Hispanics on Television

I was watching Ellen yesterday and I saw that Rico Rodriguez was going to be on her show. Rico Rodriguez plays “Manny” on Modern Family. If you have not seen this show, it is a MUST SEE! It’s hilarious!! Rico is from my home town in Bryan,TX. His father owns a tire shop and it is still in operation. He said on Ellen’s show that he gets a $20.00 allowance a week. I think its awesome that the family is willing to try to keep their kids “grounded”.

I am writing about this not as an extension of what I wrote yesterday, but the number of Latino actors who are becoming more mainstream. Its amazing how far TV has come since the days of I Love Lucy. Its as if Hispanics are becoming more accepted into the world of entertainment. Its like Ricky Ricardo was a pioneer of Latino entertainment. George Lopez raised the acceptance level further; I would call him a modern day Bill Cosby. Its amazing. (I LOVED and still watch the George Lopez show)

Growing up I always wondered where the Latino shows were, besides on Univision or Telemundo. I didn’t speak fluent Spanish and if I tried to watch the Novellas on those channels, I wouldn’t understand what they were saying. It was like the total extreme. During my middle school days the movie Selena debuted. I watched that movie so many times in my freshman in high school Spanish class. Here was this woman who able to break though to Mainstream music. AMAZING!!! Not only that her movie really helped bridge two cultures together. She was able to balance both being Hispanic (Non-native speaking) and American.

Shows like George Lopez or Modern Family aren't so much about Hispanic families, as they are about families who happen to be Hispanic. This, in my opinion, can help increase the acceptance of Hispanics in the United States as well as give young Hispanics role models to look up too, who happen to look like them.

Pictures Provided by:

http://static.tvguide.com/MediaBin/Galleries/Celebrities/M_R/Ri_Rid/Rico_Rodriguez/rico-rodriguez-bio2009.jpg

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/george_lopez_1427.jpg

http://www.mediacircus.net/selena________3.jpg