I Think Way Too Much

Hello, my name is Yokie and this is “I Can Do This All Day,” named after Earth’s Mightiest Hero, Captain America. 

And you’re welcome.

On this post, I’m going heavy straight out of the box, because I does this.

So, I watch a hell of a lot of television. 

Check my Fall Schedule out- it’s ridiculous.

One of the shows on my long list is Mayans MC, a spin-off of the wildly successful Sons of Anarchy (SOA) on FX. If you weren’t a fan while this show was on, what have you been doing with your life? It was phenomenal television with hot bikers in a motorcycle club on the surface, and sick Shakespearian themes underneath it all. 

In any case, Mayans is another motorcycle club consisting of Mexican-Americans in the same universe as the SOA. They started out as enemies and gradually built an alliance that carried over into this new show, which debuted last September on FX.

I started the show last year, watched the whole season; it was pretty dope. Grew on me as the season went on. But, initially, I had my reservations. 

Don’t get me wrong- I love Kurt Sutter, I adored SOA. 

And a predominately Hispanic cast? Hell, yeah.

I gave it a chance and it grew on me. With that said, it’s a little hard to get past the non-Mexicans attempting a Mexican accent. 

I love the inclusion, love the all-Hispanic cast and the fact that Cubans and Argentines are playing Mexicans on television.

Awesome. 

But... they couldn’t have tried to get Michael Peña? 

Jaime Camill? 

Jay Hernandez? 

Or any number of Mexican actors, telenovela stars or just regular Joe Shmoe Mexicans to play some parts? 

Damn. I mean we (and by “we” I mean the plethora of Hispanic and Latin cultures that aren’t just Mexican) are talented but we aren’t exactly interchangeable. Despite the racist misconception, it’s not like you can swap one spic with another. We are all different and unique. Why give away Mexico’s richness to someone who’s not Mexican?

BUT…

At the same time…

Isn’t that equivalent to complaining that an American role went to a Brit, such as Charlie Hunnam (a beautiful Englishman) playing Jax (California native) in SOA? 

I was fine with that, so…

I’m confused by my own indignation.

You should know that this is a first for me. I’m usually quite comfortable with my indignation.

Regardless, this brings me to my long-winded point:

When is it okay to take an opportunity, despite it “belonging” to someone else (and I use the word ‘belonging’ here for lack of a better word)? OR should we always make it a point to be mindful of the struggle of the person next to us and not “steal” opportunities not meant for us? (Again, lack of a better word…)

Ed Skrien, the odd-looking hot guy from Game of Thrones who played the villain in Deadpool, recently turned down a role in the Hellboy remake because the character was written and intended for an actor of Asian heritage to play. I applauded his decision and his reason behind it- it was a selfless thing to do to step aside and hold the door open for a marginalized community. 

But it’s the rare case. Just looking at the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe, there are hardly any superheroes of color. We got Blank Panther (Wakanda Forever) and the cast thereof, Falcon, War Machine, Nick Fury, Miles Morales, Luke Cage, Cyborg… 

That’s about it, and this is despite the rich, extensive list of multi-faceted characters from which to choose in the comics. And Hispanic super heroes? Don’t get me started. 

We got one.

Miles Morales in the Spiderverse.

The rest are secondary characters, like Rosario Dawson's Claire in Netflix' now-canceled Marvel shows; or sidekicks, like Luis in Antman (played by the hilarious Michael Peña).

There is a long list of films wherein the role was given to the “more bankable” white actor over the person embodying the characteristics for which the role was written. HOWEVER, there’s a pretty long list- not quite as long, but getting there- of films that chose a more diverse actor for a white role. 

Here’s the difference though- one is in the effort of creating opportunities and telling a richer story with a more diverse set of characters; and the other is rooted in racism.

Though nowadays, a film studio isn’t paying a white actor to draw on blackface and play a stereotypical caricature of a group of people, this used to be the norm; and because of that, the idea of taking a role from a person of color and handing it to the same old white faces that we see day in and day out in the movie theatre is so controversial. Cinema used to be a white-dominated field and when people of color were hired, they were exclusively typecast: mammies and thugs, maids and seductresses, criminals and terrorists. Even now, there are some roles that are still commonly stereotypical- just witness any hispanic character from the Bronx, EVER.

However, an actor’s job is just that- to ACT. How can you be expected to act if you have to turn down every role that you’re given because it’s not designed for you specifically? 

On the other side of that, writers are supposed to write what they know. John Grisham writes legal thrillers almost exclusively and he used to be a lawyer. Stephen King writes horrors- apparently because he’s a goddamn expert. If a writer writes a character with themselves in mind when they create it, wouldn’t it make sense that their character looks like them? And wouldn’t it then make sense that the actor chosen to play that character actually looks like or represents the character? 

So then when is an actor expanding their career, branching out and taking chances, and when are they stepping outside of their proverbial lane? 

I don’t know the answer to that. But I can tell you this: I’m an author with five published novels under my belt. I keep writing and keep publishing, but the ultimate goal is to make movies out of my novels. One in particular, Project: FEMME, is a story about a badass woman in a dystopian world who puts John Wick to shame. I wrote her, and I am a Hispanic, professional woman from the Bronx. So then guess what? She, too, is a Hispanic professional woman from the Bronx. She looks a certain way, talks a certain way and behaves a certain way.

And if I were ever given the opportunity to make this movie, you bet your ass I would cast the character with someone who fits the physical qualities. Or just with myself in the role, because hey, why not?

But, in the off-chance the opportunity to make the movie came with the condition that the role go to someone who does not fit the description of my character, should I walk away out of principle and keep trying to do it my way, or should I take the opportunity to get my foot in the door so that I can use that to create more opportunities for myself and others like me?

Is either choice really wrong?

This is just one of the many over-thought, existential questions I asked myself as I watched Mayans last night. And after I got over my own troubling indignation- which I still haven’t settled, but, whatever- I finished watching it and enjoyed it for what it is- a super cool show about a motorcycle gang in California. 

The added bonus?

The Hispanic roles are played by actual Hispanic actors.  

I guess it’s a start.

So, that’s it for today. Feel free to share this, should you so choose to spread the confusion. You can always check out my website, yokairytavarez.com, for insight into this disaster of a mind of mine. And be sure to check back in periodically for posts on everything from writing novels and raising kids to film, theatre and politics; with a whole lot of nonsense in between. 

Next time, I’ll be discussing- or rather complaining about- fiction writing and how its television and film interpretations are ranked.

Or something like that.

Thanks for reading. And as always, a million thanks to EGOT winner, Ms. Barbra Streisand, for making all of this possible. 

Peace, yo. ✌