Henry Reyna in Zoot Suit: Unveiling Discrimination, Identity, and Empowerment

Introduction

In 1981, the film Zoot Suit, written by Luis Valdez, portrayed a real-life experience that happened to innocent Mexican Americans. This experience is known as the Sleepy Lagoon Case of 1942, in which the courts racially charged a group of Mexican-Americans with a murder trial. In the film Zoot Suit, many of the Mexicans were faced with widespread discrimination, which represents what happened during the 1940s. To overcome this discrimination, many Chicanos wore oversized jackets to gain social and political rebellion. Many Pachucos were “associated with zoot suits, street gangs, nightlife, and flamboyant public behavior” (Wikipedia).

The Symbolism of Zoot Suit

These titles made it easy to accuse Pachucos of murder, not because of proof or clear evidence, but because of their ethnicity, style, and behavior. The main character is Henry Reyna, a man being falsely trialed for a crime he did not commit and has his conscience take the host of an ideal Pachuco. El Pachuco serves as Henry Reyna’s alter ego and, throughout the film, will impersonate Mexican-Americans in the past and present with Zoot Suit culture.

The central conflict of the film revolves around the narrative figure and Henry Reyna, one of the innocents who is unlawfully convicted of a crime. Subsequently, the film follows Reyna’s wrongful imprisonment and his uncertain feelings toward George Shearer and Alice Bloomfield. Both are non-Latinos who are working hard to turn over the verdict to the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial.

In all standard movies, there is a villain, much like in Zoot Suit. Within realistic standards, the film effortlessly ties together and relies on the villains of the story: the dominant White Americans, the conspiracy of police, the press, and politicians.

The word Zoot Suit had a symbolic significance to those who were Mexican-Americans and those who had to endure riots during World War II. Mexican-Americans were given poor respect and substandard privileges; the Sleepy Lagoon Case was one step in helping them in their journey to fight for their rights and be seen as an equal. The film shows the lack of equality present through the use of El Pachuco. El Pachuco highlights key points in which the court victimizes or discriminates Zoot Suiters unfairly.

Empowerment and Identity

Zoot Suit was seen as an inferior term, much like how Mexicans were treated as the lower class. During the important court scene, El Pachuco displayed the prejudice and misinterpretations of Mexican-Americans during WWII. For example, when the men walked into court with nothing but dirty clothes, El Pachuco provided them with a comment, “Look at your gang, they do look like mobsters” (Valdez). He was telling Henry that they were trying to make them look bad to the dominant White Americans, which resulted in the alteration of the judge and jury’s views and opinions.

Valdez was influenced by the Chicano movement, where many sought to establish their ethnic identity. Therefore, the use of gender roles has not yet been taken into consideration. Through the use of El Pachuco as an alter ego, he was able to embody all Chicanos. Essentially, both the females and males had interrelated desires and did not stand alone.

A reporter and young activist speaks out against the men’s conviction; she goes by the name of Alice Bloomfield. She did everything in her power to fight against the unlawfulness of the 38th Street Gang despite her being female. She had to undergo numerous challenges, and some were from Henry Reyna. Henry Reyna made it difficult to cooperate at first, but he eventually warmed up to her as he struggled constantly by no means. Alice was interested in his case. One way she could help him was to get his word out to the press. “If you write an article – and I know you can – we’ll publish it in the people’s word” (Valdez). This was a way to enact the case and hopefully prove he was innocent. However, it did not go as planned for Henry, but for Alice, it did. It proved that Alice and many females during that time could be a part of something big and not just cook and clean around the house. She opened a lot of opportunities to females at that time.

El Pachuco: Alter Ego and Gender Roles

Quite the opposite happens with El Pachuco. In the film, “Pachuco is the ultimate male: his resolve, his confidence, and his knowledge is everything this culture looked up to in an individual” (Arts Columbia). By portraying El Pachuco as the alter ego of Henry Reyna, Valdez is able to demonstrate many perspectives and situations one can go through and find themselves in. Therefore, it causes men to feel overwhelmed and gives high expectations to be macho.

Valdez had included a fourth wall in his film, and it was broken multiple times. The fourth wall symbolized the representation of El Pachucos’ rebellion against the dominant White Americans. It was about rules and not breaking them. Valdez used a modern-day audience to represent events still occurring over time, as well as having the effect of a dramatic interaction. As it turns out, the audience was the fourth wall.

Conclusion

The ending of this film had a turning point. Henry’s fate had multiple alternative paths. The film shows the appeal is won. However, the final clip showed as a reminder that though the little battle was won, the war is still far from ending. Towards the end of the film, there are two possible endings for Henry: either he continues his criminal career and ends up in jail again and dies of a drug overdose in 1972, or he joins the army and dies as a war hero in 1950. The audience had to determine the fate of Henry Reyna, resulting in a mystery.

References

1. “Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style” by Kathy Peiss 

2. “Zoot Suit and Other Plays” by Luis Valdez 

3. “Sleepy Lagoon, the Mexican-American War, and the Politics of Culture” by Douglas Monroy

4. “Zoot Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation” by Mauricio Mazon

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