Is DM2 anti-Hispanic?

Good grief! Mexicans tend to be overly sensitive and extremely hypocritical. It's hard to take seriously the shrieks about "stereotypes" from a people whose favorite cartoon character over the years has been Memin Pinguin:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=memin+pinguin&FORM=HDRSC2

The Mexico Postal Service even issued a postal stamp in Memin Pinguin's honor a few years ago.

According to Wikipedia, in addition to Mexico, Memin Pinguin "remains a popular magazine in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Panama, Colombia, and other countries."

Hi Dennis, I'm glad you posted this, because I think it's important to ask these questions and then not rush to judgment.

I see this as a gray area. I would definitely prefer that they not have leaned so hard on the Mexican wrestler stereotype.

The son, however, I think we HAVE to see as acceptable. He's only Mexican, because his father was. So they couldn't have made him of another race or culture. They also wanted him to be both a love interest for Margo and an eventual bad guy.

There is no possible way for them to have the son of a Mexican be a love interest AND a bad guy without people accusing them of the negative "Latin lover" stereotype. As other people have suggested, I think we can see him as a negative stereotype of a teenage boy, who happens to be Mexican. Maybe they could have made it a little better if he had let Margo down in some other way, other than just moving on to another girl.

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So I take it the entire series is Anti-Eastern European because of Gru's accent?

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I'm not even going to argue against the silly claims of racism, but what is all this idiocy about the guy being "unkempt", having "personal hygiene issues" and all that, just because he has a hairy chest? As if enduring the stupidity of political correctness was not enough, now it seems we also have to follow some sort of metrosexual code.

and pretty much every Spike Lee movie he stereotypes his own black people.

Can we all stop with the frickin' "its racist" crap about characters in movies please. Its diversity. There are more white villains than any other ethnic race in all movies combined. If we made all the villains white then minorities will complain they are not cast in those evil roles. You can't win with this topic. Just get over it and stop being so sensitive.


... End of line.

I can see what you're saying, for sure. But I think it was less out of disrespect, than it was respect for Hispanic culture. Hispanic young men can be quite alluring to young girls, I would know! And the fact that he ditches for another girl, well a) that's how teens are, and b) maybe he's just a jerk. As for El Macho representing a belief that older Latin men don't take care of themselves, I really REALLY don't believe his hairyness was a slur on Hispanic people. He's just a hairy old macho guy. Macho guys have a lot of hair.

This is turning into another "bash a good movie" event!

Paranorman got bashed cause they had a gay guy who had a boyfriend in it.

Coraline got bashed for promoting violence.

AND YET..

Bratz doesn't get bashed for promoting big time stereotypes onto races: the latina saying things like "This is a conversation between taco and burrito- NACHO!"..

Oh my goodness, such angst. This is just happy and loving animation giving homage to cartoon physics and character design, esp with El Macho. Note how El Macho's BIG CHEST flops suddenly into fat once he is transformed: this is "Squash_and_stretch" animation, pioneered by Disney's Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson. Anyway, all that is played just for laughs.

The main thrust of the film is
1. Love in all its forms
2. the completion of family
3. fatherly defensiveness when a daughter is growing up, ie that no young man is good enough for her.
4. Now, I am certain that the Mexican characters are all loving homage to everything Mexican.

I especially enjoyed the soundtrack, and Agnes' innocent enthusiasm for the Cinco De Mayo party. There is no slight intended, certainly not about any Mexican lover bit. Your comments seem both mean-spirited and somewhat immature and defensive, for someone supposed to be clergy, to be quite frank.

The boy is just a boy being a boy. The only reason the creators had him abandon Margo (note how "cool" his persona is) ...was to make Gru himself less unlikeable. Gru protests too much with his totally ridiculous suspicions about the kid. This allowed the animators to eventually give Gru an occasion to Freeze-Ray someone. Remember how he kept adamantly accusing the SON to the AVL without rhyme or reason? These were the laughable fears and paranoia of a father unprepared to let his daughter(s) grow up yet.

That's all!

Gru was also depicted with cactus leaves for a nose when he hid watching the two of them dance, and the boy actually knackers Gru in a scene! :) But if you don't find me credible, please listen carefully to the Audio Commentary on the film.

No women, Mexican or otherwise, find your issues with the film at all of concern. :) Relax. DM2 is just an uplifting trope on FATHERHOOD.

Regards,

Lizziebeth-1
Sydney, Australia

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