Another important aspect of both Born in East L.A. and El Norte is the resolution of the two films. As is the case with any story, the resolution can have a profound effect on the overall meaning of the piece. So how does this emerge through the two director’s styles and scripts, and do the two meanings have a thematic connection?

First, let’s look at the ending of Born in East L.A.. In this film, Rudy has been trying (through various means) to return to Los Angeles from Tijuana for an extensive amount of time. In this time he meets Dolores, presumably the love of his life, who has been in a similar situation. The film ends with an enormous group of Latinos charging the US border with Rudy in their midst, and the protagonist finally achieves his goal of returning home.

In El Norte, the ending is less optimistic and certainly less comical. Enrique’s Chicano co-worker reveals to Immigration Enrique’s status as an illegal immigrant. This causes Enrique to lose not only his job but, having turned down a previous offer to work in a distant factory, and possibility of guaranteed re-employment. Meanwhile, Enrique’s sister and traveling partner Rosa becomes terminally ill from the infected rats that attacked her during her journey, dying in the films final minutes. Enrique then joins the masses offering their “brazos fuertes” for hire, and the film ends with him digging a ditch for a contractor.

So you may be wondering…how can these two endings POSSIBLY be linked?? On one hand, Born in East L.A. has a Hollywood happy ending. El Norte has what one could call “the most dismal and depressing ending possible.” Yet a careful observer, having already decided that Marin and Nava have similar ideas, might want to take some time analyzing before immediately dismissing.

The most important aspect of these two endings is the societal state that both protagonists assume. Rudy embodies the stereotyped fear of Mexicans, charging in an enormous and unstoppable group across the border. Enrique becomes another stereotype, the “Mexican worker.” Casting aside the fact that Rudy achieves power in this stance while Enrique is enfeebled, what could this portray?

In talking briefly with Cristian Alvarado, a film student at SFSU and student aid for the RAZA 265 class, I became aware of a trend in Latino portrayal in film. Cristian stated that, no matter what the struggle be or how it’s portrayed, there is never a success story. With this in mind, it is easy to see how the two endings carry a similar message. Rudy could only escape Tijuana if he embraced the Latino stereotype, thus becoming that stereotype in the film’s resolution. In El Norte, a more literal and solemn approach is taken to portray an actual, plausible scenario in which the protagonist Enrique becomes inescapably ensnared in that same stereotype.