“In the Clearing Stands a Boxer...”
I'm watching Resurrection Boulevard this week, a show I'm tempted to describe as the world's first English-language telenovela were it not for the fact that Masterpiece Theatre probably beat it to the punch. (No boxer-related pun intended.)
I must confess I've been putting off watching this show for a long time because a show about boxers -- even Latino boxers -- just didn't entice me that much.
But there's something about the persistent parade of Latino stereotypes in so many recent movies and TV shows that made me want to take a chance on this show. True, there are a lot of stereotypes in this show as well, but they seem to be depicted more sympathetically than in Anglo-oriented fare.
And quite frankly, given a choice between a show in which most of the main Hispanic characters are boxers, beauty shop owners, med students, paralegals, etc, and a show like Weeds -- in which all the Hispanic characters seem to be maids or drug dealers -- I'd choose Resurrection Boulevard every time.
So is the show itself any good? It's hard to tell. The first few episodes show promise but then so did the first few episodes of American Family. And that show ultimately showed to be a disappointment in its second season.
Plus there's the whole question of whether we really need yet another show about Mexican-Americans set in Los Angeles. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans in LA but there are also Mexican-Americans who live in other parts of the country as well.
What would be so wrong with a Mexican-American version of Northern Exposure? Or a Mexican-American version of Boston Legal? Or better yet, an original series involving Mexican-Americans that has nothing to do with the American Southwest?
Oh, well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
I'm watching Resurrection Boulevard this week, a show I'm tempted to describe as the world's first English-language telenovela were it not for the fact that Masterpiece Theatre probably beat it to the punch. (No boxer-related pun intended.)
I must confess I've been putting off watching this show for a long time because a show about boxers -- even Latino boxers -- just didn't entice me that much.
But there's something about the persistent parade of Latino stereotypes in so many recent movies and TV shows that made me want to take a chance on this show. True, there are a lot of stereotypes in this show as well, but they seem to be depicted more sympathetically than in Anglo-oriented fare.
And quite frankly, given a choice between a show in which most of the main Hispanic characters are boxers, beauty shop owners, med students, paralegals, etc, and a show like Weeds -- in which all the Hispanic characters seem to be maids or drug dealers -- I'd choose Resurrection Boulevard every time.
So is the show itself any good? It's hard to tell. The first few episodes show promise but then so did the first few episodes of American Family. And that show ultimately showed to be a disappointment in its second season.
Plus there's the whole question of whether we really need yet another show about Mexican-Americans set in Los Angeles. Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans in LA but there are also Mexican-Americans who live in other parts of the country as well.
What would be so wrong with a Mexican-American version of Northern Exposure? Or a Mexican-American version of Boston Legal? Or better yet, an original series involving Mexican-Americans that has nothing to do with the American Southwest?
Oh, well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
Labels: California, Mexicano-Estadounidenses, Resurrection Boulevard, Series de Televisión Latinas I, Telenovelas, Todas las Series de Televisión Que He Visto I
posted by Tonio Kruger at 5:47 PM
2 Comments:
Ya know? I liked "Weeds" in the beginning of seasons one and two but then, as a Latina, I began to loathe they way the characters are portrayed in such a stereo typical adverse fashion. We have a black President now and I pray he has opened the door for Latinos to change the mind set of who we as Latinos are as a culture. I know for a certainty that if Weeds we to characterize the African American culture as they did to us, it would not be on the air-even if it is a funny series. Am I too sensitive? Maybe, but Latinos are my people and not all of us are drug dealers and housekeepers. God bless the ones who are filling those positions in America, or else who would run America? Did you ever see the movie, "A Day without the Mexicans?" I am Spanish and Portuguese and I belong to the category most folks call, Hispanic and I am damn proud to be a part of such a diverse and talented culture.
I actually saw the movie A Day Without a Mexican and I liked it.
I'll comment more on Weeds on a later time.
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