Born in East L.A.

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Born In East L.A. stars Cheech Marin as a Mexican-American who is mistaken for an illegal immigrant and deported.

Tropes used in Born in East L.A. include:


  • Chekhov's Gun: The money Rudy was supposed to deposit was used to save Rudy and his new girlfriend Dolores from the Coyotes.
  • Citizenship Marriage: At the end, he manages to sneak back into the USA and hastily marries Dolores so she will not be deported - she lives in Mexico but is from El Salvador and risks being sent back there as she has had her ID stolen.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Jimmy

"GODDAMN IT! GODDAMN YOU! SON OF BITCH I HATE THIS FUCKING LIFE!"

  • Distracted by the Sexy: There's a couple of gags where an especially attractive Latino woman (who was one of Cheech's garage customers in the movie) would literally make everyone else stop in their tracks and stare whenever she walked past. She makes a last appearance at the end of the film.
  • The Film of the Song: Which is a parody of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".
  • I Just HAD To Say It

Rudy: Is there anything else? I like to eat my breakfast before it grows green hair on it!
Rudy's mom: As a matter of fact, there is.
Rudy: I had to ask.

  • Jerkass: The crooked immigration officer in a cowboy hat and sunglasses.
  • Los Angeles: At the start and end.
  • Mood Whiplash: Jimmy
  • Real Men Drive Pink: Rudy drives a pink lowered Volkswagen to work.
  • Ronald Reagan: He's mentioned several times. When the immigration officer asks Rudy who's the president, he answers John Wayne by mistake, which is "proof" enough that he's an illegal despite his protests and his ability to clearly speak English.

Rudy: I'M AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, YOU IDIOTS! THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS RONALD "DICKHEAD" REAGAN!

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