Don’t speak Spanish? That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to understand the homophobia in this ad!
Latin gossip site Guanabee reports: “In this regional spot from Northern Mexico for a cell phone dealer called Ahorro Cel, a woman receives a call from someone asking to speak to her, ‘maricon,’ or faggot, son. To which she replies, ‘He’s no faggot!’ To which her son, who has popped out of the adjoining room in drag, applying blush, replies in his queeniest whine, ‘Yes I am, mah!’ Then the announcer says something about expecting the unexpected from Ahorro Cel. And then there’s a gay little person because all adds about Mexicans must feature a little person.”
Hopefully you’ve got Tony Perkins and Maggie Gallagher in your MyFaves.
alex
Was that truely homophobic? Yes Maricon is not a good word but the way they all react to indicates that the guy in drag is happy and proud and the commercial isn’t saying that there is anything wrong with him just implying that it is not expected.
7SnowyNights
Three things:
One, I’m hispanic, and in the circles I’ve been in (though I really try not to associate myself), Hispanics are rampantly homophobic, possibly because they are just as Catholic (“Catholic” meaning that they pray to the Virgin, think gays are devils, and drink/fuck/smoke like animals [again, these are the people I’ve met and experienced]).
Two, this ad is more absolutely random than anything. Some weird guy, no idea who, calls for the gay son, and the son pops out to…there’s no sense in anything that happens. This ad was probably just looking for shock, though that last close-up of the son makes it ridiculous enough to make it parody.
Three, is it just me, or does that “gay son” look like an actual woman? Like, I know some drag queens and trannies (which I say only in the most loving of ways), and even the very good ones have a trace of masculinity. This one…something about the teeth tells me its a girl. An ugly girl, but still.
bryce
to me, the ad is hilarious, and not offensive.
but mexican tv is way different than american tv:
especially if 7snowynights is right about rampant homophobia in mexico,
maybe this is really a mean spirited and offensive ad.
seriously though. to me, its hilarious.
triskil
I dunno…I guess it depends on the use of the word maricon (sp?). I mean I refer to myself and others as queer, fag, etc… In the states we have reclaimed many of these terms or at least softened them. I would have to ask a Mexican who was out in the Latin gay community.
mb00
umm..I don’t know about this one. I from Northern Mexico myself, and though I was raised in California from the age of eight and understanding their humor was somewhat of a task. What I’ve can gather from watching Spanish TV is that it never translates the same in English. My mom & dad would be busting stitches watching some show in Spanish and me saying to them “That’s not funny!!”…or “I don’t get it”.
So yeah, I think if you were to translate it to English, I can see how it would come off as homophobic.
It doesn’t offend me.
Mike
Ummm… what’s “homophobic” about this ad?
niles
That’s just Mexico – the dude on the phone was probably going to make a date with his “maricon”.
jake
I thought it was funny – is it really homophobic? I thought it was actually pro-trans! One guy calls his transsexual lover, and the mom is in denial. The mom’s reaction is very telenovela. It was really cheesy.
adrianukun
hi guys, i’m a mexican living in guadalajara, probably the gayest city in Mexico, and well, maybe I can explain what’s going on down here.
Though Mexico is still deeply homophobic, i believe this ad is not, the word maricon is more accurately translated as queer, not faggot, which would be puto, and that word isn’t necessariously offensive.
Then, the ad is trying to be ludicrous, mexican humor is based on sexual puns and cultural stereotypes( the drunkard, the nosey lady, the unbearable mother-in-law, the uneducated indians, the flamming tranny) and none of those is considered discriminatory because we see that as a form of dealing with reality, no excluding social groups.
And finally, the community has come to transform the meaning of former derogatory words, such as, puto, joto, pasiva, loca, etc. By using as funny and everyday words, they have lost their offensiveness, hardly any gay person would get angry from being called puto concerning their sexuality since now it is something closer to cobarde or pussy.