Being Seen

My inspiration for writing these post always seems to happen when I have a lot of studying to do and right now I don’t think I could cram one more New Testament fact in my head.

I wasn’t planning on watching Brooklyn Nine Nine. I didn’t think I could buy Andy Samberg, the goofy guy I watched on SNL growing up, as a detective. I decided to give it a try when I saw Stephanie Beatriz, an actress I saw perform in Ashland’s Shakespeare festival twice, was in it. (So yes Mom, you were right about this show.) I liked it immediately for obvious reasons, like the good writing and sense of humor it has in its storylines. As someone who wants to be a cop and has spent a lot of time with cops, cop shows can be a little painful to watch sometimes. Bad stances and not clearing corners usually leads me to rolling my eyes. But this show is not trying to be a serious cop show, so I can let the little stuff go. And actually, their stances aren't that bad.

But what I really have grown to love about the show is the diversity. It’s a diverse cast that the media is slowly but surely starting to recognize. There are two female Hispanic detectives (Rosa and Amy are the two characters I’ll be focusing most this post), one African American Sergeant, and an African American captain who is gay. Is diversity on tv my top priority in life? Probably not, I think they’re are a lot more important things that face minorities, but what I’ll touch on this post and others is the little impacts having diversity have on our culture. Before I get to that whole spiel, I’ll introduce Amy and Rosa.

At first I really just liked these two characters because I can see myself becoming a perfect mix of them both when I become a cop. Rosa is on the antisocial side and can be snarky, and Amy is an authority pleaser (to a fault sometimes). Both are smart and effective detectives. It’s really nice to hear that neither of these characters where written to be Hispanic. They were blank slates in a way and when the actresses were cast, their characters were adapted a little to fit the actresses ethnicities.

I also identify with these characters because of how being Hispanic is part of their identity. It’s a part of their identity, but it doesn’t completely define them. It’s only one small part of what makes up them as a person. There are small references that make up this Hispanic identity, such as referencing Rosa’s catholic school upbringing, but being Hispanic is certainly not brought up every episode.

I don’t mind having Hispanic characters on tv, such as Gloria on Modern Family, that have an identity that is made up much larger of being Hispanic because this is certainly how some Hispanic women in everyday life identify. The problem is when we only have characters like that on tv because it puts this idea out in society that in order to be really Hispanic, it has to be a huge part of your identity.

I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying to figure out for myself how much being Hispanic is part of my identity. To be honest, right now I’m unsure. There are times I feel completely distant from Hispanic culture (a lot of this comes from the fact I can’t speak Spanish) but I do recognize it’s at least part of my identity. I can’t deny it when the one thing I can cook well is breakfast tacos I learned from my dad.

I feel like these two women perfectly depict how I identity as a Hispanic. I’m someone who looks a little Hispanic, has some Hispanic aspects of culture that make up my identity, but not someone who is completely identifying as Hispanic. That isn’t something I will feel badly about and it doesn’t make me a bad Mexican or person. I don’t have to prove my Mexican identity to anyone. It’s my identity and no one can tell me it is wrong. Although my identity is something I’m still struggling with, ultimately I think I see myself as an American who has some other cultures that make up my identity.