Are You Sure Your'e Mexican

A blog about being a 3rd generation, bi-racial Mexican American, who doesn't speak Spanish (though I'm learning!) and working with a diverse, inner-city high school population. I have found using the label Mexican-American for myself proposes more challenges than one would think. This blog, in a nutshell, focuses on those challenges.

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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Whose Your Daddy? or Pop-Culture (get it? Pop-Culture?))

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It has been a long year.  In fact, its been a whole year since I wrote on this blog.  Not that I am trying to make excuses, but exciting things have happened.   "What could have possibly distracted you from giving us your profound wisdom?" you're probably asking yourself.  On a professional level, I spent the year as a Dean, doing administrative-type-work at my school.  *cough* way over my head *cough*  And on a personal level, I became a dad.  This is a scary concept, I know.  I am now responsible for another human life.
Though fatherhood isn't something I want to necessarily make my blog about, I will however plan on speaking about it from time-to-time.
As I sit here and contemplate this role I have stepped into for the rest of my life, I thought it would be interesting to look at some of my pop-culture's offerings for models of parenting.

Let's go through the line-up of all star dads from my childhood...
Homer Simpson-  The irresponsible father, frenemy to his son
 Pro's of Homer as a parent:  *Loves to eat with his kids
                                              *Takes his kids on fun, yet ridiculous outings

Con's of Homer as a parent:  *Neglectful
                                              *Supports child abuse (remember all those times he choked Bart?)
                                              *  Drinks heavily

Jason Seaver- Psychiatrist father and theme song writing extraordinaire  
Pro's of Jason Seaver as a father:  *Able to psycho-analyze his children
                                                     *Took in homeless youth, Leonardo Dicaprio

Cons of Jason Seaver as a father:  * Missed the fact that Ben, his youngest son skipped months of class
                                                        and in the end was a bigger screw-up than Mike ever
                                                        was
                                                        *Ran his practice out of his house, with unstable patients "dropping
                                                         by" at any given point, creating a vulnerable situation for his
                                                         family
                                                        * Let his kids be friends with characters named "Stinky" and
                                                          "Boner"

Heathcliff Huxtable- "Create a scheme so to teach my kids a lesson" father, and fashion icon
Pro's of Heathcliff Huxtable:  * Able to orchestrate family performances for the numerous sets of
                                                  grandparents
                                               * Taught Theo a valuable lesson virtually every episode

Con's of Heathcliff Huxtable:  * Missed the fact that Theo was dyslexic until he was in college
                                                 * Let all of his damn kids move back home, season after season
                                                 *Let his son refer to females a "Burgers"
                                                 * Let his kids hang out with questionable characters such a
                                                    "Cockroach" and "Bud"


This is my pool to choose from for elite dads on TV... well the ones that initially came to mind.  After trying to think of a Latino role model, all I could think of was him:

Abraham Quintanilla- The Mexican Joseph Jackson
Now, I know that Edward James Olmos's role as Selena's father was from a movie, but any other prominent Latino father came AFTER my childhood years.   Now-a-days you could look at someone like George Lopez (whom I have been told I have a slight resemblance to), but not when I was growing up.

What can I gather from all of these sages of fatherhood?  Pretty much this:  I shouldn't look at anything television or movies have to offer for parenting.  I have learned that lessons can't be solved in 2 hours, let alone 30 minutes with commercials.  I have learned that there are good days and there are bad days, and if my life as a father was taped for a tv show, I wouldn't be doing much better.  As far as real life goes, I do have my own father as the strongest role model:

Ok, maybe Lionel Richie isn't really my dad, but he bares a strong resemblance to Billy C!  My dad, though not perfect, did a pretty damn good job, if I do say so myself.  He taught me responsibility, honesty, integrity and perseverance.  If I do even half as good of job at being a father to my son, as he was to me, then I think my boy will grow up just fine.  This is all for now, but I am sure I will have more nuggets of wisdom to share soon. 
So, now you tell me.  Who did I miss?  Who are some father figures in pop-culture that either set a good example or poor example of parenting?