Elenamary

i haven’t heard disposable heroes in a while. when it get home that cd is going in the cd player. But Michael Franti’s more recent stuff as part of Spearhead is alot catchier. Actually the change in his speech and mannerisms from Disposable Heroes to Spearhead is really really odd. I’ve known about it for a while but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Is it him being fake or is it him being a better performer?

Any way, I have a Mexican uncle (married to my Cuban aunt) and a Mexican aunt (married to my Cuban uncle). Of the family who came over to the US I have a hard time naming anyone who has married a Cuban. Inter-ethnic Latino marriages don’t seem all that uncommon to me. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the network chose to do it for more cynical reasons.

Yeah, I haven’t watched the George Lopez show in a while. Maybe I should tune in. The last Latino comedy I’ve seen on tv is Carlos Mencia and we both know that he kinda sucks.

abdul-halim

I’ve never watched the George Lopez show but maybe I should give it a try… As for the sterotype Flan show, I’ll be sure to stay away… Maybe they should rename it: “Los Morenos sin Morenos,” or something like that.

I used to watch GLS, but now it is on at the same time as my wife’s guilty pleasure. I will have to wait until the reruns start to watch it.

I don’t think GLS is great, but every now and then he comes up with a mexicanismo that has me on the floor. The thing I find most absurd, though, is that the daughter is played by an Albanian!

I watched GL’s stand up DVD last weekend. I was on the floor again through some parts, while I found others troubling (however, they are issues that Mexicans as a society, in Mexico and the US, need to address).

Well, Mark Hamill wasn’t really from Tatooine. And Jeanie wasn’t really a genie. I guess it’s called acting or something.

Oh, and I’ve heard rumors that Barry White isn’t actually white.

(I think I should comment on your blog more often when I’m grumpy and hung over.)

For what it’s worth, I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father. Everyone in my family is light skinned, but one of our last names in Moreno.
Not that I am defending this new breed of stereotypically driven “Latino” shows, and I must say I had never even heard of the Freddy show, but it is possible.
Besides, 99% of the media representations of Puerto Ricans in the US are way off the mark when compared to my personal experience of having grown up there, so I hold no high hopes for any of it.
Bueno, pero que se va a hacer!

I do have to say, I’m glad that there’s another Latnio show on TV, nonetheless. I wish they would have put American Family on a network in primetime. That’s a great show.

It’s watcha get for watching the boob tube. Whadaya expect?

That being said, I guess I better watch at least *one* Freddie episode, seeing as how I’m a nonmorenorican.

Puerto Ricans have a racist streak going way back, though it is ’soft’ racism, very different from what you see in the States. How else would you explain pure spanish-blooded families persisting after 500 years of living together on a tiny little island?

I’d love to say this bigotry is eroding, and there are *some* signs it is. But every time I go home for a visit, I’m reminded that comemierderia is alive and well, if not thriving.

Franti’s dope…don’t sleep on that cat. One of the band’s I was in played with Disposable in San Jose back in the day. They came out in orange jumpsuits (pre-beasties bite) and tore it up. Rono was working saws on 50 gallon metal drums on stage, sparks flying everywhere…it was a beautiful scene. oh, and don’t forget the Beatnigs…Franti’s first band. I think Rono started a label called Vitamin C or something.

Military Intelligence. Fresh Frozen.

ok, so i got off topic.

Here’s the real deal. Everybody cries when there’s no Latino’s on TV, and they criticize the hell out of the small handful that are.

If you had all shut off your toob for a minute and read George Lopez’s book (yup, we brown folk write too), you would know that Freddie Prinze, the “loooking goood” one, was an inspiriation to George his whole life. So for him to turn around after his success and hookup Freddie’s son, is nothing but love.

And the whole stereotype thing is a dual-edged sword. Look at Cheech. That dude played nothing but stereotypes, in a funny realistic fashion, but stereotypes none the less. And with all that money he made, he’s promoting Chicano Arts all over the world…he actually pays real money to the artists, and then tours the world with his showcase. That’s a beautiful thing.

Maybe the Moreno name is nothing more than a crack at the realistic nicknames people give all over latin america. How many fat “flacos” and skinny “gordos” are there. One of my grandmothers is from D.F., and she’s very light skinned…her nickname is Prieta.

Anyways, that’s my $.02. I wanna see a show with a Brown guy getting it on with a Blondie, or vice versa. Now that would put white america in an uproar….and it would be real.

oh, and i hate flan. yes i said it.

Luis, you don’t like flan?!

Ha! Nope, I don’t like flan. Really. I think its the texture that bugs. I’m more of a “warm cajeta con pan on a cold night” kinda guy. mmmmm dulce…damn now I want some.

Ay mujer if all it took was flan I’d been married a billion times already.

As a rule, I generally stay away from Latino themed shows cuz I know they are going to get something wrong (because they want that mass appeal) and I’m gonna pissed and I hate getting pissed. I’m pissed off enough without tv.

It’s hard sometimes separating the stereotype from the role. One always hopes that a Latino chracter gets developed enough so that his attitude isn’t machismo or her sexuality doesn’t come across as stereotype but that’s way too rare.

It is kind of weird to complain to the networks about not having Latino-themed shows. Most places get Galavision or Univision, plus some local Spanish stations in certain markets. Wasn’t there an English-speaking Latino stand-up comedy show on Galavision a while back? It did’t last I guess. But I would guess that in general one could find more authenticity and less resistance on those networks.

STEREOTYPES ARE NOT SOMETHING I’M COMFORTABLE WITH, BUT I MUST ACCEPT THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE DIFFERENT PEOPLES UNIQUE, AND BY WHICH MANY ARE RECOGNIZED, IF NOT FAMOUS FOR. THE WHOLE POINT OF STAND UP COMEDY OR LIFE-BASED SITCOM IS TO EXPLOIT THOSE CHARACTERISTICS SO PEOPLE CAN LAUGH ABOUT THEM. I REMEMBER WATCHING “SEINFELD’ AND THINKING,”PINCHES GRINGOS. THEY’RE ALL THE SAME”. THAT’S WHAT MAKES SITCOMS SO POPULAR.
IN ANYCASE, I’M NOT MUCH OF A TV WATCHER. I WATCH THE NEWS AND MOVIES, BUT I AVOID ANYTHING THAT HAS AN AUDIENCE LAUGHING AT THE LIGHTING UP OF A SIGN HANGING FROM A STUDIO CEILING. IF YOU’VE GOT TO BE TOLD WHEN TO LAUGH, SIGH, OR APPLAUDE, SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH YOUR ASS.
SOME SAY THAT LAUGHTER SI THE BEST MEDICINE, AND WHEN YOU’RE ABLE TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF, IT USUALLY MEANS YOU’VE GOTTEN OVER SOME COMPLEX THAT HAD YOU TIED DOWN, BUT YOU’VE OVERCOME IT. I WOULDN’T SAY THE SAME ABOUT HAVING SOME UNKNOWN WRITER, CREATING A SHOW THAT IS SUPPOSED TO MIRROR AN ETHNIC GROUP, TRYING TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH AND ACCEPT THE SHOWS PORTRAYAL AS AUTHENTICALLY LATINO. I WOULD DEFINITELY QUESTION THE MOTIVATION BEHIND SOME OF THESE SITCOMS, IF I CARED AT ALL ABOUT THEM, WHICH I DON’T, SO I WON’T TRIP.

Like my wife says, the fact that George Lopez is on TV represents real progress — now Latinos can have mediocre comedies too.

The Disposable Heroes reference really took me back, all the way to my law school days in northern California. “Language of Violence” is my favorite, although the cover of “California uber Alles” (written by Jello Biafra, who is actually from Colorado) was great too.