The film Zoot Suit not only brought us closer to the life of the Pachucos, but also gave us a clear view of the events that led to the riots of June 1943, in the city of Los Angeles. At that time, during World War II, Mexican Americans in East Los Angeles had experienced one of the most significant episodes of racial violence of the 20th century, known as the Zoot Suit Riots. The latter was caused by strong racial tensions, influenced above all by the media. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the first part of this article, I will explain how the film Zoot Suit highlights both the representation and reimagining of this particular racial minority. So, what is Zoot Suit? What and who did he represent? And what was its outcome? To answer this question, in this article I will connect scenes from the films to the course material to paint a clear picture of what happened in wartime Los Angeles. The zoot suit is a subculture initially introduced by Africans. Young Americans. It was closely connected to jazz culture and was considered dangerous because it broke both musical and social rules. Mexican Americans adopted this subculture and brought it to the West Coast, for the sake of standing out and challenging others. Many young Mexicans have been seen wearing these long, oversized draped jackets, with exaggeratedly padded shoulders and high-waisted baggy pants. , which are tight around the ankles. Their ducktail hairstyle was V-shaped and the low cut extended to their neck. They also wore pig hats and had long chains hanging from their pants. This category of young Mexicans was represented in the film as Hank Reyna's family. They were a modest working-class family, parents of two sons and a daughter, who immigrated from Mexico and were still attached to their mother culture. However, their children sought to break away from their mother culture and embrace a subculture that would differentiate them and make them exceptional. These young Mexicans discovered that joining the Zoot Suit culture was a tremendous opportunity for them to celebrate creativity, adaptation, transformation, and even to achieve coolness, but most importantly to gain social approval. The latter seemed non-existent, especially for the first generation born in the United States, and people of color in general were sidelined, stigmatized and treated as second-class citizens. Furthermore, they faced many formidable obstacles in acclimating to white American culture. To name a few, they suffered from discrimination and segregation, which was blatantly depicted in one of the scenes in the film. There was a big sign indicating whether it was Black Night or Mexican Night. If anything, this explicitly demonstrates what kind of control and segregation people of color were forced into by the dominant hegemonic race. The dominant white power only focused on the negative connotations of the culture and justified its stance towards zoot suitors by identifying them as criminal, antisocial, and unpatriotic. Therefore, the mass public had raised growing concerns, demanding the Los Angeles Police Department to protect them and secure the city. One night, the Pachucos were involved in a fight at a house near the sleepy Los Angeles Lagoon. The next morning the deceased body of Jose Diaz was found nearby. The media and police quickly blamed the 38th Gang of Zoot's suitors, and hundreds of Pachucos were.