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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho is Tomas RIOS, a NAVARRETTE from the sophisticate P.C. side? His take on "our" Latino culture
Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2015, 01:11 PM - Edit history (1)
For starters, Sabado Gigante (giant Saturday): Variety show, 53 years, host retiring, blah blah. Now comes this free lancer, of the kind the national media has to rely on because of his supposed cultural connection to the news of the day, like how major outlets pick non traditional (read, Repuke) minority members (CNN.com and Ruben NAVARRETTE) in order to appear original. I couldnt find any Wiki or other bio on Tomas RIOS but what irked me first was his kewl, breezy, dismissing style, and his disdain for our Latino culture on blue nose grounds. Its fine if hes assimilated totally and left it all behind, but he shouldnt be featured for some supposed special connection as an expert on Latino culture.
Now, heres the rub. For me. Here at DU. When I attack this fellow for his attack on Latino popular culture, I am not defending racist/gender/disability stereotypes. Im coming from an anthropological place. The cultural worst he is talking about is burlesque, which is not specific to Latino culture, and *is* present in every culture everywhere. Lets see what I can think of in U.S. culture: Jack GLEASON and CARSON with their skits with scantily clad women; Las Vegas; the wonderful (Im not being sarcastic) SPRINGER with his stream of all stereotypes; Howard STERN, and whomever/endlessly.
I have put myself on the line in my own little way of braving wingnut racists, calling them out in crowded places to stop their ignorant mocking of whomever, so to-whom-it-might-concern do *not* think of flaming me on my peeve against excessive P.C.-ism.
First, here are some links treating the Sabado Gigante news:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-sabado-gigante-finale-don-francisco-20150919-story.html
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/media/sabado-gigante/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/sabado-gigante-canceled_n_7087948.html
This is my e-mail to RIOS: The quotes below are the gist of your The Conflicted Legacy of Sabado Gigante, TVs Longest Running Variety Show. And a self-hating Latino gist it is. I would have added Ruben NAVARRETTE as your fellow traveler but he hates White Liberal males while you apparently hang with the breezy, kewl rigidly P.C. sophisticates. But you two share a snobby dismissiveness in writing style, as when NAVARRETTE referred to John KERRY as (back when) he was running around the jungle in Vietnam. You might have taken a more comprehending anthropological view of popular Latino culture instead of latching onto the worst aspect of our culture. I couldnt find your roots in Wiki or anywhere, but if you stepped into an ancient Greek or Roman bistro you would find stereotypes targeting all the groups you mention, everywhere worldwide today, and so long as there are humans of all cultures there will be fart jokes. Its pointless to suggest anything to you, so Im just thankful I dont have to relate to whatever you aspire to.
********QUOTE******
******MY EXCERPTS OF RIOSs COLUMN: ******* The worlds longest-running variety show comes to an end .... touchstone for Latinosand often [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]reflected the worst aspects of our culture[/FONT]. You know how it goes, a married German-Jewish couple escapes the Holocaust by emigrating to Chile, .... that old chestnut. .... unapologetically campy .... the Latino diaspora. .... a cheesy, jingle-laden variety show .... the shows tendency to mirror [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the worst aspects[/FONT] of what can be broadly understood as Latino culture. .... always at least one scantily clad woman acting as his personal stage prop. .... a small army of three-quarters naked women cheerily giggled .... the show entrenched [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the gender norms of many Latino cultures[/FONT] .... playing the stereotypes against them (black or indigenous Latinos) for cheap laughs. No less common were flamboyant gay caricatures and the use of little people in outright demeaning roles .... the shows end reflects a move within Latino cultures away from such ugly biases, .... all thats left is to hope that whatever takes its place can be the same sort of cultural touchstone without providing safe harbor to [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"]the worst of that culture[/FONT]. ****END EXCERPTS***
(RIOSs column: )
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/19/the-conflicted-legacy-of-sabado-gigante-tv-s-longest-running-variety-show.html
[font size=5]ADIOS
The Conflicted Legacy of Sabado Gigante, TVs Longest-Running Variety Show[/font]
Tomas Rios
.... Up until 1986, however, Don Francisco and his show were a distinctly Chilean phenomenon. He spoke with a natives accent and geared his show accordingly, even when it came to politics. An exception came, according to his autobiography, when General Augusto Pinochet seized dictatorial control of Chile in 1973 and demanded Kreutzberger announce his seizure of power on air. Somehow, Kreutzberger convinced Pinochet that it would be inappropriate for a mostly comedic figure to make so serious an announcement.
That brush with politics entrenched Kreutzbergers practiced centrism and carried him on through the shows post-1986 rise to cultural primacy with Univision. Sabado Gigante moved from Chile to Miami and began broadcasting not just to Latin America, but to the United States as well. For a sense of how the move worked out, consider that Kreutzberger now lives in a mansion located in Indian Creek Island, Florida, which is every bit as exclusive as it sounds. How a cheesy, jingle-laden variety show became by far the most successful Spanish language television show ever is pretty simple. ....
While Kreutzberger was always front and center on Sabado Gigante, there was almost always at least one scantily clad woman acting as his personal stage prop. At times, most of Kreutzbergers job was to be his gregarious self in a well-tailored suit while a small army of three-quarters naked women cheerily giggled at a respectable volume in response to his every action. To say the show entrenched the gender norms of many Latino cultures is about the most charitable statement one could make on that front. This can be said without even bringing up Kreutzbergers habit of groping female audience members and the 1992 sexual harassment suit brought forth by one of the shows models against him. (The suit was, of course, settled out of court by Kreutzberger.)
The show did no better on race as its large cast of characters almost never featured black or indigenous Latinos and, on the rare occasions it did feature such groups, it was in the context of playing the stereotypes against them for cheap laughs. No less common were flamboyant gay caricatures and the use of little people in outright demeaning roles. Behind the veneer of cheesy camp and harmless fun there was an undeniable tendency to reflect pre-existing biases of Latino culture that marginalized anyone who didnt quite fit in with the notion of normalcy. ....
********UNQUOTE********
roody
(10,849 posts)is the worst aspect of Latino culture. And every other patriarchal culture.
UTUSN
(70,715 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)That burlesque you compare it to died out decades ago
UTUSN
(70,715 posts)Not to mention stripper bars of all scantily clad varieties. And reality shows of all psychological and bodily types. I said what my point was in the o.p.
roody
(10,849 posts)Fat jokes, gay jokes, Jew jokes, bathroom humor galore, sexism, racism. I have to admit that I watch it because it makes me laugh. Penny's sexy body.
UTUSN
(70,715 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)I know the show was based on cal tech students but the actors look a bit old to be cal tech students.