As the story begins, Martín characterizes Pedro through his love for American pop culture. He loves American superhero comic books and action figures, American television shows like Happy Days, and American movies like Star Wars. This motif establishes setting—California in the 1970’s—and also demonstrates the impact that the family’s migration from Jalisco to California has had: its youngest members, born in the US, identify strongly with American, rather than Mexican culture. Pedro’s gradual growth toward embracing the Mexican side of his identity and The Richness of Mexican Culture can be tracked as he gradually comes to love Mexican wrestler action figures, Spanish-language comic books, and traditional Mexican music.

The aspects of American pop culture that matter most to Pedro all appeal to his desire to escape from the difficulties of ordinary life into a world full of extraordinary heroes and supernatural experiences. In Star Wars, he loves the Jedi and heroes like Han Solo. In Happy Days, he idolizes the hero-figure of The Fonz and “[a]ll the clapping and catchphrases” that “nicely [drown] out almost all the bad news [he] might overhear” (10). This makes it unsurprising that his first attempts to connect with Abuelito reflect his fantasy of his grandfather as a hero of the Mexican Revolution.