Robert Rodriguez’s 2010, let’s call it, cult classic, Machete, might not have been, shall we say, necessary as something to build on from the series of fake trailers that appeared during the now somewhat besmirched (thanks to the Weinstein connection/Rose McGowan tell-all) Grindhouse double feature from Quentin Tarantino and Rodriguez in 2007. However, considering Machete (Danny Trejo) was already a creation brought to life as Isador Cortez in the Spy Kids movies, it made sense for Rodriguez to show his affections for this character by giving him his own starring role.
Despite the fact that Obama was president (it almost seems like a mirage at this point) the year the film was released, much of the parody of the average politician–particularly the Texas-based one–was based on George W. Bush, with phrases directly mined from his very distinct and nonsensical lexicon (e.g. “smoke ’em out”). After all, Bush seemed like an evil force relegated to the past once Obama took office and a sea change geared toward the tide of tolerance became palpable. Thus, to do a sendup of his bigoted and fanatical nature seemed slightly more hilarious–camp–as it was no longer an invasive reality. Watching Machete again post-2016 election, however, it would appear that Donald Trump borrowed his entire caricature of a platform from the film. The element of constant metaness is further heightened by Lindsay Lohan briefly being in the movie (in a role she could barely finagle)–one of many women Trump once grotesquely spoke about with the comment, “Deeply troubled women are always the best in bed.”
In one of the first scenes of the movie, Rodriguez shows the cruel execution of a pregnant Mexican woman as she crosses the border, shot at the hands of the ringleader of the border patrol vigilantes, Von Jackson (“introducing” Don Johnson) and his henchmen, including Senator John McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), looking to win re-election via his campaign platform of exterminating the “infestation” of the “parasites” and “leeches” benefitting from “our system.” As Jackson patrols the U.S./Mexico border of Texas, his sidekicks scream, “Look at them critters run,” as they shoot at any moving target along the way. When they stop in front of the frightened pregnant woman, Jackson gets out of the car and reminds, “You know, you’re trespassing on my daddy’s land.” He shoots her point blank, with one henchman objecting, “Jesus Von, can’t you see she’s with child?” He responds, entirely believing in his logic, “If it’s born here, it gets to be a citizen. No different than you and me. Somebody’s gotta keep watch on this great nation of ours. Otherwise, Texas will become Mexico once again.” It is then that Senator McLaughlin pops out of the Jeep, finishes off the woman’s son and laughingly derides, “Welcome to America.” At the time, this, of course, felt endlessly satirical and tongue-in-cheek, but now, it just has this uncomfortable hyper-tinge of reality to it.
And as our silent hero Machete goes head to head with the lead drug dealer in the crime underworld of Mexico, Rogelio Torrez (Steven Seagal, naturally), he pays the price of being the only one willing to fight against untouchable evil–costing him the lives of his wife and daughter. So it is that three years later he’s working on a labor site near the border of Texas, surveyed by I.C.E. agent Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba), who notices him right away for his “interesting face”–a euphemism if ever there was one. Rivera isn’t the only one intrigued by Machete’s “look.” A high-paying contributor and vague advisor to the McLaughlin campaign, Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey), picks Machete up under the pretense of wanting to hire him for some more conventional menial tasks, but soon Booth is asking if Machete has killed–and will he again for the sum of $150,000 to take out Senator McLaughlin. As he explains it, McLaughlin “built his reputation on being a hard-liner against wetbacks–his words. That’s his platform: ship ’em all back, but first make ’em build a wall along the border for no pay. Thank you very much, get the fuck out.” It’s almost as though one of Trump’s innumerable revolving aides could be explaining this to a hired assassin in real life.
Like many white men silent about Trump’s xenophobic behavior, McLaughlin is of the belief that, “What the senator fails to understand is that this state runs on illegal labor. Thrives on it.” And it’s true, much of the “good ol’ days” of old-fashioned hard work in America was once derived from this unspoken agreement that “under the table” was on the level. Now, it’s almost impossible–if not entirely so–to live off the grid. But that’s precisely what the leader of an underground railroad, of sorts, for illegal Mexican immigrants, Luz a.k.a. Shé (Michelle Rodriguez) does so as to help her fellow non-citizens transition more seamlessly onto increasingly hostile U.S. soil. Called “The Network,” Shé relies on her own system to make things work–to revolutionize against the hateful government forces. Knowing very well that there is power in numbers, she ultimately finds herself in a position to tell McLaughlin, “If you wanna survive your own war, you better become Mexican real fast. You got enemies on all sides, Senator.”
It bears noting that Trump should probably be given the same talking to at this juncture, before he himself gets caught on the wrong side of the fence, which yes, at this point, is America.
