MovieChat Forums > Carrusel (1989) Discussion > Question about one of the characters

Question about one of the characters

posted 17 years ago by aq_23
3 replies | jump to latest

I have been looking everywhere for information on this show. And I finally found it. I don't speak spanish or understand a lot of it so I go by actions on the show but I know bits and pieces to follow some of the story not everything though. I watched the show but one thing bothered me was the little lone dark skinned boy in the class. Who appeared to be picked on and he liked a blonde haired girl who didn't like him at all. Anyway my question is it is common in spanish culture to have the darker skinned people as outcasts or seen as lesser than? I was greatly bothered by what I saw on the show because it seemed very obvious that this was based on his skin color. Maybe not to anyone else but to me it felt that way. Since he was on only child in the class who was dark. Anyway I felt sorry for him. Does anyone know what happened to his character on the show? I never got to see the last episodes.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] karmapolize 17 years ago

Maybe this is a better answer; In Latin-American cultures it is more widely accepted to put down people of darker skin, unfortunately or fortunately for those who oppose political correctness, there is no real uproar over this sort of understated discrimination. Maybe because things are not done in such a way as have existed here in the United States or other parts of the world, where discrimination against blacks was/is blatant.

In Latin American cultures it is perfectly acceptable to call a black person, "negro," which as you know is Spanish for black. Mainly because the term is used as a descriptive term and not a put down or insult. Mexico and other countries (in Latin America) have created "adorable" black characters, maybe in a show of affection towards their black community. This same action is looked down upon in the overly politically correct American society, as you will remember two years ago or so Al Sharpton almost had a heart attack when he was show Mexican postage stamps depicting a character known as "Memin," a popular Mexican comic strip.

Ultimately, the blond haired girl was rejecting him because of the color of his skin, yet she was way into the Jewish kid. Go figure.

And yes, skin color remains a not talked about, kind of underground caste system in Latin America. There is a general arrogance most Argentinians have towards the rest of Latin America because of their "white purity," which is absolute *beep*

Im pretentious.

[–] ash-61 16 years ago

In the final episode of the series, Maria Joaquina (the spoiled blonde brat) sent Cirilo (the black kid) an apology letter, asking him to forgive her and asking him if he would like to be her friend. Happy ending for this boy, hooray!