Dame Edna "forget Spanish"

[P. Kerim Friedman]

>From today's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/10/business/media/10MAG.html?pagewanted=print
&position=top

The New York Times
February 10, 2003
Gaffes on Hispanics, From 2 Well-Known Mouths
By DAVID CARR

Two very different media personalities have touched a nerve among Hispanics.

First, Dame Edna, Vanity Fair's over-the-top advice doyenne ‹ and the alter
ego of the humorist Barry Humphries ‹ gave some flip advice in February's
issue when asked to suggest a language to learn.

"Forget Spanish," Dame Edna wrote.

"There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a
quick listen to the CD of `Man of La Mancha' will take care of that." She
added: "Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help?
Your leaf blower? Study French or German, where there are at least a few
books worth reading, or, if you're American, try English."

Dame Edna's consistently tasteless advice usually draws chuckles. But Latino
organizations inundated Vanity Fair with e-mail messages, calls and letters.

"We don't equate Dame Edna with Trent Lott," said Lisa Navarrete, a
spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza. "But what was written
reinforces stereotypes and really hits a nerve with Latinos who have grown
up with people looking down on our language and culture."

She suggested that the presence of Salma Hayek, a Mexican-born actress, on
the cover of the issue only made the insult sting all the more. Ms. Hayek
herself wrote a letter that Vanity Fair provided.

"I'm sure you think you're funny, maybe sometimes you are, I wouldn't know,"
Ms. Hayek wrote. "However, your humor in the February issue of Vanity Fair
brings me to the conclusion that you're only funny-looking." She added, "The
great irony is that I am Mexican, I speak Spanish, and I am on the cover of
Vanity Fair."

Vanity Fair issued a statement saying that the editors "regret that certain
remarks in our February issue by the entertainer and author Barry Humphries,
in the guise of his fictional character Dame Edna, have caused offense to
our readers."

Then, on Thursday night, the Fox News talk host Bill O'Reilly, used the word
"wetback" as he fumbled for the word "coyote" to describe smugglers who
transport illegal immigrants over the border.

Mr. O'Reilly returned a call to say: "I was groping for a term to describe
the industry that brings people in here. It was not meant to disparage
people in any way."

Representative Silvestre Reyes, Democrat of Texas, whom Mr. O'Reilly was
interviewing when the word slipped out, said in a statement: "Of course, he
didn't intend to say it. But the fact that `wetback' is a part of his
vocabulary and slipped out is a clear sign of where his views fall."

A Fox spokeswoman said on Friday, "The network doesn't condone the use of
any racial epithet, nor does Bill."

As for Vanity Fair, it will soon print Ms. Hayek's letter, which ends with
advice for the advice columnist.

"Start talking to the help and the leaf blowers," she said. "It seems to me
they have a lot to teach you."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy