El Pocho

"El Pocho"
Spanish
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E3PsffJ2z6Y
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=E3PsffJ2z6Y

The movie was intended for a Mexican, spanish speaking audience.

"El pocho" at its core is a story about someone about 50 years ago in Texas being derived from two cultures, not fully belonging to either one and to a certain extent rejected by both.

The important part of the movie to me, the meat of the message:

From the time "Joe" first attends the party in Juarez, Mexico to the end of his dream there is a large boat load of symbolism of the condition of being pocho, becoming very heavy in his dream after the party if you know what to look for.

Keep an eye out for the attractive young woman who accompanies the rich old man who was looking to score some erection pills from Joe at the pharmacy. There is a scene where she is subtly thrown all over your face but easy to miss if you aren't paying attention. This is classic mexican humor.

For youtube videos you sometimes have to “rewind” the video, otherwise the start button might launch directly into the next video youtube pushes at you. might have something to do with google's vendetta agains add blockers.

Born In East L.A. 

Cheech Marin
English with some barrioisms
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sFUFw1GH6ic
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=sFUFw1GH6ic

Little Joe Y La Familia Margarita / Lonesome Me
Spanish and english
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1wQOu_f3tkE&t=370
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=1wQOu_f3

Guero In The Barrio
English and spanish
Los Lonely Boys
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HrseADQi1ss&t=198
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=HrseADQi1ss

Selena - Dreaming Of You
English, a little spanish
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VRU2qs82DAg&t=265
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=VRU2qs82DAg

Something important about this song, otherwise I'd have passed it over for something else, it's not quite my cup of tea.

One lyric is "dreaming with you." In english it is normally "dream about," in spanish it's "sueño con," "I dream with."

Spanish speakers will do this sort of thing from time to time, as english speakers will do as well in other languages

Note:

El Pocho was written and directed by the late Lalo Gonzalez, who also stars in the movie. He was a legendary figure in the Mexican entertainment industry as a movie star, comedian, singer and radio personality during the golden age of Mexican cinema. The film was probably released in 1972.

Gonzalez also had the nickname “El Piporro,” bassoon - a woodwind instrument.

The film has fictional characters, but it is a work or type of social commentary.

Some of the imagery in this movie that has meaning:

At the party in Juarez, there is a band playing a type or style of American music from maybe the late 50s to the late 60s. The musicians have long hair like the Beetles inspired.

Joe dances with Lucha Villa, they talk while dancing. At one point she sharply asks him why he's speaking to her in english, “Por qué me habla en ingles?”

After dancing they walk towards some bars with the word "carcel," jail, posted on them. They walk some more until the bars are between them, they stop, and in their conversation Villa calls him pocho, then after a little more conversation says to him "los pochos no quieren ser Mexicanos," the pochos don't want to be mexican. It's not a hard rejection, but she's saying what she thinks.

Then a mariachi band forms by the pool and Villa says "es la musica de mi tierra," it's the music of my land. She joins the band and sings.

Joe is now in front of the bars, but the band members who played the American music are behind the bars.

After Joe gets home he has a disturbing dream, which for me is the most powerful part of the movie.

Villa calls him pocho, Suzy says "of course you're American" and calls him "latin." Joe's Mexican friend says something I don't quite catch.

In the next scene, Joe approaches a group of Mexican men  dressed somewhat  like American cowboys of the time, except for a sombrero and a couple sets of bandoliers. 

Joe himself is wearing garb like what the Southern Mexican Indian soldiers of Emiliano Zapata's 1910 revolutionary army would have worn, Joe's shirt and pants are blinding white while his skin is brown

.Joe appears to be reporting for duty as a soldier.

The boss directs Joe to come close, then says something I don't entirely get, but from the words I know and from the context it seems they are going to the border to confront or war against the gringo.

The two Mexicans who are speaking spanish do so in a weird, goofy manner but they think Joe is weird because he speaks to them in english. 

After a bit the boss tells Joe to scram, then shoots him in the back for being weird by speaking english.

The following sequence with Villa, Suzy and the Mexican friend at the end of the dream speaks for itself.

**

The party is where you see the attractive young woman who was with the rich old man at the pharmacy where Joe hands the man a small box while saying “just in case of relax.”

She's hoofing it up with an obviously virile young man.

While your attention is on the three primary actors of the scene, she's everywhere, constantly bouncing all around in and out of view, foreground and background both.

This is director Gonzalez presenting a visual joke.

I think the way it was done was masterfull

The spanish in the pharmacy scene, unlike almost all the rest of the movie, was faster than I could absorb, and I'm not quite sure what Joe was congratulating the man for, but the box of pills, “just in case of relax,” the old man's look back at Joe for assurance as the couple was leaving and Joe's expressionless, slight nod says it all for me.

Joe probably knew he was selling futility with that little box.

If the congratulations had something to do with marriage between a man way past his sell by date and a young, very marketable woman, that enlarges the joke. 

It's a faithless matrimony between the woman and the man's wallet while the old man's absurd fantasy, trying to relive youth and vigor while reaping insecurity and quiet ridicule from it's inevitable failure to be young and hormonal, is a cuckolded fantasy from before he met the woman.

Two sayings come to mind:

You have to know your limitations

If you live long enough, you'll become one of those people you used to make fun of.

On the other flipped over hand, the Benjamin Franklin quote about his relentless chase of women - “The old ones are grateful.”

There's a world of difference between the two scenarios.

**

[until now, I haven't seen the movie in years, but the most important part to me is the party and dream. I skimmed over the rest of the movie.

I had to make a correction to the above, I rewatched the party/dream segments over and over. The pharmacy scene I only saw once and I incorrectly stated that Joe had congratulated the woman, but he actually congratulated the man. 

I'm still not sure what the conversation was about, but the intent of the scene seems very clear to me. I now think the spanish was just a little faster, but I think either the words are unfamiliar or it's the pronounciation of the words that's tripping me up.

If it were written instead of spoken I would probably fully understand.

In any case, my apology for sloppiness about the pharmacy scene.]