On television we often see families of many different cultures portrayed. We have had a lot of African American shows, White Shows, an Asian Show and a Latino show. I guess what I want to write about today is one of the only Latino shows to be on mainstream American TV show. The show in question was the George Lopez show. I used to think it was a mindless show that showed Latinos in a bad light but I have been watching it over the years and I must say it is one of the most realistic shows that portrays what it means to be Latinos. It is not perfect but it is a pretty good representation.
I am not going to review this show. I have not seen everything this show has to offer, especially the first season. Right now I am watching it from the beginning and it is pretty good so far. I have seen the last seasons where it got shitty and pretty dumb but in terms of the first 4 shows of the first season what i have seen is really good. The first season deals with sons and fathers which is a theme that is followed through out the show's story arc.
In a lot of Latino families the father is often, missing, ran off or has passed away. That is a common theme in Latino families and I am really surprised that they had a mainstream show that actually acknowledged this aspect. As the show progressed George actually meets his father and finds out that he had another family. This too, though negative, is also a common theme in Latino families. I have known people who have had two whole different families and even I am part of that.
Jealousy is another aspect of the show that is also true in a lot of Latino relationships. George is married to Angie who is played by Constance Marie who is really tall and sexy. She is much better looking then George and often times he gets jealous of how sexy she is and how other men will react. This is also another Latino trait. Often times Latin men will date a really sexy woman and they will get nervous and jealous. A lot of Latinos will never ever acknowledge this but it is the truth and I have been this way as well.
It also deals with the usual sitcom bullshit. Kids who cut school, or drug use or sex and all of these are typical of sitcoms, especially after the show Roseanne came out. George also has to deal with his mom and the writers of this show often have them talking shit to each other. This is funny for the show, but I have had issues with this. I will get to this in a moment.
The show for being a sitcom is rather dark. It is dark like All in the Family or how dark Roseanne got. I mean in the show George and his mother goes to jail or when George punches out his father for leaving him. Another dark story arc was when Carmen(George's sex daughter) kissed some kid in her school but he told everyone that they went all the way and this led to her being called a whore or loose. Pretty dark shit, when you consider the stories that appeared on King of Queens, Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond.
The show was not perfect, not by far. I mean the whole mother and son talking shit to each other. This is what put me off the show for the longest of times. I mean she would talk shit and then he would talk shit. I don't care how crappy of a mother you are, no Latina mother would allow their son to talk that way and George being a fatherless Latino would not disrespect his mother. It was kind of like the show "All American Girl" with Margaret Cho, that had arguments with her mother, when in real life, they were close friends.
Another problem i had with the show is what I like to call "FAMILY GUY" moments. In the show Family Guy, when one of the main cast would say a memory they would gut to that memory. They would show a memory. The show South Park, made fun of this so well, in the episode "CARTOON WARS 1 and 2". The show doesn't cut to anything but George mimes and makes a joke. I hate that shit.
I like that all the guest stars are Latinos or famous people who cater to Latinos which is really nice. It's a good show that attempted to show mainstream American what is it to be Latino.
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