Zoot Suit

“I speak as an actor on the stage. The Pachuco was existential for he was an actor in the streets, both profane and reverential.” 

As El Pachuco introduces the play to the audience, he draws a parallel between his own performance as an actor in the play and the pachuco persona as performative. Pachucos wear a specific costume that gives them the confidence to transform into bold, proud, young Chicano men who live according to pachuco rules and ethics. This is also a moment when El Pachuco reminds audiences that they are watching a play. Much like Bertolt Brecht’s alienation technique, this allows audiences to maintain distance and make logical decisions about the characters’ ethics, rather than emotional ones. 

“Muy patriotic, eh? […] Off to fight for your country. […] This ain’t your country. Look what’s happening all around you. The Japs have sewed up the Pacific. Rommel is kicking ass in Egypt but the mayor of L.A. has declared all-out war on Chicanos. […] Is that what you want to go out and die for? Wise up. These bastard paddy cops have it in for you. You’re a marked man. They think you’re the enemy.” 

The use of Chicanos in the U.S. military is a repeated theme in Luis Valdez’s work. He criticizes the United States government for utilizing Mexican-American soldiers while still treating them as foreigners who cannot receive full rights. El Pachuco scoffs at Henry’s patriotism as naïve. He references other countries who are fighting over land, framing the campaign against Mexican Americans in Los Angeles as a colonialist battle.

“I hear you pachucos wear these monkey suits as a kind of armor. Is that right? How’s it work?” 

Although Sgt. Smith is mocking Henry, this is, in one sense, an apt description of the zoot suit’s function. Smith’s meaning associates the suit with violence, as the word “armor” implies that pachucos are an army fighting a war.