Return of the Zoot Suits
Clothing has always been used as an expression of ones personality and a demonstration of someone’s self-identity. In the early 1940s, the popularity of jazz music hit an all-time high and this was especially true for teenagers of the time. Many of the jazz artists were mysterious and sensual individuals who often crossed segregated lines on stage and on the dance floor. According to the times they were, “unwritten rules (that) demanded that people of color remain unseen and unheard in public spaces.” Like many jazz artists Mexican Americans began to wear zoot suits. These suits were very flamboyant and without a doubt gathered the attention of the public. Since mostly young Mexican Americans used the zoot suits, the style itself began to acquire a “gangster” and “thug” attachment to it. Something as simple as their sense of style led to not only the assault of many of the Mexican American youth, but also the critically acclaimed play.
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In 1978 Luis Valdez, created the play “Zoot Suit” which follows the lives of a group of young Chicanos who partake in the infamous Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the riots that ensued.
Mr. Valdez perfectly depicts the lives of young Mexican Americans in the early 1940s. He is able to challenge and question stereotypes of that age and those that continue to this day. “Zoot Suit” was such a hit that it eventually became the first Chicano theatrical productions on Broadway and was later developed into a feature-film. Valdez in no way was able to predict the success that “Zoot Suit” would have and he could not predict the lasting impact his play would have on the Mexican American
community. On January 31st, 2017 “Zoot Suit” made its return to its roots in Las Angeles and demonstrated the lasting impact that our Mexican American ancestry has on us today. The young Chicanos represented in the play continue to influence Mexican Americans today because they illustrated to us how to resist assimilation and create a culture of empowerment. A young Mexican American by the name of Luis Guerrero says, “They were some of the first people who stood up for the Chicano community. When I wear a zoot suit I feel empowered, kind of like it’s a suit of armor.” These Chicanos back in the 1940s were much more that what the media depicted as hoodlums and criminals. They endured so much adversity from being treated as second-class citizens and regularly being on the wrong side of assault. One of the plays attendees reminisces on her childhood, “You can feel all of the racism, the oppression that we felt back then… I remember not being able to speak my language. We were hit on the hand with a ruler if we spoke Spanish.” These experiences created their resentment towards the white population and they quickly changed the perspective of quiet assimilation. Originally Mexican Americans aimed to disenfranchise their Mexican heritage and become fully American, but these young kids decided to take a more radical approach. They began to show their pride in their Aztec background and denied assimilation. Luis Guerrero later says, “They created this subculture that was mixing all these backgrounds and creating this culture of resistance and their own identity.” This individualistic approach is what fuels immigration activists today. In todays society a lot of residing Mexicans and Mexican Americans do not agree with the current legalization process. Under Trumps presidency we have seen an increase in deportation and backlash against the Mexican community. Like “Zoot Suit” taught us, we need to resist this culture of repatriation and create our own new identity that will fight for the rights of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S.
Throughout the play there are underlying theme that suggest different ideas. The themes I will discuss is how Mexican American men are portrayed in relation to women and the general public in the United States, the role the press played for the soul purpose of making money, and the struggle of young Mexican Americans to find a place, a style, or a chance to belong and be accepted without a negative stereotype. Pachuco seems to be the nagging conscience of Henry who is on trial for the Sleepy Lagoon Murder. The Pachuco character in his Zoot Suit has a fierce presence, which is seen by the Americans of this time as rebellious and gangster like. When describing the Zoot Suit Pachuco states, "PUT ON A ZOOT SUIT, MAKES YOU FEEL REAL ROOT LOOK LIKE A DIAMOND, SPARKLING, SHINING READY FOR DANCING READY FOR THE BOOGIE TONIGHT THE HEPCATS UP IN HARLEM WEAR THAT DRAPE SHAPE COMO LOS PACHUCONES DOWN IN L.A. WHERE HUISAS IN THEIR PRMPADOURS LOOK REAL KEEN ON THE DANCE FLOOR OF THE BALLROOMS DONDE BAILAN SWING. YOU BETTER GET HEP TONIGHT AND PUT ON THAT ZOOT SUIT!" (p. 26)
“The essence about the American experience is about cultural fusion,” Valdez says. “’Zoot Suit’ has influences that were brought on during the evolution of jazz, when you saw African American talent mixed with the American experience. The Hispanic influence is amplified through the story, style and attitude, which are really influences that every culture can relate with.”
Luis Valdez made a great contribution to Chicano theater when he created a Chicano musical a form of theater that was more common for white America. As I read Zoot Suit I could not stop wondering how the play would look once it was on stage. I could not picture a play that included singing and dancing one which does not compare to the other plays written by Luis Valdez and the Teatro Campesino. I only wish that I had been lucky enough to watch the play live. However, I do feel that if the play was to be re-enacted it would not have the same effect on it’s viewers of today as it might have then. Unfortunately I feel that might be its only downfall. I was still really amazed that this play made it to Broadway and I feel it was just as worthy of it as other plays have been. It is also very interesting to note that it was his longest running play in Los Angeles however; I am assuming that has to do with the large number of Mexican and Mexican-Americans living in LA during that time.
Luis Valdez and August Wilson transformed the reflecting of multicultural in two plays through characters. Fences is the picture of the conflict culture for African-American in USA in 1957 and Zoot Suit is the picture of Mexican-American in USA in 1942. Different culture, Different people in the time period. That is affected by the racism and discrimination. The picture of the poor life and poor colors from characters on the stage in Fences. The poor languages, and the biggest fear come from by Troy Maxson. That is the lowest stream in American society. The Zoot Suit is the conflict reflecting between Mexican and American. They do not accept in the America society in 1942. El Pachuco is standing for the justice revolution and the equally rights
The author highlights the Latino stereotypes and their effects on those stereotyped and on society. By carrying out a satirical tone, the author is able to manifest how Mexicans are treated; thus, achieving this through the secretary’s rejection of each character represented. The satirical tone elucidates on how people may acknowledge their own prejudices and comprehend how Mexicans feel. Through the Mexican-American character, the author makes it clearly evident of an attempt to end prejudice in itself. The author illuminates the ludicrous hypocrisy behind labeling; this play serves to help society see the injustice of their opinions and to meet their
Valdez, Luis. "Zoot Suit." Zoot Suit and Other Plays. Houston, TX: Arte Publico, 1992. 21-94. Print.
The zoot suit symbolized several different things for the Mexican American population in the Los Angeles community. Not only was it a symbol of pride in their Mexican heritage, but also a form of rebellion from the norms emplaced upon the Mexican teenagers by their parents. These suits were also a symbol of unity, these young men wanted to look different and feel as if they’re culture could be something they could display and be proud of. This whole image was seen by the modern culture of Los Angeles to be “gang” related or distasteful. These “Pachuco” or punks often spoke a hybrid of English and Spanish, this was known as “calo.” However, many of the Mexican American teenagers at the time, spoke only English. The outfit often included pants wide at the knee often 40 inches or more, a broad shouldered jacket, hat, chain wallet and shined shoes called “calcos.”
Over 84 years ago New York was the city of swing. In a realm where culture clashed with politics, race with class and gender with society most teenagers spent an ample amount of their spare time dancing to the music of Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and the likes of others. With the music, blasting in their ears and sweat dripping of their skin the youth was engulfed in a period that would come to stand as a turning point for African-Americans. Despite the rage of the music, there is no question that appearances and the right attire also played a prominent role in the culture of that time. In a society wherein which, Blacks were discriminated and stereotyped against their clothing distinguished and set them apart. The Zoot-Suit, one of the significant symbols of fashion during the era of Swing music was more than embellished get-up. It was a statement, a rebellion, a cultural identification even, but mainly it was a reminder of the social order of society that failed to express and identify certain races1. Although many have argued that racial tensions leading up to the riots emerged from the attitudes of the various races, I stand that fashion choices chosen by the youth of that period played a substantial role in the insurgence. This paper explores the history of the suit, its social and political contexts, its connection to music as well as the implications of fashion choices during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
"Los Vendidos," directed by Luis Valdez, is a remarkable play that looks into the historical struggles, stereotypes and challenges of Mexican Americans in a unique fashion. Rather than tell the history of Mexican Americans through documentaries and actual footage, the play conveys its message about the true history of Mexican Americans in the United States through both subtle and blatant techniques.
Zoot Suit, a play written by Luis Valdez, depicts the racially charged trial of the Sleepy Lagoon Case of 1942 in which the courts charged a group of Pachucos with the murder of another Mexican-American. During the 1940s, many Mexican-Americans suffered widespread discrimination as dramatized in Zoot Suit. To combat such discrimination many Chicano youth wore stylized zoot suits, adorned with oversized jackets during fabric shortages as a form of social and political rebellion. Zoot Suiters felt disempowered by their position within society and used their fashion to send out a message and as a means to regain their masculinity. The Pachucos were accused with the murder of a fellow Mexican-American not because of clear evidence or proof, but because of their ethnic identity, renegade style of dressing, and behavior. 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.
In this paper I’m going to show how African Americans have used hip hop and black hair are two ways in which African Americans embrace their culture and fight oppression. However, as we have reviewed in many classes, oppression is not easily escaped. So in this paper, I’m going to show how cultural appropriation is used as a way of oppressing black culture. So this paper is an expansion of what we have learned in the class.
Bertolt Brecht successfully accomplishes this in his work through his technique called the alienation effect where “he forces the audience to look at everything in a fresh light and, above all, to think” (Barranger, pg. 121). His main goal by using this was for the audience to “absorb his social criticism and to carry new insights out of the theater into their own lives” (Barranger, 121). Valdez applies this technique through his use of the Secretary, representing the American population as a whole, and the stereotypes of the Mexicans. When she is first introduced to Sancho, she comes with a list of criteria for what the Mexican should acquire including: “suave, debonair, dark, but not too dark, beige, American-made and hard-working” (Valdez, p. 1288). From the start of the play, Mexicans are already being stereotyped on how they should look and act to be accepted by Americans and their culture. This gets the audience thinking of their own perception on Mexicans and what qualities they might consider if they were in this situation. From the qualities represented of each of the “models,” the Secretary then denies any quality of the model that isn’t sufficient enough for her liking, and “shops” around until she finds the right
With African Americans being apart of the fashion industry, they faced many hardships. However, they created a distinctive voice in the history of fashion. Throughout the early twentieth century, Blacks designers influenced the fashion industry in America, having, “a system and structure for maintaining their particular type of fashion.” African American fashion was very popular and caught the attention from the media. Department stores held successful fashion shows, screened fashion movies, and staged fashion pageants. Fortunately, African Americans were allowed to attend these events, yet they were not welcomed. Fast-forward to today, the fashion industry has opened up several doors for African American designers, stylist, and models. However,
McCutcheon, Marc. "Clothing and Fashions." The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life from Prohibition Through World War II. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest, 1995. 161-67. Print.
The artistic intensions of this film are implicitly stated everywhere throughout the film. All of the dancing, singing, acting and pretend fighting was done thoroughly and very well, although the miking and mixing during the pretend fighting did not seem realistic. Specific actors, dancers, and singers were trained and taught how to perform in order to get the message across to the audience that this West Side Story is not just a film, but a theatrical, musical, choreographed, work of art. Specific messages are portrayed in different art forms such as the way the Puerto Rican women dressed compared to the American women. The Puerto Ricans had fluffier, more brightly colored dresses than did the Americans and the Puerto Rican women made their own clothes. I lived in Mexico last summer and in my opinion, their authentic style of clothing still has those same characteristics. The exception was Maria, who was also not allowed to wear a brightly colored dress with a low cut neck because she was too young, and although she claimed to be an American girl now which would make her eligible for being more free and independent, or shall we say sexy, she still had to wear a conservatively cut white dress. A characterization was pointed out about American women being able do more and be less conservative than Puerto Rican women.