Anyone know if Sixto has Japanese ancestors? I know he has been described as Mexican, but does it seem as if he has slightly Japanese features to anyone else? I'm aware there was immigration to Mexico by Japanese folk from 1900 to 1945 so I'm wondering if his parents may have immigrated over from Japan?
Does anyone agree that he looks at least slightly Asian or is it just my imagination?
[deleted]
Sixto definitely looks asian to me so I was surprised that no one discussed that in the movie.
Truth to be told, I can see why Rodriguez didn't sell in the US. Our perceptions are not met by the album covers or the movie poster. Now I feel like it's the best movie I've ever seen, but I didn't watch it for several weeks because I, for some reason, thought that it would be a pretty boring movie about some old salsa musician or something that got ripped off in the 70s by the scumbags that run the music industry. Big deal, we've heard this so many times. My own prejudicies kept me from watching it.
To be able to see this movie without having any clue about the story is something I'll tresure for many years to come. Pure joy and inspiration.
[deleted]
[deleted]
"They said part Mexican, part American Indian."
It would make sense because "Indians"/"native Americans" have Asian features-- i.e.: the "land bridge" that they supposedly used to immigrate from Asia to what we now call the Americas.
[deleted]
At first I thought he could be Filipino, not only because of his appearance but also because many Filipinos have Spanish last names, including "Rodriguez".
Now I assume he's Mexican of Native/Indian descent, which would explain the East Asian features, since the ancestors of American Indians migrated from Asia.
They said part Mexican, part American Indian.
She said her grandfather came from Mexico. She didn't say where her grandmother came from so honestly we are only certain that Rodriguez is half Mexican, the other half we don't know.
shareIt is your imagination, and also the imagination of everyone else who thought he looked Japanese... Many Mexicans descending from Aztecs, Mayans and other North/Central/South American Indians have certain features that may be perceived to be "Japanese". These features are shared by Indians from Brazil, Argentina and Chile all the way up to the eskimos. It doesn't mean they were all descendants of the Japanese... Who, by the way, came from China. So, next thing we can expect is that somebody thinks Rodriguez is Mongolian?
Plus, what do you think a Mexican looks like? Mexicans are a mix of many races. What does an American look like? Again a mix of races.
We all have racial prejudices and tend to think that "Americans" look a certain way that is probably actually a mix of Northern Europeans (Irish, English, Norwegian, Dutch). Similarly, we have a stereotyped vision of Mexicans that comes from watching certain actors on TV.
[deleted]
The Mayan genome IS Asian. Or from the same origin, to be precise. So yeah, he does look asian, because southamerican natives and asians do look alike, with broad, flat faces and the epicanthic fold, more or less pronounced.
shareI thought he was a light skinned brother from Detroit.
shareNando is right. Native Americans orginally came from Asia and those from the West Coast (in contrast to say native Puerto Ricans) have especially Asian looking features.
As you move north on the West Coast to the Inuit groups, you can barely see any difference between them and people from northern Asia.
I think Sixto used to look kind of like Ace Frehley of KISS. Gene Simmons almost considered not hiring the Space Ace, because he thought Ace was Asian. Seriously. They wanted all skinny, white dudes with long hair only. Gene = hater.
share[deleted]
I'm a quarter Native and he looks straight up Native to me. Which applies to Mayans, Aztecs and some Mexicans, etc. etc. What makes me shake my head is that so many Americans know nothing about Natives - and possibly haven't even seen one in person - that they don't know it when they see it and guess everything else. LOL
Rachel