One man's take on his culture's stereotypes

It's the Las in Los Angeles CA: It is a crime for dogs to mate within 500 yards of a church.

One man's take on his culture's stereotypes

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Dear Mexican: I just read that Speedy Gonzales is getting his own feature film and will be voiced by George Lopez. I read in The Hollywood Reporter that Lopez said he gave Speedy his “Latino Seal of Approval.” Who grants this seal? What does it look like? And how did Lopez get it? --Hija of the MiscegeNation

Dear Wabette: Isn’t it nice to know that Mexicans in Hollywood, once they reach a modicum of success, become as hackish and hackneyed as their gabacho counterparts? Sorry to sound so whiny, but shame on Lopez for bringing back Gonzales. For starters, only Mel Blanc and his imitators are allowed to voice Speedy – Lopez’s gravelly voice will turn the mouse’s high-pitched voice into a cacophonous bola de caca. Lopez also shows that, by resurrecting Speedy from the celluloid graveyard, he’d rather rip off the works of others than try to give young Latino talent a chance, just like Sandra Bullock gave Lopez a shot with his eponymous sitcom so long ago – way to pay it forward, George! Finally, the assurances by Lopez and his wife that their Speedy film won’t showcase the “racist” Speedy proves not only that the two are PC pendejos, but pendejos, period. As the Mexican has written before in this columna multiple times, Speedy Gonzales cartoons were not racist depictions of Mexican culture but rather clever allegories in which the seemingly dumb Speedy – standing in for Mexicanos – consistently outwitted the dumb gabachos portrayed by Sylvester the Cat and, occasionally, Yosemite Sam. You want stereotypical depictions of Mexicans? Tune into Lopez Tonight and just try to stay awake past the opening monologue.

In Mexican culture, do you know of any special significance attached to a woman giving a lock of her hair to a man as a gift? --Peludo Nuevamente

Dear Newly Hairy Gabacho: If you can’t get that a mujer giving you a lock of her hair wants you, then you probably thought she wanted you to use it as a mustache. No seas pendejo.