THE PAIN OF THE MACHO
South American machismo has been studied, however, in such books as Octavio Paz’s The Labyrinth of Solitude and Samuel Ramos’s Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico. But the sort of machismo one associates with Latin America can also be encountered in this country and in such far-flung places as Japan, Italy, Ghana, Turkey, and Russia (to name a few). The languages may differ, but the pride, the sense of brotherhood, and the simultaneous love and mistrust of women are all the same. The art of such 20th-century icons as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and Diego Rivera cannot be studied without an understanding of their machismo.
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Another touching, strong characterization is Najera’s exploration of the legendary entertainer-producer Desi Arnaz, a representative of all intelligent, innovative men who are not taken seriously because of their Latin accents. Najera makes a fantasy list of all the “Latin” sitcoms Arnaz might have pitched to the networks and never been credited for. A wickedly funny character is Miss East LA, a woman who does not want to relinquish her crown. Especially wonderful here is Najera’s great comic gift for mincing, bitchy petulance.
