“…Mexican Used Lot and Mexican Curio Shop…” A Deconstruction Reading of Luis Valdez’ Los Vendidos Anonymous College

The binary frame that is evident in Los Vendidos are: acculturation/de-acculturation. The Mexican-Americans who abandon their culture in favour of the American culture are considered to be “sell-outs” whereas those who stick to the Mexican culture are stereotyped as objects (models) that can be easily manipulated and abused by the American system . The stereotypes in the play are omnipresent as they touch on the social, economic and political domains of the Mexican American’s lives.Luis Valdez’s ideological goal in Los Vendidos is to discredit the inaccurate stereotypes that compel Mexican-Americans to acculturate; the models in Honest Sancho’s shop are metaphorical of the stereotypes that depict the Mexican-Americans in bad light.

The characterization of “Farmwork model” goes against the main ideological notion of the play. Sancho tells Secretary that Apart from reinforcing the stereotype that Mexican- Americans cannot speak in English, the “Farmwork” reinforces other stereotypes such as being economical. Sancho tells Secretary that (Pennies a day is all it (Farmwork) takes. One plate of beans and tortillas will keep him going all day. Plenty Chile.” This portrayal is inconsistent to the play’s ideological objective; instead...