Word: bamba
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...taking on a Hispanic color and spirit. Look around. You can see the special lightning, the distinctive gravity, the portable wit, the personal spin. The new marquee names have a Spanish ring: Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, Maria Conchita Alonso. At the movies, the summer of La Bamba gave way last year to the autumn of Born in East L. A.; now the springtime of Stand and Deliver blends into the summer of Salsa. On the record charts the story is the same: Miami Sound Machine, Los Lobos, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. The rhythm is gonna...
Another reason is more subtle. The creative work being done by Hispanics today is more than ever recognizable to Americans as the work of, well, Americans -- Hispanic Americans. Paintings and music that spring from Latin sources are being filtered through a north-of-the-border sensibility. As in La Bamba: its story of Chicano life is told through myths of immigrant struggle and showbiz martyrdom that were born in the U.S.A. Increasingly, too, Hispanic artists and entertainers are courting the mass audience in English. Many of the nation's Latino theaters perform in English only. "I don't want...
...hills of New Mexico and the old mission towns of the Pacific Coast, the descendants of Spanish settlers who greeted the Anglo pioneers are amused (and sometimes not amused) to find themselves perennially arriving in the national consciousness. As Luis Valdez, writer and director of La Bamba, once put it, "We did not, in fact, come to the United States at all. The United States came...
...Martinez, the Latino heartthrob of NBC'S soap opera Santa Barbara. And a few prime-time series, from Chico and the Man through I Married Dora, have featured Hispanic characters and themes. But in contrast to their achievements in the other arts, Hispanics are still waiting for their La Bamba breakthrough...
...Norte is not just a parable for immigrant visions crushed by reality. It is a caustic metaphor for Hispanic-American filmmakers lusting to conquer Hollywood. Years of slammed doors have tempered hope with skepticism, even when one smash movie has opened doors a crack. La Bamba, a low-budget bio-pic of Chicano Rock 'n' Roller Ritchie Valens, was last summer's surprise hit, earning $55 million at the North American box office. Maybe Hispanic film artists would prefer to believe in La Bamba's rags-to-riches story. But they know how even that film ends: with a fatal...