Puff Pieces by Adrian: Saturday Night Live Skits

Monday, November 21, 2011

Saturday Night Live Skits - Grrrrr!

There was a skit that ran this past weekend (19Nov2011) on SNL that had to do with finding a replacement for Regis on ‘Live with Regis and Kelly’. In the skit, they interviewed an actor playing the character of George Lopez, and when he was asked what “he will bring to the show”, he answered with, “I can do a lot to change the landscape of the show; and I should know about landscaping, because I’m Latino”, or something like that. The skit was sort of funny, but I didn’t laugh at that part.

It’s always either ‘gangster’ or ‘gardener’ with Latino stereotypes, and that’s certainly not anything new. I perhaps didn’t really see it when I was younger, and for the most part, I was oblivious to anything outside of my world. As I got older and found myself out in the working world though, the perceptions became more apparent. Certainly, because of the issues with illegal immigration over the past few years, the discussions and rhetoric have been even louder, and the perceptions solidified.

The stereotypes and perception always get to me. They’re a very common in America, and they are also something that I am trying to change in my own way, through my writing and novels. It is why my protagonists will always be Latinos or Latinas. I aim to perpetuate a new image of Latinos that does not exist in today’s media.

I’m not knocking the SNL show itself. For one thing, the actor that played the part of George Lopez (Fred Armisen) is part Latino. I’ve also been watching SNL for years, and they, a lot like my uncle, make fun of everyone, equally. I am not picking on the general media either. I think it is up to us Latinos to change the image and stereotypes that others have of us, and those that we have of ourselves. It is through education and economic success that we can begin out number the “gardeners” and “gangsters” that seem to emanate the strongest. It is only then that we can force the change in the perceptions that exist today.

4 comments:

AnonymousNovember 22, 2011 at 9:55 PM
So blame George Lopez. The skit was knocking him, not Latinos. I used to find him funnier, and still do at times, but on his talk show he started going out of his way to make jokes about how Latinos are illegal immigrants, or coyotes for other illegals, criminals, drunkards, parents of bastards, poor, ghetto, illiterate, dumb, uneducated, unemployed, drive crappy cars, or bounce around with a gang in lowriders (He even used the song Low Rider for his sitcom AND talk show). He started forcing jokes with guests all the time about how this relates to being a Latino, or how 'you an honorary Latino cause you do some sort of thing etc...' When Bill COsby does comedy, his stories have nothing to do with being black or not. It's just life. Even the stories of his childhood aren't about the racism I'm sure he encountered. It was just about loving life and overcoming poverty and hardship.

Don't hate on SNL. Lopez is the one at fault, and that's who they're rightfully mocking
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AdrianNovember 22, 2011 at 10:15 PM
@Ryan. Thanks for that comment. I wasn't really seeing things from that angle, but you're right about GLopez. I went to a show taping of his a long time ago, and he came off pretty arrogant. He seems like the kind of guy that really let his fame and money get to his head.

Either way, my puff piece wasn't really about him or SNL. It was about the Latin stereotypes in America. The SNL skit was just a trigger in my mind. The stereotypes do exist, and it's up to the Latinos in America to change that.
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AnonymousNovember 23, 2011 at 10:44 PM
Indeed. As a white Irishman, I wish you luck. get a load of this. I forgot to bookmark your page so I had to google the joke quote to find it again. I came across this. Lopez himself actually did make that comment one time. Too bad he can't use it to springboard into broader comedy, or project a more positive image rather than stereotypes

http://nowtnews.com/05345/team-loco-at-tbs-very-funny/
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AdrianNovember 23, 2011 at 11:33 PM
thanks for that link, Ryan. Glopez does it again. What a class act (not!)
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Revolution of the Soul. A Mission Statement.

I am by default, and through no fault of my own, different. I’m not out cruising the boulevard on the weekends, blasting oldies-but-goodies with the homies. I am also not listening to rock en Espanol, speaking in Spanish-only with my friends. I could fit into either stereotype perfectly though, and to an outsider, I probably appear to be from either or both worlds. I have brown skin, which is pretty much all it takes. It’s not that simple though, as others like me surely understand. I speak some Spanish but I also speak perfect English. I went to college. I love hamburgers and fries, and hip-hop, and alternative music. I have simply integrated into American culture from the start, because I was born here, and because I wanted to.

I’m glad that I’m not still stuck in Mexico somewhere, growing up a third world existence, which statistically would have been the case, had my familia never come here. But I am glad to have come from a country and peoples with such a rich and vibrant history. There are many reasons having such a heritage is a good thing, and I am proud to be a part of it. I am glad to have been born here in America, and happy to be part of this system. I’m happier yet that I didn’t grow up as a cholo gang-banging, tagger, too-cool-for school type of guy, even though I’ve had plenty of chances, given my surroundings. That subculture is not all bad either, depending on the level of involvement and the choices one makes. In other words, you can look the part without being a thug, or a social, or immigrant, or anything else, que no? This is true of all life.

So even though I am different, I am by no means alone, and I know this. The problem for me is that I’m not seeing enough representation out there in the media. I’m not seeing a lot of works written, or filmed, for people like me. It annoys me, too, for a lot of political reasons, because our image is grossly misrepresented. Sure the gangbanger cholos are fun to include in film, because violence sells. However, that only perpetuates a false image. These days, it seems as though everyone in this country sees us either as cholos or as immigrants that refuse to assimilate, legal or not. This angers me because we are so many different things including a multitude of diversity within our own subculture. It’s pretty frickin’ beautiful, if everyone only knew…

Either way, I decided to make the changes I wanted to see, on my own. I’m writing stories for me, for you, and for everyone else, and my main characters are all Latino, and not just Mexican-Latino either. My stories are not about quinceaneras or growing up as a pocho in high school. They are not about crossing the border, or starting any revolutions. The only revolution I write about is the Revolution of the Soul. My stories are meant to entertain and inspire people, and hopefully many of you will relate to them in one way or another, and see yourselves there in them, wherever that may be.