History Main / SouthOfTheBorder

* In real life, many well known stereotypes about Mexico -- tequila, mariachi music, the Mexican Hat Dance[[note:known locally as "jarabe tapatío"]], the charro outfit, Mexican rodeo (charrería) and the traditional Mexican embroidered belt[[note:known locally as "fajo piteado"]] -- are actually from the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco and its surrounding area. The Secretariat of Tourism knows that damn well, and its slogan for promoting the state of Jalisco actually is "[[https://visitjalisco.com.mx/ Jalisco is Mexico]]".

If you turn the clock back several centuries, expect to find jungle, terraced pyramid-temples, [[{{Mayincatec}} elaborately costumed high priests with obsidian blades who are really after your heart]], and maybe some greedy ''conquistadores''.

If you are a [[AcceptableReligiousTargets WASP]] (and heroes often are), don't go down alleys, you will be surrounded by big, smirking, sweaty bullies who jeer and mock in Spanish, the only intelligible word being ''gringo'' (Creator/RogerEbert's book names these guys the ''Latino Laughers''). You'll have to fight them.

If you are a [[AcceptableTarget WASP]] (and heroes often are), don't go down alleys, you will be surrounded by big, smirking, sweaty bullies who jeer and mock in Spanish, the only intelligible word being ''gringo'' (Creator/RogerEbert's book names these guys the ''Latino Laughers''). You'll have to fight them.

* Any [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Speedy Gonzales]] cartoon.
* The first episode (not counting the pilot) of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' takes place in a stereotypical Mexican town.

* ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'': "Baja-Ha-Ha Race"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'': Superman saves a very stereotypical Mexican village from the eponymous monsters in "Lava Men".

** The sketch "Bionic Mexican" introduces Pablo Rodríguez a.k.a. "[[Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan Six Million Peso Man]]" ([[RidiculousExchangeRates exchange rate $243]]). He is introduced as a "Mexican test pilot" while the image shows him crashing into a cactus while riding a donkey. He has a magnificent moustache and wears a poncho and a giant sombrero. He uses his newfound SuperStrength to open a taco, jump the border fence, and sell oranges as an illegal immigrant. He sleeps on the street at any given hour, under his sombrero and with his back against the wall. At least, none of the other Mexican characters in the sketch look so ridiculously stereotypical.

* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'''s episode ''Mexican't buy my love''.

In American media, Mexico is known for the [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Dí­a de los Muertos]], [[NiceHat sombreros]], lazy locals, burros (donkeys), tequila, {{chupacabra}}s, [[MaskedLuchador luchadores]], piñatas, chili, [[FirebreathingDiner incredibly spicy food]], lots of beans, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and a bunch of rundown]], [[TheSavageSouth filthy adobe huts in the middle of the desert or desperately poor, grubby towns]] that American criminals will [[RunForTheBorder escape to]].

* ''Film/WayOfTheGun'': The protagonists cross the border with their hostage into Mexico intending to lay low. The location was apparently chosen to excuse the amount of violence and large-scale gunfights that take place without much police interaction. However, federales do show up on one occasion, and the director notes in the DVD commentary how rare it is for them to ''not'' be corrupt in an American film.

* ''Film/VeraCruz'', in which the Mexicans serve the purpose of poor victims or intimidation by sheer number, the French are there to look luxurious but impractical, and the Americans save the day. The love interest was portrayed by a Spanish actress (Sarita Montiel), and Cesar Romero, the only one of the main actors with Latino ancestry, appeared as a French officer; he used to be typecast before as a Latin lover.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has the Sand Kingdom, a rare example of a ShiftingSandLand ([[HailfirePeaks partially]]) based on an American desert instead of an African one. At the entrance to the world is Tostarena Town, an adobe village populated by a race of cheerful guitar-strumming, sombrero-toting skeleton folk patterned off of alfeñique skulls.

-->-- '''Music/TomLehrer''', "In Old Mexico"

* As quoted above, Music/TomLehrer's "In Old Mexico" manages to pack just about every feature of this trope into one four-minute song.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has the Sand Kingdom, a rare example of a ShiftingSandLand ([[HailfirePeaks partially]]) based on an American desert instead of an African one. At the entrance to the world is Tostarena Town, a Mexican-flavored village populated by guitar-strumming, sombrero-toting skeleton folk patterned off of alfeñique skulls.

Mexico City itself has played host to various films: ''Film/{{Dune}}'', ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'', ''Film/LicenceToKill'', ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'', ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', and ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist''. Reports are often that the Mexican authorities make things hard for the foreign production crews.

* ''Vera Cruz'', in which the Mexicans serve the purpose of poor victims or intimidation by sheer number, the French are there to look luxurious but impractical, and the Americans save the day. The love interest was portrayed by a Spanish actress (Sarita Montiel), and Cesar Romero, the only one of the main actors with Latino ancestry, appeared as a French officer; he used to be typecast before as a Latin lover.

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'' - another pre-Columbian example. Even more noticeable, since the legendary city of El Dorado is [[CriticalResearchFailure supposed to be somewhere in the South American Amazon Basin]], not in Mesoamerica.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* There's a famous American Tourist Trap along Interstate 95 called "South of the Border" (which is in fact just south of the border--between North and South Carolina) that plays all manner of Mexican stereotypes to the hilt, from the Cinco de Mayo decor to their mascot, an amiable Mexican sluggard named Pedro. It is primarily famous for its [[BillboardEpic billboards]]. A trip from Canada to Florida by car in 1996 rendered a count of 453 of these billboards. It was also where current Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke, got one of his first jobs. Yeah, [[BurgerFool ridiculous outfits]]!
** Apparently "South of the Border" was used as the shipping address for the original establishment, a liquor store. It went with the theme to grow into being (arguably) the TropeNamer.

[[/folder]]

* ''TheRoadToElDorado'' - another pre-Columbian example. Even more noticeable, since the legendary city of El Dorado is [[CriticalResearchFailure supposed to be somewhere in the South American Amazon Basin]], not in Mesoamerica.
* ''WackyRaces'': "Baja-Ha-Ha Race"

[[caption-width-right:270:¡Arriba!]]

Ah, UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}}. Home of the bustling, ancient and modern Mexico City, the gritty and industrial Monterrey, Puebla and its multiple hundred years of Spanish colonial history, the city called Guadalajara that mixes all the previous ones and adds a technological corridor, the heavenly beaches of Cancún and Los Cabos, the magnificent mountains of central Chihuahua and Durango, the lush wilderness of Yucatán... and a bunch of other stuff the American media has barely heard of.

In American media, Mexico is known for the [[ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans Dí­a de los Muertos]], [[NiceHat sombreros]], lazy locals, burros (donkeys), tequila, {{chupacabra}}s, [[MaskedLuchador luchadores]], piñatas, chili, [[FirebreathingDiner incredibly spicy food]], lots of beans, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and a bunch of rundown]], [[TheSavageSouth filthy adobe huts in the middle of the desert or desperately poor, grubby towns]] that American criminals will [[RunForTheBorder escape to]].

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* Exception: ''[[VideoGame/GhostRecon Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter]]'' takes place in a nicely accurate rendition of the Mexico City. In fact, one of the scenes involves a shooting in Reforma Avenue, an area of Mexico City that looks kinda like a cross-breed of Manhattan and Paris's Champs-Élysées.

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If you turn the clock back several centuries, expect to find jungle, terraced pyramid-temples, [[{{Mayincatec}} elaborately costumed high priests with obsidian blades who are really after your heart]], and maybe some greedy conquistadores.

[[caption-width-right:270:Arriba!]]

* As quoted above, Music/TomLehrer's "In Old Mexico" manages to pack just about feature of this trope into one four-minute song.