Boulevard Nights & Masculinity in Latinx Culture
Hey Everyone,
So, the two movies we've watched are centered on men in our culture (Mambo Kings and Boulevard Nights). This isn't because I love to watch male-centered movies, it's because many of the foundational films and culture-making concepts come from these films.
Please watch Boulevard Nights and Choose 2 of the 5 prompts below to answer in the comments or in an email to me.
So, the two movies we've watched are centered on men in our culture (Mambo Kings and Boulevard Nights). This isn't because I love to watch male-centered movies, it's because many of the foundational films and culture-making concepts come from these films.
Please watch Boulevard Nights and Choose 2 of the 5 prompts below to answer in the comments or in an email to me.
- Prompt 1: Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and violence/emotions
- Prompt 2: Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and their ability to change their circumstances.
- Prompt 3: Talk about how limited the roles of Chicana women are in this film.
- Prompt 4: If you were to re-write this film to include more complex gender issues, how would you do it?
- Prompt 5: Talk about the ways that this film accurately represents Chicano culture
- Prompt 6: Talk about the ways that this film feels outdated or is not inclusive.
Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and violence/emotions.
ReplyDeleteChicano men in the film are portrayed as men who have to protect themselves whether that includes violence. Throughout the film, men are battling various emotions whether that is self expression or showing loyalty to one another. The different men who are portrayed are all battling different situations such as trying to become a better person, having life realizations, trying to protect their loved ones, but also trying to fit in. Every individual is different in this film. We are able to get the chicano man's perspective and be able to see all the vulnerabilities and emotions they have.
The film was also based in a time where gang violence was very prevalent in Los Angeles. The film was actually recorded where I have lived all my life, and It has changed a lot.
Talk about how limited the roles of Chicana women are in this film.
Majority of the film is based on the relationship between two brothers. As one is trying to improve himself, the other brother is struggling to find himself. Despite the older brother trying to help the younger brother leave the gang, he simply won't understand. The few chicana women we get to see, we don't get a glimpse into their life. Despite the possible large amount of similarities there isn't a connection made. The chicana women in the film also get very few lines opposed to the men. The chicana women are portrayed as a strong influence into the mens emotion. When the mother dies due to the gunshot, you get the understanding the brother got a realization of wrongdoing.
- Valerie Melendez
Vanessa Aguilar
ReplyDeletePrompt 1: Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and violence/emotions
The film shows the relationship between Chicano men as a relationship of looking out for each other. In the film Raymond is the older brother who looks out for his younger brother Chuco who is still apart of a gang. The film also shows the rivalry between the two different gangs. The violence in the film is done by each gang conflicting violence to the other. Either because of turf, damage being done to one's car or family member. The film shows how the men get revenge if one person in there group gets hurt or is murdered. If one goes down they all fight back. The emotions behind the violence of the film is due to anger. Raymond cares for his brother and looks out for him. But he gets mad when his brother gets into reckless trouble. We then see Chuco's emotions when he say's to his brother Raymond in the film that he wanted to be there for his wedding but sometimes he just gets so mad and he doesn't know what to do. And at the end we see Chuco goes by himself to get revenge to protect his brother from getting hurt.
Prompt 2: Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and their ability to change their circumstances.
There were many chances where the Chicano men in the film had the ability to change their circumstances. We see this right from the beginning when it came to turf. And again we see one of the gangs provoke the other while on the street. They started following them and started a fight. The gang didn't have to follow the other gang and they didn't have to provoke them. They could have avoided contact and the fight. After the fight occurred one of the members got hurt which lead to a back and forth battle through out the movie to get revenge for the death of members. The different gangs go back and forth at each other, damaging cars, and leading to deaths of family members. If both gangs would have layed down there weapons, turned the other cheek and not provoke one another, circumstances could have changed. And the characters had a chance to turn away from violence but kept going.
-Vanessa Aguilar
Talk about the relationship between Chicano men (as portrayed here) and violence/emotions:
ReplyDeleteChicano men are notorious for participating in toxic masculinity. Whether it be intentional or not, they're taught not to show emotions. If they do then they're considered "soft or less than a man". In the film anytime Chuco or Raymond showed emotion someone would question their masculinity. In order to show that he was truly a man and able to make a name for himself Chuco joined 11th Street and participated in their activities. I think a lot of times Chicano men don't have healthy ways of dealing with their anger in particular. They tend to bottle it up then explode. This can be seen when Raymond hits Chuco and Chuco blows up and tells Raymond not to hit him anymore. It's clear it wasn't discussed before that moment. It seems like the only time you ever saw a male character cry was when someone died, it was the only acceptable reason to cry. Living life like that is unhealthy and is still perpetuated by machismo culture.
Talk about the ways that this film accurately represents Chicano culture:
I think the idea of "once family, always family" can be seen in this movie. Even when Chuco leaves for weeks, he's still welcomed by Raymond and his mother during the wedding. I also think the collective nature of Chicano culture is seen here: characters cruise together as groups, take care of each other, consider each other. When you make a decision it affects other people and becomes an issue for the collective and I think that's seen when Chuco's mom dies and suddenly it's not only his problem but his brother's and his gang's. It also displays the way violence is the solution for everything. Referring back to the previous prompt, I think often violence seems like the easy solution because you don't need to think about your emotions, but at the end of the day I'd consider it a toxic trait of Chicano culture.
-Anel (Bell) Escalera