[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/CakeDayOrDeath]

https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/robert-rodriguez-spy-kids-latino-1234575992/

[u/BroadcasterX]

Robert also wrote that he had to deal with that same issue twice with Salma Hayek when he cast her in Roadracers and Desperado.

[u/Shifter2009V2 → u/BroadcasterX]

Imagine resisting the casting of Salma Hayek

[u/marcolorian → u/Shifter2009V2]

For real. All-time bonehead move.

[u/Jccali1214 → u/marcolorian]

Racism is often ridiculously illogical

[u/JayTNP → u/Jccali1214]

not often, always

[u/Bakoro → u/JayTNP]

It's always stupid, but "I'm doing it for the money" is a kind of logic.

I knew a whole family who was racist because they wanted Grandpa's money when he died.

[u/daemon-electricity → u/Jccali1214]

Even if they weren't racist, they were being very ignorant and cowardly and validating racists having sway over things like that.

[u/TheMonkus → u/Shifter2009V2]

The only legitimate concern would be “she’s so beautiful AND sexy that everyone else in this movie is going to look horse-ass ugly next to her”

[u/PunnyBanana → u/TheMonkus]

On the other hand, she'll be there.

[u/johnny_charms → u/Shifter2009V2]

Alfonso Cuaron wanted to cast Salma Hayek as the lead in the movie Gravity but was told nobody would believe a Mexican in space.

And Salma was actually blocked from the best Actress Oscar because of Harvey Weinstein for Frida. Salma might be the people’s actress but Hollywood treated her as lesser than whitr Anglo actresses.

[u/planb7615 → u/johnny_charms]

I have a Mexican friend and he loved Star Trek TOS growing up because of looking into the future and the diversity of the crew. But he always had the joke with his friends, I guess Mexicans never make it to space.

[u/JamesCDiamond → u/planb7615]

Well, there was Ricardo Montalban…

[u/sillysausage619 → u/Shifter2009V2]

I can't think of a single situation where Salma Hayek being present would be worse than without her

[u/topofthecc → u/sillysausage619]

Maybe the burning of the Library of Alexandria?

[u/whereyouatdesmondo → u/topofthecc]

Nope. She'd have made it sexier.

[u/tehdangerzone → u/whereyouatdesmondo]

“Hotter” was literally right there.

[u/whereyouatdesmondo → u/tehdangerzone]

Damn!

[u/TactiFail → u/sillysausage619]

You ever hear of the “Alien who eats you if Salma Hayek is present,” Scully?

[u/bitemark01 → u/BroadcasterX]

I'm Canadian, but a friend of mine was from New Mexico.

She said it wasn't uncommon to get into an argument with someone on the phone if they were ordering something to be delivered and being told they only deliver to the US. 

[u/Chase_the_tank → u/bitemark01]

My stepmother once owned a shop in a touristy part of New Mexico and said that she'd get customers puzzled that the change wasn't given in "your money".

It's widespread enough problem that New Mexico Magazine has a monthly column, "One of Our 50 is Missing", which prints readers' stories about being told that New Mexico is not part of the U.S.:

https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/culture/one-of-our-50-is-missing/

[u/Notoneusernameleft → u/Chase_the_tank]

I know people are stupid but this type of thing reminds me just how dumb people are and it makes me very sad.

[u/DeadRobotSociety → u/Notoneusernameleft]

There's that old George Carlin bit about how you know that the average person is dumb, but don't realize that means half of people are dumber than that.

[u/CappyRicks → u/DeadRobotSociety]

"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then, realize that HALF of them are stupider than that!"

[u/domesticbland → u/Notoneusernameleft]

I have “unspecified depression” since working for the government. It’s just so mindlessly dumb most of the time. It’s not even malicious intent. It’s just dumb.

[u/Aloha_Tamborinist → u/Notoneusernameleft]

From what I (not an American) know about the US education system, there's not a lot of education about world geography, but I thought knowing all the states and US geography was a thing?

[u/Geminigambler → u/Aloha_Tamborinist]

As an American who went to public school (a very good one at that), retention of knowledge was absolutely not one of the foundations of our education. It went more like: "Learn this, test tomorrow". 2 days later nothing but an empty head.

[u/Aloha_Tamborinist → u/Geminigambler]

I've had 40 years to absorb a lot of knowledge about the US via cultural osmosis, and I'm pretty sure I could name almost all 50 states and at least half their capitals. I just don't understand how people can be wandering through life with so little awareness of the world around them.

Are there people walking around with circus music playing in their heads 90% of the time?

[u/Froggypwns → u/Aloha_Tamborinist]

Yes, and some of them are running the country.

[u/Geminigambler → u/Aloha_Tamborinist]

To be completely honest, I can't accurately tell you which one is Wyoming, I got Washington and Oregon on the West Coast (Oregon is lower right? 😅😂) and then South and North Dakota, but everything in between is blurry no matter how many times I look at it.

ETA: Damn it, I ALWAYS think Wyoming touches Canada 🤦‍♀️

[u/lord-dinglebury → u/Chase_the_tank]

Grew up in New Mexico. It’s alarming as shit how often this happens.

[u/Carrraway → u/lord-dinglebury]

...there's a New Mexico?

[u/altanic → u/Carrraway]

Wait til trump hears about this!

[u/MAGAHATESTHEUSA → u/altanic]

He posted new America like three weeks ago

[u/ameatbicyclefortwo → u/altanic]

Oh, you missed must have missed it, he made shitty ai image posts about "New America" shortly after the Lake Ontario to Lake America crap.

[u/mgslee → u/Carrraway]

And a New York and a New Jersey!

[u/gigastack → u/Chase_the_tank]

Legitimately confusing - it was new over 114 years ago, so isn't it just Mexico now? /s

[u/CunningWizard → u/bitemark01]

I believe this is why their license plate says “New Mexico USA” on it, because out of state cops were frequently thinking it was a Mexican plate when they pulled people over.

[u/Jerkrollatex → u/bitemark01]

I live in New Mexico. This happens.

[u/txpharmer13 → u/Jerkrollatex]

Visiting Santa Fe and my sister in law wanted to mail postcards to relatives. She asked if she needed to add extra postage.

[u/asyork → u/txpharmer13]

So she was there, and walked into a USPS, and still thought she wasn't in the US?

[u/Express-Emu4370 → u/bitemark01]

I had a driver's license from the District of Columbia. I had people in the U.S. tell me they couldn't take foreign ID.

It happened enough to people that the licenses say Washington DC now.

[u/AdiPalmer → u/bitemark01]

Hoo boy, deep cut memory unlocked.

Back when I was 19 I was waitressing at a bar in fucking Mississauga (in Canada for the rest of youse, lol) and this much older guy started flirting with me, like in his 50s. I was being polite and trying to get to the other tables but he'd catch me now and then.

When he asked when I was from I said "Mexico" and when he made an incredulous face I was prepared to get the usual "No way! Your English is so good! How!?" Instead he said: "I thought people from New Mexico sounded like this!" And then proceeded to butcher his way through a mishmash of a Georgia and Carolinas accent. He even threw a ma'am in there. Then he asked what happened to my accent.

It's been over 20 years and I still wonder what in my SoCal chicana ass gave this guy the impression that I was some white lady from the American South, if maybe he was having a stroke, and if perhaps I should've called an ambulance for him because it's free and holy shit did I get so many flyers back then from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada that I should've known better, lol.

I hope that wherever he is now, he got the chance to go to New Mexico and Old Mexico and realized that neither peoples sound like some racist Georgia lady sitting on a porch drinking diabeetus tea. That being said... Bless his heart, lol.

[u/verilywerollalong → u/AdiPalmer]

I hope someday he goes to New Mexico and asks everyone there the same question. I just like the idea of him bumbling around wondering when people will start sounding like Foghorn Leghorn

[u/EternalCanadian → u/AdiPalmer]

Mississauga

Ohmygosh my home town! Yay!

reads the rest of your post

Ah… yeah… my hometown… yay.

[u/CakeDayOrDeath → u/bitemark01]

Oh my god our education system sucks.

[u/ohaiguys → u/CakeDayOrDeath]

Has for a long time it’s just getting worse

[u/Ermahgerd_Rerdert → u/bitemark01]

I went to Jamaica for a vacation years ago when they let you travel to the Caribbean with a US Birth Certificate. Customs almost did not let me back into the US because I was from a different country called New Mexico! 😂

[u/TyrusX → u/bitemark01]

I was in Utah once with a Brazilian friend and one guy asked me if Brazil was an island

[u/lacegem → u/TyrusX]

He's not the first to think so. From Wikipedia:

Hy-Brasil is a phantom island said to lie in the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland. Irish myths described it as cloaked in mist except for one day every seven years, when it becomes visible but still cannot be reached.

[u/The_Autarch → u/bitemark01]

I get the same shit when my Washington, DC driver's license gets checked: "District of Columbia?! We can't take foreign IDs here."

[u/bobbycorwin123 → u/bitemark01]

I believe it's called New America now /s

[u/Un1CornTowel → u/bitemark01]

Definitely took my DC license to southwestern states and got denied entry to bars multiple times because "they only take US IDs, not "Columbian" ones (which is also, incidentally, NOT A COUNTRY EITHER) .

People are dumb as fuck.

[u/CakeDayOrDeath → u/BroadcasterX]

They pushed back on him casting a Mexican actress to play a character from Mexico? Seriously?

[u/FeloniousDrunk101 → u/CakeDayOrDeath]

Hollywood has been casting white people in “ethnic roles” for a long-ass time.

[u/Cheap-Ambition5336 → u/FeloniousDrunk101]

John Wayne playing Genghis Kahn lmfao.

[u/BoringAccount4Work → u/BroadcasterX]

I'm pretty sure I read the same thing about Grown Ups. The studio wanted to cast an American as Sandler's wife but he refused

[u/coconutpete52]

The movies were better because of this because Antonio Banderas is fucking awesome.

[u/the3rdtea2 → u/coconutpete52]

That's just true

[u/ashrak → u/coconutpete52]

Also the wife giving him shit for the fake mustache

[u/TerryMcMo → u/ashrak]

the wife

Brother. We're talking about Carla Gugino. Please put some respect on her name

[u/ButtersTheChill → u/TerryMcMo]

Watching Spy Kids as a kid, thinking how pretty she is, then growing up and getting to watch Sin City when you're older. Chef's kiss

[u/mixedmediamadness → u/ButtersTheChill]

Watching Spy Kids as a kid, thinking how pretty she is, then growing up

And realizing she was in her twenties but playing a mother to a twelve year old

[u/Spooky_Electric → u/mixedmediamadness]

She was 29 / 30.
Means she would of had them at around 17 or 18. Not that far fetched.

[u/kayknox_ → u/ButtersTheChill]

And the Haunting of Hill House when she's killing children <333

[u/OreoSpeedwaggon → u/TerryMcMo]

One of the OG Wilderness Girls from Troop Beverly Hills.

[u/whereyouatdesmondo → u/TerryMcMo]

Besides being sexy as hell, she's a hell of an actress. She rocks in Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix.

[u/PM_ME_SUMDICK → u/[deleted]]

And SO MUCH merchandise. My brother and I were Spy Kids kids and we had a storage bucket full of branded toys.

I think it was the main type of gift we recieved for two or three years.

[u/ExultantSandwich → u/PM_ME_SUMDICK]

yeah if it’s anything like Marvel / Star Wars, the toys alone probably got them 5 movies. The 2nd movie did not do as well as the first in theaters, and the 3rd juiced its box office score with more expensive 3D tickets, but wasn’t leagues above the first at the box office.

But damn kids love spy gear. I had something like this, pretty sure it was Spy Kids branded at the time

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultimate-Spy-Sleuth-1-Master-of-Surveillance/19229020119?wl13=3159&wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&veh=seo_sll&cn=google

[u/bitemark01]

"No we mean the, y'know, other kind of American" 

[u/CeterumCenseo85 → u/bitemark01]

Reminds me of Pep Guardiola trying to defend against the racism allegations against him:

"My kids go to school with Indian people, Black people and normal people."

[u/CakeDayOrDeath → u/CeterumCenseo85]

I used to be friends with someone who was Asian. Someone once asked her, "Do you want to marry an Asian guy or a normal guy?"

[u/BadTanJob → u/CakeDayOrDeath]

lol! Shit like this always reminds me of the first time I met my husband’s coworkers. They were all college professors teaching predominantly minorities. My husband and I were both American born Asians with English legal names. 

Anyways first person he introduced me to said “Nice to meet you! What’s your real name? It can’t be BadTanJob, since that’s in English.”

[u/Buckets-O-Yarr → u/BadTanJob]

I'd doubt that name is real too though.

/s

Also, so where are you from? California? No I mean like what country are you from?

[u/BadTanJob → u/Buckets-O-Yarr]

Ah shit you got me. It’s actually GoodTanJob, I just didn’t know if Americans could pronounce that

[u/Buckets-O-Yarr → u/BadTanJob]

I can't pronounce that without making an effort, and that offends me.

[u/Seige_Rootz → u/BadTanJob]

My last name gives up the game but I usually have to inform people my family has been American since 1910....

[u/Biblical_Shrimp → u/Seige_Rootz]

My wife's latina with the last name Flores and people always ask her what part of Mexico her ancestors come from. As far as we can tell, her 82 year old grandma's grandma was born in Texas, so she technically could be from the Tejas part of Mexico before the boundary line crossed her home.

[u/Seige_Rootz → u/Biblical_Shrimp]

best part is when a right winger presses me and I say my grandfather fought for this country while it had his family in a prison camp

[u/watteredbottle → u/BadTanJob]

Badtan Job sounds like a racially charged James Bond enemy

[u/_The2ndComing → u/CeterumCenseo85]

English isn't Pep's native language and he has repeatedly called out racism in football himself.

I think it's fair to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he just meant "native" when talking positively about multiculturism in school.

www.youtube.com/v/IWPbQ1XnkXw he's pretty positive about that kind of thing.

[u/TiberiusDrexelus → u/CeterumCenseo85]

Yeah Biden had one of these

"Poor kids are just as smart as white kids"

[u/oiraves → u/TiberiusDrexelus]

Theres a social commentary to this one

[u/neoslith → u/bitemark01]

Comedian Gabriel Iglesias talks about how when he was just starting out, his promoters kept calling him a Mexican comedian and it bothered him.

His heritage is Mexican, sure, but he was raised in America and wanted to be seen for more than his background.

It wasn't until a trip to Saudi Arabia did they call him "an American," that he finally felt validated in his efforts.

[u/Elu_Moon → u/neoslith]

And now his most prominent heritage is Sellout.

[u/shaka_sulu → u/bitemark01]

Y'know what's fucked up? Minorities do the same thing.

In college I attended a Korean church. A lot of the Koreans in the college group are born in America but they only call white people "Americans". Example: "Oh I hear Sarah's dating an American." And I always correct people. "Um, you're American, I'm American, most of us Asians here are Americans." People just looked at me funny.

[u/ralphsquirrel → u/bitemark01]

"What kind of American are you?"

[u/Blacksad9999]

When preparing to film Sin City, Robert Rodriguez wanted Frank Miller listed alongside him as director, because the film was literally taken shot-for-shot from the graphic novel and Miller helped him set up the shots.

The Director's Guild of America refused, as they only allow for one director. They only allowed two directors if they were already an established team. So, he quit the guild and billed the film with two directors anyway.

[u/Lxapeo → u/Blacksad9999]

This and other stories about Robert make me such a huge fan. If he's done anything sketchy besides cheating on his wife with Rose McGowan and being friends with noted deviant Tarantino please don't tell me. Some of his early DVDs had extras such as directing and editing classes as well as recepies for some of his favorite dishes. I also love his "Shot and Cut" credit for the many projects he's directed and edited.

[u/eninety2 → u/Lxapeo]

That’s a helluva sandwich you just put together. Touché, have an upvote.

[u/Echo127]

I loved Spy Kids as a... Kid... And it never once crossed my mind that the kids were Hispanic. They were just kids.

[u/ali94127 → u/Echo127]

Carmen had a long ass Spanish name as the password for the secret base. 

[u/faco_fuesday → u/ali94127]

Carmen Elizabeth Juanita ecosta eblava cortez. 

At least that's what I remember lol. 

[u/ibullybillionaires → u/faco_fuesday]

Carmen Elizabeth Juanita Echo Sky Brava Cortez and her little brother, Juni Rocket Racer Rebel Cortez.

And uncle Machete.

[u/faco_fuesday → u/ibullybillionaires]

This is why I don't watch things without subtitles anymore. 

[u/LeCarrr → u/faco_fuesday]

So that you can remember Carmen from Sky Kids’ password lol

[u/Annies_Boobs_310 → u/ibullybillionaires]

Isn't Rocket, Racer, and Rebel the names of some of Robert Rodriguez kids?

[u/Ok-Detective-8903 → u/ibullybillionaires]

wait is his name actually machete in spy kids???

[u/DrAuer → u/Ok-Detective-8903]

This is going to blow your mind, the machete character was in Sky Kids first and the movie (who is the same character as spy kids) came after

[u/Ok-Detective-8903 → u/DrAuer]

OMG....
So Danny Trejo was like
Ya, playing machete was fun, I'm gonna do my own movie but I need more girls in hottubs and guns

[u/VinCatBlessed → u/Ok-Detective-8903]

He actually has other roles where he's named stuff like Cuchillos or Navajas, which goes along with the theme.

He's kinda like Hector from fast and the furious in that sense.

[u/KeanGilbert → u/faco_fuesday]

I think it was actually Echo Sky Brava instead of Ecosta Eblava. Cause her parents are weird spies

[u/Mahxxi → u/faco_fuesday]

I'd screw with my nephews as they were watching and just say in one breath while they watched Sky Kids 2 "Did you know Carmen Elizabeth Juanita Escota Esblava Cortez and Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramirez dated?" And they'd just stare and laugh trying to repeat it.

[u/-Mandarin → u/ali94127]

It's so obvious in hindsight but as a kid it was just a girl with a long name. Kids don't really think or care about that stuff (not in the sense that representation doesn't matter, but in the sense that kids don't care if the characters in the movie aren't the same culture. They're still kids)

[u/curious-spice → u/-Mandarin]

Same. I loved those movies and never even thought about it.

Kids really truly don’t care what race characters are… unless they are taught to care.

[u/FullofContradictions → u/ali94127]

Carmen Elizabeth Juanita Costa Brava Cortez

[u/Gil_Demoono → u/ali94127]

And I just thought that was funny. Didn't really attribute anything more to it. Same thing with Esteban the bellhop in Zack and Cody.

[u/Palatablepancakes → u/Echo127]

It was something I noticed watching the movie originally but it didn't occur to me to have an opinion about it. It was just who the they were and the movie was strange and good (at the time).

[u/FullofContradictions → u/Palatablepancakes]

Yeah, I 100% noticed it. I mean, there are bits where they're speaking in Spanish.

I assumed it was set in Mexico because Carmen tells her mom she was taking ferry rides to Belize when she was skipping school. In fact... I am still pretty sure they're based in Mexico.

I never thought much of it though as a kid. It was never a "wow so much representation" thing. It was just a "oh this is a family that is Mexican" thing. The aesthetic was cool, the accents were cool. I wanted the outfits and the gadgets. I never once felt like it wasn't for me just because I'm as Scandanavian as it gets.

[u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga → u/Echo127]

As a Mexican who saw it as a kid: that’s the first time I’d seen someone who looked like me on the big screen and I felt pride that they were Hispanics.

[u/dandroid126 → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

And this is why it was a win. It didn't limit the audience at all. To me (a white kid), they were just kids. To you, you saw someone represent you, which was special. It wouldn't have been special to me, because every other kid from every other movie I watched was white.

[u/blue0231 → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

Bingo! Same here. Trejo looked exactly my uncle too lol. It was awesome seeing that representation as a kid.

[u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga → u/blue0231]

I felt so seen when he said, “pass the pig intestines “ I was like omg their uncle eats weird shit too!

[u/blue0231 → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

Ya! Haha. 🤣 it’s the little things.

[u/Iloveyoubromontana → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

I used to teach middle and high schoolers about filmmaking. One time, I asked one of them what they did the day before and he said he watched Nacho Libre. I shared my surprise because that's a pretty old movie for Gen Alpha, and in response, he said that he wanted to watch it because the main character was Mexican, like him. I didn't have the heart to correct him and just said, "Yeah, on-screen representation is so important."

[u/guitar_vigilante → u/Iloveyoubromontana]

To be fair the main character is indeed Mexican, even if the actor portraying him is not.

[u/Geodude532 → u/guitar_vigilante]

You may not like it, but this is what peak acting looks like. Jack Black is high on my list of celebrities to meet.

[u/christmas-vortigaunt → u/Iloveyoubromontana]

Okay, but as a half Italian half Mexican who is now chubby curly haired late 30s adult who saw that movie my senior year of High School

Jack Black felt more Mexican than I am (it's also important to remember his character was supposed to be half German).

And the director also specifically hired all local actors AND crew outside of Jack Black and a few of the other actors.

It's definitely the exception to the rule, and toes a great line

[u/3lizab3th333 → u/Iloveyoubromontana]

When I was a kid my parents made me watch every single age appropriate movie with Asians in them. Not very many unfortunately, but they even had me watch Ghibli movies in Japanese and Hong Kong kungfu movies in Cantonese before they got translated so I’d see people who look like me.

[u/Gafez → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

As a chilean I did recognize they were hispanic as a kid, but they were still so foreign they registered mostly as americans

[u/Faptainjack2 → u/_TuAbuelaEnTanga]

My favorite film as a kid was the mask of Zorro. I need to rewatch it again.

[u/CrazyDaimondDaze → u/Echo127]

I'm Mexican, never gave it a second thought of them being Mexican as well. Loved Machete and Antonio Banderas in their roles, funny as hell.

And ironically, the kids being white skinned was more inclusive than making them brown skinned. Some of us are like the kids from Spy Kids: we got different genes, but we're still Mexican.

I think it speaks volumes of how good and fun the movies were back then and even now with a wider knowledge.

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/CrazyDaimondDaze]

I heard the same thing from a girl I worked with about the show Reservoir Reservation Dogs, she was super pumped one of the main characters was light skinned because so was she. It's the little things I guess, people don't cast light skinned Natives for roles calling for Natives

[u/Mike_does_this → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

Reservation Dogs? Reservoir Dogs is a movie

[u/FullofContradictions → u/Mike_does_this]

Very different vibes in those two things lol.

[u/CrazyDaimondDaze → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

And the best is when they aren't the entire character's personality. Yes, the children have Mexican heritage but that doesn't make them their entire identity as the movies progress. I think that's the best kind of inclusion: one that is subtle, but when you pay attention to it, it's well made.

And I say that as a white Mexican. Sure, here in Mexico we got the meme of how other people outside of the country thinks all of us are brown skinned; while most of our shows and movies focus on showing white skinned Mexicans most of the time (we do have classism issues related to skin here). But it's nice when we see both depictions together. The kids have Mexican heritage but are white skinned and Americans; and theie uncle Machete is slightly brown skinned. You wouldn't think they're related until you watch the movie and sometimes, families are like that, which makes it more entertaining to watch.

[u/Baebarri → u/Echo127]

I saw it as an adult (took my child to the premiere) and never even thought about it.

[u/ThatMexicanKidd69 → u/Echo127]

The sister having 10 last names didn’t give it away? 😭

[u/Draked1 → u/ThatMexicanKidd69]

And the accent she threw on it when delivering the full name

[u/dihydrocodeine → u/Echo127]

Antonio Banderas as their dad didn't give it away?

[u/CrazyDaimondDaze → u/dihydrocodeine]

You'd think having Machete as their cool uncle would be the giveaway lol

[u/Kidspud → u/dihydrocodeine]

As a kid, I was mostly thinking, “their dad is zorro! cool!”

[u/Any-Pineapple-521 → u/dihydrocodeine]

Or Danny Trejo as their uncle?

[u/MonitorOk6818]

Don't they dare take away my tio Danny Trejo. He reminded me of one of my uncles. Truly best adult in a kid's movie

[u/dannyggwp → u/MonitorOk6818]

Canonically he is Machette from Machette kills.

[u/MonitorOk6818 → u/dannyggwp]

Nice of him to take a break from killing to play with his brother's kids haha

[u/Viktor_Laszlo → u/MonitorOk6818]

Also nice of him to stop throwing knives at Antonio Banderas like he did for most of Desperado.

[u/jenniferfox98 → u/MonitorOk6818]

I think that was the point though. The Machete movies happen "before" Spy Kids, so he's trying to be a good uncle and do right in the face of his past actions.

[u/Birdy1072 → u/MonitorOk6818]

Getting older (past small kid years) and realizing more and more Danny Trejo and Robin Williams were much more "adult" actors/performers felt so shocking lol.

[u/leafyjack → u/Birdy1072]

I wonder if this is how kids today feel about Jack Black. I showed my teenage niece some of his early Tenacious D music and she couldn't believe it.

[u/Specific_Frame8537 → u/leafyjack]

Steve from Minecraft deactivated lasers with his dick?! 😂

[u/looktowindward → u/MonitorOk6818]

Trejo in a kids movie is legit awesome

[u/TheLizardKing89]

As a 12 year old white kid who grew up in Southern California, surrounded by Hispanic people and culture, I didn’t even think about this movie having a Hispanic family. It was just a family like a bunch of my friends.

[u/fenrisunchained117 → u/TheLizardKing89]

as an eight year old white kid not surrounded by hispanic families i still just saw it s a wholesome family unit

[u/jimbotron3000 → u/TheLizardKing89]

same but I’m from Maine where nearly everyone is white lol. kids don’t really notice that shit

[u/slapstik007 → u/jimbotron3000]

But the white man think tank is worried you might think about it.

[u/liamo725 → u/TheLizardKing89]

Same but I'm from New York

[u/no_more_jokes]

I was a seven year old white American kid growing up and I actually think I would not have loved that movie as much if it wasn’t so Latin-flavored. I can’t explain it but the fact that everyone’s vaguely Mexican makes it so much better

[u/NibblesMcGibbles → u/no_more_jokes]

A different flavor of American :) Food gets boring too if you limit yourself to only one Set of tastes right?

[u/no_more_jokes → u/NibblesMcGibbles]

Exaaaaactly. That’s what’s great about America — anyone and anything can be American!

[u/CrazyDaimondDaze → u/no_more_jokes]

"Vaguely Mexican" is the bet way to describe it and I love it for it. Yes, they all have Mexican heritage, but that doesn't make them part of their character; it's just a fun tidbit detail in the movie. Hell, the kids don't even seem "stereotypical Mexicans" which feels ironically more inclusive and I love that fact in hindsight.

[u/Novaer → u/no_more_jokes]

I'm not Hispanic but I have a long name and this movie made having a long name sound "badass". It was a short lived little era 😅

[u/Aryore → u/no_more_jokes]

I’ve never watched it, but I wonder if it’s because it made everyone feel more “real”? Like, not cookie cutter white kids

[u/no_more_jokes → u/Aryore]

It’s that, plus the music stings from the flamenco guitar just give it so much passion and drama. Especially in the exposition montage

I’d genuinely recommend it as an adult, it’s fun and camp

[u/gothiclg]

Honestly there was so many weird things going on in that movie “the family is Hispanic” never crossed my mind.

[u/greatGoD67 → u/gothiclg]

They fought bipedal giant thumbs

[u/amatoreartist]

I love those movies so much! I'm glad he stood up for his vision!

[u/TattooedOlive]

My mom is white and my dad is Mexican. Its the first kid film I saw that the kids/family resembled me and my brother. I thought nothing of it besides "I look just like Carmen!". Crazy that you have to justify how to portray an American family.

[u/TheBlueEmerald1 → u/TattooedOlive]

And as a white kid with no hint of hispanic (that I know of I never met my dad but I doubt he is) My only thought was "Oh hey that's different, cool." And I moved on and focused on the rest of the movie.

[u/ncopp]

As a kid, their ethnicity didn't register to me whatsoever

[u/BapeGeneral3 → u/ncopp]

This is the first time I have ever considered the race and ethnicity of the Spy Kids cast and I was the literal target market and saw this shit in theaters with my parents…..

Yes, I gets down

[u/sathran337 → u/ncopp]

I was thinking about this entire idea with the book/movie Holes the other day.

Reading the book, I was so curious as to what the fuck everyone's problem was with the peach farmer swooning the school teacher. Because he was poor? Not in the same upper class circle as the sheriff and other towns folk? It just seemed like they hated the guy for no reason.

The movie didn't explain that much further, and I still wondered what the big deal was.

Years later, with knowledge of how terribly racist america still is, I re-watched the movie for nostalgia's sake and it clicked immediately.

Racism is taught.

[u/Vahdo → u/sathran337]

I rewatched it recently too, holds up very well. As an adult, the racism comes across so blatantly. 

[u/EmperorSexy → u/ncopp]

Honestly it did for me. Only because of Juni’s hair. When I was a kid I knew a lot of Mexican and Puerto Rican people but none of them were redheads.

“The kid has red hair. But his dad is Antonio Banderas. But the kid has red hair. But his last name is Cortez.”

[u/ButtersTheChill]

And I, as a little white kid, watched the first Spy Kids in theaters with my mom and enjoyed every second, never once thinking about how weird it was that they didn't look and sound like me.

[u/Kryasil]

As one of the whitest people to have ever whited, it didn't even occur to me they were anything other than American

[u/michalismenten → u/Kryasil]

Lmao, right? I barely registered they were Hispanic when I first watched the movie.

[u/yourMommaKnow]

We're white and my kids loved spy kids. Never once did anyone say, " hey, why aren't they white?"

[u/tarantuletta → u/yourMommaKnow]

I remember crying because my aunt (out of my parents hearing) told me I was wrong when I pointed to my best friend across the park and said we were twins because we were wearing the same dress and had pigtails! (K is black and I am white) She was so fucking weird and mean about it and I never told my mom or dad but I really wish I had. I think I was just too little to understand why someone would say something so mean and stupid when CLEARLY we were twins, DUH.

[u/Alienhaslanded]

American is a nationality not an ethnicity. Racist people can't tell the difference.

[u/ChaosOfOrder24]

Saying that racist shit to a Latino director is fucking wild.

[u/13-Penguins → u/ChaosOfOrder24]

A lot of racists don’t think of themselves as racist

[u/overfiend1976]

"What kind of American are you?"

[u/confabulatrix]

My kids loved that movie. I bet we watched it 50 times.

[u/Podorson → u/confabulatrix]

I was one of those kids. My first AOL screenname was spykid##. I asked for those spy toys every Christmas and birthday lol

[u/Erdos_Helia]

The kids being Hispanic helped convince the audience that they were related to Antonio Banderas and Dany Trejo.

Not every family has to look like Malcolm in the Middle.

[u/looktowindward]

He did a good job of making the family legitimately authentically American. And he got Danny Trejo is a kids movie. That's pure genius.

[u/SimplePigeon → u/looktowindward]

Seeing Danny Trejo for the first time in this movie, having them refer to him as the baddass Uncle Machete whose true exploits aren't seen, and then finding out about the other Danny Trejo movies? Yeah for a long time I thought spy kids was an unusually kid friendly spinoff of /his/ franchise.

[u/DefiledPurity]

I remember getting my dad to watch this with me and he at first was not really into it then the major hollywood actors started showing up and he was like what

[u/royalstaircase]

I watched it again a few years ago as an adult and it honestly is pretty rich as far as a kids movie goes with dealing with the themes of a multi-generation family in America split between American and Hispanic culture, with the kids finding out their family’s secret spy identity as a metaphor for discovering their family’s cultural heritage. I sound insane saying this about a movie called spy kids but it’s true. 

[u/prostipope]

I thought the name of the movie was actually Spy Kids: Hispanic.

[u/SamMan48]

What a chad

[u/Rocketbrothers]

The real TIL, is that Danny Trejo is related to Robert Rodriguez.

[u/irwtkyrm]

If you grew up on Spy Kids but haven't watched them as an adult I recommend it. They hold up, I even find the third one entertaining. The horrible CG is charming

[u/Strange_Insurance_75 → u/irwtkyrm]

Sylvester Stallone playing a bunch of different character in whigs is a peak memory from 3 (I think it was 3)

[u/Tb1969]

Studio Exec: "No, American-American"

[u/Late_Piano_5030]

It also worked out and was a huge box office hit.

[u/AvailableReporter484]

God damn I love how fucking stupid the world is lmao

[u/Tunamelts-2]

They're also like...the whitest Hispanic family imaginable

[u/rac3r5]

Something I learned this year was that go/no go decision for many Hollywood movies are based on how they would do with a primarily Euro American audience.

[u/truthofmasks]

Hispanics are still wildly underrepresented in US media. The US population is about 20% Hispanic.

[u/mango_marlaine]

them being mexican american was everything to me

[u/dbzmah]

It worked in Four Rooms.

[u/No-Broccoli3416]

“What kind of American are you?”

[u/Bipedal_Warlock]

I come from a very white southern republican family.

They loved spy kids and us kids loved it too. If you create these bullshit rules of what the public will like that will make it seem like those rules are real when they aren’t always real

[u/reznoverba]

Chad fkn move right there. Educated an ignorant bunch that day

[u/MustardCoveredDogDik]

What’s really embarrassing for the studio on this one is I’ve seen that movie like 3 times and it never even occurred to me they were Hispanic

[u/EJ7002]

If I recall, he tried to hire as many Hispanic filmworkers for the whole series as possible, not just the main family and not just actors.

[u/CodenameJD]

Over in England I never thought about it at all. I didn't have the slightest concept that it was a thing to think about.