August 6, 2012

"Stuck on Stereotypes"

Why don't relatively smart, sophisticated network TV shows like multiple Emmy-winning Modern Family do well with the Hispanic audience? The answer, according to a variety of Latino activist and media types in the electronic rolodexes of New York Times reporters, is that Modern Family isn't smart and sophisticated enough to lure Latino audiences away from Spanish-language shows.

To find out, the New York Times interviewed various self-appointed spokespersons for the Hispanic Tidal Wave, such as 

- "the co-owner and chief operating officer of the advertising agency Zubi Advertising," 

- the "founder of the Web site Latino Rebels," 

- a "31-year-old Mexican-American documentary filmmaker," 

- and "a senior vice president for development and production at Encanto Enterprises." 

You can't get a much more statistically representative sample of the typical Hispanic than that (at least, among people who will instantly return Times' reporters calls and not tell them anything that might make them the slightest bit uncomfortable.)

Thus, they all told the NYT that the reason is because these shows like Modern Family are full of insensitive stereotypes about Hispanics and thus turn off the millions of culturally cutting edge Latino viewers who are annoyed by retrograde stereotyping of Hispanics (which by the way, I must add, could be solved just like that by hiring the people being quoted). 

Thus, due to white racists who fail to perceive how sophisticated the burgeoning Latino audience is, Hispanics viewers just stick with watching Sabado Gigante, where they are sure to see a fat mestizo guy with a droopy Pancho Villa mustache and a giant sombrero leer at some dyed blonde spicy senorita and fall down. No stereotyping of Mexicans on Spanish language TV! (Or at least that's the logical implication of this article -- neither the reporters nor the sources for the article give any indication of ever having watched Spanish language programming.)
Stuck on Stereotypes
Networks Struggle to Appeal to Hispanics 
By TANZINA VEGA and BILL CARTER 
Sofia Vergara is probably the most recognizable Hispanic actress working in English-language television. She is one of the stars of “Modern Family,” the highest-rated scripted show on network television, and she has parlayed her celebrity into commercials for brands like Pepsi and Cover Girl. 
Despite her popularity, “Modern Family” is not a hit with Hispanic viewers. Out of its overall viewership of 12.9 million, “Modern Family” drew an average of only about 798,000 Hispanic viewers in the season. That audience accounts for only about 6 percent of the show’s viewers — less than half of what you might expect given the 48 million Hispanic television viewers that Nielsen measures. ...
The numbers encapsulate the problem facing English-language television executives and advertisers: they desperately want to appeal to the more than 50 million Latinos in the United States (about three-quarters speak Spanish), especially those who are young, bilingual and bicultural, but those viewers seem to want very little to do with American English-language television. 
They do, however, continue to watch Spanish-language networks in huge numbers. 
In May, on the final night of the most recent season of “Modern Family,” far more Hispanic viewers were watching the top Spanish language show that week, the telenovela “La Que No Podía Amar,” on Univision, which attracted 5.2 million viewers. 
... The list of top English-language shows watched by Hispanics is headed by the same competition shows as among the total audience, with “Dancing With the Stars,” and “American Idol” faring best this spring, while “Sunday Night Football” was the leader in the fall. 
But the discrepancy between English and Spanish language shows is most acute among shows that are scripted in English. The issue, many viewers and critics argue, is that there still hasn’t been the Hispanic equivalent of “The Cosby Show,” meaning a show that deals with Latino culture in a way that doesn’t offend viewers with crude stereotypes. 
This winter, CBS hoped to have a cross-cultural hit with the show “Rob” featuring the comedian Rob Schneider. The show, based loosely on Mr. Schneider’s own life, showed his experiences of marrying into a Mexican family and the culture clashes that ensued. But the chief conflict ended up being between the show and its intended viewers. 
“Big family,” said Mr. Schneider’s character, when he meets his wife’s family for the first time. “Now I know what’s going on during all those siestas.” In another scene, the character Hector, played by Eugenio Derbez, tells Rob that he is visiting from Mexico. Then he gets closer to Rob and whispers, “I’m not leaving,” and after pausing for effect adds, “Ever.” 
For Joe Zubizarreta, the co-owner and chief operating officer of the advertising agency Zubi Advertising, with headquarters in Miami, the comedic devices used in “Rob” were too much. “They’ve used just about every stereotype they could in the pilot,” Mr. Zubizarreta said. “I understand that the general market taste will find humor in the idiosyncrasies of Hispanics. But as Hispanics, when we watch general market television, we’d like to see some semblance of reality to our lives.” 
For Julio Ricardo Varela, the founder of the Web site Latino Rebels, both the content of “Rob” and how it was marketed relied too much on stereotypes.
“ ‘Rob’ was a big running joke among our community,” Mr. Varela said. “It just felt lazy, stale and I think that mainstream television is missing the boat.” Mr. Varela noted a contest on the show’s Facebook page where viewers were invited to hit a virtual piñata to “whack and win” a trip to the show’s set. Also on the page were promotional images of Mr. Schneider and the rest of the cast in a conga line. “I thought the marketing was beyond ridiculous,” Mr. Varela said. 
Nina Tassler, the president for entertainment for CBS, declined to comment on “Rob” specifically, but said that reaching out to the Hispanic community was important for the network. (The network declined to pick up “Rob” for a second season.) 
“Everybody’s culture is wholly unique, so finding the storytelling language that can reach out and communicate with the biggest cross section of the Latin population is obviously what we are trying for,” said Ms. Tassler, who is the highest-ranking network television executive with a Hispanic heritage.

Here's Nina Tassler's background from Wikipedia.
Mr. Schneider declined to comment for this article.

Schneider is part Filipino. I've always found him funnier than his friend Adam Sandler, although perhaps that's not saying much.
Among the series that were in development for next season by English-language networks, one, an ABC show called “Devious Maids,” gained attention for its focus on a Latino stereotype — maids working in Beverly Hills. The show was being produced by Marc Cherry of “Desperate Housewives,” and had been based on a Spanish-language telenovela. 
When Liz Colunga, a 31-year-old Mexican-American documentary filmmaker heard about “Devious Maids” she wasn’t surprised at the show’s theme. “I’m used to watching stereotypical roles for Latinas and Latinos,” Ms. Colunga said. 
No character stirs more mixed emotions for Hispanic audiences that the one played by Ms. Vergara on “Modern Family.” She plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a sexy Latina trophy wife whose persona has gotten mixed reviews from Latinos. 
“It’s working for her, but at what expense?” said Ms. Colunga, the filmmaker. “She’s playing the clueless Latina.” 
In a show where all of the characters are a bit extreme, the least stereotypical of all is Gloria’s smart-talking son Manny. Lynnette Ramirez, the senior vice president for development and production at Encanto Enterprises, a production company owned by George and Ann Lopez, said Gloria’s character works because she is tempered by her son. 
“Sofia’s character is a first generation Latina,” Ms. Ramirez said. “Manny’s going to grow up to be like Sara Ramirez’s character in ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ” she added, a reference to the actress Sara Ramirez’s role as a doctor on the show. 

Judging by who likes summer blockbuster movies the most, perhaps Modern Family could broaden their demographic appeal by adding a couple of fireball explosions to each episode.


94 comments:

  1. BTW, the real name of Don Francisco, the host of Sabado Gigante:

    Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld!

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  2. Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld!

    You forgot to add Zimmerman.

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  3. Curious, I googled for Sofia Vergara here at work. I saw her picture in that green dress.

    If they pull up my browsing history and I get fired, it's all your fault.

    That woman would be NSFW if she were covered head to toe and fingertip to fingertip in a niqab or some other Muslim gunny sack.

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  4. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that there's not much overlap between Hispanics who watch English-language TV and those who watch Spanish-language shows. Familiarity with English is, of course, the deciding factor.

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  5. I was waiting for you to mention Sabado Gigante. The elephant in the room when it comes to Latino TV watching, and as far this article is concerned, it doesn't exist. Incredible.

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  6. Aside from the lamentable unreconstructed sexism, haha, those evening soap operas on Spanish-language networks can be strikingly violent, well beyond the non-premium cable level of murder n' mayhem. Anti-gun SWPLs really would never stand for the type of programming this viewing bloc seems to seek out

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  7. "Ms. Tassler, who is the highest-ranking network television executive with a Hispanic heritage."

    She is also noted for hitting the most walk-off triples on the second tuesdays of months with more than 30 days.

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  8. Bring Me the Talking Head of Telemundo.

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  9. Maybe many Hispans--just like many white conservatives--don't watch TV cuz it's sooooooo gay.

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  10. TV in Mexico is dominated by dubbed US shows like the Simpsons, telenovelas, and dubbed action movies. Every 5th car in Mexico seems to have a speedy Gonzalez decal too.

    There is also a Mexican PBS that has more high-brow programming.

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  11. I DON'T NEED NO STINKING TV when I got ustedtubez.

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  12. The solution to this problem is giving Sofia Vergara more screen time and less clothing. I don't like it anymore than you do! But we must do all we can to include the key Hispanic-American demographic.

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  13. helene edwards8/6/12, 2:44 PM

    “Big family ... now I know what’s going on during all those siestas."


    Now see, if that's comedy writing, then what we have is actual proof of race discrimination in Hollywood. No reason in the world Van Jones couldn't have written that.

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  14. Don Francisco looks great for a 71 year old. I want his job.

    There is an Italian version of the show too. I think this type of variety show died in the 70s in the USA. We like our humor snarky and high brow these days.

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  15. "The solution to this problem is giving Sofia Vergara more screen time and less clothing."

    You know how the last half hour of Saturday Night Live is usually awful? When she was on the show, they just put her in like four straight skits after Weekend Update, and she made them all entertaining. They should just make her the 12:30 to 1:00 am PermaGuest.

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  16. Juan Derbyhat8/6/12, 2:46 PM

    Come on, Vergara's way over the hill (Selena Gomez too)

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  17. http://youtu.be/2RDYen0UP5o


    This good, no?

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  18. All shows have stereotypes but there's a difference between 'us making fun of ourselves' and 'them making fun of us'. It's like blacks love to crack jokes about nappy hair, fat lips, jive assness, and such, but among themselves. They don't like it when whites do it to them.

    Similarly, good ole boys in the Sooooouth like to act like dumb hillbillies and even crack jokes about it but don't much care for Hollywood Jews doing the same thing.

    It's like one bunch of frat boys will act wild and stupid and think it's great fun. But if another bunch of frat boys act the same, it might be seen as WAR.

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  19. Anonymous said, "Maybe many Hispans--just like many white conservatives--don't watch TV cuz it's sooooooo gay."

    Actually, I think you're on to something----either gay or so metroseuxal it might as well be soooo gay.

    BTW, "gay" and/or "metrosexual" are also "politically correct" and Hispanics HATE PC, esp, about gays and blacks!

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  20. Mexican whites feel both inferiority and superiority vis-a-vis American whites. America has been the whiter country, and Mexican elites always resented the fact that gringos were not saddled with such a vast non-white population. Mexican white elites also resented the fact that American whites were racially purer than Mexican whites. Thus, Mexican whites felt like second-rate whites.

    To compensate for this feeling of inferiority, Mexican whites now cling to 'multiculturalism' and say Mexican whites are better than American whites cuz they themselves are more mixed, 'diverse', and 'tolerant'. But deep down inside, there is still a burning feeling among Mexican whites that they are lesser whites cuz they're less pure. But, this is a feeling that exists among southern Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greeks too.

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  21. Why don't relatively smart, sophisticated network TV shows like multiple Emmy-winning Modern Family do well with the Hispanic audience?

    I don't know. But it's a question that keeps me up at night.

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  22. Tickle Me Guillermo8/6/12, 3:49 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKvu33O7JNE

    You see, we need Mexicans.

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  23. Don Rickles was the best. He made fun of everybody including Jews. Laurel and Hardy don't talk down to the objects of their humor. They are the objects, and allow the participant to laugh at them. This releases tension and produces harmless laughter. Its a low level substitute for scapegoating and ritual sacrifice.

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  24. I'm sure a real life drama would be appreciated by Hispanics more than a comedy, but I'm not so sure whitey would be comfortable with what really goes on in the mind of his landscapers...better not to think about it.

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  25. Don Rickles was the best

    And the nicest. One night in Reno, he savaged everyone at the tables around me, but not me, the the guy with the acne-scarred face.

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  26. scoobius dubious8/6/12, 4:59 PM

    "I’m used to watching stereotypical roles for Latinas and Latinos,” Ms. Colunga said."

    This is driving me crazy, and I know it's just "spoken into the void," but here goes anyway.

    In English we generally (with a few exceptions) do not inflect nouns for gender. You do not say "Latinas and Latinos" in English; either you say "Latinos" and the females are included and understood, or else you say "Hispanic people" or some other re-phrasing that avoids the problem altogether.

    I keep hearing about things like the Department of Chicana and Chicano studies, and I think, what? Are they two separate species or something?

    It's ridiculous and it has to stop. I'm normally not a grammar pedant and I don't go around correcting people's usage, but I make a point of doing so with this one. It's politically motivated, it's invalid, it's sinister, and it's also aesthetically way fucking ugly use of language.

    No mas!

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  27. By the way, I asked our Madrileña (which is to say actually Spanish) au pair the other day how they dealt with the whole "Spanish mode" Buzz Lightyear business in the Spanish-language version of Toy Story 3. The answer: they switched him to a Mexican accent. Pathetically, this question had been bugging me for a while...

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  28. But the discrepancy between English and Spanish language shows is most acute among shows that are scripted in English.

    Years ago, I and a number of other lawyers spent countless hours trying to figure out the meaning of certain incomprehensible subsidiary guarantees. One day, perhaps, someone will figure it out. The meaning of the language quoted above, however, will remain a mystery forever.

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  29. Like Big Bill, I, too, summoned the mighty Google to procure for me an image of Sofia Vergara, and it obliged. It obliged a whole bunch.

    I told my wife "I'm doing visual research for Steve Sailer," but I don't think she bought it.

    Anyway, I do watch a fair amount of Spanish language television, at least the local stuff we get on cable here, because I'm in the middle of the second round of one those language-immersion podcasts from iTunes and, well, that sorta speaks for itself.

    It really is amazing the amount of what we would think of as Hispanic stereotypes Mexican television traffics in; the kind of stuff that'd likely trigger a torrent of boycotts, if not an actual "hate crimes" investigation, if the programming was in English and had originated in los Estados Unidos.

    Their version of American daytime TV, by which I mean the game and chat shows, often has a "Frito Bandito" flavor that make even supposedly non-PC Gringos like me cringe.

    Interestingly, the "villains" on their soap operas are nearly always mestizo-types, while the protagonists and heroines are usually lighter-skinned. Although I haven't seen this one, it's two leads are pretty representative of what you get in the hero/heroine department on Spanish language TV:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cielo_Rojo

    Actually, here's one I have seen/soaked up the Espanol from, repeatedly:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Diamante

    Also, Spanish language soaps are violent in a way your Aunt Bea's "Day's of our Lives" never dreamed of being.

    In any event, I think much of this is something I've mentioned before, a matter of Nice White Persons (the designated one in this instance being Bill Carter of the NYT) finding themselves getting worked up about imaginary white persons doing imaginary things. "Crude stereotypes" are, after all, just so gauche - unless they show up on television programming Nice White Persons don't actually watch, like, say, Telemundo.

    One point of universal agreement I'd like to chime in with my hearty endorsement of: more Sofia Vergara on the screen please, U.S. network television honchos. Further visual research is needed.

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  30. Speaking here as a British viewer...

    Modern Family is surely not aimed at the hispanic audience? Its anti-white media. The intended audience is deluded white liberals.

    In one scene Al Bundy almost gives the game away. Lamenting the fact that, culturally, he has nothing in common with his wife, his son is gay and he has a Chinese grandaughter - there it is right there, the death of a civilisation.

    Lets check everything off:

    Super, super hot Sofia. Ethnically almost totally European (all?) so no need to have any nagging worries about all those mestizos, thats just a myth.

    Sofia's bright, nerdy mestizo son. See they are just like white people!

    The gay son & partner - gays are just like regular folks! With the passive/aggressive subtext - whites are weak & lame and, well, gay. And they have a Chinese daughter, whites can be replaced with asians - its all the same thing, want to say any different you racist?

    The daughter - well at least she has a white husband and children. But of course he is a doofus. Their children are too young yet but we will see (if the show lasts long enough) what kind enriching diverse themes will be developed for them.

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  31. "Ms. Tassler, who is the highest-ranking network television executive with a Hispanic heritage."

    Give me a break. She's Jewish. And surely there are other "netweork television executives" with Sephardic heritage.

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  32. Tassler was born to a Jewish father and a Puerto Rican mother who converted to Judaism.

    You have got to be [expletive] kidding me.

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  33. Hispanics watch their own TV channels, so whats the dealio?

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  34. great column. You refuse to peel the next layer of the onion in most cases, but you hit the nail on the head here.

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  35. @Mr.X You may think it's directed at hipsters, but that's not who watches it. In this survey, Modern Family ranked third in most watched shows by Republicans/Conservatives. This was not trumpeted among many media members because there's no way Republicans could be tolerant of a gay couple or a mixed marriage.

    I find the show to be well written. The best characters, of course, are Ty Burrell and Ed O'Neill, which should surprise no one. Sofia Vergara is also fun to watch, for both obvious and not obvious reasons.

    @DaveinHackensack Not mentioning Sabado Gigante in any article about what Mexicans watch is criminal. Great point.

    @Anon Hispanics may watch their own shows, but whites are expected to be multi-culti when they make their shows. Other races are not held to that same standard. See Girls, etc.

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  36. "Give me a break. She's Jewish. And surely there are other "netweork television executives" with Sephardic heritage"

    Senor Abravanel is the owner of the SBT tv channel in Brazil...

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  37. "Years ago, I and a number of other lawyers spent countless hours trying to figure out the meaning of certain incomprehensible subsidiary guarantees. One day, perhaps, someone will figure it out. The meaning of the language quoted above, however, will remain a mystery forever."

    And yet it took two authors to create it, and an editor of the paper of record to condone it. I couldn't even slip that one by a weary Komment Kontrol.

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  38. @DCThrowback

    Well that's interesting. I don't watch much television, so I was just guessing.

    @anonymous 7:38 PM

    "Senor Abravanel" in Brazil goes by the name of "Silvio Santos", but he's pretty much open about his Judaism.

    But the biggest networks in Brazil are Globo (Marinho family, not Jewish) and Record (owned by Edir Macedo, which is a kind of evangelical religious leader / scam artist, he also owns Igreja Universal who has churches even in Los Angeles, and I believe a TV channel here too).

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  39. Yeah, the spanish channel offers good insight into what they watch: Action movies with all the filler crap like plot development cut out, and beautiful women next to stereotype midgets.

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  40. There was an episode of Modern Family about this very subject. Sofia Vergara's husband gets hooked on her awful stereotypical Spanish soaps, with amusing results.

    Really though, Modern Family is practically Defense of Traditional Civilization 101 compared to some of the more SWPL offerings these days. Glee has to be seen to be believed, and this The New Normal show they've been hawking on NBC looks to be more of the same.

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  41. "But the biggest networks in Brazil are Globo (Marinho family, not Jewish) and Record (owned by Edir Macedo, which is a kind of evangelical religious leader / scam artist, he also owns Igreja Universal who has churches even in Los Angeles, and I believe a TV channel here too)."

    The extinct TV Manchete was owned by the Bloch family...

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  42. McGillicuddy8/6/12, 8:44 PM

    I’ve only seen Modern Family a few times, but it didn’t seem very hipster-friendly to me. Sure, it doesn’t have a laugh track, and it employs the faux documentary thing, but over all, it uses a pretty standard sitcom format. It’s even somewhat earnest, which is anathema to hipster sensibilities. NBC, sitcom wise, is the network for hipsters, and those who would be hipsters if they were a decade or so younger. Their low-ratings give them extra street-cred.

    On to Sofia Vergara; are you guys serious about her? As a hipster might say, ‘she’s so mass.’ But I don’t think that goes far enough, I think even the mass, at least the mass of young white men, would think that her aesthetic is distasteful.

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  43. I've never seen an episode of "Modern Family" and I don't know what Sofia Vergara looks like. And based on everything written above I think I'll keep it that way.

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  44. http://jwa.org/blog/first-is-theworst

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  45. "I keep hearing about things like the Department of Chicana and Chicano studies, and I think, what? Are they two separate species or something?"

    This problem gets even worse. Yes, the "Chicano/a-Latino/a Studies Intercollegiate Program." I once read of a different program where they alternated the genders which cam first, i.e., Latina/o & Chicano/a, just in case one gender got sensitive about being placed second. Fucking surreal...

    "Really though, Modern Family is practically Defense of Traditional Civilization 101 compared to some of the more SWPL offerings these days. Glee has to be seen to be believed."

    My impression is that even many of my gay friends think that "Glee" has turned to shit. Are its ratings still high?

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  46. By the way, since you have been making the point about reporter-friendly-mexican spokesmen for a while, have you checked out Ryan Holiday's book Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator with its statements about the "help a reporter out" HAPO service?

    http://www.helpareporter.com/

    the whole thing seems right up your alley.

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  47. If they can't pick up viewers for the show with Sophia Vergara, they might as well pack it up and go home.

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  48. "Don Rickles was the best. He made fun of everybody including Jews.."


    -Rickles is Scots- Irish. Try that stunt with any other ethnicity.

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  49. Why doesn't the NYT call me??? I'll be glad to expound at length about the oxymoron that is "smart, sophisticated network TV."

    The Mexicans I know do not eat up "smart, sophisticated" anything, even in Spanish. I can go to the local east side theater complex for a Woody Allen or a Pedro Almodovar movie and I'm guaranteed easy entrance and my choice of seats. It's quite a different story for any garbage with The Rock or Will Smith because I'm sure to have to contend with swarms of families and loud, screaming brats. When I lived in Hollywood it was an odd experience battling crowds to get into an art house theater.

    In all fairness, crowds of pretentious, artsy White Industry folks are just as annoying as crowds of snotty Mexican kids :)

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  50. -Rickles is Scots- Irish. Try that stunt with any other ethnicity.

    He looks Armenian.

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  51. DCThrowback: "This was not trumpeted among many media members because there's no way Republicans could be tolerant of a gay couple or a mixed marriage."

    Vergara and Ed O'Neill are not a "mixed marriage." Vergara is White.

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  52. "The extinct TV Manchete was owned by the Bloch family..."

    Yes. And there are many famous TV personalities who are Jewish.

    Other than that, I think Abril magazine publisher is still owned by the Civita family, which is not Jewish, though many people seem to think it is. The Frias family, I guess Portuguese origin, controls Folha de São Paulo, the main newspaper.

    More on topic, I saw a Mexican film some time ago, all the actors were white. I believe only the maid in the movie was "latina". I think the director was Jewish, but not sure.

    P.S. Is it only me, or that "Scots-Irish" joke is getting old? It's getting a bit repetitive.

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  53. Wants pawn term dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage8/6/12, 11:11 PM

    Hey Steve - this guy says he thinks Obama never attended classes at Columbia, and also, that he got in as a foreign exchange student. Which ties in with your CIA connection idea.

    http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/obama%E2%80%99s-college-classmate-the-obama-scandal-is-at-columbia/

    He also says that maybe Obama didn't ever convert his citizenship /back/ to US from Indonesian so, maybe a crank but ... well don't know.

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  54. It's important for NYT crowd to co-opt a generation of Hispanic hipsters. This is done by flattery. When fully on board, these elites will defend the next wave of immigration - Africa.

    BTW, Hispanic porn is also extremely violent. There are none of the health and safety disclaimers about 'no hookers were harmed in making this movie'. Typical plot: girl plays hard to get for thirty seconds; guy grabs her by the hair, spits in her face, slaps her a couple of times, drowns her in a jacuzzi till she vomits; they make passionate love...

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  55. "This was not trumpeted among many media members because there's no way Republicans could be tolerant of a gay couple or a mixed marriage."

    I'm not arguing in favor of the Bush Clan, who I'd prefer to have slink off quietly into the Sudanese desert, but Jeb Bush is married to a genuinely mestizo woman, and he managed to get elected by conservatives in FLorida. Then there's Niki Haley and her white husband in South Carolina, etc...

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  56. http://www.amren.com/news/2012/08/steve-pinker-responds-to-ron-unz/

    geeks duke it out.

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  57. http://www.vdare.com/articles/the-natural-map-of-the-middle-east

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  58. Sofia Vergara has a 20-year-old son#1 Yikes!

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  59. OT, I just published one of those powerful and incisive studies which Mr. Whiskey gratified us with.

    You will hate hate hate it.

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  60. No need to wonder about Nina Tassler, who matriculated at my alma mater, Boston University, or, as the locals call it, Tel Aviv on the Charles.

    Sofia Vergara is just the latest south of the border bombshell. I'm still waiting for the one that will make me forget Racquel Welch.

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  61. @matt I was being facetious. People in flyover country are pretty tolerant IMHO; more so than what libruls think of them.

    @anon Vergara may be white in our eyes, but for most of America, her accent and actions are that of a Columbiana Latina. Ben Bratt as the hot-headed, good looking, fast living, ne'er-do-well 'Latino' ex-husband is a nice touch though.

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  62. Sofia Vergara is pretty hot, but she's only the third best-looking on the show. And, in case you're wondering, Sarah Hyland plays a teenager on the show but is 21 in real life.

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  63. I don't know if someone has already posted it and I don't care. If you are going to write about Sophia Vergara you will show pics. I don't care if they are new, old, covered head to toe in cream cheese or whatever.

    You will show pics. No exceptions. Get with the program. Can you imagine how many more hits you'd have with her in a bikini to say nothing of a slinky dress, or something from her modeling days? What is wrong with you?

    You do have a pulse, I know you're straight, you have kids, you are American right? Red blooded?

    Don't make this mistake again.

    TWS.

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  64. "Mr X said...

    P.S. Is it only me, or that "Scots-Irish" joke is getting old? It's getting a bit repetitive."

    Yeah, let's go back to using the innocuous term which we are never-the-less never to use, lest we be accused of picking on a poor, helpless minority who will crush us like bugs if we even remotely criticize them.

    Besides the Scots-Irish euphemism doesn't get trapped by as many search engines, and helps keep away the "blogging-for-Israel" types.

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  65. "On to Sofia Vergara; are you guys serious about her? As a hipster might say, ‘she’s so mass.’ But I don’t think that goes far enough, I think even the mass, at least the mass of young white men, would think that her aesthetic is distasteful."

    "I've never seen an episode of "Modern Family" and I don't know what Sofia Vergara looks like. And based on everything written above I think I'll keep it that way."

    Steve-O, it's time for you to pull out your new favorite word, in homage to Norman Rockwell America, again.

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  66. Only slightly OT, Bajo la sal is an excellent Mexican crime drama, starring Humberto Zurita, who's apparently a big star là-bas.

    It also starred a younger actor, Ricardo Polanco, who was just terrific, reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix in both appearance and talent.

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  67. Language barrier? I watch Sabado Gigante on occasion even though I don't know what they're saying; it's intellectualism must easily cross language barriers.

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  68. Sofia Vergara is just the latest south of the border bombshell.

    Uh,...latest?

    She is 40.

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  69. There will be no mention of the folly of allowing immigration when 20 million Americans are unemployed.

    20 million may be receiving benefits labeled "unemployment" but there are more like 50 million who need to be working and can't don't have a job.

    Bureau of Labor statistics

    http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm

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  70. There will be no mention of the folly of allowing immigration when 20 million Americans are unemployed.

    20 million may be receiving benefits labeled "unemployment" but there are more like 50 million who need to be working and don't have a job.

    Bureau of Labor statistics

    http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm

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  71. "But, this is a feeling that exists among southern Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greeks too."

    You left out the French populations living along the Mediterranean. And speaking as as Southern Italian, I wouldn't feel inferior to Northern Europeans even if my Sicilian side weren't comprised of light-complected gentry who could pass for Scots.

    But it does bother other Italians and Sicilians I've known, because they don't consider you one of them because you don't "look Italian" or behave in the typical coarse manner of an urban WOP.

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  72. Vergara and Ed O'Neill are not a "mixed marriage." Vergara is White.

    I think her surname is Italian, not Spanish. Her natural hair color is darkish blonde, so that about seals it. She is about as Hispanic as Giselle Bundchen.

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  73. Anonymous:"Blah blah. You know what is meant. And I doubt Vergara is 100% European. Like most South Americans, she probably has a little indio in her, maybe even a little black."

    Brett Favre and Chuck Norris have substantial amounts of Amerind ancestry (probably more than Vergara), yet no one regards them as non-White. Vergara is White.

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  74. Anonymous:

    "Sofia Vergara is just the latest south of the border bombshell. I'm still waiting for the one that will make me forget Racquel Welch."

    MMMM...considering that Welch was of Anglo origins on her mother's side (her mother was Josephine Sarah Hall, the daughter of architect Emory Stanford Hall and Clara Louse Adams) , it would seem that Vergara has her beat on the Latin side of things. On the other hand, Racquel Welch is definitely the sexiest Mayflower descendant that I've come across.

    Syon

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  75. The answer, according to a variety of Latino activist and media types in the electronic rolodexes...

    Rolodices

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  76. http://www.nbcolympics.com/nations/nation=india/index.html?etx=medals&etx2=2012-medalists

    India gets another medal!

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  77. I don't understand what there is to appeal to? Latino audience? I thought we were all the same? Just a skin color...we all bleed red, no?

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  78. http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/equestrian/netherlands-wins-team-jumping-silver.html

    How come the horses don't get the medals? They do all the hard work.

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  79. "Steve-O, it's time for you to pull out your new favorite word, in homage to Norman Rockwell America, again."

    Ixnay, Truth. Your stuff is rebop.

    Gilbert P.

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  80. "On the other hand, Racquel Welch is definitely the sexiest Mayflower descendant that I've come across."

    Marilyn Monroe, like Welch, was a descendant of John Alden, and thus both are very distant cousins of mine.

    There are millions of Mayflower descendants. There are probably quite a few who could turn you on every bit as much as Miss Welch.

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  81. "Ixnay, Truth. Your stuff is rebop."

    I have no idea what "rebop" is, but I'm pretty danm sure that Pig Latin would be on any list of things that are.

    ReplyDelete
  82. McGillicuddy8/7/12, 7:09 PM

    "I think her surname is Italian, not Spanish. Her natural hair color is darkish blonde, so that about seals it. She is about as Hispanic as Giselle Bundchen.”

    Except that Colombia is Hispanic and Brazil isn’t.

    As for racial classification, I guess you’re free to set your own standards, but based on visual evidence, I am not comfortable considering Vergara white. I’d say she’s at least an octoroon, and probably part Amerindian too. I’m sure she’s majority white, but she is not white. Bundchen is white.

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  83. McGillicuddy:"As for racial classification, I guess you’re free to set your own standards, but based on visual evidence, I am not comfortable considering Vergara white. I’d say she’s at least an octoroon, and probably part Amerindian too. I’m sure she’s majority white, but she is not white. Bundchen is white."

    Based on her physical appearance, I see no signs of non-Caucasoid ancestry in Vergara. In particular, I see no traces of Black ancestry. Amerind genes are a possibility (cf Brett Favre's substantial Amerind blood), however.In terms of phenotype, she is a White woman.

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  84. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri0N_ifn2iM&feature=fvwrel

    This why we watch our own TV, no?

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  85. Except that Colombia is Hispanic and Brazil isn’t.

    But they're both Latino.

    So is Quebec, if you really want to nitpick.

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  86. Steve, have you read Jonah Goldberg's latest?

    This is the last presidential election in American history in which the GOP will benefit from having a boring white guy as its presidential nominee.

    ... going forward, the GOP needs to figure out a way to become more appealing to new constituencies, particularly younger voters and Latinos.

    Boring white guys aren't great for that project. But candidates such as Cruz are.


    No more boring white guys

    Based on his conclusion I don't think he reads your blog.

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  87. Put Sabado Gigante down if you want, but it was the most watched TV show in the world for many years! Watched by more viewers on Saturday nights than the entire weekly line up on any major American network!

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  88. Anyone who would describe Vegara as an "octoroon" (!?) or even "mestizo" is really locked in the basement too long. Or else he might be a fussy "nordicist", a belief system that has been as mystifying as it is inaccurate in its definitions. Whites do come in other types than Nicole Kidman. She is typical med-Euro. Well-not typical exactly, so much the worse. But you know what I mean. The phenotype is common in Europe, just not usually quite so perfect.

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  89. "Based on her physical appearance, I see no signs of non-Caucasoid ancestry in Vergara. In particular, I see no traces of Black ancestry."

    Well of course you don't. I find jerking off more pleasurable without the burden of social conflict as well.

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  90. Truth:""Based on her physical appearance, I see no signs of non-Caucasoid ancestry in Vergara. In particular, I see no traces of Black ancestry."

    Well of course you don't. I find jerking off more pleasurable without the burden of social conflict as well."

    Hey, good to know that you can ignore Vergara's White physiognomy.

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  91. Dahinda;"Put Sabado Gigante down if you want, but it was the most watched TV show in the world for many years! Watched by more viewers on Saturday nights than the entire weekly line up on any major American network!"

    ...And people think that IDIOCRACY was fiction.

    Syon

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  92. "She is typical med-Euro."

    In fact this type is quite common far beyond the Mediterranean. E.g. in the British Isles (see Catherine Zeta-Jones). Or in Russia & Ukraine (google Anastasia Zavorotnyuk).

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