Protrayals of Mexican Americans in the Media

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I think that it is really inaccuate the why that Mexican Americans are protrayed on television. I watch it and I am all like " That's not the grammar or vocabulary that me or just about anyone in the mexican american community that I live in talk."

For expample: The majority of the characters on the George Lopez sicom talk alot like white people. The most accurate protrayal of the Mexican American dialect on that show is Earny. Earny isn't even Mexican, but he is latino anyways and he talks a lot like how my community would talk, though not completly.

The lady in the Taco Cobana commercials Talks more like how real mexican americans would talk than in any other protrayals (in my opinion). But I don't really like how they play that stereotypical music on the commercials, it's not authentic and just something that would pop into a white screen writer's head when he thinks mexican.

So what is your opinion on this? Am I being offencive? Because I am affrade that I might offend or somethin and I really don't want to do that and I am really nervese that might be doing it.

So my main problem with the mainstream media isn't that they are protraying us as criminals or anything like that, but that they are not accurately protraying the dialect in which we speak.

Mexicans, I'm afraid, have been getting short sfrift from the media, especially Hollywood, for years. To wit:
1. Jennifer Lopez, a Puerto Rican playing Selena.
2. Antonio Banderas from plain in The Mask of Zorro
3. Anthony Hopkins, a British white guy playing Don Diego de la Vega in The Mask of Zorro.
4. Cliff Curtis from New Zealand played Mexican ganster Smiley in Training Day.
5. Johnny Depp as Tonto in the upcoming Lone Ranger flick.

What's interesting is the area of Hollywood itself is, like, 10% white and 90% Mexican and still they find it difficult to find and cast Mexicans. Truly odd. Hollywood also gives the shoulder to Asian actors, too. They had white guys play the Asian lead in The Last Airbender and Dragonball-Z.

It's funny, you start to think that we've come a long way since John Wayne playing Genghis Khan, and then a movie like The Last Airbender comes along to remind us that we're still living in the 50s.

By the way, Anthony Hopkins also played a black guy in The Human Stain. No, really. A light-skinned African American played by Wentworth Miller somehow grows up to be Anthony Hopkins.

I don't even wanna think of the portrayal of colombians (and Colombia) in the media. I laugh so I don't cry.

Anyone remember Charleton Heston playing a Mexican in Touch Of Evil? Basically, he looked like Charleton Heston covered with light colored shoe polish.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer