Yes, being Latino in the US is hot. Smoking hot right now, so it is not surprising that major media outlets will capitalize on this momentous demographic shift in the US population.
Enter Telemundo, the second largest Spanish-language station in the US. Premiering this May 1 on mun2, Telemundo’s hip channel for the younger Latino crowd, RPM Miami, is being billed as the country’s first-ever bilingual series (not an accurate statement, which we will show later in this post). Unfortunately, just like the car chases that will dominate the series, the show’s premise is all speed and no substance.
And Telemundo will fail. We give the show maybe a few weeks before the channel pulls the plug on it.
Here are our reasons:
- Once again, we see hot and sexy (and white) Latinos in a world of corruption, crime, and intrigue. Revenge is the theme. This plot plays like a bad Mexican B movie. As we battle stereotypes about Latinos, shame on Telemundo for perpetuating them.
- Miami. Fact check: Latinos are everywhere. As one Facebook commentator said: “And why oh why does the setting have to be Miami? (not hating on the city. I love me some Miami) But it’s such a cliche; it’s as if Miami (hot, steamy, spicy Miami) — and parts of NYC/LA — are the only geographic areas acknowledged to have Latino populations. Newsflash: we’re everywhere!!!” We agree.
Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided In the Dominican Republic, Professor Gates explores how race has been socially constructed in a society whose people reflect centuries of inter-marriage, and how the country’s troubled history with Haiti informs notions about racial classification. In Haiti, Professor Gates tells the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic, and finds out how the slaves’s hard fought liberation over Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire became a double-edged sword.
Cuba: The Next Revolution In Cuba Professor Gates finds out how the culture, religion, politics and music of this island are inextricably linked to the huge amount of slave labor imported to produce its enormously profitable 19th century sugar industry, and how race and racism have fared since Fidel Castro’s Communist revolution in 1959.
Brazil: A Racial Paradise? In Brazil, Professor Gates delves behind the façade of Carnival to discover how this ‘rainbow nation’ is waking up to its legacy as the world’s largest slave economy.
Mexico & Peru: A Hidden Race In Mexico and Peru Professor Gates explores the almost unknown history of the significant numbers of black people—the two countries together received far more slaves than did the United States —brought to these countries as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, and the worlds of culture that their descendants have created in Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico, the Costa Chica region on the Pacific, and in and around Lima, Peru.
So while stereotypical Latinos will be screeching their tires on the streets of Miami, our DVR will be cued up to Professor Gates’ series. That is our revenge.
PS to Telemundo: Your new show is not the first bilingual TV series. That honor goes to ¿Qué pasa, USA?, a sitcom that ran on PBS from 1977 to 1980. Yes, it was a show ahead of its time. Unlike Miami RPM.
I love everything that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a part of…….
With such an opportunity for impact, they choose to take the “Jersey Shore” route…Who are they appealing to and why?
Clarification: Telemundo is “taking the JS route”, not Gates.
So sad.
muy triste…
I am disappointed that no matter where you go in media, the value of beauty is always placed on more Anglo features or ultra vulgar sensuality that does nothing but objectify women. It’s sick and this is why society at large continues to be plagued by such backward ideals.
An excellent point. That is why the real power lies in creating one’s own content.
I agree with your analysis, how we want to be represented with universal stories that promote us as multifaceted. I’d like to be represented for who we are, white, black, mestizo, mixed. Not all of us look the same way, so we need to be accepting of the fairer skinned as the darker ones. It’s about inclusivity and not promoting what people assume we are or look like and that starts with ourselves. Yes, we are hot and we come in different colors and that whole range should be reflected in our productions.
Thanks!