In
the world of The
L Word, supporting characters--specially Shane’s
love interests--come and go (though some, like Tonya, couldn’t
possibly go quickly enough). So as the second season began,
it was a relief to see new recurring character Carmen (Sarah
Shahi) make such a positive contribution so quickly.
Carmen
is even-keeled and, well, hot. But more importantly, as a Latina,
Carmen inches the show ever closer to portraying the true diversity
of lesbian identities. Southern California is largely Latino,
so it’s especially encouraging to see this attempt to
represent local demographics in a show about Los Angeles lesbians.
In
her first episode Carmen reveals that she’s the daughter
of "some kind of Mayan medicine man" who died in a
motorcycle crash before her birth. Later episodes refer to her
Latina heritage more indirectly: In Episode
Six the wardrobe department gives her a T-shirt that reads
"Everyone loves a Latin girl" while the sound department
doctors the show’s theme song with Spanish lyrics and
congas for one of her scenes.
Carmen’s
heritage is also mentioned on the official L Word website,
which proffers the character’s decidedly Latino last name--de
la Pica--and, lest there be any confusion, refers to her as
a "Latina beauty." No other character’s ethnicity
is referenced in their bio.
It
is unreasonable to expect Carmen to represent all Latina
lesbians, even if she bears that unfair burden in many viewers’
minds as the show’s only Latina character. Nevertheless,
representing Carmen’s heritage without trivializing or
fetishizing it is a serious responsibility, and the t-shirt
and the modified theme song tread on very thin ice in this regard.
We can only hope that if the show’s creators finally write
in an Asian American character (currently a conspicuous absence
considering the L.A. setting), they will have the sense to go
about it thoughtfully rather than spicing up the theme song
with a gong.
Despite
a few gaps and missteps, the L Word succeeds in representing
lesbian diversity, in terms of ethnicity at least, better than
any other television series ever has. The addition of Carmen
is a positive step, and viewers have reason to expect further
improvement.
Shahi,
the actor who plays Carmen, has hinted that her character’s
ethnic background will be addressed more extensively in season
three. On
the show’s website Shahi explains, "In the second
season, you really don't get to know that much of Carmen's story--her
own personal background. My storyline is intermixed with those
I'm in relationship to. It's not until the next season that
we're actually going to go into Carmen's life and explore what
it's like being a gay Latina, and get to see her own family."
