Speedy Gonzales was one of the first characters to be discontinued for promoting racial stereotypes.
Since the gringo mass media is omnipresent and almost omnipotent in our culture (and the rest of the world) and since until very, very recently it was designed for the likes and dislikes of the white gringo, it is TOO common for us as consumers to identify ourselves and put on the side of the white gringo when a cultural critique of entertainment products appears.
“Speedy is the hero who makes gringos look like idiots ”
Speedy Gonzales (no, it’s not González) is a Mexican character from the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated series. The first appearance of the “ fastest mouse in all of Mexico ” was in 1953 in the short film Cat-Tails for Two directed by Robert “Bob” McKimson. In the first version of him, Speedy had some differences, such as a red shirt without pants and a gold tooth.
Two years later Speedy was redesigned by cartoonists Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt. Among the mouse’s new features were his typical jarocho costume and his huge charro hat. So Speedy got the current image of him.
The new version of the short film was a complete success, being awarded an Oscar. Sylvester the cat also appeared in the second edition, who became the traditional enemy of Speedy Gonzales. Also, it was in the 1955 short where Speedy began to say his classic war cry “Come on! Come along! Above! Above!”.
Speedy Gonzáles, a Mexican hero?
Following the success, Speedy Gonzales appeared in numerous episodes as the Mexican hero who defended the other mice from the “gringo” cat Silvestre. In the cartoon Speedy constantly humiliates his enemies with a certain cunning and innocence. Hot sauces, mousetraps, and the excessive speed of the mouse are the weapons of this cheerful character.
In 1999 Cartoon Network banned the cartoon from broadcasting for promoting ethnic stereotypes about Mexicans. However, the criticism was not directed directly at the protagonist, who was well received by the Mexican and Latino audience. The controversy really stemmed from the mice accompanying Speedy, who were often shown smoking, drinking alcohol, or behaving lazily.
The most notable example of criticism was Speedy’s cousin, Slowpoke Rodríguez ( Lento Rodríguez in Spanish). The character featured a smoking, alcoholic mouse; slow-minded and lazy. Although Slowpoke used to get away with his experiences with Silvestre, his constant use of his weapon and his own personality generated a lot of controversy. Other factors for the suspension of the series were the marked Mexican accent and the charro hats with which the mice were represented.
Even with the above, the main defenders of Speedy Gonzáles were the Mexicans themselves, who saw in the mouse a hero who defeated the Americans thanks to his intelligence and speed. Even the League of United Latin American Citizens referred to the character as a cultural icon.
Looney Tunes Broadcast
In 2002 Cartoon Network reinstated the Looney Tunes episodes featuring Speedy. However, the broadcast time was reduced and the following warning was added:
“The cartoons you are about to see are a product of their time. They may represent some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were common in American society. These representations were incorrect then and remain so today. What follows does not represent the WB’s opinion of society, these cartoons are presented as they were originally created because to do otherwise would be the same as pretending that those prejudices never existed.
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION AND OTHER UGLY WORDS
Since the gringo mass media is omnipresent and almost omnipotent in our culture (and the rest of the world) and since until very, very recently it was designed for the likes and dislikes of the white gringo, it is TOO common for us as consumers to identify ourselves and put on the side of the white gringo when a cultural critique of entertainment products appears.
Nintendo recently showed a video of its new Mario game, in which we see the mustache wearing many different outfits, one of them the typical Sombrero-Sarape. Someone on the internet (a gringa) tweeted something like this: ” Wow, it would be nice if Hollywood stopped using these kinds of stereotypes less “, and the Mexican tweetosphere came out calling her an asshole and saying that we Mexicans are very proud of our serape and sombrero . . And everyone is happy because we Mexicans have shown that we are not politically correct libtars … except that that was not the point.
When there is talk of cultural appropriation or some stereotype is pointed out in the mass media, the criticism focuses on those who make the product: if Katy Perry comes out dressed as Cleopatra in a video and her “cultural appropriation” is criticized, the criticism is towards Katy Perry, not towards the Egyptians and how do they portray their culture?
There is nothing wrong with you liking Speedy Gonzales, generally, this type of criticism is directed towards cultural producers who dare to talk about a culture that is not theirs without much desire to investigate it, just regurgitating stereotypes that the industry itself created. Also, no one is “censoring” anything.
In “Mario Sombrerudo-gate” anecdotes emerged of how Warner once had to remove the character of Speedy from circulation because some Chicanos complained that he was offensive, but then the company discovered that Chicanos are fascinated by the character. And everything is narrated in the tone of “the politically correct destroy our culture.”
I do not deny that at some point Warner has taken the Speedy shorts out of circulation. But if at some point that meant that the new generations did not have access to the character, in the world of the Internet? That just means you won’t be able to watch it on channel X, or maybe there aren’t any DVDs, but the character appears in the new series and the internet is your friend.
Also, no one is calling for a fatwar against Warner or Nintendo or burning all evidence of the existence of Speedy or Mario Sombrerudo. It is a CRITICISM, a signal to a problematic attitude
Well, in Gringolandia, here in Mexico we just start saying “asshole” to whoever made the criticism and we spend the rest of the week congratulating ourselves on how politically incorrect and cool we are. Instead of, for example, beginning to realize the enormous cultural difference that exists between Chicanos and Mexicans; even though we both drink from the same cultural source, a bigger and bigger gap opens up every day.
I’m not a politically correct snowflake libtard
If you say that Speedy is racist then we can’t enjoy it anymore? Of course, they can, I still like Speedy, now it fascinates me more simply because I think about the double message that the character has (the original gringo and the interpretation we give him), they are windows to two cultures that share a border and a lot of human and commercial traffic and at the same time are so different.
The only difference is that when someone points out that “ Speedy is a racist stereotype ” my response is no longer “ not true because he is a hero and makes gringos look like idiots ”. Is he a racist stereotype? Yes, yes, that we Mexicans interpret it in a completely different way? That Too.
Speedy González is not a stereotype, he is a cultural icon that highlights Hispanic traditions in a fun way.
