History Film / AmericanMe

* ChildByRape: It eventually is revealed that main character Santana was conceived when his mother was raped by a sailor during the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, in which US sailors on leave clashed with Hispanic residents of Los Angeles.

* DisproportionateRetribution: The Mexican Mafia punishes any infraction with death no matter how minor, including questioning an order or disagreeing with another brother, especially if they are of higher rank. one disturbing example is [[spoiler: how the son of a Mexican drug lord is violently raped and killed in prison because the drug lord refused to hand over his empire to Santana during their meeting.]]
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Santana may be a brutal gang leader but he loves his mother, as she's always taken care of him even though [[ChildByRape he's the product of a gang rape]] against her by a bunch of racist sailors.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Santana is ultimately killed by his own men. He passionately embraces his death.]]

* GoingNative: Peg Leg isn't Mexican, but is shown to be the most hardcore in following the code of the Mexican Mafia which he helped create as a founding member.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Santana's strict law of punishing any slight among the Mexican Mafia, including questioning or disagreeing with another brothers actions [[spoiler: with death comes back to haunt him. When he questions Peg Leg's ordered hit on a Black Gorilla Family location resulting in the death of many innocent people. And when he disagreed with Peg Leg putting a hit on a young member because he was blamed for causing Santana to get arrested again and ruined their plans for the outside of prison. He is violently murdered by his own crew under [[WithFriendsLikeThese Peg Leg's orders]]]]

* LaserGuidedKarma: Santana [[spoiler:has a member he was friends with killed because the man disagreed with having men sent to kill his friend on the outside who was with another crew. At the end of the film, Santana is killed for disagreeing with having one of his own members killed, and the contract was ordered by Peg Leg, his best friend and second in command.]]

* PrisonRape: Has at least two scenes portraying prison rape, including an especially disturbing one where the Mexican prison gang rapes the son of Italian crime boss, and one where the main character is raped in juvie hall. Thanks to Dawson Casting, though the actors involved were over 18.
* RapeAndRevenge: During a stint in Juvie, Santana is raped by another boy under threat of being stabbed. Afterwards, he immediately retaliates against his rapist and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard kills him with his own knife]]. This earns Santana notoriety, but also gets him convicted of murder and his sentence (initially for robbery) extended by years.

* {{Redherring}}: The drug lord Santana meets with outside of prison. [[spoiler: He swears that if Santana does anything to his family after he refused to give up his drug empire that he would pay a heavy price. Santana orders the drug lord's son to be raped and killed in prison afterwards. But Santana is killed not out of revenge from the father, but by his own men for breaking one of the codes he helped create.]]
* SexIsViolence: Played for drama. Santana is released from prison for the first time in years. He meets a beautiful woman whom he quickly falls in love with. When they make love for the first time, he can't reciprocate except by violently forcing himself on her. All the years that he's had to perform PrisonRape to survive in prison have given him a rather warped perspective on sexuality.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Played for drama. Santana is released from prison for the first time in years. He meets a beautiful woman whom he quickly falls in love with. When they make love for the first time, he can't reciprocate except by violently forcing himself on her. All the years that he's had to perform PrisonRape to survive in prison have given him a rather warped perspective on sexuality.

* PrisonRape: There are at least two scenes portraying prison rape, including an especially disturbing one where the main character keeps flashing back to his rape while having consensual sex with his girlfriend and turns violent. One of those prison rape scenes was technically a Juvenile Hall rape scene. Thanks to DawsonCasting though, the actors involved were over 18.
* RapeAndRevenge: During a stint in Juvie, Santana is raped by another boy under threat of being stabbed. Afterwards, he immediately retaliates against his rapist and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard kills him with his own knife]]. This earns Santana notoriety, but also gets him convicted of murder and his sentence (initially for robbery) extended by years.

'''''American Me''''' is a 1992 biographical crime film. It is directed by Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos and based on the real life Mexican-American gangster Montoya Santana and the foundation of the Mexican Mafia crime syndicate. Olmos played the lead role.

* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Santana's first time with a women after he's released from prison is intercut with a brutal gang rape perpetrated on his orders against a rival mafioso's son in prison.

''American Me'' is a 1992 biographical crime film. It is directed by Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos and based on the real life Mexican-American gangster Montoya Santana and the foundation of the Mexican Mafia crime syndicate. Olmos played the lead role.

''American Me'' is a 1992 biographical crime film. It is directed by Edward James Olmos and based on the real life Mexican-American gangster Montoya Santana and the foundation of the Mexican Mafia crime syndicate. Olmos played the lead role.

''American Me'' is a 1992 biographical crime film. It is directed by Edward James Olmos and based on the real life Mexican-American gangster Montoya Santana and the foundation of the Mexican Mafia prison gangs. Olmos played the lead role.

* PrisonRape: There are at least two scenes portraying prison rape, including an especially disturbing one where the main character keeps flashing back to his rape while having consensual intercourse with his girlfriend and turns violent. One of those prison rape scenes was technically a Juvenile Hall rape scene. Thanks to DawsonCasting though, the actors involved were over 18.
* RapeAndRevenge: During a stint in Juvie, Santana is raped by another boy under threat of getting shivved. Afterwards, he immediately retaliates against his rapist and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard kills him with his own knife]]. This earns Santana notoriety, but also gets him convicted for murder and his sentence (initially for robbery) extended by years.
* SinisterShiv: A particularly brutal shanking scene happens in the courtyard.