Latinas and Latinos on TV: Colorblind Comedy in the Post-racial Network Era (Latinx Pop Culture)

Since ABC’s George Lopez Show left the airwaves in 2007 as the only network television show to feature a Latino lead, the representational landscape of Latina and Latino actors has shifted from media invisibility toward an era of increasing inclusion. Sofia Vergara became the highest paid woman and Latina on TV for her starring role on Modern Family . In the first successful dramedy starring a Latina since ABC’s Ugly Bet ty, Gina Rodriguez gained critical acclaim for her role on the CW’s Jane the Virgin . And the first Latina leading lady of TV, America Ferrera ( Ugly Betty ), returned to TV stardom in NBC’s Superstore . This period of diversity brought U.S. Latina and Latino lives to the screen, yet a careful look at TV comedic content and production reveals a more troubling terrain for Latinas/os producers, writers, actors, and audiences. Interweaving discussions about the ethnic, racial, and linguistic representations of Latinas/os within network television comedies, Isabel Molina-Guzmán probes published interviews with producers and textual examples from hit programs like Modern Family , The Office , and Scrubs to understand how these primetime sitcoms communicate difference in the United States. Understanding the complex ways that audiences interpret these programs, Molina-Guzmán situates her analysis within the Obama era, a period when ethnicity and race became increasingly grounded in “hipster racism,” and argues that despite increased inclusion, the feel-good imperative of TV comedies still inevitably leaves racism, sexism, and homophobia uncontested. "Interweaving discussions about the ethnic, racial, and linguistic representations of Latinas/os within network television comedies, Isabel Molina-Guzmán probes published interviews with producers and textual examples from hit programs like Modern Family, The Office, and Scrubs to understand how these primetime sitcoms communicate difference in the United States. Understanding the complex ways that audiences interpret these programs, Molina-Guzmán situates her analysis within the Obama era, a period when ethnicity and race became increasingly grounded in hipster racism, and argues that despite increased inclusion, the feel-good imperative of TV comedies still inevitably leaves racism, sexism, and homophobia uncontested"--Back cover Critically Looking At How Latinos/as Have Been Represented In Network Sitcoms And What So-called Colorblind Humor Really Means--provided By Publisher. Introduction : Latina/os, Hipster Racism, And Post-racial Tv -- Scrubs(ing) The Beginnings Of Post-racial Tv -- Hipster Racism Comes To Colorblind Tv -- Reading Against The Post-racial Tv Latina -- Conclusion : Post-racial Past And Colorblind Futures On Tv. Isabel Molina-guzmán. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Latina/os, Hipster Racism, and Post-Racial TV 18 1. Scrubs(ing) the Beginnings of Post- Racial TV 41 2. Hipster Racism Comes to Colorblind TV 62 3. Reading Against the Post- Racial TV Latina 96 Conclusion: Post-Racial Past and Colorblind Futures on TV 118 Notes 134 References 138 Index 148