All language subtitles for Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown S09E01 Los Angeles (1080p x265 10bit Joy)

♪

♪ I took a walk through this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ Felt the cool rain
on my shoulder ♪

♪ Found something good in this ♪

♪ Beautiful world

♪ I felt the rain
getting colder ♪

♪ La, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la

♪ Sha la, la, la, la, la

♪

Los Angeles,
maybe the most filmed,

most televised,
most looked at place on Earth.

It's the landscape
of our collective dreams.

36 hours of steady rainfall
have left many...

But what if we look at LA
from the point of view

of the largely unphotographed...

The 47% of Angelinos
who don't show up

so much on idiot sitcoms
and superhero films,

the people doing much,

if not most, of the hard work

of getting things done
in this town.

♪

One in ten Angelinos
are undocumented.

One in ten.

Think about that
number for a while.

That's who's here now.

Contemplate, if you will,

what would happen if
anywhere near 10%

of the workforce
were no longer here,

particularly since
they're rather

over represented in those fields

that most of us are
in no hurry to enter.

♪

Los Angeles, like much
of California,

used to be part of Mexico.

Now, Mexico,
or a whole lot of Mexicans,

are a vital part of us.

Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda
is a processor

of Chicano studies at UCLA.

Gish Bac on Washington
Boulevard serves specialties

from the city of Tlacolula de

Matamoros in Oaxaca, Mexico.

So, bro, you know
about so Tlacolula, right?

I mean...
The market, isn't it?

Tlacolula is this village, okay,

in the middle of a valley,

the oldest valley
where agriculture was invented

in the word.

These people who live here

lived there for about
10,000 years,

so there's
archeological evidence

of the seeds
actually being manipulated...

- All the way back that far.
- All the way back then.

And that's where
the core of the moles

that we're gonna eat
tonight are from.

Mole negro, or black mole is
an incredibly old

and sophisticated,
near-magical substance

containing over
30 different ingredients.

It's an old sauce
from an old culture

used as either a base
to build a stew,

or as a sauce
to be poured over meat,

but unlike most sauces,

the point of mole
is the mole itself.

The flavor is unique:

roasted, sweet, bitter,
and spicy,

all at the same time, and deep.

Very, very deep.

Maria Ramos is
the owner and chef.

The third generation of a family

of barbacoa specialists,

barbacoa being the barbequing
of lamb and goat

until it's falling
apart perfect.

She started out cooking at age

ten at the Sunday market
in Tlacolula.

This family goes back
a number of generations

to that area, yes?

Exactly, and they got here

because they were
migrant workers

in the fields of LA,

and that's where they started
working in the restaurants.

This show will air long
after the election.

There is actually
a national conversation now,

unthinkable in my lifetime,

where the notion of rounding up

however many millions
of undocumented workers

in this country,

all at once, or in short order,

and then kicking them all out.

I mean, it seems unthinkable.

- It, it...
- But, I mean, you know,

they said that in Europe
in the '30s.

Right, right, no, I think from
just a military,

logistical point of view,

there's no way
you're gonna move the people

out of California
and out of Los Angeles.

I mean, they tried that
in 1954, Operation Wetback,

mostly from the fields moving
a million people out, right?

- And they did.
- Yes.

- And what happened?
- Well, first of all,

a huge amount of U.S. citizens
were picked up one day

and never came home,
and families were torn apart,

and then the most
ironic thing about it

and the most tragic thing

is the next couple
of years they said,

"Well, you know what, we have
to open the borders again

"to bring them all back," right?

- Mm-hmm.
- The problem was we never

stopped wanting the workers.

California's the number
one agricultural state,

and approximately about 70%

of the labor force
is undocumented.

Stuff would rot in the fields,

to start with.
Yeah, right.

Number one, who'd grow it
and bring it here?

Who'd grow it, picking it,
packing it,

to a great extent processing it,

cooking it and serving it?

And serving it.
Cleaning up after you.

Cleaning up after it.

I mean, there would not
only be no restaurant business,

but there would be
the worst economic crisis

in the history of California
and the United States.

♪

Estevan Oriol is a respected

and highly sought
after photographer

and director,
known for his street portraits.

He started his career
as a night club bouncer,

pivoting nicely to tour manager
for Cypress

Hill and House of Pain,

taking beautiful photographs
along the way.

Now, nearly 20 years later,

he's famous for capturing
perfectly both the glamour

and grit of his hometown,
Los Angeles.

Mister Cartoon is a very famous
tattoo artist and designer.

Cartoon began airbrushing
T-shirts

and lowriders before adopting

and excelling at the legendary
fine-line style tattoo art.

His work is sought after
by the biggest names

in the music industry and well,

anyone who loves truly
superb skin art.

♪

La Reyna on East 7th

is a late-night thing
down the street

from where Cartoon
and Estevan used to live.

Run by Abigail and her team,
the place serves mulitas.

Not quite a taco.
Not a quesadilla.

More of a taco sandwich.

First the tortilla on the grill,

then marinated meat, cheese,

then another tortilla,
flip and serve.

La Reyna is located
in the downtown arts district,

but it's right across the bridge

from Boyle Heights,
a working class,

densely packed neighborhood
of about 100,000 residents.

Nearly 95% are Mexican
or Central American.

How Mexican is LA?
I mean, how deep does it go?

Mostly Mexico,
you know what I mean?

Yeah.

All the names.
All the people.

I mean, it's... and you can go
into certain in East LA

in the harbor area,
the Hollywood area,

and see nothing but Latinos.

A lot of other areas in LA
are... they're mixed, you know,

but on this side where we're at,

you go over that bridge,

it's pretty much
all Mexican people.

And LA's mixed with Salvadorian,

Guatemalan people,
Central America too.

So they just get
called Mexicans anyways.

You know, like, we're Chicanos,
so, you know,

we know we're from here.

We know we were born here
on this side of the line.

Our family relatives
are from Mexico,

and we're proud of that,

and we celebrate it our style.

We live in unbelievable
times right now.

People are talking about,
you know,

mass deportations of Mexicans.

What's the problem here?

Where does this fear
and loathing come from?

It's just racism is still alive

and kicking in America,
you know?

We really don't hear it
from people we're around.

We're around artistic,
laid-back people, you know?

- Right.
- Some idiot said, you know,

he said, "We got to do
something about this situation."

"When all these Mexicans come
over,

we're gonna have a taco truck
on every corner."

And I'm thinking,
"Is this a bad thing?"

Where would all these
food trucks be, you know?

There was only taco trucks
ten years ago.

- It's a prototype for, yeah.
- There wasn't

an Asian fusion truck here,
this kind of truck,

an Indian food truck or this
truck, you know,

Taco truck, I mean,
you opened the door.

We kicked the door down, yeah,

White America loves
Mexican food, I mean,

probably more than
any other food at this point.

- Yeah.
- You know...

they sure like
cheap Mexican labor

because they can't
live without it.

- Right.
- Why... why are they

so freaked out about Mexicans?

You know, nobody's talking
about building a wall,

you know,
across the Canadian border.

Who's gonna help them
build the wall?

You got to have
some Mexican power to do that.

That's exactly what I thought.

I was at a taco truck
in Eagle Rock,

it's one I go to,

and I just overheard
the guy's conversation.

He was finishing up his order
and the guy goes,

"Oh, bro, my mom told me

"not to eat the cilantro
if it's from Mexico

because they're shitting in it
to get back at Trump."

And I said,
"Well, don't get me wrong.

"I'm all for a good Trump
takedown,

"but I'm not sure
if they've got that level

of organization going on
in a Mexican cilantro field."

"All right,
everyone gather round.

"Let's all start brainstorming.

"No idea is a bad idea.

Yes, Crazy Eddie."

"Okay,

"this a little outside the box,

but I say we shit
in the [...] cilantro."

All right, thank you
very much, everybody.

How Mexican is Mexican?

How Mexican can you be,
or should you be,

if you grew up in California

with a Mexican name
and of Mexican heritage?

Al Madrigal is a comedian.

Gustavo Arellano is the editor
of "OC Weekly."

We discussed
such weighty matters

over taquitos at Cielito Lindo
on Olvera Street,

which has been serving
the kind of stuff

that made Americans
fall in love with Mexican food

since the 1930s.

♪

Beans with machaca,

spicy shredded beef,
sauce and cheese,

I believe they call
these things a burrito.

But what they're known
for here is their taquitos.

Rolled up, fried,
smothered in avocado sauce,

topped with chile guero,

garlic, tomatillo and cilantro.

Oh, yeah. Oh, man,
I'm loving the sauce already.

Oh, this is legendary sauce
going back to 1934.

Guacamole, you don't think
it's gonna work,

but it absolutely does.

Wow.

Gives it a little spice
on the end.

I love it.

You, by your own admission,

you're sort of a sorry
excuse for a Mexican.

You... you don't...
How's your Spanish?

Not so good.
Spanish is horrible.

I mean, I've always been given
a hard time about my Spanish.

- Mm-hmm.
- And that's okay.

Every Mexican in history
has always given shit

to another Mexican
about their Spanish.

"You don't know this lingo.

You don't know
this pronunciation."

But yeah, you should know
Spanish better.

Well, that's what I learned.
This has been an age-old thing

where everyone's trying
to out Chicano each other,

and I shouldn't feel
that bad about it.

Right, what's the expression
for a bad Chicano?

- Pocho.
- Pocho.

Is there a literal
translation there?

Rotting.
So if you say "pocho,"

you're basically saying,
"You're a rotting Mexican.

"You're completely fake,
you've lost all your culture,

therefore you should be hated."

- That's harsh.
- I know.

When you hear, like,

about rounding up
Mexicans left and right,

sending them all... all off to
camps,

and then putting them
across the border,

scary, angry?

I actually think it's good.

I think Latinos need this
to rally together to excite.

The world needs aliens to land

till it'll actually
come together.

Is there anybody who could
rally all Mexicans, you know?

- Like a spokesperson, yeah.
- No, like a Mexican Reagan.

The last big leader
was Cesar Chavez,

and that was, God, what,
25 years ago at this point.

I mean, you have to have
almost a messianic figure.

- I have the answer.
- Who?

- Danny Trejo.
- Oh, Wow.

- Danny Trejo. People love him.
- Danny Trejo would be the man.

He would be... that's the guy.
I would vote for him.

- Machete.
- Machete for president.

- I would totally vote for him.
- He's ancient.

He looks good
with his shirt off.

Donald Trump can't say that.

Bill Clinton can't say that.

Danny Trejo's still peeling
that shirt off.

He's the baddest dude
in the history of badass.

Look up "badass"
in the dictionary.

It says "Trejo."

♪

"Danny Trejo."

♪

Born in Echo Park in LA,

he spent much of his early life
in and out of prison,

including a stay in San Quentin

where he managed
to straighten shit out,

join a 12-step program
and rethink his life.

He came out of the joint
as a drug counselor.

This led directly,
if unexpectedly,

to a storied career in film.

Danny Trejo is known and loved
for iconic tough guy roles

in such films as "Heat"...

There's cops all over me, man.

They're on me like a cheap suit.

"From Dusk Till Dawn-"

Get out!

And, "Once Upon
a Time in Mexico."

But he finally rose
to the action hero

leading man status

he always deserved
playing Machete...

- This is the boss.
- A character who grew out

of a fake trailer
from the Robert Rodriquez,

Quentin Tarantino film,

"Grindhouse," which soon became
its own awesome

and gore-heavy franchise.

If you haven't seen "Machete,"
its follow-up "Machete Kills,"

or a soon to be released
"Machete in Space,"

it's like missing
the "Citizen Kane"

of violent, family friendly fun.

Trejo's Cantina on Cahuenga
Boulevard,

because, of course.

Grand opening is still
a few days away,

but I thought,
since I'm in town,

I'd help advise Danny
on the new menu.

Give him the benefits
of my tasting notes.

And I've got to be honest,
I was thinking,

"How good could it be?

Can Machete run
a good restaurant, and why?"

So are we gonna
see Trejo's Tacos

all across America
at some point?

Oh, that would be awesome.
Taco truck on every corner.

- This is delicious.
- Awesome.

On the menu tonight,
jidori chicken

with chipotle cream sauce,

some charred branzino
with summer squash

and sautéed poblano peppers,

and crispy pork tacos
with black garlic mole

and some fat sacks of uni,

and lots of healthy greens.

Why healthy? I mean...

Because we have
such an obese problem

in the United States,
especially Latinos,

so we had to find a way
to make it tasty but healthy.

Healthy food can taste good.

Green, healthier, lighter,

locally sourced versions
of Mexican street classics

are not exactly
what I'd expected,

and I sure as shit
ain't making no rude cracks

about vegan tacos.

Not to this man.
Though to be fair,

Danny Trejo is, like,
the nicest guy in the world.

Here's something I discovered
that completely shocked

and surprised me,
so I have to ask you.

Are you a Morrissey fan
by any chance?

- Morrissey?
- Like, from this band,

The Smiths.

Apparently, it's like
a British rock band

of the late '80s that is

apparently hugely popular
in the Chicano community.

So you have not been
touched by this, this...

I'm gonna tell you something
right now between me and you.

I listen to no music that came

after the 1968.

I'm, like, the oldies guy.
You know what I mean?

So I know your parents
were born in Texas.

Yeah.

But can you trace your people
back to one area in Mexico?

Monterrey.

My grandmother and grandfather
were born in Monterrey.

Did you speak Spanish
at home, or...

Yeah, yeah, we spoke, we spoke,

I spoke Spanish until I was
about nine, ten, and then,

usually you stop
speaking Spanish

when you go to grammar school,

especially in the '50s
because they wouldn't let you.

"No, no, you don't
speak Spanish," you know?

So you kind of forget.
Right.

So then... but then when you
start going

to juvenile hall and jail,

you pick it up again
so the guards

won't know
what you're talking about.

Did you get in a 12-step

while you were still
in prison or after?

When I was in prison.
That was 1968.

Cinco de Mayo in 1968.

That was where I just kind of
like made a vow.

I'm... you know, I'm done, you
know?

When you get out,
you became a drug counselor.

I dedicated my life
to helping other people.

Everything good that
has happened

to me has happened
as a direct result

of helping someone else,
everything.

Well, for example,
you were called to a film set

to counsel somebody,
and you bump into,

of all the people in the world,
Edward Bunker.

- Eddie Bunker.
- The sort legendary ex-con

turned writer and,

I guess, screenwriter as well.

I... I knew Eddie in prison,
you see.

And so when he saw me,
"What are you doing here?"

I said, "I'm working
with this kid."

And then he asked me,
"Are you still boxing?"

because I held the lightweight

and welterweight champion
of every joint I was in.

I said, "I'm training.
I still train",

but I don't want to get hit
in the face anymore."

And he said,

"We need somebody to train
one of the actors how to box."

The movie was
the awesome "Runaway Train."

Trejo trained and fought
against the actor,

Eric Roberts,
who, along with Jon Voight,

earned Academy Award
nominations for the film.

For Danny, it was the start
of a long and glorious career.

He never looked back.

I'll never forget,
Andrei Konchalovsky,

the director, a Russian
aristocrat, right, he says,

"You fight Eric in movie.

You be my friend."

Now, if you come out
of the penitentiary

and somebody says,

"You be my friend,"
it's kind of a red flag.

Right.

And then how many films
since then, man?

A whole hell of a lot.
Oh, yeah, they've got to be

at about 320
or something, you know?

You moved from there
to serious bad guys...

- Yeah.
- To now action hero franchise.

How do you stay nice
in a business basically

full of [...]holes?

Eddie Bunker, the first time
when I started getting,

like, a little recognition,
he told me something.

He said, "Try to remember"

"that the whole world
can think you're a movie star,

but you can't."

And I've watched
movie stars, right?

I hate them.

You know, nobody likes them.

And if you, like, if you're,
like, on a movie set

and the movie star comes in,

then after he leaves,
this is how everybody talks,

"That guy's an ass.
I hate that guy.

Man, he's rude."
So I don't want to be that guy.

- Right.
- You know what I mean?

One if the things
I've learned, actually,

making television
really early on,

if, like, you show up to, like,

shoot and the people, like,

with the cameras
and the crew say,

"Oh, the talent is on set,"

what they really mean
is the [...]hole is on set.

You know, when somebody
calls me the talent or refers

to me as the talent,
it's, like, time to go back

and take a long look
in the mirror, right?

♪

♪

They ain't from LA,
but from time to time,

you'll find them here,

and when you do,
you best play nice.

Gilbert Melendez,

Nick Diaz, and Nate Diaz,

three of the greatest
mixed martial artists

to ever fight in an octagon.

Gilbert holds the distinction

of being one
of the few MMA fighters

to be ranked number
one in the world

in two weight classes.

Nate and his older brother Nick

are both vicious strikers
and grapplers,

and about as tough as it gets
in a professional setting

or on the street.

Neither particularly likes
to fight they say,

but should the situation
call for it,

well, let's put it this way,
they will.

Nick and Nate
grew up in Stockton

and still live there
and train there.

Conor McGregor mocked Nate

for teaching kids
jujitsu in his hometown.

That was before Nate
chased him around the octagon

like a little deer
in his last close decision.

In one of the greatest fights
in UFC history,

Nate Diaz shocked the world

when, on very short notice,

he stepped in
and submitted McGregor

in two rounds.

Nate Diaz.

He lost the second
bout by decision,

but there will
surely be a third,

and no matter what happens,

Nate Diaz always brings it.

Mariscos Chente
on South Centinela.

What did you... what do you eat
growing up? Like, what do you-

in your house,
when you were little kids,

what kind of food
were you eating?

What's lunch?

Macaroni and cheese
and hot dogs.

Yeah, man, hot dogs, right.

That was basically,
like, Top Ramen.

Every day.

- Yeah.
- Hot dogs, mac and cheese?

- Some ghetto juice.
- What about you?

You know, rice and beans
and some sort of Mexican dish.

Some sort of protein with it
and everything, you know.

- Right.
- I'm not vegetarian,

but I learned
a lot from them though.

I was, like,
pretty much vegan for...

For years really.
Even as a kid? No.

Like, I stopped
eating land animals period.

Like, I was... I'm a vegetarian,

but I've been
eating seafood on and off,

but I've been a vegetarian
since I was, like,

since I was 18 years old.

I just would be better cutting
weight when I would just go

on [inaudible] vegetarian diet.

- Right.
- I end up, you know,

nice and light,
and then I get stronger.

And then once he started
fighting pro too,

I think he kind of started
doing the same type of thing.

When you eat in LA,
if you're going out for food,

what are you going out for,
Asian?

You're going out
for Pad Thai food...

Good food's pretty convenient
around here, of course.

I go to... I go to Venice Beach.

I go to Café Gratitude,
and that's a really good place.

What do you eat there?

It's, like, vegan,
vegetarian all the way.

I get off the plane,
I go right to In-N-Out Burger.

And the last thing
I do while I'm in town

is I stop at In-N-Out Burger.

That stuff is like crack for me.

I got to have it.

Oh, it's so good.

Mariscos Chente serves shrimp.

Lots and lots of shrimp.

The house special,
camarones borrachos,

or drunken shrimp,

sautéed in butter
and garlic over high heat.

Add cilantro,
and crushed peppers,

and finish with tequila.

♪

So when was your first fight,
like, in school?

Like, what grade?

- First.
- First grade?

- Just kidding.
- No.

Yeah, [inaudible]
my first fight, right?

One time I was in sixth grade,

and I went down
to the baseball field

waiting for foul balls

because when you catch
a foul ball you get free soda

or a bag of chips or something.

And I caught the ball, and one
of the baseball players was mad

because a littler kid was
trying to run up and get it.

Like, "What's up? Why didn't you
let him get the ball?"

I'm like, "Shut up. I've been
waiting all day for this ball."

You know what I'm saying.
I was a little kid.

And he tried to get
in a fight with me,

but I'm with these guys
and they're all hard core.

And I'm in my head like,
"Man, why they gonna make me

fight this guy, because..."
in my head, right?

I was, "Man, they're making me
fight this guy."

And we're, like, going at it,

and I've never been
punched in my face

so many times in my life, right?

I was just a little kid.
He used to swing kind of wide

back then.
I was all heart.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Why you make me fight?

That's mean.
Why you make me fight this guy?

Street tacos are a not guilty
at all pleasure for me,

something of an obsession,
they always make me happy.

But Mexican food
has been redefining itself

in significant ways for years,

here and in Mexico.

Across the city, young,
extremely talented chefs

are taking Mexican traditions
to the next level and beyond.

Maybe the most exciting new
frontier of modern cooking.

Chef Ray Garcia,
a native Angelino

is one of those pioneers.

Located in the heart
of downtown is Broken Spanish,

a higher-end,

higher-priced Mexican restaurant

than most are accustomed to.

Chef Eddie Ruiz and Robin
Chopra are childhood friends

who opened the wonderful,
but short-lived

Alta California Gastro Pub

Corazon y Miel,

which put them both on the map
in LA's burgeoning,

modern Mexican dining scene.

I absolutely believe
that the next big thing

is a re-evaluation of Mexican
flavors and ingredients,

and a re-evaluation
of how much you should pay.

I mean, people love it,
but their expectations is,

Mexican food should be cheap,

and the fact is there's always

gonna be new arrivals
from Mexico

who are perfectly willing
to sell you,

unfortunately or fortunately,

really good Mexican food
for very cheap,

but not the kind of deep flavors

that, you know, you find,

or I've found
in my travels there.

Well, sometimes
in the Mexican world

the only thing
that's passed down,

it's not a home,
it's not a necklace,

what it is is
a recipe passed down

from generation to generation.

It all comes from these rustic
dishes that our grandmothers

and grandpas cooked for us.

Do you have
any responsibility to preserve

and protect
the traditional flavors

and ingredients of Mexico

or do you- or not?

Yeah, of course.

Everything that you see here

in front of you is inspired

by something
that we had as a child,

but how do we present
that with our training,

and how do we present
that with our experience

that's gonna give people value
to want to pay more for it?

I think that Los Angeles
is kind of a stage

for that next level,

and Chef Ray is doing
a really good job of that.

He's presenting stuff like this,

and that's what's gonna
elevate people's mind-set

in terms of what you can do
with this food.

Chicharrones, skin on pork,
cured and salted,

cooked sous vide for 36 hours,

then deep fried and served

with elephant garlic mojo
and radish sprouts.

♪

Tamales of slow-cooked lamb neck

with oyster mushrooms
and queso Oaxaca.

Camote, an Okinawan sweet
potato filled with pork,

the ears, tails and snout,

topped with a drizzle
of piloncillo syrup.

I got one more present
for you guys here.

A little pre-dessert, Eddie.

I know it's your favorite,
Eddie.

It's my favorite.

We have the foie gras
rebanada here.

So it's sort of like
a pre-dessert.

It's my take on
a very traditional

and simple Mexican pan dulce.

Which is, like,
a brioche with butter

and sugar is just
the basic pan dulce.

So this here, we have
foie gras in our butter,

we kind of up
the ante a little bit,

and then some piloncillo.

Sweet. Thank you.

Man, I am loving...
I am loving this meal.

- Thank you.
- I mean, big-time.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

This is the most nostalgic dish

I've ever had at a restaurant
in Los Angeles.

In Mexican panaderías,
this is called rebanada.

- Wow.
- Nothing says my childhood

like this dish right here.

I've worked in French
and Italian restaurants

my whole career.

Right.

But, I mean, really,
if I think about it,

they're Mexican restaurants
and Ecuadorian restaurants

because the majority
of the cooks

and the people working with me
were from those countries.

That's who, you know,
picked me up when I fell down,

who showed me what to do
when I walked in

and didn't know anything,
and nobody knew my name.

Right, it's just the way
our culture is.

We're so family oriented
that that's what matters to us.

At the same time
I feel like our job as chefs

is to bring in our unique,

Latin American experience
to dining,

family, tradition,
food, culture,

and LA's the heart of that
right now.

It really is.

And hopefully that resonates

throughout the rest
of the country.

Gang violence has been
part of LA's story

for the better part
of a century now.

Also part of the story,

police corruption and brutality.

Former police officer
Alex Salazar was a bad cop.

By his own admission, very bad.

Like a lot of once good police,

the streets changed him.

He saw a lot of ugliness,

the lines became blurred,

the job ground him down,

and he crossed the line...
repeatedly.

To quote Nietzsche,

"Those who chase monsters
need to be careful

that they don't
become monsters."

I thought I was gonna
arrest the bad guys.

I never thought I would become
a bad guy myself.

- Did you become a bad guy?
- Oh, I did, yes.

- How bad?
- I became very aggressive,

beating people, losing control,

and using excessive force

when there really wasn't
any need for me to do that.

I mean, I worked the most
infamous police station

ever known.
It was called Rampart.

Won best picture
for Denzel Washington

for his betrayal of this
really bad police officer.

I'm the police.

I run shit here.
You just live here.

Was that an understatement?

Were there cops that bad?

Yes, there were,
yes, there were.

I was one of them.

The problem was very systemic.

We don't have so much
that problem anymore.

It does happen.
Is it not the nature of

the job when you're asked
to every day go in

and look at people

at their most desperate and ugly

that you become desensitized

and maybe
even turn into a monster?

Just think about it.

Every day they're looking
at the worst of society,

and maybe they have a partner
that gets killed or shot.

It's all very overwhelming.

Many turn to alcohol
and drugs to medicate.

And I'm not trying to be
an apologist for the police,

because, you know, they do need
to be held accountable,

but, you know, we need
to help them, we really do,

because they are out there,

and they're the ones that
are gonna show up at your home.

Mexican American,
living in East LA,

and a victim of a crime,

you calling on the police

expecting
a sympathetic response?

I mean, generally speaking,
what do you think the...

I think most police officers
show up

being ready to help out.

They certainly have to do
their job, take a report.

But, I mean, what do you
think the victim thinks

when they place a phone call?

Do you think they have
high hopes that,

"I believe, like, my call
is gonna be handled

"with the same fervor

as somebody calling
from Beverly Hills?"

Well, there are good officers
that come in, and they do help.

There's also many who lose
that empathetic feeling

of looking at someone
with brown skin

or very dark skin and they say,

"Well, you know, why am I
helping out this person?

This is a stupid Mexican,"

and I saw that being
projected upon these people

who all they wanted was help.

♪

Elisa Sol Garcia grew up
in Boyle Heights

and is no stranger
to the challenges

facing the Latino community.

The Boyle Heights Running Club

started as a safety
in numbers project.

The small group
of community members

starting running the bridges
of Boyle Heights,

making their presence known,

and simply by being there,
by being a presence,

taking their streets back
from the gangs

and the criminals who too often

are the default company
in a one-company neighborhood.

♪

Tacos Indiana Street Cart
on 4th and Clarence Street...

What are you guys having?
I'm gonna do a asada.

- You're gonna do a asada?
- Yeah.

Frequented by Elisa and
fellow Running Club member

Rolli Cruz.

Carne asada, the slow-grilled,

marinated beef classic served

as a burrito with rice
and beans,

or simply on a tortilla
as a taco.

- Gracias.
- Tacos lengua,

beef tongue braised
with garlic and onions.

And tacos al pastor,

stacked guajillo chili
rubbed pork

shoulder slices
with your choice of toppings.

Oh, hell, yeah.

Cheap, yet supremely
satisfying, street taco trucks

like this one have served
the Latino community

of Boyle Heights for years,

but the neighborhood
is changing.

Let's say, it's diversifying.

Well, first come
the coffee shops,

a couple of smart,
like, hip restaurants,

hipsters arrive,
the rents go up.

How do you stop that?

Well, that, what you
explained in a nutshell

is what has been going on
throughout Los Angeles.

The gentrification of downtown,
it's spreading here,

and in a neighborhood
like this, gentrification,

not to be dramatic,
but the population of families

that are homeless is growing.

Little by little, like,
the block is the security.

Whether it's deportation,
whether it's gentrification,

you know, it's barely now
coming to the forefront,

but for the people that live
and work here every day

it's been a reality.

There's a lot
of struggles here that,

if you're gonna be a part
of the of this community,

like, you have to
recognize that struggle.

I think that the reality
is that LA

is always changing, right?

So, like, we are
in the battle of LA,

and who's gonna win in this
has yet to be determined,

but the fight
is still gonna go on.

One, two, three...

There has been,
since the beginning,

a tradition of Mexican rock

and roll with its own
unique sound.

Richie Valens, Sam the Sham
and the Pharaohs,

Cannibal and the Headhunters,
Las Cruzados,

and Question Mark
and the Mysterians.

It should come as no surprise

that rockabilly is enjoying
a resurgence of sorts

in the Chicano community.

♪ Someone else is always to
blame, baby ♪

♪

There is a long
and glorious tradition

of Chicano rock, garage,

and punk boiling away under

and over the surface for years,

and egregiously overlooked.

♪

But what is it with
the Morrissey thing?

What is it about Morrissey,

the Irish singer via England

who sang melancholic,
pathos-filled ballads

that were a backdrop
for a million post-breakups

during the '80s that so speaks
to the Chicano soul?

♪

I asked musicians
and concert promoters

Oscar Agrecho and Albert Gamboa.

Oscar thrives
in the rockabilly world,

while Albert is all-things punk.

What's up with
the Morrissey thing?

In the Chicano community, like,
Morrissey is, like, huge, huge.

It's a matter of the heart.

It's a matter of the heart, man.
You've got to admit it.

Why... why of all the bands

in the world did Morrissey

and The Smiths resonate
in this community?

It was a convergence of music

and people that did not connect

to what was being said.

He connected with his lyrics,

and I think everything
was going so pop

and so mainstream,

and he was
the alternative to that.

And I think there is
a lyrical element

to his words that resonated
with the Latino community.

And people said that his lyrics,

his songs resonated

with traditional mariachi
in that sense.

- Right.
- And the songs are so much

about finding something
beautiful or even funny,

about getting relentlessly [...]
over

and having shit
go wrong; I mean...

I think Morrissey
really speaks... you know,

it's so odd,
he's this white guy...

About, like, displacement
and this longing for, like,

for a mythic home

because when I go to Mexico,

I'm like a sore thumb there,
you know?

My Spanish is horrible,

the way I dress, the way I talk,

but there's just
something about it.

Like, Morrissey really
articulates that experience.

He himself is an immigrant.

He is Irish.

You know, he feels displaced.

♪ Irish blood, English heart

♪ This I'm made of

This is the thing about being
a Mexican in the States.

You're never white enough
for this country,

and you're never
brown enough for Mexico.

It is a big issue
about that pocho and all that,

but I know that we are...

Californians inherently,

and I am Los Angeles.

♪ I've been dreaming
of a time when ♪

♪ To be English
is not to be baneful ♪

♪ To be standing by the flag not
feeling shameful ♪

♪ Racist or partial

♪ Forever

♪