JE 1A: Speedy Gonzales

From my personal experience, Speedy Gonzales wasn't really a favorable cartoon character growing up. I guess I was more of a Tweety bird kind of child. Seeing Speedy on air made me see nothing but negative stereotypes that have been constantly stigmatized to my Latino identity. The bad English, the simple mind, the fast worker, etc.


I'll admit now after reading up some information on the cartoon character I did warm up a little bit to him. It's interesting to read that the original airings of Speedy received academy awards for its episodes and that after even being taken off the air that there was petitions being organized to bring back Speedy both from non-Mexican and Mexican viewers. Another understanding of it all is the importance of having representation in media, so it comes down to question: should we settle for one representation of our community? I asked myself that and while the representation of Latinos were limited in previous decades; I wouldn't limit the modern generation to having Speedy Gonzales represent us but rather create new characters with more depth and diversity to represent the spectrum of Mexicans, of Latinos, and maybe with the occasional guest appearance from our fast buddy.