Culture Clash frequently tackles the issue of Latinos and immigration in their skits and plays. In California in the 1990s, immigration was a polarizing issue. Wilson and his administration sought to create villains out of immigrants. Culture Clash and their skit “Bernando the Dinosaur” sought to debunk false narratives about immigration while highlight the cruelty of U.S. treatment of immigrants, by putting the truth in the mouth of a purple dinosaur who was supposed to provide a model of kindness to children. Barney the Dinosaur, a popular children’s television show when it aired in 1992 became part of the modern zeitgeist. Barney is a friendly dinosaur that encourages social norms like kindness and sharing. The purple dinosaur character appeals to children with a cheerful and charmingly clumsy demeanor.
For Culture Clash, “Bernardo the Dinosaur” is a coyote or human smuggler. He is conducting a group of starry-eyed Latinx immigrants across the border. They’re full of dreams and illusions about the United States but “Bernardo” immediately bursts their bubble. Each one of the four would-be immigrants embodies a common experience for migrants. The first immigrant character is not taken across the border because he doesn’t have enough money to pay the smuggler. Bernando is blunt and tells him, “No money, no land of milk and honey.” This dialogue illustrates the corrupt, transactional nature of this process.
A second immigrant character is a man with a dream of working hard, being his own boss, and owning a home. “Bernardo” lashes out and ridicules his dream. One of the immigrant characters tells “Bernardo” that he wants to start a business and buy a home. Bernardo chuckles at the dream, making it evident that he doesn’t believe it is achievable. The third migrant character is a female. She has very few lines. One of the few lines she has is her asking to be consoled by “Bernardo.” This paints her a weaker character compared to her male counterpart. This falls in line with the critique of Culture Clash’s earlier work that it is not inclusive.
The final part of the skit represents three migrants as a group. “Bernardo,” asks them to “go to Imagination City.” He asks them to imagine America’s Land of Opportunity, with good jobs, kindness, no drugs, no gangs, and no drive-by shootings. He asks the female migrant if she can imagine that. She bluntly says no. He responds, “Neither can I.” “Bernardo” makes no empty promises to the migrants. He is simply being honest about the realities. Crossing the international border without permission is dangerous, but is only the beginning. There are more hardships to come. Culture Clash is telling the viewer that America isn’t a paradise, especially for unauthorized immigrants. The skit ends with the three Latinx immigrants entering a storm drain and heading toward America nevertheless.
This skit which aired on the Culture Clash television show looks at Latin American immigration and how white people envision it but it fails to show the truth that white people hold true. While talking about this skit, Sigüenza confirmed this idea. “And Barney said,‘Nope, you are going to live in the Barrio and not Beverly Hills.’” This is the harsh reality for many new immigrants. They will live in barely habitable homes but with the hope of improving their situation. The likelihood they are undocumented brings a whole another level of challenges and stigmas. “Bernardo” warns them of all the perils that they will go through crossing the international border and what awaits them in the United States of America but they still go.These themes are important in debunking the myth that immigrants are hurting the U.S. and California in particular. Governor Pete Wilson ran on the platform that he would keep immigrants out and by doing this he will be providing a better California for all. He argued that “illegals” were stealing jobs and taking resources from the state.
As to the argument satirized by this skit that immigration is a “choice” driven by the naïve dreams of immigrants, scholars have consistently pointed out how migrating is often the only option. As Seth Holmes writes, “How can the immense physical risks and mortal dangers as well as the mental fears and traumas be worth the risk of crossing the border?” The answer is that
Hidden behind this implied decisional equation are heartless economic markets and global and national politics. Due to neoliberal policies and economics at this point in history, staying in San Miguel means not having enough money for food and not being able to buy the school uniforms required to allow your children to attend public school.
Holmes points out that it is not as simple a matter of deducing immigrants into capitalistic terms. But the need to humanize their experiences of the difficult choices they have made to leave, and the risks they take in doing so.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a 1994 trade agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States, was supposed to reduce trade regulations for North American commerce to stimulate economic growth. Many scholars say that NAFTA did not do that for Mexico, and possibly worsened the situation. The average Mexican citizen bore most of the costs of this trade agreement. They were also met with a declining economy due to the privatization of many state-owned companies by President Salinas de Gortari. Historian Zaragosa Vargas argues that NAFTA worsened the living standard for lower-class Mexicans and pushed them to cross the border to seek better opportunities. This also led to the rise of women working in factories to make ends meet, which Culture Clash writes into their skits.
In one unaired, untitled skit from 1991, Culture Clash addresses some of the push factors immigrants experience. NAFTA became a push for many Mexican citizens as wages fell. In 1991 a story idea for a skit written by Ric Salinas, with Richard Montoya portraying a Border Patrol agent for a television ad. Salinas and Sigüenza, who play themselves, educate the Border Patrol agent (Montoya) on the realities of immigration. When the skit ends, the Border Patrol agent understands that immigrants are pushed to leave their home countries, whether for economic, political, or religious motives. This story idea was still in rough form but it illustrates that Salinas wanted to communicate two things. The first is that just because a person identifies as Chicano does not mean they may understand immigration. Chicano is chosen as the term here as this is what the creators had in mind when creating the skit. A Chicano should aim to understand the complexity of the diverse Latin American culture which included the way Latinx migrate to the United States. The second is explaining why people migrate. Salinas is spreading the message that a person who is Chicano should be educated and knowledgeable about issues that plague the community.
Culture Clash has always offered a social commentary in their satire. In Bernardo the Dinosaur, the group responds to the scapegoating of undocumented Latinos by certain politicians in the 90s. Culture Clash could have offered a more detailed look at the Latino community not just the undocumented. Two reasons could be attributed to this; the first is that a sketch comedy does not allow for complicated storytelling. Secondly, undocumented immigrants were in the news and the zeitgeist in the 90s. Culture Clash has to do what is current hence the focus on undocumented Latinxs and in the case of this skit they were successful.