I'd like to start off by saying that I've been a longtime fan of El Vez’s subversive Chicano punk performance, style and lyrics. I even cited him in a previous blog entry. Although his popularity has remained largely outside of the mainstream, his ingenious blending of a mainstream popular musical aesthetic (a la Elvis) with a politically conscious Chicano subjectivity has made El Vez a hot topic among Chicana/o academic circles.
I’ve seen El Vez twice in Austin, Texas for his “Snow Way José” and “El Vez for Prez” concerts a few years back. Both were at the Continental Club in Austin, TX - a very small, intimate venue - and both put forth a politically resistant message. For example, during his "El Vez for Prez" concert (during the very heated political climate when Kerry was running for president against G.W. Bush), El Vez had a very political anti-imperialistic, pro-immigration statement. At the beginning of the concert, he ran a slideshow displaying a distinct critique of the Bush administration's war in Iraq and anti-immigration policies. Several (white) people, expecting a non-political farce (The Mexican Elvis) were obviously offended by his politics and walked out of the venue before the performance even started. This just left room for us Chicanos to move closer to the front! :)
This time around, however, I felt like I was watching a very different performance. I walked into First Avenue here in Minneapolis with a small group of other Chicanas/os, mostly graduate students, staff and employees of the University of Minnesota who I strongly urged to attend the concert with me. Automatically, we felt like ethnic “others” among a huge sea of white faces that made up an unexpectedly large audience.
Then started what I thought to be the next act before El Vez - Los Straightjackets, a group of white men from Tennessee dressed up with Mexican wrestler masks, and speaking bad Spanish with a white accent to the crowd (basically playing “dress-up” and using Mexican identity as a gimmick). Offensive, to say the least. I figured I'd down a few beers to endure this garbage until the real show began. You couldn't imagine my disappointment when I realized that El Vez was using them as his band. *Why, El Vez? Whyyyy?!*
A member of Los Straightjackets (in his very bad Spanish) introduces El Vez, who runs on stage in his form-fitting Santa suit. Then the same band member introduces the Elvettes, El Vez’s “sexy señoritas" (typical perpetuation of the "hot Latina" stereotype). El Vez always has his “Elvettes” at his shows, but this time they were hypersexualized and objectified in their tiny Christmas dresses (there was even a mock sexual harassment skit involving a member of Los Straightjackets). What made it worse was that this performance of sexuality was done for a white male gaze - by white men for a white male audience members.
I also felt that El Vez was performing “differently." His usual political banter between songs was kept to a minimum...nearly non-existent. It was though he was aware of the fact that he was performing "ethnic buffoonery" for a majority white audience. He didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm that he has in the past. Songs were familiar such as, "Mamacita, Donde esta Santa Claus" and "En El Barrio," but the performance seemed forced and unfamiliar from those I had come to know and love. Was it the fact that he was in Minneapolis that caused such a change in his performance? Would I have felt the same way had I seen his performance in Austin? I was confused; disappointed.
Adding to my discomfort was the fact that I was surrounded by white audience members who laughed at El Vez's satire for a wholly different reason that I laughed. These were supposed to be "inside" jokes, I felt. They weren't laughing with El Vez, but at him, at us. In this context, his satire, his fake Mexican accent, everything became unbearable. I actually cried - like a kid who found out there was no Santa. Being that I had brought a whole group of politically conscious Chicanas/os to see the performance (and who were each disappointed/offended), I felt it was my responsibility to share this with El Vez. Since he knows me from various shows and through internet correspondence, I went to the backstage area and asked for him.
“Tell him, Lucha Dora from Texas is here,” I said. Immediately he appears with his usual smile and charismatic charm. Happy and surprised to see me in Minneapolis, he greets me with a hug. I tell him that I am now assistant professor at the U of M and that I brought a critical mass of Chicanas/os who live here and who were in the audience. I then proceeded to explain to him how we felt about the performance as Chicanas/os watching our identity being performed for a majority white, mainstream audience. We were sincere and respectful in our constructive criticism.
As we did this, a group of white fans began to harass us, thinking that we were "stealing" El Vez’s time with them (not knowing that I called him out personally). They begin yelling things at us like, “Boo-hoo, cry me a river” and “Why don’t you go write a book about it?” We asked them to give us our time to speak with him and it got even more hostile. When someone in the group asked him to do something about the blatant harassment against us, El Vez refused to defend us and instead said that they were only "having fun." This simply added insult to injury. His consolation was a visit to the U of M in the spring. When the mob began getting physical with us (shoving our backs) and knowing that El Vez didn't have our back, we decided to leave to avoid things getting ugly. As we walked away, someone yelled, “Wetbacks!" (Yes, "wetbacks.") ---> NOTE CORRECTION OF INFORMATION AT END OF BLOG.
We were surprised but we weren’t shocked. We walked away with a clear message: this space was not “ours” but “theirs” even at a concert of a "subversive" Chicano performer. The irony is that the same person who would yell, "wetback," would turn around and show their admiration for El Vez. I guess when we’re smiling and entertaining and not a threat, we’re acceptable. But when we get in the way of them and what they want, we’re undesirable “wetbacks.” Good thing El Vez didn't sing one of his most popular songs (and my favorite) "Immigration Time."
We were bummed, to say the least, and ended up drowning our sorrows at our favorite local spot, Pancho Villa, where we downed some margaritas and partook in some good ole Spanish karaoke. Although PV helped take away the sting that night, I woke up the next day feeling sad; disillusioned.
I reflected on the conversation my friend Karla and I had during the concert (and that got us "shushed" several times by nearby white audience members whom I threatened to "punch in the face"...but that's another story). El Vez's performance forced us to ask ourselves about the politics of Chicano performance. When does Chicano performance stop being subversive? How do we as Chicanas/os negotiate our resistant politics within a white mainstream institution. And it resonated with my current job in a Chicano Studies department at a predominantly white research one institution. What does it mean to teach Chicano Studies to privileged white students? Am I teaching resistance or am I perpetuating cultural appropriation? Questions I think El Vez and I both need to ask ourselves.
***CORRECTION***
It was brought to my attention by a friend in attendance that the "wetback" comment was made to three members of our original group AFTER they had separated from the larger group. This was outside of the venue on the way to their vehicle. My misunderstanding came from someone telling me, "They called us wetbacks," and thinking they had addressed our entire group. My apologies for the inaccuracy.
