they were correct - reinforced ideologies in touch of evil
DESCRIPTION
Although some have argued Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil represents a departure from Hollywood hierarchical positioning and portrayed superiority of the United States in contrast with Mexico, the strong Anglo-Saxon characterization of the Mexican protagonist in the film, as well as the glaring stereotyping and filmic treatment of other Mexican characters only further contributes to the Hollywood and U.S. processes of Mexican and Mexican American racialization.TRANSCRIPT
They Were Correct: Reinforced Ideologies in Touch of Evil
Although some have argued Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil represents a departure from
Hollywood hierarchical positioning and portrayed superiority of the United States in contrast
with Mexico, the strong Anglo-Saxon characterization of the Mexican protagonist in the film,
as well as the glaring stereotyping and filmic treatment of other Mexican characters only
further contributes to the Hollywood and U.S. processes of Mexican and Mexican American
racialization. By casting Charlton Heston—an extremely well-known and recognizable
American actor—with conspicuously darkened skin and reinforcing his lack of
“Mexicanness,” the film presents him as a Mexican “Other:” a character to be contrasted
against the majority, rather than to be treated as a representation of Mexicans within a larger
context. Furthermore, other Mexican or Mexican American characters are given sinister or
predatory representations. Heston’s character, Miguel “Mike” Vargas, represents a lone
heroic figure among the corrupted many.
True, Vargas is presented as the films hero: he offers a contrast to the corruptness of
Orson Welles’ character, Captain Hank Quinlan. In this sense, film critic Jack M. Beckham
III is correct in his assessment Vargas is “performing the rhetoric of Americanism more
proficiently than the Americans” (134). However, he is not only on a contrast of one
immoral U.S. law enforcement agent; he is a contrast against which to measure a larger group
of Mexican and Mexican Americans, and it is in this contrast against the collective that the
film creates greater impact and further contributes to the process of racialization. After all,
the narrative impact of one dishonest U.S. character pales in comparison to the consignment
of menace of an entire group. Immediately upon Vargas’ initial interaction with Quinlan, the
portrayal of Vargas as a Mexican “Other” is established. Quinlan remarks that Vargas
doesn’t sound like a Mexican, and although Quinlan’s racist attitudes are consistently
demonstrated and addressed throughout the film, his immense moral flaws do not detract
from the overall treatment of Vargas as essentially an Anglo-American with darkened skin.
Vargas’ response to Quinlan’s remark enhances the treatment of the Mexican as a problem:
“Captain, you won’t have any trouble with me.” Vargas’ own allocation of his nationality as
a common signifier of danger and his refutation of this “quality” of national identity not only
establishes Vargas as someone different from the majority, but also informs the audience that
he does not encompass their popular image of the Mexican. He is something different, an
exception to the rule.
Furthermore, the consistent treatment of Vargas as a disruption to the immoral
happenings in this border town separates him from the other Mexican characters. Throughout
the film, characters address the change Vargas has brought to the border town of Los Robles.
After catching the drug lord Grandi, Vargas has created upheaval in the drug family and drug
business, a problem the family hopes to rectify by implicating Vargas and his wife, Susie, in
recreational drug use. Uncle Grandi remarks, “Just a little while ago this was a quiet,
peaceful town, and now this Vargas comes along…!” Once again, Vargas is treated as the
exception and the contradiction: he is a nuisance and a threat to the other Mexican and
Mexican American characters. True, these characters only represent one family, but the film
makes no effort to present other portrayals of alternate representation. The audience is left
with the representation of the individual Vargas against the many corrupt Mexican and
Mexican American characters.
In addition to the establishment of the separate identity of Vargas, Touch of Evil also
employs specific formal elements of composition—specifically dialogue, lighting and camera
angles—that add to the negative portrayal of the other Mexican and Mexican American
characters. Particularly in their interactions with Mike’s wife, Susie, the members’ of the
Grandi family are immediately established and consistently maintained as predatory and
lascivious. What’s more, even before the characters display these traits, Susie ascribes them
to one of them. In her first interaction with Grandi’s nephew (who she dubs as “Pancho” in
an effort to be funny), upon being told she doesn’t understand what “Pancho” wants, Susie
replies “I know exactly what he wants.”
Indeed, he does go on to fulfill her expectations, but her initial assumption reflects a larger
discourse in U.S. ideology—that of the Mexican as lewd and licentious. It is almost as if the
film is directly addressing the audience in this instant: their assumptions regarding Mexican
character are correct, and if given the chance, they will be proven. Moreover, in one of the
first scenes between Susie, Grandi and his nephew, lighting and camera angle effects help to
further establish both the difference between the two nationalities as well as further develop
the criminality of the Mexican characters. Near the end of the scene, the camera sets up two
contrasting close-ups: one of Grandi and his nephew and the other of Susie. Grandi and his
nephew are shot from below, enhancing their threat, while Susie is shot at eyelevel, placing
her on a relatable level with the audience. Furthermore, Uncle Grandi and his nephew are lit
with flashing car lights from the street, establishing a dramatic contrast between soft and
harsh lighting. Miraculously, the flashing lights do not reach Susie a few feet away: she is
bathed in soft light throughout the entirety of this exchange, and her beauty and purity are
maintained.
The elements and effects are sustained throughout the film’s representations of Mexicans and
Mexican Americans. Another scene involving Susie and Grandi’s gang at the Mirador Motel
utilizes similar filmic constructions in establishing the contrast between Susie and the gang,
except this time the film is representing a significantly larger group of Mexicans and Mexican
Americans. The disturbing scene involves an assault that begins with a high-angled shot of
Susie panicking on the bed. A shadow falls across her face, and the camera jumps to
“Pancho” entering the room, shot from below. The intentions of these contrasting shots are
evident: Susie is helpless, while “Pancho” is dangerous and overpowering. Quickly followed
by other members of his gang, equal in their ugliness and terrorization, the film upholds its
portrayal of Mexicans and Mexican Americans as threats.
Although Touch of Evil is notable in its positive characterization of a Mexican
protagonist, the film continuously establishes Vargas as a Mexican “Other.” From the casting
of well-known American actor Charlton Heston to the frequent reinforcements of his
separateness from the other Mexican and Mexican-American characters, the audience does
not attribute his moral integrity as an example of Mexican national identity; rather, it is an
exception amongst the numerous portrayals of Mexican characters’ malevolence. The film
had an opportunity to combat these popular beliefs in its protagonist’s nationality, but it
instead places as much distance between Heston’s Vargas and Mexico as possible. This
dissociation is further developed with the characterizations of the Grandi gang, as well as the
filmic effects employed in portraying them. Touch of Evil reinforces the hegemony and
ideology of the United States by leaving the audience with a collective portrayal that mirrors
the historically internalized beliefs of U.S. popular rhetoric. They were correct, after all.
Works cited
Beckham II, Jack M. "Placing Touch of Evil, The Border, and Traffic in the American
Imagination." Journal of Popular Film & Television 33.3 (2005): 130-141.
Touch of Evil. Screenplay by Orson Welles. Dir. Orson Welles. Prod. Albert Zuggsmith. Perf.
Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles. 1958. DVD. Universal, 2003.