Chicano Studies 101

I am pleased that director-writer Allison Anders has decided to portray and humanize a segment of society that others are trying to ostracize into extinction. However, I am worried that this message may not translate onto the screen.

How Anders found “American Me” a vindication of anyone is beyond me. I wonder how “Mi Vida Loca” is going to turn out when there are few Chicanos or Chicanas behind the camera, besides Los Lobos, whose musical inspiration may salvage the film.

And is the main inspiration of the film the humanization of the Chicano culture, or the use of one segment of it to bolster specific feminist views? Anders must understand that the courage displayed by these girls is borne out of a collective Latino experience, not only a feminist one.

I admire and respect Anders’ desire to tell the hard story and am grateful for her empathy. However, we Chicanos will never get our point across while someone else is telling it.

PAUL G. PEREIRA

Wilmington