Watching Hispanic TV with a Latina Friend | Asian Air Forum

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Watching Hispanic TV with a Latina Friend

ast night, I was at my friend's house (she & her parents are from Argentina) and they were watching one of those Spanish soap operas. I decided to watch along because I tend to think that learning from other cultures only enriches one's life. Well, in one of the scenes, the protagonist (a curvy, blue-eyed blond) -- decides to order Chinese food while she waits for her fiancee to arrive from work. (Just a side note: My friend did point out to me that when you watch Spanish television, you see an OVERABUNDANCE of WHITE Latins, while the more "indigenous" population is usually given the role of "maid" or "butler" -- isn't that curious?) But anyway, when the food finally arrives to the house of this woman I could NOT believe what I was seeing....the actor that played the Chinese delivery boy wasn't even ASIAN, he was clearly Latin. His freakin' eyelids were BLOODY TAPED to make him look "slanty eyed"!! And he spoke in Spanish with the most horrible accent, all I heard were "L's" and NO "R's" in his speech and he kept freakin' bowing to her while he asked her for a tip. As if that weren't bad enough, he was trying to swindle the protagonist out of an extra dollar tip. Well, most of what I understood her saying over and over to him was "Chino" "Chino" and whatever. Needless to say, my girlfriend was a bit embarrassed and she said to me "Don't take it personally, this is a soap opera with a bit of a comic twist. It's all in fun." Well, I was speechless. I mean they use to pull that bullshit here in America back in the 40's with Charlie Chan and shit (where they used a white actor and taped his eyes back), but it's STILL happening! My girlfriend told me that they aren't as "PC" in Latin America as they are here and that the Asian population in Latin American countries don't feel stigmatized or ridiculed in anyway when they see things like this on television. And all I kept thinking to myself was "How in the hell do they know that" "Have they ever bothered asking them?" I sincerely doubt it.
by Exasperated

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