Los Vendidos
Encyclopedia
Los Vendidos is a one-act play
by Chicano
playwright
Luis Valdez
, a founding member of El Teatro Campesino. He wrote it in 1967, and it was first performed at the Brown Beret junta in Elysian Park
, East Los Angeles
. The play examines stereotypes of Latinos in California
and how they are treated by local, state, and federal governments.
Los Vendidos is published in Luis Valdez - Early Works: Actors, Bernabe and Pensamiento Serpentino from Arte Publico Press in Houston, Texas
, 1990.-frankie
The short play is set in Honest Sancho's Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop, a fictional Californian store that apparently sells various "models" (robots) of steretypical Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that buyers can manipulate by simply snapping their fingers and calling out commands. The action of the play revolves around "The Secretary," a character by the name of Miss Jiménez, who converses with Honest Sancho, the owner of the store. Sancho says her name with Spanish pronunciation (xiˈmenes or, roughly), though she chastises him for speaking bad English, demanding that it be pronounced as the Anglicized
ˈdʒɪmɨnɛz .
Miss Jiménez explains to the courteous Honest Sancho that she is a secretary for Governor Reagan
and that his administration is looking to purchase "a Mexican type" to appeal to a larger voting crowd. Sancho shows the Secretary four different models, snapping in order to bring them to life to demonstrate their behaviors. Although Miss Jiménez is herself evidently a Chicana (Mexican-American), she seems completely ignorant to the cultural stereotypes displayed in each of the four buyable characters.
First, Sancho shows her the sturdy Farm Worker, but she refuses to buy him because he speaks no English. Second, they examine the "Johnny Pachuco
," a 1950s Chicano gangmember model who is violent, profane, and drug-abusing, though an easy scapegoat and perfect to brutalize. Third, when Miss Jiménez asks for a more romantic model, they come to the Revolucionario, one of the glorified bandit/martyrs of early Californian history; however, she denies him when she learns that he is completely Mexican and not even American-made.
Finally, they come to the most contemporary Mexican-American model, named "Eric Garcia": a well-dressed and exciting public speaker who is university-educated, ambitious, bilingual, and polite. Miss Jiménez very reluctantly agrees to buy Eric for $15,000, when suddenly he begins staging a vocal protest in Spanish: "¡Viva la raza! ¡Viva la huelga! ¡Viva la revolución!" (Long live the race! Long live the strike! Long live the revolution!). Soon he snaps the three other models awake and they join in his miniature uprising. After Jiménez flees in fright, the four models converse among each other, revealing that they in fact are not robots, but rather, living human beings. They dispense the money equally among themselves and leave, carrying the limp form of Sancho the salesman who needs an "oil job"—it is Sancho who is the robot.
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
by Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez is an American playwright, writer and film director.He is regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States.-Education:...
, a founding member of El Teatro Campesino. He wrote it in 1967, and it was first performed at the Brown Beret junta in Elysian Park
Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California
Elysian Park is a park and adjacent neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California.Encompassing Chavez Ravine where Dodger Stadium is located, Elysian Park is mostly a hillside community that is also home to the Los Angeles Police Academy....
, East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (region)
East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...
. The play examines stereotypes of Latinos in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and how they are treated by local, state, and federal governments.
Los Vendidos is published in Luis Valdez - Early Works: Actors, Bernabe and Pensamiento Serpentino from Arte Publico Press in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, 1990.-frankie
The short play is set in Honest Sancho's Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop, a fictional Californian store that apparently sells various "models" (robots) of steretypical Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that buyers can manipulate by simply snapping their fingers and calling out commands. The action of the play revolves around "The Secretary," a character by the name of Miss Jiménez, who converses with Honest Sancho, the owner of the store. Sancho says her name with Spanish pronunciation (xiˈmenes or, roughly), though she chastises him for speaking bad English, demanding that it be pronounced as the Anglicized
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
ˈdʒɪmɨnɛz .
Miss Jiménez explains to the courteous Honest Sancho that she is a secretary for Governor Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and that his administration is looking to purchase "a Mexican type" to appeal to a larger voting crowd. Sancho shows the Secretary four different models, snapping in order to bring them to life to demonstrate their behaviors. Although Miss Jiménez is herself evidently a Chicana (Mexican-American), she seems completely ignorant to the cultural stereotypes displayed in each of the four buyable characters.
First, Sancho shows her the sturdy Farm Worker, but she refuses to buy him because he speaks no English. Second, they examine the "Johnny Pachuco
Pachuco
Pachucos are Chicano youths who developed their own subculture during the 1930s and 1940s in the Southwestern United States. They wore distinctive clothing and spoke their own dialect of Mexican Spanish, called Caló or Pachuco...
," a 1950s Chicano gangmember model who is violent, profane, and drug-abusing, though an easy scapegoat and perfect to brutalize. Third, when Miss Jiménez asks for a more romantic model, they come to the Revolucionario, one of the glorified bandit/martyrs of early Californian history; however, she denies him when she learns that he is completely Mexican and not even American-made.
Finally, they come to the most contemporary Mexican-American model, named "Eric Garcia": a well-dressed and exciting public speaker who is university-educated, ambitious, bilingual, and polite. Miss Jiménez very reluctantly agrees to buy Eric for $15,000, when suddenly he begins staging a vocal protest in Spanish: "¡Viva la raza! ¡Viva la huelga! ¡Viva la revolución!" (Long live the race! Long live the strike! Long live the revolution!). Soon he snaps the three other models awake and they join in his miniature uprising. After Jiménez flees in fright, the four models converse among each other, revealing that they in fact are not robots, but rather, living human beings. They dispense the money equally among themselves and leave, carrying the limp form of Sancho the salesman who needs an "oil job"—it is Sancho who is the robot.