It may (no sabo!) come as a surprise to some of you to learn that Latinxs can do many, many things. They don’t always revolve around, to name a few, being a mecánico, or a futbolista, or a campesino, much less a narco. In fact, to add to the growing list of things Latinxs have always done, and done well, is play G-O-L-F.
This is the subject and true story of the recently released, The Long Game (available at Netflix), starring Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid and the Chicano legend, Cheech Marin. It’s your classic underdog sports story. The twist here is that that the protagonists aren’t the usual suspects (Anglo/Black) who must overcome obstacles in order to. . . you know the rest.
No, here we a story based on the real lives of have cinco Español-speaking vatos in high school who have a passion for golf, are pretty damn good at it, and who end up. . . . I won’t spoil it. Better yet, tune in as soon as possible. One quick note: Humberto G. Garcia is the author of the book Mustang Miracle (2010) that the film is based on.
The Long Game is a reminder that these uplifting and heroic stories are out there that depict us in a way that doesn’t succumb to those lazy, prejudicial, and ignorant stereotypes which have negatively (re)presented us on the page and on the silver screen for decades. Garcia, much like Quintana and crew, remind us that we have been here, we have what it takes, and we belong in any and all spaces.
It’s Texas. Del Rio, 1950s. Ike is El Presidente. The famed General who helped lead the Allies to la Victoria (only after Truman dropped 2 BOMBAS ATÓMICAS on Japan) is running things and the US is the biggest, baddest, and richest democracy around.
Yet, Juan Crow is rampant. “No Dogs! No M-E-X-I-C-A-N-S!” The US Bracero Program is ‘hiring.’ The US gobierno is deportando. Wait, what? I thought it was hiring. Look up Operation WETBACK vato! Segregation in Texas is trifold: Brown-Black-Anglo. The court case Mendez vs Westminster has passed, but everyone has to wait. NO SPANISH!
San Felipe High School has a new superintendent, JB Peña (Jay Hernandez). He served in the US Marine Corps 141st Airborne with Frank Mitchell (Dennis Quaid) during the war. They are now amigos in that small border town who share a love for golf and are trying to figure out how to cope with the next phase of their lives as that bloody, massive, destructive “fist fight” contra the Axis powers continues to haunt them.
Del Rio happens to have a premier golf country club where the cinco vatos work as caddies: Lupe Felán (José Julián), Felipe Romero (Miguel Angel Garcia), Mario Lomas (Christian Gallegos), Gene Vasquez (Gregory Diaz IV), and Joe Treviño (Julian Works). Cheech, aka Pollo, is the groundskeeper with Frank working there as well, albeit in a supervisory position.
JB is introduced to these young capable golfers after Joe line drives a ball through his car window causing JB to swerve to a stop. As it turns out, JB not only oversees San Felipe, but the boys are students at the high school that gives JB the idea to put a team together to try to make it to the Texas State Championship.
The film takes us along with these Mexican Americans through 1950s Texas as they face various struggles that revolve around power, racism, social mores, and what it means to actually play a sport that really only views the brown gente as nothing more than the help.
Other preguntas come up: Will I be granted the self-respect I deserve regardless of my brown skin? Can I be treated as an equal and not seen as occupying a lower status? Am I able to call this country mine? Relevant issues and questions, even today!
One aspect of the film I want to emphasize is the impact on Latinas by the socio-cultural attitudes on gender norms, roles and expectations of the time (still today?) along with their influence on the relationships between Anglo/Latinx couples.
For instance, both JB’s wife, Lucy Peña (Jaina Lee Ortiz), and Joe’s love interest, Daniela Torres (Paulina Chávez) endeavor to be recognized and accepted for who they are and who they want to be. Lucy speaks with JB about how she avoids driving past parts of the town where happy mothers dote on their children because of how it makes her feel and what this says about her. Daniela aspires to travel, attend university, and find her voice through the stories she wants to pen. That the narrative gives equal weight to the aspirations of these Latinas—and doesn’t pull punches in terms how this creates tensions within their respective relationships—allow viewers to experience the struggles faced by these Latinas.
We need more affirming yet complex stories like The Long Game to be told. There is still much trabajo to be done in our familias y comunidades, since today much like the 1950s, we continue to face similar problemas that must be overcome. The question is, do we reach for the putter, the wedge, or the driver? Fore!
