"ZOOT SUIT" (LUIS VALDEZ).   Term Paper ID:21902 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Sociopolitical critique of play on Chicano cultural identity in 1943. Paper Introduction: In his musical drama Zoot Suit, playwright Luis Valdez fashions a theatrical experience around two dramatic elements: the historical event of the "Zoot Suit Riots" of 1943 and the commanding image of an icon-like narrator called "El Pachuco." The first is a largely-overlooked historical occurrence of blatant anti-Chicano racism that happened in Los Angeles during World War II. The second, El Pachuco, is a dramatic creation designed to combat the image of the stereotypical Chicano by overstereotyping. Valdez utilizes the Bertolt Brecht-influenced formula of the 1930s' "Living Newspaper" to recreate Zoot Suit's historical events in a presentational, agit-prop style (Huerta 15). In such a style, according to Mordecai Gorelik in New Theatres for Old, "Theatre is a tribunal" (378). That is, it is a deliberate "trial" wherein the playwright is the prosecutor, Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. It is probably an outgrowth of the predominant role Irish-Americans played in joining police organizations (Considine 11 -111).This, too, is an assumption, though: while the Irish-Americans' role inpolice enforcement is an historical fact, it is not accounted for in thedramaturgy of Zoot Suit one way or another. He is less successful in achieving this goal, for twoprimary reasons. In thisplay, Luis Valdez attempts to present a mythic recreation of thevictimization of Mexican-American immigrant culture. (I, Sc. Smith] So who are you, puto? One could easily assume from areading of the play that the Zoot Suit Riots and related events were anIrish-directed pogrom directed at the Chicano community. In so failing in this effort, Valdez implies, a circleof violence and rootlessness is perpetuated, doomed as the pachucos are toremain outside the dominant social group. There is one exception to this characterizing of the dominant whiteculture in Zoot Suit - and it represents a critical flaw in Luis Valdez'dramatic and intellectual reasoning. This is made even moreinteresting by the fact that, historically, both groups have a great dealin common. (I, Sc. New York: E. By tryingto "mainstream" themselves in line with other non-conformists of the SwingEra, the pachucos are making a naive mistake: they assume that mainstreamis mainstream - whatever - and are unprepared for the repressiverepercussions that ensue. The anti-Irish references are simply thrown out bythe pachucos to be taken at face value. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.Martinez, Gilbert T., and Edwards, Jane. As notedearlier, the anti-Irish incantations of the pachucos appear to be anunconscious choice rather than an authorial, deliberate attempt to presentboth sides of the issue. The images chosen by Valdezto portray the dominant group are terse and specific. The Police, ThePress, The Court, The Prison, and The Military - each of theseinstitutional representations is portrayed not via an individualizedcharacter, but as slogan-spouting social forces. The rest of them paddies are after our ass. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 199 .Eiseman, Alberta. S.Marine. Edwards as Judge Charles (I, Sc. So, strictly-speaking,in theatrical terms this is a non-issue.----------------------- 12 From the first moment of Zoot Suit, the commentator/chorus/ narratorEl Pachuco is presented as THE Ultimate Stereotype. 11, 61). Valdez' is careful throughout Zoot Suit to provide amulti-faceted depiction of the Chicano dilemma as represented by thepachucos. That is, it is a deliberate "trial" wherein the playwright is theprosecutor, judge and jury, righting a social wrong through the power ofdramatic indictment. (to Tommy Roberts) ... You may wish to change your title slightly. went to Korea...died at Inchon... you respect my family. Predating the anti-Chicanopress headlines quoted throughout Zoot Suit, in 1868 the Chicago Post woulddescribed the Irishman in America as "a born savage - as brutal as anuntamed Indian...the born criminal and pauper of the civilized world"(Wakin 69). Technique-wise, he has essentiallydepersonalized the representatives of the dominant group via suchtechniques as double-casting police Lt. In Zoot Suit & Other Plays. 9, 93).Assimilation in the pachuco view - and, by implication, in Valdez' as well- is an act of submission. As policemen and other agents of governmentservice, Irish-Americans have been all-too-ready to follow the orders ofthe dominant society and unquestioningly force repressive rules andattitudes upon later-arriving immigrant groups, including Mexican-Americans(Daniels 118). The music, clothesand slang are reproduced meticulously. In such a style, accordingto Mordecai Gorelik in New Theatres for Old, "Theatre is a tribunal" (378). Rudy becomes a Marine only after being stripped andhumiliated by servicemen during the Zoot Suit Riots (II, Sc. Luis Valdez is largely successful in this endeavor - due tothe play's epic-theater presentational style combined with a valid social-injustice story - but could be even more so were he willing (or able) toforego stereotyping and denigrating the Irish-American ethnic group in theprocess. ... This country's at war, and we're under strict orders to crack down on all malcontents (I, Sc. The dominant pattern, or paradigm, of Zoot Suit isrepeated throughout the play: that the white dominant culture refuses torecognize the basic humanity of the pachucos and goes out of its way torepress their particular mode of expression. (xiv). MATE: I be he's half monkey - just like the Filipinos and Niggers that wear them [clothes] (II, Sc. Those similarities recognized, however, they do not seem to haveinfluenced the relationships between the two social groups, neitherhistorically nor in Zoot Suit. PACHUCO: [to Sgt. (II, Sc. (I, 6, 4 ) PACHUCO: (about the defense team) ... It is also, however, an insight into the playwright's subconsciousproblems with the social relationships he has set up in Zoot Suit. The Irish, bycontrast, Lacking capital, often the victims of prejudice, they sought security. 6, 81). These choices for Henry's future that Valdez allows the audience tomake imply an issue that he has not addressed in the play: that there arechoices to be made. Like the Spanish conquistadors trampling under Aztec cultureand imposing centuries of imperialistic rule on Mexico, the Englishoverwhelmed Ireland and stomped down the Irish' indigenous traditions.English is the adopted language of the Irishman as much as Spanish theadopted tongue of the Mexican Indio. EDWARDS: This is the wrong time to be anti-social, son. Be prepared for this possible criticism: that there really is noMick vs. 4, 31). Actually, Valdez recognizes that such a choice is possible: he hasRudy Reyna, Henry's younger brother, "mainstream" by becoming a U. Coming To America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. The resulting within-community conflicts recreatedin Zoot Suit - senseless fights of "honor" among the pachuco gangs,distrust of non-Chicanos, preening insistence upon stylish "drapes"(clothes) at the risk of one's own safety - these are all mutated parodiesof the nobler traditions of the now-rootless ones. street corner warrior...el carnal de aquellas...zoot suiter...friend...brother... (Originally published in 194 .)Handlin, Oscar (Ed.) "Introduction." Children of the Uprooted. Concurrently, Valdezrealizes that the sheer absurdity of zoot suit defiance of conventions -defiance of the traditional, defiance of the white mainstream - makes for avery romantic ideal. HE is transformed into the very image of the pachuco myth (I, Prologue, 25). New York: Pantheon Books, 197 .Krempel, Daniel, and Clay, James H. His problem is that, as theauthor of this drama, he is unable (or unwilling) to step further back fromthe situation than his characters. Your title, however, says something else:"Irish & Chicano immigrants' struggle for power and acceptance: Micks vs.Spics." An altenative title might be: "Spics vs. New York: Thomas Y. The Gaelic and the Indio traditions are proud and worthy of respect(O'Connor 11-26; Martinez & Edwards 134-14 ). In his musical drama Zoot Suit, playwright Luis Valdez fashions atheatrical experience around two dramatic elements: the historical eventof the "Zoot Suit Riots" of 1943 and the commanding image of an icon-likenarrator called "El Pachuco." The first is a largely-overlooked historicaloccurrence of blatant anti-Chicano racism that happened in Los Angelesduring World War II. The facts of the racial injustice in this eraare tersely summarized, humanized and condemned in a thoroughly theatricalmanner. son...my love" (II, Sc. It is unfortunate that Luis Valdez probably does not recognize thislevel of prejudice at play in his musical drama Zoot Suit. Spic issue in the play. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973.O'Connor, Richard. Zoot Suit. He ends Zoot Suit with alternative and conflicting "historicalendings" for the life of Henry Reyna, the most-central character in theplay after El Pachuco: ...incarcerated...into hard drugs. One doubts thatthis is the conscious intent of the playwright, and consequently, as notedearlier, the characterization of all oppressive forces as "paddies" must beconsidered a flaw in the play's structure, a distraction rather than acomplement to the social message. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1992, 21-94. In so doing, hepoints to - but does not realize - the cyclical victimization of allimmigrant groups as they attempt to assimilate into the mainstream Americansociety. TheChicanos depicted in this play made their decision to be pachucos, that is,to join the non-conformist portion of the dominant society. New Theatres for Old. 9, 94). It is a form of dehumanization that works both ways: thepachucos dehumanize other ethnic groups by lumping them together under theslur "paddies." The cycle of violence Valdez illustrates in Zoot Suit isthus played out on another level, as one victimized ethnic group tries inturn to blame another ethnic group for its woes - never recognizing thatboth are victims of the bigot's mindset. The second aspect of Zoot Suit's less-than-fully-successful attemptto examine the complex social forces at work in the Chicano communityinvolves patterns of dehumanization and victimization that are integral tothe play's structure. "Introduction." In Luis Valdez. Both groups are predominantly RomanCatholic, with a religious tradition that mixes-in generous quantities ofindigenous mythology. Thousands of other examples can be cited, all pointing to thesame dilemma faced by every immigrant group entering America: in thepsycho-history of the United States, anti-ethnic bigotry is ultimatelyindivisible from the rest of American life (Kovel 177). If he does not share the pachuco's short-sighted"idealism," the playwright certainly understands why it was necessary: togive them some sense of meaning in the world. Both are strongly-oriented to family, home andhonor. Micks: The Use andMisuse of Stereotypes in Zoot Suit as Dramatic and Social Statement." Orsomething along those lines that more closely relates to the points youmade in your outline. What should the Chicano character be? ... Similarly, the largest immigration of Irish to Americafollowed on the heels of a period of British oppression culminating in theGreat Famine of the 184 s (Eiseman 29-3 ). Valdez' ambivalence about thisis apparent from the beginning even as he introduces the stunninglyeffective "image" of El Pachuco, overstereotyped in every way - andfascinating because of it: A switchblade knife plunges through the newspaper [curtain]...EL PACHUCO emerges...HE (sic) adjusts his clothing, meticulously...HE tends to his hair...with infinite loving pains...HE dons...his fantastic costume...a zoot suit. As will be seen later when quoting thefinal lines of the play, Luis Valdez cannot make decisions based upon thelarger picture he knows these events are a part of. So they became either firemen, policemen, mailmen, or entered some other branch of government or municipal service (Considine 11 -111). Security in his mind existed in two ways - the ownership of property or a Civil Service position. These paddies are leading you by the nose. What distinguishessuccessful assimilation from unsuccessful is in the choices the enteringgroup makes. Dutton & Company, 1962. In Zoot Suit, Valdez clearly implies that the unsuccessful Chicanoshave chosen to try to make society adapt to them - unlike the Irish who,historically successful, chose to adapt to the mainstream society. five kids...University...born leader...social victim... Crowell Company, 1976.NOTE TO THE CLIENT: Since you so specifically outlined this article in detail, I havefollowed that outline within the limitations of an 8-page paper and yourchosen thesis. New York: George Braziller, 1966, xiii-xxii.Huerta, Jorge. Noted earlier, however, theplaywright is ambivalent about the choices of "destiny" open to hischaracters. 2, 68) Because Zoot Suit is about historical events, Luis Valdez takes greatcare in the play to recreate the specifics of the era. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993, 659-674.Gorelik, Mordecai. It is worth examining the immigrant group that Valdezstereotypes - the Irish-Americans - to see how he subconsciously recognizesthe limitations the Chicano "victims" are placing upon themselves. Wakin, Edward. "The representation of cultural identity in Zoot Suit (1981)." In Theory and Society. Luis Valdez, of course, shows what happened when Chicanos tried tobecome Swing Era zoot suiters during World War II: they could not becomeindistinguishable. LT. Enter the Irish-American. 4, 31) HENRY: There's not a single paddy we can trust. PRESS: ...Los Angeles is caught in the midst of the biggest, most terrifying crime wave in its history. His derogatory stereotyping of Irish-Americans, therefore, couldbe considered a deliberately-chosen symbolism; but, if so, it is an imagerynot supported by any of the insight or balance he shows his Mexican-American characters. Your thesis statementsays "I want to look at how Valdez tries to advance the cause of oneminority (Chicanos) but in the process stereotypes another (Irish)." Youroutline follows that thesis. In this case it isthe "zoot suit" culture transplanted from Harlem to Los Angeles.Sociologist Stuart Hall, cited in Rosa Linda Fregoso's 1981 article "Therepresentation of cultural identity in Zoot Suit," indicates the inherentflaw in the pachuco attempt when he notes "that cultural identity is'always constituted within, not outside, representation'" (663). He is what '4 sChicano teenage boys dreamed of becoming - and what the white mainstreamfeared when it saw the "Pachuco." If, as Krempel and Clay state in TheTheatrical Image, "theatre art is a problem in communicating the author'sintended meaning" (15), then El Pachuco as the commanding image of thisplay provides a clear metaphor for the Chicano's central dilemma - and theplaywright's inability to make a choice. While the use of the word "paddy" - and its consequent socialimplications - may or may not be an accurate reflection of the pachucoidiom of the era depicted, it is most certainly an authorial decision touse the reference. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1961.Daniels, Roger. Works CitedConsidine, Bob. New York: Atheneum, 197 .Fregoso, Rosa Linda. It's The Irish: The Story of the Irish in Ireland and America. P. 4, 35), are refugees fromthe violence of the Mexican Revolution, which started in 191 and continuedfor over a decade. Accordingly, as a tribunal, Zoot Suit is verysuccessful in its endeavor. The second, El Pachuco, is a dramatic creationdesigned to combat the image of the stereotypical Chicano byoverstereotyping. Putnam's Sons, 1971.Valdez, Luis. Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1992, 7-2 .Kovel, Joel. Zoot Suit & Other Plays. This flaw in realization detracts from the play'seffectiveness. Via the narrator El Pachuco - and the "pachuco" gangcharacters presented in Zoot Suit - the author attempts to paint a portraitof the complex forces shaping the Mexican-American - i.e. But Valdez intends more for his play than simple condemnation of apast injustice. Because of such unclear, unintended effects, one is leftthinking that "that was then, this is now" - instead of anticipatingthrough the play such renewed versions of the situation as presentedthemselves during the Proposition 187 "Anti-Immigrant" campaign inCalifornia last year. From Many Lands. As historian Oscar Handlin observes in The Uprooted: Americans clung to the easy assumption that all newcomers would shortly merge into a single indistinguishable mass... 8, 51) TOMMY: (about society in general) Most paddies would probably like to see us locked up for good. The Irish: Portrait of a People. This is an interesting paradox, for Valdez clearly indicatesthroughout Zoot Suit that he knows the pachuco choices are unworkable - yethe is unable to really consider following the example of successfullymainstreamed immigrant groups such as the Irish. Sociologically, of course, there is anissue - and that is what I have emphasized. A crime wave that threatens to engulf the very foundations of our civic well-being (I, Sc. White Racism: A Psychohistory. However, here once again Valdez unconsciously reveals a limitationof imagination. Pat O'Brien? The Chicanos who have chosen the pachuco way are allowing their self-image to be dictated by forces from outside themselves. All whites are referred towith the accusatory term "paddy" - and this includes the character of theJewish-American defender, Alice Bloomfield (see quote above). awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor...married... Thebasic irresponsibility of the zoot suit culture is incompatible with thoseolder characteristics. The zoot suit culture, by contrast, emphasizes "goodtime" music and sexuality, short dresses and necking in a parked car. He died of the trauma of his life... But I have cited every anti-Irish reference in the play, and they are very very few ("patsy" doesn'tcount: it's a "movie" word, not an ethnic epithet). The Theatrical Image. 9,52) and by summarizing almost the rest of white society as an amorphouscharacter called "The Press." Linguistically, though, Valdez' repeatedlyidentifies the Chicanos' oppressors as "paddies" and other slangexpressions for Irish-Americans. New York: G.P. Chicano -immigrant culture. Second, and equally important, Zoot Suit loses sightof the complex forces that play on Mexican-American immigrants because itcreates dangerous stereotypes of another immigrant culture, the Irish, inorder to justify the Chicanos' victimization. The Mexican American: His Life Across Four Centuries. The Mexican-American immigrants that Luis Valdez nods to in ZootSuit, embodied in Henry's father, Enrique (I, Sc. In Zoot Suit the playwright attempts to counter thedominant culture's historically negative depiction of Chicanos with acomplex and moving theatrical experience of the pachuco culture in theearly 194 s. First, the play itself is unclear on what that Chicanocharacter should be. Consequently, one has to assumethat the pachucos' "Irish" references to all aspects of the dominant whitesociety presented in Zoot Suit are probably an accurate portrayal of thespeech employed. Valdez utilizes the Bertolt Brecht-influenced formula ofthe 193 s' "Living Newspaper" to recreate Zoot Suit's historical events ina presentational, agit-prop style (Huerta 15). At the same time, the pachucos in the story - and El Pachuco as well- still retain strong indigenous sensitivities to concepts of loyalty,family and honor. 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