Media Sensationalism

the mth…

His captives “fall in love with him”, the farmers shelter him, and the police fear him. The press run sensationalized accounts of every detail and the public ravenously consumes every detail.

The murder of Gloria Soto begins 25 years of cultural, political, and media firestorms. To some, he was nothing more than a violent criminal whose machismo led him to kidnap, rape, and murder anyone who crossed his path. To others, he was a hero fighting a corrupt system, a jíbaro who represented a dying way of life, and a free man taking what’s his in a world where basic freedoms were vanishing on a daily basis. 

His prowess in the mountains and his ability to evade capture become the stories of legend. The media sensationalizes every aspect of the story, making it difficult to determine where the facts end and the myth begins. The papers create a romanticized figure who rides around the countryside on his bicycle, scooping up eager women and taking them to bed, while mocking the local and state police who desperately comb the mountains to bring him to justice.

The first time he is arrested and charged with 11 counts of rape and assault, a female fan club shows up to the trial hoping to get an autograph and a kiss from the Don Juan figure the media has created. Many of the actual victims of Toño Bicicleta, the women he kidnapped, assaulted, and raped, have to push through these cheering crowds to give their testimony.

A French author writes a novela about the exploits and publishes his book Tonio Bicicléta in Paris, salsa artists glorify Toño Bicicleta in their music, feature films and television shows are written and produced, wall to wall TV news coverage blankets the airways, and the newspapers of San Juan shatter sales records covering the drama. The modest farmer becomes the noble Jibaro, the criminal becomes the dashing outlaw, the rapist becomes the sex symbol. Toño Bicicleta is woven into the very fabric of Puerto Rican culture.