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Mexican-American Renaissance Man: the Cultural Significance of Robert Rodriguez and What it Means for Border Politics
Robert Rodriguez attending an awards show
Born in 1968 in San Antonio, Texas to Mexican parents, Robert Rodriguez is a first generation Mexican-American filmmaker and musician who has become a modern artistic powerhouse. As such, his films and music have the potential to improve the perception of Mexican peoples in the United States. In the current American political climate, and in the wake of President Trump’s DACA wind-down, Rodriguez serves as an important reminder of how vital Latinx influence has been to the cultural zeitgeist.
At times, Rodriguez's films like Machete seem to take a tongue in cheek approach to the Hispanic stereotypes endemic to the US side of the border. But in reality, Rodriguez's satire of historic Latinx media representation does a great deal to destabilize the negative hegemonic viewpoints of the past. Incarnations and criticisms of the bandito, the femme fatale, and other archetypes are present in films like El Mariachi, Planet Terror, and Machete. Importantly however, Rodriguez gives these characters moral agency and always juxtaposes his Latin characters against political actors who have previously been ignored in American film--ie. brutal border vigilantes and other modern American groups that espouse unjust cruelty.
The trailer for Machete, Rodriguez's exploitation film containing themes of violence and injustice along the Mexican Border
Rodriguez's life story also serves as a powerful inspiration to Mexican American artists who feel disenfranchised by the current border debate. Rodriguez has accomplished an extraordinary despite his modest upbringing. After the success of El Mariachi, Rodriguez played an important role in empowering Mexican American Actors and countering the white homogeny of Hollywood. His sequel to El Mariachi, Desperado, introduced Salma Hayek to American audiences and helped precipitate greater Latinx representation in American film. In a time where the border debate has spurred conservative politicians to label hispanics as criminals and drug traffickers, it is important to remember how far men like Rodriguez have already come in countering such violent hate speech. By ensuring that Latinx women like Salma Hayek have a voice in American film and subsequent digital mediums, Rodriguez played an important role in amplifying the current voice of reason against Trump's border policy. Hayek, an activist against Trump's proposed border policy, has gone on record against the wall, noting, "I can promise you he’s not going to build the wall. You cannot build it without the Mexicans that are illegally in the country [...] His days are numbered! Even if he becomes a dictator and rewrites the constitution and now the presidents can stay 12 years! Still his days are numbered!" Had Rodriguez never overcome the odds and made Desperado, Hayek's compelling defense of Latinx culture and sovereignty would never be heard.
Rodriguez has given Latinx Actresses like Salma Hayek a voice in the border debate and hate-speech oriented politics
Rodriguez serves as a powerful case study of how increased access to media and the arts have empowered Mexican Americans to regain control of their representation. It is quite amazing how much Rodriguez accomplished with extremely little initial funding and how he has now progressed to blockbuster status. His personal story and the impact of his films will educate and enlighten American audiences not to listen to the lies about Latinx peoples being perpetuated by conservatives still desperately clinging to the idea of blocking out Mexico with a "great wall."
Works Cited
Hall, Stuart. Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse: Paper for Council of Europe Colloquy on Training in the Critical Reading of Televisual Language". 1973.
OfficialMacheteMovie. “Official Machete Trailer HD.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 July 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16020r--oM.
Pramuk, Jacob. “Trump Says DACA Deal Must Include Border Wall, a Day after Saying He'd Sign Whatever Congress Passed.” CNBC, CNBC, 10 Jan. 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/01/10/trump-stresses-any-daca-solution-has-to-include-a-border-wall.html.
“Robert Rodriguez: How to Build an Indie Filmmaking Empire.” Indie Film Hustle, 7 Feb. 2018, indiefilmhustle.com/robert-rodriguez-interview/.
thisisfusion. “Salma Hayek: There's a 'Good Thing' about Donald Trump's Anti-Mexican Comments.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Aug. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzWjvC_zXq8.