WHITE ALLIGATOR
Follow us!
  • TRAILER
  • ABOUT
  • PRESS
  • MOVEMENT
    • MISSION
    • BLOG
    • CARTOONS
    • SUPPORT
  • TEAM
  • CONTACT

The Chicken and the Egg

9/27/2012

0 Comments

 
WARNING: THIS MAY BE CONSIDERED CONTROVERSIAL

Last night, I was the unfortunate witness to a Facebook bullying and criticism of my dear cousin's "lifestyle."

He's gay, people, let's just say it, he's openly gay with no regrets. Moving on.

So what happened was he posted something about Chick-fil-A on Facebook, and
another (somewhat estranged) family member started attacking him simply for being gay. This bully was attacking a family member, someone he grew up playing
with as young boys on the island of Puerto Rico.

How did we all get here? Where a family member is attacking another?! At one point, someone said to this gay-hating cousin, "How could you say these things?
You're a minority!" Thing is, he didn't see himself as a minority even though he's Puerto Rican (it's a small island). As a white, heterosexual, Christian male, he considered himself in the majority and with the power to bully "everybody else."

How fascinating. He could not see his own vulnerability and therefore was unable to develop empathy. This man exists in a bubble where he is king and what he says goes.

You usually see this kind of behavior mostly in...well, kings. Or that modern version of royalty, the 1%.

What's funny to me is the reason that the controversial 1% wins so many battles is that they have managed to convince the 99% that they are all separated into a very careful hierarchy of importance. American, white, Christian, heterosexual, male is the highest level in this hierarchy, right? Then deductions follow according to religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, skin color and sex.

But if you start adding up all the possible minorities - women (ha), Jews, Muslims, Asians, Indians, LGBT, little people, blonds, paraplegics, Irish, Atheists, etc. - you're going to find that the minorities are in the majority. And the reason they get pushed around so much is that they've bought into the "us" versus "them" model that the kings have sold us over the centuries. But instead, if we adopt the "there but for the grace of God go I" model, we become powerful and plentiful and there is no stopping any of us. We will not be bullied, we will not be harassed or marginalized. We will stand together, ALL OF US, and win the war.

This is not just a movie. This is a movement.

0 Comments

The Hat issue

12/9/2011

1 Comment

 
I had a happy little accident a few days ago.  I had been writing a blog post about the recent hullabaloo regarding white actors cast in a Hartford production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' "The Motherf*cker in the Hat":

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/playwright-criticizes-casting-for-production-of-the-____________-with-the-hat/ 

And lo and behold, it was totally erased by my faulty computer after three hours of editing it.   I cursed my own existence, and gave up for the day, vowing to revisit at a later time when I was more calm.  That time came today when I happened upon a fellow actor's blog regarding the issue:

http://peacockchronicles.com/

I found that the talented Carmen Pelaez summed up my experiences exactly, so I didn't have to write anything!

After you've perused these articles, I will leave you with this: I completely support Guirgis' views regarding the production and understand his anger at not giving Latino actors the opportunity to audition for this production.  However, I found myself grimacing while reading about the issue, simply because of the manner in which Puerto Ricans were swept under an enormous umbrella of a certain urban type.  In fact, I expected more care to be taken in using labels for a certain ethnicity from a publication as prestigious as the New York Times.  Dare to dream.

It did make me realize the absolute NEED for a wider range of Hispanic characters in our media outlets.  The reason the term "urban" was not used to describe the characters instead of "Puerto Rican" is because there have been no true successes on a wide scale from Puerto Rican artists to make known the wide range of walks of life that Puerto Rican society enjoys.  It (obviously) is as big as any other society, as big as what they call the "white" society.  There are white Puerto Ricans/Americans, there are black Puerto Ricans/Americans, there are poor Puerto Rican/Americans, there are white Puerto Rican/Americans.  There are even rich-then-stock-market-crashed-and-now-poor-with-a-dark-skinned-son-but-from-light-skinned-parents Puerto Rican-Americans.  I think you get the point.  How odd then, that only the poor and black Hispanic population is portrayed in our movies and media outlets.  How very odd.

I wonder why that is?
1 Comment

A Second Miracle...

8/9/2011

1 Comment

 
(Originally published on Kickstarter on August 4)
Aliens have been spotted.

I'm just kidding! The miracle is that thanks to 148 backers - plus Angel Mercado's enthusiasm and generosity in increasing his pledge - we've reached our goal!

We're currently at $10,010, which is just so beautiful and almost perfectly symmetrical, that it makes me giggle. Thank you, all of you!

"But we still have 10 days to go until the end of the campaign," you may say. "What will we do now?"

We'll figure it out. But for now, we celebrate!

And on that note, I leave you with quite the interesting interview with Modern Family's Sofia Vergara:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/29/sofia-vergara-on-david-beckham-tom-cruise-the-smurfs-modern-family-emmys.html

For our purposes, I've cut down the chit-chat and gotten to what I felt was at the heart of the interview. I've included my own responses to the interview as if I were sitting with Sofia and Marlow (the interviewer). I am notated by VL, for Viviana Leo.

MS: Upon researching you for this interview, I read that you're actually a natural blonde. Why did you make the switch to brunette?

(VL: Oh, Marlow, you're terrible! I know where you're going with this, and I commend you. Let's see how this shakes out...)

SV: Yes, I'm blonde. When I started as an actor, because of the accent and my body and my personality, it was not what the stereotype of the Latina woman in Hollywood is, so they didn't know where to put me. The blonde hair wasn't matching. The moment I put my hair dark, it was better for my work. I think I changed it five or six years ago, but I got used to it. It toned me down a little bit. Before, I was the blonde with big boobs and a big mouth. [Laughs] It toned me down and I really like it.

(VL: Interesting. Yes, we all face this question of whether to stick to our guns and not work, or sell out and become a household name. And we, the audience, allows this to happen! I myself had to take a stage name, and Ms. Vergara, I don't blame you in the least. No, I know what you're thinking, Marlow, I really don't. Had I been given that choice, who knows what may have been. For dyeing her hair, Ms. Vergara is now working often; whereas I, the white Latina, am writing and producing my own work, which truly is much harder and less cost effective. Thankfully, I have a cushy day-job and no children. But who's to say what the future brings. I do a killer Puerto Rican accent, and there's always darker foundation...)

MS: Has being loud ever gotten you into hot water?

(VL: Wait a minute, I'm not finished. I'd like to address Ms. Vergara's statement, "they didn't know where to put me." How about the leading lady in a major Hollywood romantic comedy? How about the leading lady in pretty much anything?! Why's it gotta be about what piece of land we happen to be born on?!)

(Ms. Leo is now belligerent and has to be calmed down by security.)

MS: [As I was saying...] Has being loud ever gotten you into hot water?

SV: It is what it is. Latins, we're like that! We're very passionate and very loud and we scream and shout, but then we forget.

(VL: Really? (silence) Hmm. (a contemplative moment) Well, I have always been quiet and shy myself. But what we're saying is that I'm actually supposed to be loud, and what else? Scream. Yes. Well, I do scream on the inside when I see injustice, but I tend to keep a level head at all times. Though I always assumed that was from my own unique personality. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe to be intelligent, level-headed and studious is actually a trait that all Latinos carry...oh wait, is that what you meant to say?)

MS: Casting agents love to stereotype actresses in Hollywood, but you've really spun that around and made it work to your advantage.

SV: I think I'm going to be stereotyped forever, but I'm not scared of being stereotyped. I'm Latin. I have this accent. I'm lucky that I got this role and showed people that I can be funny. I would never go and read for Schindler's List 2 because I know I'm not going to get the part. It's just a matter of finding the right roles for me. I'm never going to play a scientist or something crazy.

(VL: Indeed, science is crazy, isn't it? And it's just so insane to think of a Latino performing difficult scientific tasks! Oh my. It's just so beyond us. It's interesting, a great uncle comes to mind. According to my parents' stories, he worked on the Manhattan Project back in the '40s. Oh wait, my memory is also recalling my mother's cousin, Nestor, who is himself a backer for this project. He's a chemist who works in Washington. But seriously, other than those two individuals, I highly doubt a Latino could be believable as an actual scientist. Oh wait, my father also comes to mind. Weird. He's an anesthesiologist. And my cousin the neurologist. Gosh. Now I've got Latin scientists on the brain, and the names just keep coming! But what I really meant to address before is that I heard there will in fact be a Schindler's List 2, because one really isn't enough. And guess what? I'll be there auditioning. Cause I do a phenomenal German accent, thanks to an accent coach, and that's really all it takes, isn't it? Did I mention I was a finalist for a role in Irena's Vow on Broadway with Tovah Feldshuh, thanks to a Polish accent I perfected and killer acting skills? Let's all start dwelling in the possibilities, now, shall we?)
1 Comment

A white Puerto Rican walks into a bar...

8/9/2011

3 Comments

 
(Originally published on Kickstarter on July 27)
A huge shout-out to the Tirado/Rodriguez/Morano/Ahearn family! They've really come through and helped us get to 69%! Thanks for everyone's generosity and hard work to help us get this far. Keep spreading the word!

I was recently getting a snack at one of my favorite vegetarian stands, and while I was waiting for my order, I strike up a conversation with a lady who was waiting in line. She complimented me on my dress in English, and I responded in Spanish since I had heard her speaking it before. Her reaction was like I had stripped myself of my human costume, and a giant cockroach was staring at her speaking Spanish. She couldn't believe it. I told her I was from Puerto Rico, just like her, and she starts going on and on about how white I am. I told her that I had an aunt named Maritza, which was her name, and she wanted to know if there were others like me. At the time, I wish I had my Korean friend with me who grew up in the Dominican Republic, just for sheer theatricality.

We eventually got to the point where we could have a conversation, but it took a while for the shock to wear off. Truth be told, I could've been telling her I had the secret to counting cards, she couldn't have taken it in because of the shock from my being white. I wonder if my parents reacted the same way when I was born: "You have a daughter.", "Whaaaat? She's whiiiite?", "Do you want to hold her?", "But...we're Puerto Rican...", "Should I just lay her down then?". I'll have to ask them, though somehow I doubt it.

But who knows, maybe it's my fault. Maybe when I meet new people, I should just become accustomed to having to wait about five minutes before we can get off the subject of my skin color. But truthfully? I haven't the time. Which is why I'm making this movie.

Thanks for your support everyone!!
3 Comments

    Viviana Leo

    Viviana Leo is the writer and star of White Alligator.

    RSS Feed

    Follow this blog

    Archives

    December 2013
    August 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    Actor
    Actors
    Albany
    America
    American Dream
    American Latino Media Arts Award
    Antioxidants
    Artist
    Ava Duvernay
    Berlin
    Beta-carotene
    Blackface
    Business School
    Calcium
    Cannes
    Carmen Pelaez
    Castro
    Chick-fil-a
    Cholesterol
    Civil Rights
    Classics
    Colorado
    Comic Books
    Commercials
    Community
    Day Job
    Disney
    Dowry
    Emma Stone
    En Mi Viejo San Juan
    Erich Von Stroheim
    Ethnically Ambiguous
    Film
    Filmmaker Magazine
    First Latina Princess
    Fitting In
    Francesco Quinn
    French
    Gay Rights
    German Vogue
    Greed
    Hartford
    Harvard
    Hispanic
    Hollywood
    Humphrey Bogart
    Hypochondria
    Immigration
    Irena's Vow
    Jane White
    Jonathan Larson
    Jose Antonio Vargas
    Juanita Perez
    Kickstarter
    Klimt
    Ku Klux Klan
    L.A.
    La Patria
    Latino
    Maitely Weismann
    Manhattan Project
    Marriage
    Melissa Mayer
    Metro Ny
    Miami
    Middle Of Nowhere
    Minority
    Naacp
    Naho Iguchi
    Nerds
    Neue Gallerie
    New York
    New York Lotto
    Nightwing
    Nytimes
    Open Letter
    Passing
    Pbs
    Physicians
    Piano
    Poverty
    Power Of Now
    Princess
    Princess Sofia
    Print Ads
    Protein
    Puerto Rican
    Puerto Rico
    Quinoa
    Race Blind Casting
    Rent
    Robert Townsend
    Role Model
    Salma Hayek
    San Juan
    Sat
    Schindler's List
    Science
    Scrabble
    Seattle
    Ski
    Sofia Vergara
    South Korea
    Spanish
    Stephen Adly Guirgis
    Stereotypes
    Stetson Kennedy
    Subway
    Superheroes
    Sweet Potatoes
    Swiss Chard
    Tarantula
    T. Colin Campbell
    The American Way
    The Best Years Of Our Lives
    The China Study
    The Help
    The Motherf*cker In The Hat
    Tj Maxx
    Tobey Maguire
    Toby Dawson
    Tokyo
    Twitter
    Type A
    Vail Daily
    Vegan
    Ventanarosa
    Viola Davis
    Walter White
    White
    White Alligator
    White House
    Woman
    Wrapped
    Yahoo!
    Zoe Saldana