this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 43 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Case in point: Mexicans loved Speedy Gonzalez.

[–] VindictiveJudge 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Probably because he always outwits his opponents and always wins. He's not any more crazy than the other Looney Tunes, he's as smart as Bugs, and unlike Bugs, he's never cruel and remains firmly heroic.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's the crux. He's a Mexican stereotype, but at the time, it was rare to have a good guy who looked like that.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 11 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

He was also the exact opposite of the other stereotype of the "lazy Mexican" - which, for anyone who's ever worked construction with actual Mexicans, is comically inaccurate.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

I wonder how much of the 'lazy Mexican' stereotype comes from a combination of an afternoon siesta (...to avoid the hottest part of the day, which could be deadly prior to air conditioning), and the chronic anemia that could be caused by hookworm infestations that used to be common in areas with poor sanitation (incl. the American south; some of the same stereotypes existed regarding rural southerners for many decades)?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

Interestingly, they also made a heroic "lazy" Mexican in the form of Slowpoke Rodriguez. (He pack a gun.)

[–] Shardikprime 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Rodríguez cousin knew how to pack heat

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife 1 points 2 weeks ago

I think he was a Salamanca.

[–] FlyingSquid 9 points 2 weeks ago

When I was 12 or 13, we took a trip to Mexico and took public transportation and stayed in small non-touristy places where the people staying in the hotels were more likely to be Mexicans than Americans (not to save money, my parents just thought it would be more fun). I remember sitting in a hotel lobby with a TV on and some Mexican kids sitting around watching Speedy Gonzales cartoons dubbed into Spanish with their parents casually chatting and I was like, "WTF? Isn't Speedy Gonzales racist? They don't care? They like it?"

Like VindictiveJudge says, he's the hero who outwits his opponents and always wins. I'd add that the opponents are always American.