A “Gringo” Take on Spanish Telenovelas

"Casa de mi Padre" (Image Courtesy of : Filmofilia.com)

With a tagline reading “From the “gringos” who brought you ANCHORMAN…”, I instantly was hooked.

And then I saw the trailer, and I knew that “Casa de mi Padre” staring Will Ferrell was going to once again solidify the star as the comedic genius that he is.

According to Entertainment Weekly, it was written by veteran writers of both SNL and Funny or Die, and is in actuality, “a kind of ode to the  melodramatic  telenovela style.” With a team or writers like that and an entertainer/comedian/actor/star like this, “Casa de mi Padre” is certainly worthy of building incredible buzz.

For such a unique film, the ideal target audience would revolve around young teen and college-aged Latinos, particularly those who have integrated with the American culture and can fully appreciate the comedic genius of Ferrell and his take on Spanish soap operas. Mexicans in particular, being the fastest growing minority group in the United States and being America’s closest neighbor, seems to be the most appropriate population to focus on in promoting this new film.

The logic behind this promotion is due to the ironic nature of the entire film and especially in the trailer for the movie. For instance, it is utterly contradictory, but still amusing how throughout the trailer, the background narrator speaks in English, while the actors’ Spanish speech is always subtitled in English on-screen. Additionally, side jokes are constant throughout the promo, including jokingly calling the film “The biggest international motion picture of all time”. These subtle puns are perfect for drawing in attention of the younger crowd, as many of these understated jokes would be quickly missed by those older and thus, more than likely, unfamiliar with both the American and Latino culture.

Most importantly, the film’s choice in starring actors immediately speaks to a multi-cultured audience. The main star of course, is the famous American comedian, Will Ferrell, and the accompanying casts includes some of the most popular Latino stars in the world, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. Both of these two Latino men are often featured in romance tales or dramas, a far cry from their current project with Farrell. Bringing together such distinct entertainers is why the Latino youth, being so diversely cultured and open to new ideas, is the ideal audience for this movie. Perhaps, this promotion could be extended to a similar-aged audience in the mainstream American society as well.

In contrast, older Latinos, particularly those who are deep-rooted in the Latino culture and are unfamiliar with American pop culture, might find this distasteful or even disrespectful so they should be much less targeted that than their younger counter-parts.

Regardless, it will sure to interesting to see what this unique and culturally diverse film really is all about.

See you all in theaters on March 16, 2012!

Chad Javon Ochocinco – A Man of Many Cultures

Chad J. Ochocinco

Surprising to some, Chad Ochocinco is indeed one of the foremost and most popular Latino entertainers in American society today. Unknown to many, he is in fact one quarter Mexican as his father is both African-American and Mexican. Many individuals simply assume that because of his dark-complexion that this cannot be so, but it indeed is.

Throughout his entire life, Ochocinco has pushed beyond stereotypes and broke past traditional rules, and this is exactly why I am so infatuated with him a entertainer.

In today’s society, I think it is important for Americans of all types, especially Latinos, to realize and understand why exactly he so famously changed his name a few years back. Many today believe that Ochocinco disgraced the Latino culture by legally changing his name from Chad Johnson, but in fact it is quite the opposite. In actually, he did so to embrace and highlight the Hispanic culture during the Hispanic Heritage Month in September 2008. Many Latinos did not see it this way, but then again, Ochocinco has never really played by the rules or been a fan-favorite.

The main reason that I find this particular individual so entertaining is simply due to his erratic behavior, especially on the football field. I believe that in recent times, the game of football is becoming increasingly strict and uniform in that more and more, there are heavy penalties for celebrations of any kind. I believe that this is taking away from the game as a whole.  Ochocinco feels this same way and therefore refuses again and again to follow these guidelines. In doing so, I believe that he brings something incredibly different and entertaining that many athletes simply do not offer. Ochocinco is simply expressing himself to his fans and critics. It also needs to be noted that he did so while never once displaying inappropriate or directly offensive behavior. Although the commissioner might not be a fan, the crowds certainly are. This fact cannot be ignored as the fans are truly just as important, if not more so, than the actual players.

Although in recent months, Ochocinco football production and effectiveness have begun to rapidly decrease, signifying an end to his Hall of Fame career with most athletes, I can only hope that this will not be the end of the great Chad Ochocinco. I certainly wish that he as an entertainer will simply take his gifts to another arena…. sports broadcasting on television.

A Quote to Help Inspire:

“I Am Thankful & Grateful For This Blessing-Filled Journey”