Many queer women hailed The L Word when it made its debut for its glamorous, upscale representation of contemporary lesbians. But although the show has expanded the repertoire of lesbian and bisexual roles, The L Word‘s representation of Latinas has often reflected the same uninformed approach that makes lesbians wince when their lives are portrayed on film and in television.
Both recurring Latina characters on the show, Carmen Morales (Sarah Shahi) and Eva “Papi” Torres (Janina Gavankar), have been based on enduring stereotypes. Moreover, neither character was played by a Latina actor. Prior to the appearance of either character, however, there was a coded reference to Latina identity during Season 1 in the peripheral character of Ivan Aycock (Kelly Lynch).
As many LGBT viewers understand, sometimes mainstream stories include subtextual meanings that can be interpreted only by those with insider knowledge. These coded communications don’t only target lesbians and gays; they can speak to other groups as well.
Ivan Aycock is an Anglo drag king who takes a shine to Kit Porter (Pam Grier), Bette Porter’s straight sister. Ivan was embraced by many lesbians in the butch-femme and transgender communities for representing an overtly masculine image of women. Although The L Word is often seen as an antidote to the stereotype of the mannish dyke, to these subgroups masculine images of women were something to be prized, not rejected.
The L Word‘s story lines have often intersected with the art world, and Ivan’s character may reference a famous 1991 series of portraits titled Being and Having, taken by lesbian photographer Catherine Opie. Being and Having plays on the differences between “being” and “having” an identity by documenting women who have assumed the names and visual characteristics of men of various ethnicities.
Like several of the women in these photos, Ivan’s drag stylings imitate a version of Hispanic macho identity, indicated by pompadoured hair, the wearing of gang colors and a passion for vintage cars.
Ivan’s complex gender and racial identity on The L Word seems to encourage a more nuanced and playful understanding of what identity means to people. What is seen as negative to one person may be positive to another, in the same way that what constitutes masculine and feminine behavior is subject to interpretation.
But a flexible identity can also stimulate crisis. For instance, when the heterosexual Kit finds herself becoming increasingly attracted to Ivan, Kit’s sense of her own sexual identity begins to fall apart.
In many ways, Ivan was a test case for The L Word in two areas: gender and ethnicity. In later seasons an overtly transgender story line was introduced via the character of Max, and Latina characters were also introduced. In fact, a Latina character, Papi, once again challenges Kit’s sexual identity in Season 4.
Papi was preceded, however, by the character of Carmen Morales, who became a favorite with the show’s audience. Viewed as a romantic foil for the promiscuous Shane, Carmen is the girl hot enough to (almost) tie Shane down. Seen as highly desirable by others, Carmen’s sexual persona is one that has been part of Latina characterizations in Hollywood since the 1920s.
In his book Hispanic Hollywood, George Hadley-Garcia chronicles the careers of two of Hollywood’s earliest Hispanic female stars, Dolores del Río and Lupe Vélez. Del Río most often played exotic beauties, while Vélez starred in a series of comedic Mexican Spitfire films in which she displayed many stereotypical Latin characteristics, including a fiery temper and a tendency to misspeak English.
Dolores del Río (left) and Lupe Vélez
In the character of Carmen, we see shades of both the del Río and the Vélez roles. Sensual, musical and street-smart, Carmen represents exotic territory to Shane at the beginning of Season 2. As the romance continues, Shane is exposed to Carmen’s hot-blooded jealousies and bouts of anger, merging elements of the spitfire with the gorgeous sex bomb.
L Word viewers complained of inconsistencies in Carmen’s character when the once street-smart character turned into a blushing bride-to-be. However, the plot was consistent with Hollywood story lines featuring Latina leads.
Hispanic women in films of the past were required to lose their male partners to Anglo women, in the same way that lesbian love affairs were depicted as doomed in days gone by. In the end, Carmen loses Shane to blond, Anglo Cherie Jaffe, and Shane has not dated a woman of color since Carmen.
Latin authenticity means something very specific in Hollywood story lines, and usually it means that the characters are unskilled and working class. The Latin type has been well-established in Hollywood films and television: there’s the servant (maid, gardener), the bandit (gang member, drug dealer) and of course, the clown (mariachi, stoner).
The L Word‘s premise is that it shows a different side to lesbian life, and as such follows the lives of a group of upper middle-class professional women. However, Carmen and Papi were both provided with humble but colorful backgrounds, in keeping with stereotyped images of Latinas as uneducated but exotic.
Unlike Carmen, Papi was not a favorite with The L Word‘s audience and generally drew a “love her or hate her” attitude from both Latina and non-Latina viewers. Papi played into the stereotype of the highly sexed Latin lover, but expressed it in such an over-the-top “macha” fashion as to seem clownish or self-parodying.
Comedic parody is a strategy that some Latina and Latino artists have used to call attention to stereotypes and, at times, to reclaim roles for themselves. Some Latina lesbian viewers I spoke with for this article truly liked Papi’s goofy machisma, seeing it as a positive reclamation of the lover stereotype. Many Latinas and Latinos harbor a soft spot for the Latin lover persona anyway, since it is a relatively positive image among the many negative possibilities.
Another stereotype about Latino culture involves the presence of a large, boisterous, Catholic family. Papi’s family did not feature in The L Word, but several episodes did attempt to provide a culturally authentic home life for Carmen.
These episodes feature a large Spanish-speaking family, with the mother playing a key role. One could quibble about whether the story lines involving the family were authentic or not. The real issue is that authenticity is a one-way street when it comes to Hollywood’s understanding of Latina and Latino identity.
For example, Sarah Shahi is of Iranian descent, and Janina Gavankar, who played Papi, is Indo-Dutch. When it comes to casting, Latina roles become “flexible” to accommodate the casting of actors of other ethnicities. Authenticity isn’t necessary or even seen as desirable when a role that calls for a native Spanish speaker is cast.
White roles, on the other hand, demand that a white actor be cast. In a 2006 paper published by UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center, Russell Robinson concluded that an analysis of current casting practices revealed that “69 percent of available roles were reserved for white actors. Actors of color were limited to between 0.5 percent and 8.1 percent of roles, depending on their racial/ethnic background, and could compete with white actors for the 8.5 percent of roles that were open to white and nonwhite actors alike.”
It may seem strange to some to insist that Hispanic roles be offered to Hispanic actors. After all, there are lesbian characters on The L Word that are not played by lesbians. But acting is also about opportunity and employment. As such, casting has been a key issue for Latinas and Latinos in the entertainment industry since the early days of the studios as well as a focal point of activism. Casting a non-Latina actor in a Latina role was an unfortunate decision on the part of The L Word.
Although inclusion of Latina characters in a program such as The L Word is laudable, ultimately inclusion is not enough. Improving the quality and variety of Latina roles will require integrating more Latinas, with their own perspectives and identity concerns, into the process of storytelling.
For the currently airing Season 5, Venezuelan actor Patricia Velasquez was cast in the role of the Latina character Begoña (above), who appears in the latter part of the season’s episodes. So far, her character has spoken only a handful of lines, but it has been reported elsewhere that Begoña could become a more important character if the show returns for a sixth season. She’s one more reason to hope the show goes on.
