Satirical, Vengeful Immigrant Film At Center Of Texas Controversy

Texans are bombarding the governor’s office with calls and letters to try to stop tax dollars from subsidizing a satirical film about a vengeful illegal immigrant.

The coming film, a bloody action movie with a star-studded cast titled “Machete,” could be eligible for more than $1.5 million of taxpayer subsidies under a program designed to encourage directors to shoot in Texas, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The state Film Commission may deny subsidies to any production that includes “inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion.” But the commission-eager to woo as many movie, advertising and video-game shoots as possible-has never exercised that clause. “You have to understand that we want to create jobs,” said Bob Hudgins, the commission’s director. “That is our focus.”

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by Quentin Tarantino, the film stars Robert De Niro, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Jessica Alba and, in the title role, Danny Trejo. Mr. Trejo plays a renegade Mexican cop who flees to Texas and is hired to assassinate a sleazy state lawmaker who has made his name by urging crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

Last month, Rodriguez swerved into political controversy when he released what he later described as a “fake trailer” for “Machete” on a fan website. It opened with the star, Mr. Trejo, growling that he had a message for Arizona, which had just passed its controversial law aimed at identifying and deporting illegal immigrants. The footage that followed spliced scenes to make it seem as though Mr. Trejo was assembling an army of illegal immigrants bent on gory revenge.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here