Teatro Campensino :: Mexico Spanish Essays

Teatro Campensino Teatro Campensino can be described as an artistic outreach program with political ramifications, the actors are farm workers that find it necessary to spread their message throughout villages composed primarily of poor, Mexican farm workers. The group performs skits that attack "white-washed Mexicans", the Vietnam War, and racism. In "Los Vendidos", director and writer Luis Valdez tackles issues that have plagued Mexican- American history. In fact, by analyzing his play one can deduce several social stigmas and draw parallels to the actual history through the character skits in the play. Furthermore, in order to analyze this play one must delve into the setting, name, characters, and the social ramifications of their situations in order to fully incorporate the scope that this play affects. The name of the play itself has social and political ramifications, that is it reflects the Mexican situation throughout history. Furthermore, the literal meaning of the title is quite ambivilous, "venderse" means to sellout, to betray, or to give away. This can be applied to how Mexicans are treated by Americans and other Mexicans. For instance, Mexicans have been discriminated against for generations, ever since the Spanish conquest. They have been "repatriated" into Mexico during the 1930s, and they have never received the same political or social programs that Anglo- Americans have, such as schools. However, it has also become evident that Mexicans have discriminated against each other throughout the years for various reasons. One of the most prevalent was the schism in the Mexican community between the "American- born of Mexican Parents†¦", "†¦those born and raised in Mexico†¦", and "†¦the largest group were those born in the United States whose parental line age ran back to the original settlers and the early immigrants of the Southwest." (Morin qtd. in Vargas 305). The Old Mexicans, those that were living in the present day United States were somewhat assimilated and accepted by Anglo- Americans because they were a good source of labor. However, the migratory patterns of Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal, allowed the farm owners greater accessibility to a cheap labor force. In fact, the migrations sent the wage of a farmhand to the basement and the Old Mexicans resented this phenomenon. Another way in which this play explores the social and political history of the Mexican-American is through the analysis of the set. For instance, in the window "Honest Sanchos Used Mexicans" indicates that the stereotypical Mexicans "sold" in the store are accurate representations of all Mexicans.