JE#1A The Mouse that outsmarted my house

 

            At home, after my mom and I would finish cleaning up the table after dinner, my parents and my brother would watch TV together. The vast majority of my child years sitting in front of the television would all be absorbed in Spanish. In the afternoons my mother would always watch Cristina where she would most likely be helping solve a family dispute or telling yet another man that cheating on his wife was not okay. When the weekend would come, Don Francisco had us on Saturday with Sabado Gigante and a lighter and shorter man on Sunday. It must not have made a big impact of my life, I can only recall how he looked and that Domingo was part of the shows name. I always knew Sabado Gigante was the better one of the two; they were always giving away free cars, reuniting immigrant families and had the most beautiful and less dressed models. At that time, my pre-pubescent self only really saw the women in the shows to be the most attractive and an example of what was a pretty Latina. It wasn’t until now I am able to comprehend the hyper-sexualized stereotypes enforced by them. The same way I interpreted the Speedy Gonzales character on my cartoon channel. My basic comprehension of good and bad was drawn between the cat and the mouse simply seeing that they did not know how to share.

            In the late 80s my parents and I were living in the North County of San Diego in a predominantly brown city called Escondido. Where we only spoke Spanish and so did everyone else around us, except for my parent’s bosses. At work my parents struggled with their English language barriers.  In our home we were only allowed to speak Spanish, it wasn’t until I started Preschool that I started learning English. And watching Speedy Gonzales was a language third space where both my parent’s language and my new language could meet. And I think it’s for those memories that come with this cartoon, that I don’t totally hate Speedy Gonzales. Would I let my son watch these cartoons today? I don’t think so, but he may eventually watch a few episodes as part of a counter history lesson.

            The stereotypes that Speedy Gonzales establishes and reinforces in every episode, is what many critical race theorists call a visual microaggression. In general these aggressions are experienced in a non-verbal exchange. This image occurs between people of different races, cultures, gender or sexualities, like that between the cartoon and its creator with the viewer and his/her social location. The historical information provided and video clips demonstrate that this character was geared towards young children. Speedy communicates deficit cultural values, representing larger social political beliefs about Mexicans during that time period.

            Many visual microaggressions in mainstream popular cartoons continue to exist today. In the Simpson’s which has been around for over fifteen years has a character known as “the bumble bee man” who has sloppy Spanish and always appears to be drunk, burping for long periods of times at random. In addition to a very popular TV show called “Family Guy”, which depicts a white middle class family and their random family problems and encounters with people of color. In many episodes a maid named Consuelo appears to be questioned about her citizenship often and has a strong Spanish accent. In all these three characters, it is clear that visual microagressions continue be accepted in our society.