Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

This trope is [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff]] [[X Meets Y|crossed with]] [[Actually Pretty Funny]] (or with [[Misaimed Fandom]], depending on your perspective): when people of a particular ethnicity or nationality ''embrace'' an unflattering caricature of them concocted by another. This is ''occasionally'' a case of [[Insult Backfire]], though it happens most often when the caricature in question is clueless rather than intentionally offensive.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', for example, being made of exaggeratedly stereotyped [[Anthropomorphic Personification|anthropomorphic personifications]] of countries, has plenty of fans all over the world. A lot of the characters are well-loved in the countries they represent (probably because they can see those stereotypes and know how to laugh at themselves) - however, there are definitely American fans who aren't that fond of America, despite him being the second most popular character in the United States, etc.

** Finland in ''Axis Powers Hetalia'', a [[Moe]] boy with a close relationship with the big and scary Sweden, is actually quite indistinguishable to Finnish audience, save for maybe the fact he's said to be surprisingly strong in the cold, a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Finns With Fearsome Forests|Winter War]] (of which Finns cannot seem to get enough). They ''still'' like him.

* In the ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise there are two "American" characters who stand out, Duo Maxwell of [[Gundam Wing]] and Chibodee Crockett of [[G Gundam]]. Both characters are the [[Boisterous Bruiser]] of their show and have their own fair share of [[Eagle Land]] tendencies, but are both highly popular characters in the United States. Duo because he's a [[Badass]] and one of the sharpest characters in the show and Chibodee because he's so damn [[Crazy Awesome]].

* [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|Bandit Keith]]... ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|in]]'' ''[[Memetic Mutation|America!]]'' {{spoiler|Although he's actually Canadian.}}

 

 

== Eastern Animation ==

 

== Film ==

* Many rock fans and rock stars [[Love It or Hate It|either really love or really dislike]] ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' for being a close-to-the-bone [[Affectionate Parody]] of rock excess and culture, especially as the "Spinal Tap" analogy has become synonymous with such behavior and art. Some of that may have to do with how deeply involved with their own excesses they were at the time they viewed the movie; Steven Tyler of [[Aerosmith]], fueled by drug-induced paranoia, allegedly thought the movie was specifically mirroring the Aerosmith story and hated the movie as a result.

* A possibly apocryphal story says that the late Kim Jong-il found ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' to be hilarious, despite himself being the movie's villain.

* ''[[American History X]]'' has its share of neo-Nazi fans. Though the movie is intended to show that racism is wrong, the neo-Nazi main character has some admirable qualities. He is strong, fierce, proud, and a good leader to his gang.

* ''[[Borat]]'' is quite popular in Kazakhstan, despite the title character being a deliberately absurd [[Funny Foreigner]] who acts ''nothing'' like a real Kazakh, and the general portrayal of Kazakhstan as a dirt-poor backwards country inhabited by ignorant racist buffoons. This mostly comes from the fact that the movie helped reintroduce Kazakhstan to the public eye after [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]] left it without a real national identity.

** Despite the ridiculous amount of anti-Semitism, many Jewish people often find it hysterical as well (it helps that they're in on the joke that [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] is Jewish).

* [[Don Bluth]]'s ''[[Anastasia]]'' was actually well received in Russia and a box office hit, since its distributors took care to market it as not history but a historical fairy tale, letting the audience watch it with a fair dose of [[MST3K Mantra]].

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Harry Potter|Quidditch Through the Ages]]'' it is mentioned that Quidditch isn't particularly popular in America, as Americans prefer Quodpot, a game which is similar, except the Quaffle [[Stuff Blowing Up|explodes]]. A typical American reaction to reading that passage? "They need to make a Quodpot World Cup videogame."

 

 

* In spite being yet another one of countless American works that tend to focus on the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi era]] when it comes to [[All Germans Are Nazis|featuring Germany and/or Germans]], ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' did nevertheless become popular in Germany, due to massive [[Woolseyism]] in its treatment of the German characters, giving them [[German Dialects|different regional accents]] and adding various other cultural references which were played for comedy.

* The Swedish Chef of [[The Muppets]] is well-received in Sweden. Or as a Swede would say, skoode moode bork bork bork.

* German series ''Der Popolski Show'' involves a none-too-bright, heavily drinking, simplistically religious Polish family with a persecution complex. For some reason, it's apparently liked by Poles living in Germany.

 

* El Generico is a Canadian white boy whose gimmick is a [[Masked Luchador]] parody. His catchphrase is "Olé!" This did not stop him from getting massively over with Mexican audiences in L.A. based indy promotions.

** Well, the audiences were probably happy to see the ''luchador'' style at all, now that the big promotions (WWE especially) have largely phased it out along with the cruiserweight division.

** It should be pointed out that JTG and Shad Gaspard were ''[[Robin Hood]]''-like [[Loveable Rogue|face characters]] during almost their entire WWE run, and always got the better of their (somehow always deserving) heel victims.

* This happens with all the [[Foreign Wrestling Heel]] characters, who become [[Draco in Leather Pants|heroes in their home countries]] despite all of WWE's attempts to depict them as despicable and/or pathetic. Examples include Sylvan in Quebec (French Canada) and the Great Khali in India.

 

== Theatre ==

* ''[[The Mikado]]'', despite being a very broad caricature of Meiji-era Japanese society, has always been very popular with the actual Japanese people. During [[The Edwardian Era]], at the height of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, a member of the Imperial Family visited London, hoping to see the play for himself, only to find that every production had been closed for fear of offending him! Today, the play (actually a satire of ''Victorian'' mores in the guise of Meiji ones) remains very popular in Japan.

 

== Video Games ==

* Most Brazilians love Blanka from ''[[Street Fighter]]'', and a great number of Brazilian gamers felt disappointed after learning he's not native, after all.

* '''Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth!''' from ''[[Disgaea]]'' is a straight-up parody of American sci-fi hero characters. He is also much more popular in America than he is in Japan.

* All the characters of ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' are ethnic stereotypes (except the Pyro) with bloodthirsty natures, unhinged mentalities, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and unrealistic accents]]. They're also utterly hilarious, and meant as [[Affectionate Parody|affectionate parodies]]. What Russian ''doesn't'' want to be a huge [[Nigh Invulnerable]] Heavy who wields a ginormous minigun? What American doesn't want to pull off [[Crazy Awesome]] stunts like the [[Eagle Land|Eaglelander]] Soldier? Which Australian wouldn't want to live in a universe where their country is a [[World of Badass]] where everybody gets futuristic technology and amazing 'staches? Nobody, that's who.

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

* The [[Trope Namer]]: surprising to many, [[Speedy Gonzales]] of [[Looney Tunes]], despite being an obvious stereotype of Mexicans, is actually quite a popular and beloved character in Mexico and throughout Latin America, where his cartoons still run to this day. From 1999 to 2002, the cartoons were banned in the USA by Cartoon Network, who had exclusive broadcasting rights, and discontinued by Warner Bros., but a massive fan campaign and lobbying by the League of United Latin American Citizens eventually led to this practice ending. Of course, the most offensive aspect of Speedy (his broken English and terrible Spanish) is not present in actual Spanish-language dubs of the shorts for export, so this may explain some of his appeal outside of the United States. Mexicans point out that Speedy is actually a ''positive'' figure - not only is he more physically capable than his opponents, he more often than not defeats them through cleverness than speed. Even Slowpoke Rodriguez, Speedy's audaciously ridiculous [[Erudite Stoner]] cousin, is "fast upstairs in the cabeza," and ''hypnotizes'' Sylvester in seconds.

** Referenced in ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]'', when Porky Pig meets Speedy at the Warner Bros. canteen and they talk about how [[Political Correctness Gone Mad|having to be PC]] ruined their careers, since Porky has a handicap (stuttering) and Speedy is an ethnic minority.

** Also, while the [[No Export for You|eighth season and beyond was not dubbed for them,]] South Park's sizable Japanese fanbase loves the episode ''Good Times With Weapons'', which is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of anime. The song in said episode, [[Intentional Engrish for Funny|"Let's Fighting Love"]], which is in real but nonsensical Japanese, has reached [[Memetic Mutation]] levels on Nico.

** ''Le Petit Tourette'' got a positive response of the Tourette Syndrome Association for the episode’s accurate portrayal of the disability while they did understood the series is known to be an [[Equal Opportunity Offender]], meaning even the disabled are fair game.

* Ned Flanders of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' is popular among conservative Christians despite being a caricature of them.

* Despite being a stereotype, Boris and Minka Kropatkin from the [[Rugrats]] ended up being relatable to Jewish viewers of the series, especially those of Ashkenazi Jews.

[[Category:Useful Notes/Mexico]]

[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]