Smile now cry later represents the need to hide weakness from enemies on the street and informs many of the designs utilized in Chicano tattooing.įor others collectors (I have the theater masks tattooed on my right shoulder blade in black and gray), tragedy/comedy is a reminder that life is full of ups and downs, and keeping an outwardly even keel is a good way of dealing with different emotions. When Freddy Negrete first inked a “smile now, cry later” tattoo dedicated to the hard faces Mexican Americans had to wear in difficult circumstances, it is doubtful he knew how profound the impact would be. Alongside the words “smile now, cry later,” the smiling and weeping pair of theater masks are common design examples of the quintessentially Chicano tattoo.
