Good morning! (Using this platform to express my opinion whether it sinks to the bottom or not.)
I saw Flaming Hot Cheetos yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course as a Mexican American I had saw it through a particular lens that you might not. First of all, again……. with the gang thing. As I stated in my diary yesterday, I grew up in San Antonio. Military City! So as a Tejanos, Mexican Americans in San Antonio resisted the Chicano movement. The Vietnam war was in full bloom and Mexican American boys were showing their patriotic duty by enlisting and serving the United States because we were AMERICAN! So Pachucos and Zoot suiters were not held in high esteem. My neighborhood was new and had a direct road to Kelly Air Force base for so many Mexican American veterans to work for the US Air Force, ie Kelly, Lackland. We make cars bounce because we know mechanics.
Because of this, Texas Mexican Americans while democrats, are also fairly conservative. As a group, Mexican Americans have pretty much been ignored, our stories and our faces. We are heroic, patriotic, creative and damn smart. But the gang story is part of some people’s story. If it was part of this story, it should not be left out.
So in that light, I highly recommend the movie, Flaming Hot Cheetos. It is a whole lot of fun and like the Flaming Hot Cheetos product, it is aimed right smack at US the Chicano/Mexican American. I make the distinction because for some of us it’s interchangeable. For some others, the Chicano movement was considered disrespectful to people working for the military complex to feed their families. The men who went to war in the Pacific, like my dad.
It has a terrific authentic feel in the Cholo dialogue. I found that very funny. Fairly clean, so your older kids can watch it. Gang members are portrayed as desperate low lifes that admire the guy doing the right thing. And on top to that, supposedly
The story might not be all true.
Fact check at USA Today
History vs Hollywood
Responding to the release of The Times article, Flamin' Hot screenwriter Lewis Colick told Variety, "I think enough of the story is true. The heart and soul and spirit of the story is true. ... Did Richard embellish a little bit? Was his memory faulty here or there? Who knows. The truth is the product. ... We're not in the documentary business. I've written a lot of true stories, like October Sky. Not every single thing in the story is exactly true. I always stand behind the essence of the story." However, does this include when new information comes to light after the screenplay has already been written, information that significantly changes what had previously been considered the real story?
Food for thought. I thought it was fun to watch.
The book Amazon .... Flamin Hot Cheetos