Providing textual analysis of 12 feature films written and directed by filmmakers who explore aspects of the Chicano cultural movement, this book discusses films including Cheech and Chong's Still Smokin' (1983), El Norte (1985), and Break of Dawn (1988). The text analyzes the portrayal of Chicano, or Mexican American, identity in films by chicanos. Part historiography, part film analysis, part ethnography, this book offers a compelling story of how Chicanos challenge, subvert and create their own popular portrayals of Chicanismo. Historical stereotypical images in Hollywood films are discussed alongside contemporary images portrayed by Hollywood studios and independent Chicano filmmakers. The author examines the way in which newer films "construct new representations of Chicano culture" and present a greater variety of images of Chicanos for mainstream audiences. Originally published in 1996, this authoritative volume provides a full history of the Chicano cultural movement beginning in the 1960s as well as information on the development of Mexican American film production.

Christine Houston wrote Two Twenty Seven, a play about her childhood growing up at 227 E. 48th Street, located in what is now known as Bronzeville. She went on to win the ANTA West, the Lorraine Hansberry and the Norman Lear Playwriting contests. The latter took her to Los Angeles where she wrote a teleplay for the TV series The Jeffersons. Marla Gibbs, one of the stars of The Jeffersons, performed the play at her theater and received the NAACP Image award for best actress, while Mrs. Houston received the NAACP Image award for playwriting. Mrs. Houston went on to become a staff writer on the Punky Brewster TV series, and in 1985, Two Twenty-Seven was adapted to television and became NBC'S hit television series 227. Professor Houston continues to write for stage and screen. Most recently, she finished her first novel called Laughing Through the Tears and co-wrote a textbook with Christine List entitled, The Screenwriter's Guidebook: Learning from African American Film and Television Writers.

Providing textual analysis of 12 feature films written and directed by filmmakers who explore aspects of the Chicano cultural movement, this book discusses films including Cheech and Chong's Still Smokin' (1983), El Norte (1985), and Break of Dawn (1988). The text analyzes the portrayal of Chicano, or Mexican American, identity in films by chicanos. Part historiography, part film analysis, part ethnography, this book offers a compelling story of how Chicanos challenge, subvert and create their own popular portrayals of Chicanismo. Historical stereotypical images in Hollywood films are discussed alongside contemporary images portrayed by Hollywood studios and independent Chicano filmmakers. The author examines the way in which newer films "construct new representations of Chicano culture" and present a greater variety of images of Chicanos for mainstream audiences. Originally published in 1996, this authoritative volume provides a full history of the Chicano cultural movement beginning in the 1960s as well as information on the development of Mexican American film production.