The Story

El Forajido: The Cautionary Tale of Toño Bicicleta weaves together three narratives: a sensational crime story about Puerto Rico’s most infamous outlaw, Tono Bicicleta; an expose on the historical motivations behind his meteoric rise; and a parallel story of the outlaw’s son, Toñito, and how he used his traumatic family history to become a good man despite his father’s chosen path. The film examines how colonial oppression, media sensationalism, and police corruption turned a convicted rapist and killer into Puerto Rico’s most infamous folk-hero.

On the island the story unfolded very much like a soap opera or “novela”. The narrative choice to break the film into chapters helps capture the authentic feel of the story.

Introduction - Rural Puerto Ricans are captivating and animated storytellers. From porches, street corners, domino tables, and beyond - the audience will be introduced to Toño Bicicleta through the very tall-tales that created the mythical figure in the first place. The stories range from improbable to impossible but they quickly capture the grandiosity of the story’s impact on the Puerto Rican culture at large, while simultaneously endearing the island’s inhabitants to the audience.

We see thousands of photos, newspaper articles, and magazine covers where the outlaw is featured next to the likes of Eric Estrada and Hector Lavoe. The photos span the life of the famous fugitive but eventually end on images of his historic, 1995 funeral. Thousands of people march to Lares cemetery surrounding a hearse adorned with a floral bicycle. The people are angry. The people cry. The people demand justice. How did it come to this?

The Colony - The goal of this chapter is to contextualize the culture, the time, and the place that gave birth to Toño Bicicleta. How has Puerto Rico’s embattled history of colonialism manifested itself in the daily lives of the Puerto Rican people? How do they survive? What do they value? Does their society value them? To understand this is to begin to understand the errant, anarchic embrace of Toño Bicicleta. We also start to draw parallels to different places and cultures and how they embraced similar anti-heroes like Toño Bicicleta.

The Jibaro - The word “Jibaro” roughly translates to “mountain people” but is used as a term of endearment in the countryside. These are the true proletariat of Puerto Rico who represented the backbone of the economy in the early to mid 1900’s. However, as with many cultures during this time, there were norms and beliefs that were extremely patriarchal. Women were seen as little more than wives and mothers and the man’s word was law. It was expected that men would have wives and girlfriends but infidelity from a woman could be punishable by extreme violence or death. 

Toño Bicicleta is propelled into the national spotlight when he decapitates his mistress because she marries another man. Without this culture of Machismo, the story of Toño Bicicleta would have been impossible.

The Myth - 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 and the public ravenously consumes every detail. The papers create a romanticized figure who rides around the countryside on his bicycle, scooping up eager women and taking them to bed.

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.

The Hunt - For more than 20 years, Toño Bicicleta publicly mocked the police, an institution widely perceived to be a fully functioning extension of North American power. He tapped into the public’s desire to root for an anti-hero who could humiliate the system they despised.

The cat and mouse game comes to an end in 1995 when a team of federal police deliver their final vengeance with a single shotgun blast to the outlaw’s genitals. The symbolism of shooting a rapist in the groin is lost on nobody. The killing is widely perceived to be an assassination and Toño Biciceta officially takes his place as a martyr.

The Son - The story of El Forajido carries an epic size and scope. Therefore, it is necessary to ground it in the direct, personal impact it had on its’ many characters. Nowhere is this more important than with the outlaw’s eldest son, Toñito. His father’s escapades bring Toñito into the public spotlight many times. His “fame” in Puerto Rico made it hard to find a job since people assumed that he must be a delinquent like his father. He used the pain from his life to learn valuable lessons. Today, he is a proud father and husband and shines as an example of the good that can come from even the worst circumstances.

Toñito’s goal is to personally make amends with his Father’s victims who connect in powerful and emotional encounters throughout the film.

The Cautionary Tale - It is remarkable how frequently characters like Toño Bicicleta have been embraced by communities throughout history. What is it that attracts us to these anti-heros and what mechanisms of our respective systems drive us to want to see them burnt to the ground? El Forajido is a timely and cautionary tale about sensationalized media, the repercussions of colonization, machismo culture, and the consequences of a population consumed by a cult of personality. Stories have to be told and retold and retold so that people think about the society in which they live. That’s the importance of this story. Not Toño Bicicleta himself, but the context in which he became something important.