How Many More Hoods Before One Murrieta?

Every time I see a trailer or ad for the retreaded Russell Crow “Robin Hood” it pisses me off!
I mean this story has been told at least 15 times!!!!! We get it.

When are we going to get the Joaquin Murrieta story?!?!?! Come on Robin Hood had to ditch arrows but Joaquin was dodging bullets and the largest man hunt of that era. This poet breaks it down pretty good. Like all good legends there are slight variations in the story that add to the myth of this man who died “because somethings are worth fighting for.”

In this era of racist States, we need some Joaquin’s to remind people what is worth fighting for.

12 thoughts on “How Many More Hoods Before One Murrieta?

  1. Gracias Pachuco 3000, I love the passion of this guy Zihuatenejo, which is by the way one of my favorite places in the world. Unfortunately I haven’t been there in over a dozen years but I remember renting a car in Zihua (against all the warnings about travel south of Zihua, “The Bandidos will rob or kill you for sure” from the Huero’s I asked). Barra de Potosi, a paradise then, puro Mexicanos ahi, my wife and I, a couple of friends, one a city councilman from Santa Cruz California, all kicking it with the Mexicanos on the beach. I remember the Santa Cruz city councilman swinging in his hammock, sun going down, listening to some Mariachis singing to an old viejo and his family celebrating his birthday, fucking paradise on earth, Bob the politician smiles and asked me “how the hell can I stay here? I mean really stay here forever”

    Anyway speaking of Joaquin Murrieta, one time a few years back my wife and I and a friend, an LA City paramedic, were having a cold bironga in a bar in Questa New Mexico, on the Colorado border. In that bar was a huge mural of Joaquin Murrieta on a wall, beautiful piece of art for a little shithole of a town, anyway my partner George Flores started cracking up and I asked him why, “check out what it says under the mural of Joaquin Murrieta”, I looked, “I take from the rich, and to the poor I tip my hat”
    We laughed all night at that quote.

  2. when are we going to get this story on the big screen? listening to the story, i think you’ll find your answer . . . 🙁

  3. This is such a powerfull story, the Hollywood people would not touch it. If it is going to be told it would have to be from a foreign or independent production. This monologue is just as powerfull as the “I am Joaquin” poem.
    Thank you Pachuco 3000

  4. Glad you got inspired Pachuco, but don’t change your name to Joaquin 🙂 I ran across this poem, because I was creating an art piece for an upcoming exhibit with Leslie Gutierrez Saiz at Homegirl Cafe called “100 Years of Food and Revolution” (more details later).

    Growing up as a Mouseketeer (ears and all), I was gravitated to their series on Zorro—it spoke to me (especially when you read between the lines and are part of a politically aware Chicano family). Zorro was based on Joaquin Murrieta—so there are movies about this story. Lots of them.

    Santiago, my rationale on the truth of Joaquin is this:
    1. How often (especially now in 2010) do Mexicans get the truth written about them in the press?
    2. Why did the journalists of Murietta’s time choose to write his story AND furthermore glorified him and spoke of the injustices this government did against him?
    3. Can a generation after generation truth be squashed with disparaging lies?

  5. they reason you wont see i movie about Joaquin, is because he is such an unsavory character. Robin hood is pretty pg and Disney friendly. Robbed from the rich to give to the poor, fought against the bad king, blah, blah, blah. Whereas, Murrieta, like Santiago pointed out, was not a noble character. Yes he was the victim of injustices, but he stole and killed to benefit himself. Instead, we get the watered down and much more family friendly character of Zorro.

  6. I thought Joaquin M. was just a mythical figure, there’s no actual proof he existed, is there? Now Tiburcio Vasquez, he was real.

  7. Actually, there’ve been a few movies either about or featuring Joaquin Murrieta:

    The Gay Defender (1927)
    The Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936)
    Joaquin Murrieta (1938)
    Vengeance of the West (1942)
    The Bandit Queen (1950)
    El Ultimo Rebelde (1958)
    The Firebrand (1962)
    Joaquin Murrieta (1965)
    The Mask of Zorro (1998)

    Even Ricardo Montalban played him twice — once in an episode of “Death Valley Days” and once in a TV movie called “The Desperate Mission.”

  8. I also think Tiburcio Vasquez’ story would make a good movie. You know, with the scenes where some Anglo dude disrespects the Californios and their senoritas one time too many and Vasquez hiding out in the rock formations he came to be named after./Hey DQ, isn’t Zihuatenejo the place Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman’s characters escape to at the end of “The Shawshank Redemption?”

  9. Hopefully, we’ll have it soon. I’m a screenwriter with his first film in post-production (Beyond the Mat), another (Los Coyotes) in development at an indie production company, and have co-written a screenplay about Murrieta (Californio: The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta). I’m currently preparing to turn it into a graphic novel, which I hope will generate some interest from producers.

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