I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges! (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)

“I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges!” is Valdez's most complex, ambitious, and satisfying play. Satirical, comic, filled with puns and painful insight, the play explores the search for an authentic Chicano identity against the limiting stereotypes and restricted possibilities afforded Mexican Americans in the 1980's United States.

The play is set in Los Angeles in the home of Connie and Buddy Villa, middle-aged Chicano bit-part actors. The conflict is sparked by the unexpected return of Sonny, their son. Defying his parents’ dreams for him, Sonny quits...

[The entire page is 885 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: