Gordita Chronicles Is The Next Latino-Led Show To Be Cancelled, So Why Are All Our Critically Acclaimed Shows Getting The Axe?
When will Latinos finally have their moment in Hollywood?
Despite rave reviews and a positive portrayal of a Dominican family’s experience moving to the United States, HBO Max’s Gordita Chronicles is the latest Latino-led show to get the axe. I’ll be honest, hearing this news makes me tired.
In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson from HBO Max shared: “Live-action kids and family programming will not be part of our programming focus in the immediate future, and as a result, we’ve had to make the very difficult decision to end Gordita Chronicles at HBO Max. The series earned critical acclaim and a loyal following, and we are proud to have worked with creator Claudia Forestieri and our two powerhouse executive producers, Eva Longoria — who also masterfully directed the pilot — and Zoe Saldaña, to bring Cucu’s journey to the screen. We thank them and the talented cast and crew for creating such a heartfelt, groundbreaking show that connected deeply with a very important demographic.”
So if the series has “critical acclaim and a loyal following,” why pivot to move away from this type of representative and inclusive programming? It seems more streamers continue to go down the cancellation route with Latino-led shows that are really impacting people, especially when it comes to family programming. Despite critical acclaim and awards, Netflix cancelled shows like The Baby-Sitter’s Club, Julie and the Phantoms, One Day at a Time, and Gentefied and Disney+ cancelled Diary of a Future President. While One Day at a Time found a second home at Pop and CBS, it only ran for one additional season as fans continued to worry each week about whether the show would get cancelled or not. Spoiler alert: it was.
Despite brilliant creatives like Claudia Forestieri, Gloria Calderón Kellett, and Ilana Peña creating inspiring shows about the vast experiences of Latinos, we continue to get shafted time and time again. In UCLA’s 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report TV analysis, it revealed that Latino talent remains the most underrepresented in Hollywood with Latinx actors only making up just 6.3% for broadcast, 5.7% for cable, and 5.5% for digital in the 2019-2020 television season. Meanwhile white actors continue to take on the majority of over 56.6% of roles and higher across these fields.
Throughout the past three seasons of the Pop Culture Planet podcast, I’ve spoken to a number of Latino creatives about why we continue to be pushed aside in Hollywood. Mexican animator, writer, director, and voice actor Jorge R. Gutierrez is the genius mind behind animated masterpieces like The Book of Life and Maya and the Three, but none of his shows have gotten more than one season. In fact, Netflix recently canned his upcoming project Kung-Fu Space Punch while still in development. According to Gutierrez, Netflix is looking for shows that blow up through word of mouth, not intensive marketing. “Netflix gets to control all that narrative. They go, ‘Queen’s Gambit had zero marketing and it became one of the biggest hits in the world, Squid Game had zero marketing and people just discovered it.’ So their philosophy to us is, if it's good, people will find it and people will tell other people and it will grow. That's super hard and, while those are successful examples, man, it's tough and, for creators, a lot of the time it falls on them to promote their thing.” So basically if a project doesn’t blow up to the global phenomenon status of Squid Game, it’s not worth making?
Meanwhile On My Block and Liv and Maddie actress Jessica Marie Garcia opened up about how disappointed she was about the cancellation of Diary of a Future President when she joined me on Pop Culture Planet. “I'm so mad about that honestly because I feel like this show was something that I wish I would have had growing up. I know that so many people, especially in the LGBT community, would have loved to have seen growing up you know, especially as a Latino struggling,” she shared. “You know our culture isn’t necessarily the most welcoming with those that are coming out of the closet. So the fact that we had a character whose family was embracing him and encouraging him to be himself is just so beautiful. We need more shows like that especially to watch with our families so it was really heartbreaking that it that it's not continuing.”
She also shared her thoughts on why Latino-led shows keep getting the axe. “If we don't see our story told exactly the way that we've lived it, we're done. We're over it. We don't allow for any breathing room or any mistakes. It has to be perfect or it's done and that's what's so upsetting because we've grown up watching all of these white shows and been fine with it. Why can’t we have the same forgiveness for our shows?” said Garcia. “I think one of the hardest things I've found in the Latino community is how much we don't support each other. We do have so many different stories and we're not all the same, but I think that we need to support each other in any way that we can, We need to stand up for each other before we can expect anyone else to do that for us. I really look up to the Black community for doing that. It’s bad enough that there’s such a lack of support for our Afro Latinos in our community. That’s why I’m so vocal. The only way we’re going to advance as a community is if we support each other.”
Gutierrez discussed why it’s such a mistake to skip out on Latino audiences. “Look at how much money you're leaving on the table. Look at the statistics. Look at how 34% of box office audiences is Latino. The Latinos went back to the movie sooner than anybody else. Latino moms spend the most on their kids than anybody else,” he said. “Look at the power of these communities. Look at how unserved they are and look at how much money you're not making. Look at how much money movies directed [by] and shows created [by] and shows with diverse casts are making. That's how you get [Hollywood] to turn, but every time something doesn't do well the [Hollywood] robot just looks away more.”
How we're portrayed on screen gives others permission to treat us in stereotypical ways and effects how we feel about ourselves, that is why it's so important to tell our own authentic stories and actually get a chance to see those stories played out. The power seeing yourself in a positive light can have on a person is palpable and can change what you feel is possible for yourself. “It matters to see yourself represented on screen because growing up I didn't see myself represented. I always saw the funny chubby white men, like John Candy or John Belushi. And then if I did see a Latinx character, they were cleaning the bathroom or the gang banger and I was like, ‘Is that the only roles that I could ever play?’” What We Do In The Shadows star Harvey Guillén shared with me on an episode of Pop Culture Planet. “Is that how Hollywood sees us? It’s just like a whole bunch of people are just working in your kitchen? We do that, yes, and more. So the opportunity to do those characters was really kind of discouraging. You know, I want the role, I want to get the part, but I also don’t [want] to feed into a stereotype. I’m so glad that as the years went by [I started] doing roles that I was really proud of and that encourage people and are inspiring [like with] Guillermo.”
Playing Guillermo de la Cruz on What We Do In The Shadows changed Guillén’s career trajectory of what he thought was possible for himself. “Growing up all the things that were told were my strikes against me — like I always said, ‘I'm always round, Brown, and proud’ — and those are the things that people were like, ‘Well you can't be a badass if you're above a 30 inch waist or you can't be a badass if you're queer, you can't be a badass if you're Latin.’ It doesn’t make sense,” he shared. “So to incorporate all of those things into one has been a dream come true.”
Garcia even shared how her work as an actor came full circle at the premiere for Gordita Chronicles when she got a chance to speak to young leading lady Olivia Goncalves, who plays the bold and ambitious Cucu Castelli. “I’ve been so blessed to have this opportunity to live out my dreams. The fact that it resonates with other people just blows me away because I know what it’s like to be that little girl that wants it so bad, but doesn’t think it’s possible. When [Olivia Goncalves] was talking to me, she was telling me how much she watched On My Block and Liv and Maddie and how it helped her believe that she could do this. What stuck out the most to me was she said that there wasn’t something wrong with her. That kills me because we know what it’s like to feel like there’s something wrong with you. There’s absolutely nothing wrong. She is just everything, she is a ball of light,” shared Garcia. “To think I had anything to do with that, I’m just incredibly thankful. I’m very humbled by it. It’s a lot because I know what it’s like to feel like that. I mean, there’s still days where I feel like that. I just hope that there’s even more representation for all of us because the last thing I was ever is for my daughter to grow up and feel like there’s something wrong with her.”
When it comes down to it, something needs to change. While we do need to show our support of the various Latino experiences and communities we are getting in film and TV, we also need higher ups to give our stories a real fighting chance. Where is the disconnect if a show like Julie and the Phantoms can have a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, win multiple Emmys and an MTV Movie & TV Award, and still get cancelled? What really matters in keeping these shows around if loyal followings or critical acclaim or people finally seeing themselves represented positively for the first time aren’t the KPI these companies seem to care about?
The studio behind Gordita Chronicles plans to pitch it to other networks in hopes of finding a new home for it. Hopefully if it gets picked up, we won’t be holding our breaths each week that the show isn’t cancelled again after one more season.
