cruises the main with his girl, Shady
(Marta Dubois)
Shady dislikes cruising down the
boulevard because she sees it as
childish. But, Raymond's little brother
Chuco(Danny de la Paz) is a Chi¬
cano adolescent rebelling against so¬
ciety's demands and as a result of this
is a cholo who enjoys life on the
street with his friends.
Two   things   happen   in   this   early
scene    Raymond   meets   some  friends
and    takes    part    in    a     lowrider
hopping contest and Chuco gets into a
gang fight.
In the car hopping contest the
front end of two competing cars hop
up and down to see whose car can
jump the highest. To the par¬
ticipants, the event is a form of
recreation
It is said that this practice is a
variation of a CUSTOM HANDED
DOWN BY Mexican romeos, who when
courting a lovely maiden would make
their horses rear up on its hind legs
to attract attention.
Raymond wins the hopping contest
but his girlfriend is not very pleased
by his actions. But, Raymond still
loves his car. To him, having a
lowrider provides him a source of pride
and status
Through his car, Raymond gains his
own sense of identity.
If an individual works as a com¬
puter data processor, buys a Porche,
and gains a new group of friends, his'
actions are accepted. Raymond works in
a car shop and owns a lowrider,
but his actions, are not much differ-
entxhan the upper class Chicano.
Meanwhile Chuco is out "de vagos*,
having fun with his friends. Like many
young men at this stage-he is goofing
around, drinking and getting sprayed
in the face with beer.
New Chicano film—
accurate but misleading
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a
comentario by Gilbert Sanchez Lujan
of El Concilio de Fresno on
BOULEVARD NICHTS. This explana¬
tion has been distributed to those
i movie by Lujan and
plains   why    Lujan   has
•t this
wh.it
the vato loco attempts to avoid :
desperately The stereotypical viewpoint
of the Cabacho and/or middle class
value systems are being imposed on
the Chicanos who seek lifestyle alter¬
natives in lieu of the mainstream
The   vato   loco   continues   his   fall-
Everything happens on the boulevard-
and the boulevard happens at night.
At the beeinnine of the movie ■
Chuco's gang, VCV, works over a gang
member belonging to the 11th gang.
Later while cruising, one of the gang
members spots Chuco and his partner.
Soon there is a big fist-ta-cyffs on the
boulevard and Chuco ends up stabbing
one" of the 11th street gang members.
■ nus starts a fued amongst the
gangs. This episode lasts around five
minutes Because of the violence, a
heated controversy amongst Chicanos
has risen
La Voz de Aztlan means 'The voice
of Aztlan.' Aztlan has been translated
by most historians to be the mythical
name of the Aztec (or Mexica or Chi-
chimeca) people who held the area
around present-day Mexico City when
the Spaniards under Hernan Cortes
entered Mexico in 1519.
In their native Nahuad language,
Aztlan meant 'the place of herons,'
and also 'the place they had been
before. 'Dr. lose Canahs of the CSUFl
History Department said he has tracedl
the origins of the Aztecs, a migratoryf
tribe as far north as present-day St.
Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To Chicanos, Aztlan Is the name for,
the entire Southwest - our symbolic
homeland.
The movie, Boulevard Nights, is a
production that is unfortunately
authentic in content, however, in its
accuracy it fails to tell the whole story.
It portrays only the easily exploited
aspects of the vato loco experience.
It does not explain or suggest the
socio-political circumstances and history
of the disenfranchised youths that
largely live in poor and under¬
developed urban centers throughout
the nation.
It only displays the end-result and
by-products of the social ills that are
well documented by many authorities.
It focuses on the multi-destructiveness
of the cholo lifestyle. The film obviously
rides on the sublimaj and conscious
racist attitudes  towards   the   pachuco
This film is an indictment of the
Chicano vato without a proper trial
and defense. It suggests incorrectly
that Mexicans are inherently criminal
and It's their choice to practice law-
breaking and self-destruction
It presents • suggestive escape for
Chuco' to accept middle clas* aspir-
guy position similarly like the farm¬
worker, accused of all the difficulties
in contemporary urban life as if he had
control. On the contrary, the Chucos
are social victims without political
representation and voiceless in the face
of social judgements. He only arti¬
culates his anguish in self-destructive-
ness. How can you be so merciless
as to continue to thrash this youth?
What are your justifications for
stabbing and exposing the vato before
his community and nation in his pain¬
ful dilemna. Your profits are the per¬
petuation of this tragedy.
My main concern is for the thousands
of youths who will, by virtue of a non-
analytical acceptance of the Chicano
content in the film, as well as the
glamour and influence of the larger-
than-life screen, emulate negative
behavior models.
Our hopes lie in the discontinuence
of this type of film and any other that
depicts Chicanos solely in an un¬
favorable manor. It is not • crime
to be a vato loco-it is a social crime
to make money on others' misfortune*.
Boulevard Nights—
One of many gang films
i
■a*,
By RICHARD AGUIRRE
Editor of La Voz
Although Boulevard Nights is the latest
Chicano gang movie it is not the only
film to come under close scrutiny. The
Warriors, a film about New York gangs
and the forthcoming Walking Proud
(formerly Gang) have also drawn fire.
, Three deaths (two in Calif.) have been
linked to Warriors since it opened in
February. In most of those Incidents
the violence was sparked by racial
differences.
But, despite the controversy it is
certain that the films are bringing in
healthy profits from mostly-young
audiences. The Warrior* cost less than
J6 million to make, but up to March 19
had brought in more than $14.6 million.
Walking Proud is a love story between
a' cholo and anglo girl set against a
background of East LA. gang violence.
That movie first attracted controversy
when it was announced that 22-year-old
anglo   Robby   Benson   (formerly   of
"The End and One on One would play
the lead.
Universal Studios signed Benson,
they said to help pull in audiences
then fitted him with special brown-
tinted contact lenses to help him better
play the role. In the film, Benson plays
a Chicano who abandons his life in
the barrio to assimilate into his anglo
girlfriend's society.
To many, the casting of Benson was
typical of the Chicanos years of struggle
to gain a place in the Hollywood system.
Few Latino actors are well established
in films and fewer yet involved in
actual film production, writing or" direct-
in these gang films. They have said
that getting into the system is the only
way to produce more favorable films
about Chicanos.
Chicanos also claim that lust like
other actors, they must work to survive,
regardless of the part.
But many charge that these films
are littered with damaging stereo¬
types that distort the Chicano life¬
style and portray the gang as violent.
They say that the positive aspects
of the Chicano majority are ignored as
the film exploits olnly the most sensa¬
tional aspects of Mexican lifestyle.
Boulevard Nights has won critical
acclaim and has been defended by many
as a realistic look at gang life in the
barrio. In the movie there is no inter¬
racial or sexual violence, and the line
between the good and bad guy is
blurred
The film was shot with an all-Chicano
cast and with the help of East L.A.
cholos.'
Nevertheless, many groups have pro¬
tested Boulevard Nights. The state¬
wide convention of MEChA, voted to
boycott and picket the film even before
it had been released.
The Mechistas have also gained
the support of enforcement agencies
who would apparently like to diffuse
any meetings between gang members.
A theater in San Francisco cancelled
the planned run for Boulevard Night*
after five Chicanos were stabbed
outside' the theater after the premiere.
Mayor Dianne Feinstein (San Fran¬
cisco) asked that city distributors
' cancel showings of the film. She called
the film a threat to the safety and
well being of the citizens of San Fran-
Executive Producer Tonyh Bill called
the mayor's action "absolute censor¬
ship", and said the film is honest
and realistic. He said that the film is
only a family drama about two brothers
in the barrio.
Locally, groups have also begun
to picket the film. Cilbert Lujan of El
Concilio de Fresno said that the film
does not tell the whole story and can
harm Chicano youth who see it
Lujan pledged that he and others
would picket as long as the film is in
From Page 4
in the film harm manyChicano young¬
sters. Iney say that many times the
young are going through the same
stage, and will oeleive that is is ok to
partake in fights and knifings Some
Chicanos are also concerned with the
white audience's reaction towards the
The movie does not glorify gang
fighting, it just gives us a subtle
reality on what frequently happens in
East LA. To say that the movie adds to
and condones gang welfare is a false
See Paget
•      Mr*      stereo-        'I   feel   it's   deceiving   because   it 'I though* It was biased. There were
•I think if. this case Hi     doesn't give * real picture. It'* putting        'I don't think IN see H. I think it part* of » that I  Hni-gnt were very
^ people go back to    into   the   mind*   of   these   kids   the    touches all the a**»ct* of what a Chicano real, but I guoet M hurt dhfel give a
stereotypes that never were true.'  'I     violence.' 'I'm probably going to *ee M     really ksn't, and I think »'. just making fair picture W CWcanoculture.'
■■k^v^ad.'-HexpWt, —photos by George Aguirre