Mi Vida Loca

419 Words2 Pages
Mi Vida Loca (1993), directed by Allison Anders, is about the difficulty of young Chican@s growing up Echo Park. These young gangsters face many struggles, including that of gang violence and teen motherhood. The director uses place and location in several different ways to establish race, gender, chicanismo, and social class. In the first example scene, there are “homeboys” and “homegirls” standing by the barrio market in unison. Both genders were jumped in to the local Echo Park gang and are representing the same neighborhood. This shows viewers that the women are trying to become autonomous from the men in their lives. By standing and holding down the barrio, the women feel as equals by standing and backing up the same city and streets as the men (gender/gender class). The second example scene, is the scene where Mona and Mousie are at the park with their kids Jr. and Crystal. Here you see two women, who are young mothers involved in the local gang, on their own. There is no male presence around, mainly because the father of their children is dead. These same women who have gained respect from their male counterpart gang and are considered to be equal are not so equal to men when it comes to taking care of the children, something considered a women’s job while the man is working to provide. This signifies to the viewer a false view of Mexican-American women, who mother children at a young age. They are considered to be unfit mothers living off welfare because they have no jobs and on their free time are gang banging. It is depicting a world where women must raise their children and do whatever it takes to get by and survive to viewers, leaving a bad stigma on Mexican-American women (gender). The third scene example is a variety of scenes. This includes the shots of the Los Angeles buildings, the Echo Park Lake, the Echo Park Ave. sign, the graffiti of gang

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