Thread: Violent Movie Declares War on Arizona for Immigration Law

Updated May 06, 2010

Violent Movie Declares War on Arizona for Immigration Law

FOXNews.com

A violent new film from cult director Robert Rodriguez is declaring war on Arizona with a "special Cinco de Mayo message" in the wake of the state's controversial illegal immigration law

An image from the trailer for 'Machete,' a revenge flick that centers on an assassination plot against an anti-immigration U.S. senator.

A violent new film from cult director Robert Rodriguez is declaring war on Arizona with a "special Cinco De Mayo message" in the wake of the state's controversial illegal immigration law.

That message is: "They just f---ed with the wrong Mexican."

"Machete," which features a knife-wielding Mexican assassin out for revenge against double-crossing gringos, won't be in theaters until September, but it is already sparking a political melee over Wednesday's stab at the Grand Canyon State.

In the trailer for the film, the title character is hired to assassinate an anti-immigration U.S. senator played by Robert De Niro. Protesters are seen waving nationalist signs as the senator speaks to a charged-up rally: "We are at war," he booms. "Every time an illegal dances across our border, it is an act of aggression against this sovereign state — an overt act of terrorism."

But before the trailer even begins, the battle-scarred title character stares out from the screen as he tells viewers that what's about to unfold — an immigration-laced slasher grindhouse flick — is about the current border battle in Arizona.

Click here to see the video.

The trailer was released Wednesday, just 24 hours after an envelope filled with a still-undetermined white powder was sent to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, temporarily closing the State Capitol in Phoenix. The powder spilled out when a staffer opened it Tuesday morning, sending Hazmat teams scrambling through the governor's offices. No one was sickened, but state police and the FBI are investigating the incident.

It was just the latest development in a debate that is growing more rancorous by the minute.

Some outspoken critics of illegal immigration took umbrage at the movie trailer and its swipe at Arizona, which is the entry point for one-third of all illegal immigrants in the U.S.

"It's pretty ugly out there," said former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, a staunch advocate of tougher immigration laws. "Half the time that's the way all of us are depicted: corrupt, no good, racist."

Tancredo, who served in the House from 1999-2009, said he received "tons of death threats" while in office and frequently wore a bulletproof vest during public speeches. Though the language of the film is nothing new to him, he said he still finds it offensive.

"The racists who made that trailer, they are as racist as anything I have ever seen" from either side of the immigration debate, Tancredo said.

But, he added, "these guys are 'politically correct' racists, so you cannot heap indignities upon them."

In "Machete," the protagonist, played by Danny Trejo, is a former Mexican Federale now looking for work as a day laborer in Texas. He charges $70 a day for yard work, but an oily businessman makes him an offer he can't refuse: $150,000 to take out a senator bent on deporting illegal immigrants.

"As you know, illegal Americans are being forced out of our country at an alarming rate," says the contractor. "For the good of both our people, the senator must die."

The film, which is set to be released Sept. 3, is produced by 20th Century Fox, a production company owned by Fox News' parent company, News Corp.

Through a representative, 20th Century Fox said that Rodriguez speaks for himself on political issues. The studio approved the release of the movie trailer on Cinco De Mayo, but it said it has no political stake in the immigration debate.

Representatives for Rodriguez did not return requests for comment. But the head of the production studio handling the international release of the film said "Machete" is a classic grindhouse picture typical of the man who made "Desperado" and "Sin City."

"'Machete' is a Robert Rodriguez movie through and through, wild and wonderful, exactly the kind of exciting and irreverent genre movie that his fans dream about," Ashok Amritraj, CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment, said in an interview with Variety Magazine.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801 ... 1&nid=2562


De Niro, playing the senator, fits many familiar tropes about the Southwest: he's a gun-toting, Stetson hat-wearing, flag pin-blazing cowboy from Texas.

He and Trejo are joined by a number of stars: Cheech Marin plays a shotgun-shooting warrior priest, Lindsay Lohan plays the senator's Patty Hearst-like daughter and Don Johnson, as a sheriff, growls that "there's nothing I'd like more than to see more than that Mexican dance the bolero at the end of a rope."

Jessica Alba, a border patrol agent, rallies a group of laborers while crying, "We didn't cross the border — the border crossed us!"

Tancredo, who argued that the film should not be distributed at all, said he wasn't worried the movie would incite any violence, but that its political message was clear.

"I think it is a true reflection of exactly who these people are and what they think about America," he said

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05 ... olitics%29

Machete trailer
http://horrorblips.dailyradar.com/video ... e_machete/

(added by poster)

The truth is better than fiction.

The adult version of the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R10ljA0-sHs

Dixie

I've always wondered why someone whose ancesters came from Veracruz, Michoacan, Guatemala, or El Salvador, has more right to live in Colorado than I do???

I am concerned for all the citizens of Arizona now. The Illegal Alien/Reconqista crowd isnt very happy.

Admittedly haven't seen the movie, but this doesn't exactly sound like great cinema. I believe I'll be skipping this one...

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05...deal/?hpt=Sbin

Happy belated Cinco de Mayo! If you're still recovering, be sure not to miss the “illegalâ€

This will probably incite violence against "gringos!" Talk about spreading hate and racism!!!

See http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-197867.html

It's open season against whitey and anyone who believes in the rule of law in order to stop this illegal invasion! Any gringo that pays to see this movie should have their head examined.

This movie sounds like a piece of shit!

Lindsay Lohan plays the senator's Patty Hearst-like daughter and Don Johnson, as a sheriff, growls that "there's nothing I'd like more than to see more than that Mexican dance the bolero at the end of a rope."

WOW! They got Lindsay Lohan sober long enough to particiapte in this crap! That's a miracle! Hollywood is garbage.

Originally Posted by carolinamtnwoman

This will probably incite violence against "gringos!" Talk about spreading hate and racism!!!

Perfect, just in time for the elections. This movie will surely help their cause...NOT.

Will Fox/Rodriuguez be held criminally liable for inciting violence against anti-amnesty supporters? Will illegal aliens and their enablers take this as a call to arms?

Hmmm...

A Mexican "Jackie Chan/Segal" figure confronted with moral dilemna... Cut grass/landscape and toil in obscurity or take the "Big Risk" by slicing/dicing the Joe Arpaio/Republican figure for "Big Bucks" and a cause. Wow. Drug fiend daughter of prominent political figure in need of rescue that somehow contributes a sense of measure in the end. Symps. Pedestrian tripe.

I have not spent a second researching this flick (just what I read here) and this will be my sole comment.

I cannot fathom who would actually pay a few pesos to see this flick. Wait a minute... Is it not the parent organization of FOX news that paid to see it come to fruition? Plan in motion?

Fear not, folks. There are MILLIONS of proponents that support a particular amendment.

Relax. We shall see...