Im a Fan but not of his sitcom

[RJ]

I first saw George on Showtime for his "Why You Cryin" Special and have been a fan of his ever since. I cannot get enough of his stand up comedy.

But there is a difference between his stand-up work and his sitcom. I dont feel the same vibe, his stand-up I feel the woes and memories of being a Mexican American. He brought alot of those memories to life and made them funny. But his show is nothing near that, maybe its because he cannot go as far because its a primetime show but I'd rather them try to incorporate some Raza or feeling of it being a latino show. I just watched a few minutes of tonights show and no where or way did I laugh at any of his jokes, they were just dull. Plus not to bring race as a factor but it is, to me the whole family acts like they are white. Not to bring Mexican Americans down or anything but even the words he uses, like in tonights episode he said "Tell the truth, dont be vague". My mouth floored, come on any true mexican knows vague would not come out as a word of choice to communicate.

Again I love George but the show has got to get some more Mexican feel to it.

[RJ]

does anyone agree or disagree with me??

[Pitooey]

I feel that it's just a show.

George is not starring in a show in Mexico. He's starring in a show in the good ole USA. When I look at the show I see a group of talented people. I don't look at them as white. The word vague is in the US vocabulary.

There are many, many sucessful Mexican/American and others in the USA. When you lived in this country for as many years as he has you conform to this kind of world. Of course you don't forget who you are. I think if George was in Mexico he would say all those things that (in your opinion he should be saying).

[RJ]

Originally Posted by Pitooey

I feel that it's just a show.

George is not starring in a show in Mexico. He's starring in a show in the good ole USA. When I look at the show I see a group of talented people. I don't look at them as white. The word vague is in the US vocabulary.

There are many, many sucessful Mexican/American and others in the USA. When you lived in this country for as many years as he has you conform to this kind of world. Of course you don't forget who you are. I think if George was in Mexico he would say all those things that (in your opinion he should be saying).

but in his stand-ups dont have terms like vague in them. I dont want to turn this into a race thing but is he a hypocrite for his show being one way and his stand-up another?

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by RJ

does anyone agree or disagree with me??

Disagree. If you are a fan of his (which I am; I have followed him since he first began, when he was a NOBODY) and I can tell you that his reason for being "white" as you put it, is because he wants EVERYONE, not just hispanics, feel like they can recognize the situations, the laughs, the disappointments, etc. He said many times in interviews that he doesn't want to throw it in people's faces WE ARE HISPANIC, WE ARE MEXICAN, he wants it to be a show that everyone can get into. I love Good Times. I am not black, nor poor. but I can identify with the show; I can identify with the daughter and some of the situations they had. I can relate to Roseanne, but I am not white. But, I can identify with the Becky character because I was such a bitch like Becky. Same with George's show. If you are expecting him to "hang chilies" in his kitchen, or join a lowrider car club, or have him wear a pendleton and a beanie, then you are mistaken.

Being an educated Chicana I am very disappointed in that you seem to fall for stereotypes and other false machismos of chicanos who are not only educated, but not stereotypical. Was that too much for you?

I have seen him many times in his comedy shows. His comedy shows and his t.v. shows are two different things.

[grnacrsfan]

I happen to agree with Ireneparalegal's views, RJ, but I can understand how you would make that kind of mistake. You see, I am hispanic and I live in the very southern tip of Texas and about as close to Mexico as you can possibly get, so I am surrounded by the typical Mexican types that George Lopez parody's in his comic routines (and related to them ). Therefore, I too fall subject to the act of stereotyping Mexicans even though I am one of them. I can tell you from first hand experiences that words like "vague" don't pop up in a lot of conversations down here, but I can guarentee you George Lopez isn't being a hypocrite. He is just trying to just not discriminate against other races by making it just a "Hispanic" show. He's giving every race the opportunity to identify with the characters he and his fellow actors portray. Besides, there are a lot of educated Hispanic people around where words like "vague" aren't so uncommon, anyway, so in theory, George Lopez didn't say anything so unusual.

Well, see ya!

P.S. If I unintentionally offended anybody, I apologize.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by grnacrsfan

I happen to agree with Ireneparalegal's views, RJ, but I can understand how you would make that kind of mistake. You see, I am hispanic and I live in the very southern tip of Texas and about as close to Mexico as you can possibly get, so I am surrounded by the typical Mexican types that George Lopez parody's in his comic routines (and related to them ). Therefore, I too fall subject to the act of stereotyping Mexicans even though I am one of them. I can tell you from first hand experiences that words like "vague" don't pop up in a lot of conversations down here, but I can guarentee you George Lopez isn't being a hypocrite. He is just trying to just not discriminate against other races by making it just a "Hispanic" show. He's giving every race the opportunity to identify with the characters he and his fellow actors portray. Besides, there are a lot of educated Hispanic people around where words like "vague" aren't so uncommon, anyway, so in theory, George Lopez didn't say anything so unusual.

Well, see ya!

P.S. If I unintentionally offended anybody, I apologize.

very well said. If George Lopez's show fell into the stereotype's that some people expect or want, then the show would not last.

[LivinLaarge]

Originally Posted by RJ

I first saw George on Showtime for his "Why You Cryin" Special and have been a fan of his ever since. I cannot get enough of his stand up comedy.

But there is a difference between his stand-up work and his sitcom. I dont feel the same vibe, his stand-up I feel the woes and memories of being a Mexican American. He brought alot of those memories to life and made them funny. But his show is nothing near that, maybe its because he cannot go as far because its a primetime show but I'd rather them try to incorporate some Raza or feeling of it being a latino show. I just watched a few minutes of tonights show and no where or way did I laugh at any of his jokes, they were just dull. Plus not to bring race as a factor but it is, to me the whole family acts like they are white. Not to bring Mexican Americans down or anything but even the words he uses, like in tonights episode he said "Tell the truth, dont be vague". My mouth floored, come on any true mexican knows vague would not come out as a word of choice to communicate.

Again I love George but the show has got to get some more Mexican feel to it.

maybe george needs to switch with Carlos Mencia, he'll give you some reall mexican stuff.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by LivinLaarge

maybe george needs to switch with Carlos Mencia, he'll give you some reall mexican stuff.

JUST FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T KNOW:


Carlos Mencia, as IMDB.com will tell you, is not, as he would lead you to believe, Mexican. Carlos Mencia is actually half-Honduran and half-German, therefore making him NOT a "mexican". In fact, his real name is not even 'Carlos Mencia,' it's Ned Holness! It turns out (and I'm not making this up, although it sounds like something out of a Chappelle's Show sketch) that the owner of the Comedy Store (located in Los Angeles) decided that Ned's name needed to (and I quote) "sound more Mexican," so he came up with a new name for Ned aka CARLOS MENCIA.

[MariposaLKB]

Weird, but not unprecedented...the late Freddie Prinze of "Chico and the Man" (one of George's biggest influences, BTW) was actually Puerto Rican/Hungarian, and his real name was Frederick Karl Pruetzel! He chose his own stage name, however.

There was an uproar in the Hispanic community when a person of such heritage was chosen to play a character who was identified as Mexican. At various points during the series, Chico's background was therefore mentioned as being PR on his mother's side (the reality for Freddie Prinze) and Mexican on his father's. His father was played in one late episode by Cesar Romero--ironically also not Mexican, but Cuban!

Due to the objections raised between the pilot and the first actual episode, Freddie's normally brown hair was dyed black and his somewhat pale skin was darkened (badly LOL). Over the course of his 3-year run, the controversy must have died down, cuz by the time of his death he had returned to his normal coloring.

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by MariposaLKB

Weird, but not unprecedented...the late Freddie Prinze of "Chico and the Man" (one of George's biggest influences, BTW) was actually Puerto Rican/Hungarian, and his real name was Frederick Karl Pruetzel! He chose his own stage name, however.

There was an uproar in the Hispanic community when a person of such heritage was chosen to play a character who was identified as Mexican. At various points during the series, Chico's background was therefore mentioned as being PR on his mother's side (the reality for Freddie Prinze) and Mexican on his father's. His father was played in one late episode by Cesar Romero--ironically also not Mexican, but Cuban!

Due to the objections raised between the pilot and the first actual episode, Freddie's normally brown hair was dyed black and his somewhat pale skin was darkened (badly LOL). Over the course of his 3-year run, the controversy must have died down, cuz by the time of his death he had returned to his normal coloring.

All the die hard Freddie fans will tell you thank you, but we already knew this info. He took the stage name "Prinze" as in PRINCE. Prince of Comedy.

[MariposaLKB]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

All the die hard Freddie fans will tell you thank you, but we already knew this info. He took the stage name "Prinze" as in PRINCE. Prince of Comedy.

Yeah, I am one of them. Didn't mean to be redundant for those of us who remember and love him.