Another PC Crisis at Bowdoin?

[OHMomof2]

@Zinhead

…or not.

Speedy Gonzales was born in the early 50s and was intended to be a real stereotype of what Anglophones in the United States considered to be a “typical” Mexican: he spoke with an exaggerated Mexican accent; he wore an oversized sombrero, Mexican type, and white shirt and trousers, with a red kerchief around his neck.

His speech was sprinkled with Spanish words like ¡ándele! ¡arriba! amigo, gracias, señor, gringo, hasta la vista… and others to make him sound authentic and real.

The cartoon hero became very popular and was an instant success with audiences who laughed at the Mexican mouse’s way of talking and acting. However it backfired on its creators and American audiences as well.

Speedy Gonzales’s character welcomed by Hispanics

Speedy Gonzales did not offend the Hispanic public, on the contrary, they found the mouse amusing, clever and a character that outsmarted the “local” cartoon personalities he was pitched against, like Sylvester the Cat (el gringo pussygato), Porky Pig, Wily Coyote and even Duffy Duck. How so?

Mexicans have always been depicted as slow and easy going but the creators of this cartoon character turned him into a plucky, energetic, speedy hero of the underdog, like a modern cartoon Zorro.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/speedy-gonzales-hispanic_n_4039787.html