Juanito most annoying character of all time? - The Black Scorpion (1957) Discussion

[–] bok602 15 years ago

YES! Not only is he one of the most annoying child actors ever needlessly inserted into a film (like Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch); he is also one of the most stereotypical of all bad Hollywood Mexican stereotypes -on the same embarrassing level as that kid in Beast of Hollow Mountain.

He added nothing to the story or the plot, was a definite liability and is the one real flaw in an otherwise neat little picture.

He really should have gotten eaten.

"If you don't know the answer -change the question."

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[–] xnet95 14 years ago

I definitely agree with you! He was the only negative in this movie. I kept wanting to see him get eaten, too - or at the very least, beaten for failing to respect his elder's wishes.

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[–] as537 14 years ago

You've obviously never seen Short Round in Indiana Jones:The Temple of Doom.That little twerp never shuts up and is in almost every scene.

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[–] starwolf 13 years ago

I agree - Short Round is tops on my list for most annoying use of a gratutious kid in a movie.

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[–] nycruise-1 12 years ago

Little Mexican kids have a way of doing that - especially in (but no limited to) sci-fi movies.

"Juanito" here, "Julio" in "Dinosaurus," and "Panchito" in "Beast of Hollow Mountain."

There's also "Alfredo" in the TV comedy "Lucy Goes to Mexico" and "Pablo" in Disney's "Pablo and the Dancing Chihuahua" (both cute[?] attempts at illegal alien characters[!]).

But perhaps "Juanito" is THE most annoying, for the mere fact that the director had him pronounce his dog's name as "PAN-chito" ("a" as in "cat") instead of the phonetically-correct "PON-chito" ("a" as in "wand").

Jeez - if you want your characters to be annoying stereotypes, don't make them ignorant of their own language as well!

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

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[–] bok602 11 years ago

But he "had" to be ignorant, don't you see?

Otherwise it would go over the heads of the ignorant American writers who created him for the equally ignorant American audiences who clamored for ignorant racial stereotypes.

Ignorant Americans get confused and don't like it when you correct their preconceived stereotypes.

"If you don't know the answer -change the question."

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[–] StormSworder 11 years ago

And that irritating little boy in "Godzills Vs the Smog Monster". I forget his name, but he keeps wailing "Papaaaaaa" in an irritating voice. (Of course that could just be the fault of whoever did his dubbed English voice. A lot of the dubbed Godzilla films have silly voices, which is why I prefer watching the original Japanese versions with subtitles).

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[–] cdjunkee-1 11 years ago

I'm sititng here watching "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" and thought it was the same kid in this. But it's not. Mario Navarro who played Juanito was in fact in another B movie called "The Beast of Hollow Mountain". I thought that was interesting.

~I love the rhythm it is my methoood!~

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[–] babettegillette 11 years ago

From a long tradition of annoying children in movies. He would at least be a close second.

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[–] gregzilla68 10 years ago

Don't forget "Pepe" in "20 Million Miles to Earth".

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[–] nickm2 10 years ago

Don't forget "Pepe" in "20 Million Miles to Earth".

Y'know it might be me, but "Pepe" just doesn't sound like a Southern Italian name...

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[–] aa56 8 years ago

My vote goes to Arliss in "Old Yeller."

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[–] GSPdude 8 years ago

I think he was the model for every kid in every Jurassic Park movie. And the frustrating thing is, no matter how many dumb things they do, you KNOW they're not going to be eaten.

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