TV Show: Chicana/O Stereotypes

In general, this episode portrays Latina/os as criminal, unintelligent, and incompatible people, even though the show as a whole occasionally has moments that strive to highlight the virtue and good nature in its Latina/o characters. But even then, many stereotypes are still casually woven in, and therefore, the underlying message remains negative and hurtful. The overarching “argument” is that a Chicana/o personality is undesirable and unworthy of respect. Throughout the majority of episodes, visual strategies are consistent and static. Their impact on the show’s message is minimal. The set consists of the garage bay, the alley, Ed’s bedroom, and Chico’s bedroom, all of which are adjacent to one other, and the lights are either on (most

of the time) or off (occasionally, but rarely). Interestingly, the show is filmed before a studio audience, thus clapping, laughter, and gasps are typical occurrences that add to the drama, but for the most part, the show’s ability to illustrate its anti-Latina/o philosophy comes more from the narrative’s dialogue and careful plot preparation than from its production schemes.

This episode is one of many in which the image of Chicana/os provokes reactions from viewers. The Los Angeles Times published a letter written to the president of NBC from the director of the Los Angeles Hispanic Urban Center on behalf of himself and the rest of the faculty of educators from L.A. The letter expresses a strong disapproval of the portrayal of Chicana/os, particularly that “the title . . . is demeaning to our Chicano youth and the Chicano in general” in the sense that it suggests an aura of Chicana/o inferiority to Anglo-Americans. Furthermore, the teachers assert their objections to the depiction of Chicana/o youth with regards to Chico’s clichéd use of “language, speech, habits, and [his] overall presence.” Interestingly, this is consistent with Komack’s use of Prinze’s content from stand up routines in the dialogue of Chico and the Man. Prior to his overnight fame, Freddie Prinze performed stand up comedy, and in one of his most notorious acts, he talks about Chicano’s stealing hub caps from a car, and a spinoff of this idea is used in the very first episode of the show. All the while, Prinze name was never shown in the credits, despite that his original works were being reproduced under Komack’s name. All of this relates back to the teachers’ frustration with Chicana/o misrepresentation and exploitation.
Another example of Latina/o influence concerns a rally of sorts in Burbank, California, the city in which the show is filmed.

A Los Angeles Times article entitled “’Chico and the Man’: Some Chicanos Are Not Amused” reports, “The day before the program aired over the network, a Chicano group of actors called So. Califas Tenaz marched in front of the KNBC studios . . . to protest Chico and the Man – an event covered by local TV and radio outlets and by newspapers.” It is interesting that the original TV show (Chico and the Man) motivated Chicana/os to publicly challenge the show’s fundamental ideas, and news of that event was covered on three unique forms of media: radio, television, and print. This is an example of how this show prompted Latina/os to become more involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and how their actions have brought about discussions across new forms of

communication.
The same article also highlights the different viewpoints shared by select audiences: some argue that Andrade (Komack’s associate producer) discredits himself has a Latina/o civil rights leader by merely associating himself with such a demeaning show, while others argue that the show would be even “more offensive and inaccurate” if Andrade had not been consulted in the first place.

To add to that, many Mexican-Americans are upset by the casting of a Hungarian Puerto Rican actor as a Chicano. This approach to casting is racially, ethnically, and culturally insensitive. When characters of one race are played by actors of another race, this can be offensive and an inauthentic representation. Furthermore, Prinze’s hometown New York flare (his accent, his body language, etc.) depicts an unauthentic view of Chicana/o values, and many Chicana/o viewers fear that people who are unfamiliar with Mexican-American culture will get a “lopsided, stereotyped concept from this plastic Hollywood interpretation of their culture and history.” This, in addition to Prinze’s mockery of Chicana/o culture, can be perceived as a caricature of the Latina/o

lifestyle.
Prior to the show’s premier on national television, Komack tried in many ways to acknowledge and illustrate an accurate image of Mexican-American history and culture. Pre-television screenings were hosted in Akron, Ohio, Grand Junction, Colorado, Kingsport, Tennessee, and San Francisco, California. Noticeably, none of these cities is largely populated by a Latina/o community. The predominantly white audience received the pilot positively, but later, in a follow up viewing in San Francisco, audiences who had not seen the pilot episode felt that Ed mistreated Chico, and presumed that the fact that Chico chose to stay with Ed was implausible. NBC wished to try to avoid this response, and therefore Komack conducted numerous pre-publicity interviews with Chicana/os in which Komack explained his ties to the Mexican-American community. He expressed a desire to give Mexican-Americans exposure on television. In these interviews, he called Chicana/os “a proud and beautiful part of the American scene.” This pre-season publicity intended to dampen and shift the focus of the negative audience reaction to the condescending relationship between Chico and Ed. It seemed to successfully do that, given the positive audience reaction to the season premier.
Some suggest that the relationship would not have been perceived so condescendingly if The Man were a Chicano. The interchange between Chico and a Chicano counterpart changes the dynamics and eliminates the racial inequality. The dialogue in Sanford and Son, a popular TV show of the same era, contains the same condescending repartee; however, it takes place between two African Americans, and racial inequality becomes a nonissue in this scenario. Another writer suggests that Chico should play himself as a Puerto Rican, and while this might resolve the issue of authenticity in one respect, it creates an issue of authenticity in another respect: that Los Angeles is more populated by Chicanos than by Puerto Ricans. It becomes apparent that changing the either main character’s race does not solve the debate of realism.
The contrasting relationship between the older white man and the younger Chicano is what made this show successful. Changing either character’s ethnicity might dilute the widespread appeal of the stark contrast between Chico and Ed. Prinze reflects on this dilemma in his standup comedy, where he quips, “If I can’t play a Chicano because I’m a Puerto Rican, then God’s really gonna be mad when he finds out Charlton Heston played Moses.”
The show was unlike any other show of its time. The first-time appearance of a Latino playing a lead role alongside a white co-lead attracted significant national attention among diverse audiences, and it was associated with an increase in Mexican-American involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. At the same time, there was a lot of debate and speculation about the authenticity of race, ethnicity, setting, factuality, etc. Regardless, it was a remarkable step forward for Latina/os (as both actors and writers) in television, cinema, and other forms of media. The underrepresentation of Latina/o characters and the associated challenges continue to be a concern in modern media. These persistent challenges beg the contemporary television industry to create the next Chico and the Man.