Summary of Los Vendidos

According to the play ÒLos VendidosÓ Luis Valdez depicts miscommunication between races where stereotypical remarks occasionally pop up in modern day scenarios. He starts the scene with the secretary of Governor Reagan office looking for a specific model at Honest SanchoÕs Used Mexican Lot. And from what I noticed after reading the script itÕs obvious that the secretary appears to be judgmental and strict on the fact that she wants someone whoÕs not of Spanish dialect but Americanized Ð Bilingual able to speak fluent English. She even got mad at Sancho for not pronouncing her last name correctly because Sancho unconsciously pronounced Jim-enez as JimŽnez. ItÕs not his fault that by nature he is much more oriented speaking in Spanish than conversing in English. HeÕs bilingual but he has his accent that the secretary noticed but wasnÕt understanding enough to ignore but rudely corrected him. Other than that, Secretary came in looking for a model that carries specific characteristics resembling a gentleman. ÒGentlemen Òmeaning someone whoÕs confident, stylish, charming and is a hard worker. Also, the model canÕt be dark skinned but rather fair- beige toned. Sancho took that criterion and presented a domestic model based in the countryside. Everything went well up until the point where she asked if he speaks ÒEnglishÓ but he doesnÕt which made Sancho awkward trying to divert the question. Since the first model didnÕt go as well as planned she shared her 2nd model preference whoÕs a lot more sophisticated and fit for urban life. The secretary was vague for Sancho to understand because it could be interpreted in more than one ways. Sancho interpreted urban as someone whoÕs from the streets. Meaning, someone who comes from a bad neighborhood Ð the hood. The model knows self-defense and has this auto defense pilot when he gets arrested. He thinks that urban life is dangerous and that you would encounter dangerous situations frequently enough to be equipped with a blade anytime. That perspective is a bit narrow-minded to say that the city security and defenses are down and anyone can get attacked from behind and arrested. The secretary didnÕt like that interpretation of the city life, illegal actions like smoking marijuana, stealing and that he thinks English people are disrespectful because we supposing learn how to curse in school. ItÕs bias and to say we have an inferiority complex, sniffs glue and steal is just horrible and makes me wonder what happened to make him think that way of us or where did he learn about Americans. The secretary realizes that what sheÕs saying is going through to Sancho about what Governor Reagan wants when she first came to the shop to look for a model because he kept giving her models that are far too different from what she had expected. The next model was a lover whoÕs a bit like a traditional English American who came from a strict rich household that teaches its heir to maintain their reputation. Meaning that he knows how to ride horses but heÕs a vintage Mexican model so he follows revolutions, acts and can be labeled a martyr or a hero from olden times. The secretary liked it but was told that itÕs a vintage model made from Mexico but she wanted an all-American product. ItÕs not which made Sancho frustrated and consistently repeated that itÕs vintage and trying to keep her from leaving until she buys something. The last model he pulled out was perfect he was a modern lady killer wearing a business suit, glasses and clean-shaven beard that got her interested. He got all the characteristics that she and the Governor wanted which were intelligent, charming, stylish, educated, ambitious, well-mannered and speaks fluent English. He cost way more and specializes in politics and economical but she bought him anyway and in the end, heÕs broken because he revealed his true colors and was thought of to be robots. The secretary was mad and didnÕt turn out as she wanted but made them look bad. This play centralize around misconceptions on certain races and how they are being portrayed through social media that influences a worldwide audience to believe a certain idealism that may not exactly be true. These misconceptions play a part in our modern century scenarios and you could have possibly come across them as well. For example, have you ever had someone asked you what/where you come from and once you tell them they are quick to assume something about you. ThatÕs because they caught on a popular misconception upon a certain race and their religion that was mainly the fault of their environment and social media about what they say about Asians, Hispanics, Caucasian, Black or Mixed. One popular misconceptions that I faced was that asians must be smart and perfect at everything. But also, that they assumed that we eat dogs when that isnÕt necessary true to all. Certainly not to me, ItÕs too horrifying and gross to even think that a certain area in Asia back in the olden times would practice that. I donÕt even know if that still holds true now but I rather not know. These misconceptions were influenced by what people told you about certain races, religion but also how society promotes us in social media. These misconceptions spread and increase the difficulty to communicate with other races thatÕs build around a different background/ideas can often be taken both ways. Sometimes we treat each other because we already come up a prejudice against one and decide that one makes a lot more money so they can take advantage of them. Other times we just donÕt understand or canÕt communicate a message across to someone because their cultures are way too different.