**This Big Time Rant has no space for racist interactions. If your intention is to spread hate speech or otherwise express indifference toward my take on Carlos Garcia's Hispanic culture, please leave. This is not the post for you. Not only will I be sharing my take on Carlos' culture, but additionally I will be sharing my own thoughts and experiences from MY Hispanic culture in relation to his.**
I wish Carlos leaned more into his identity as a Hispanic-American and spoke more Spanish. I'm not saying he should've been speaking Spanish all the time or even be relatively fluent in the language, but I only recall him saying about 5 words in Spanish ever.
"Mis amigos" (2x: When he said "Stand back, mis amigos" as he busted down the door to a dressing room in Big Time Photo Shoot a short while after the "snowmobile break".)
"Papi" (1x: When his father, Officer Garcia, kicked down the door to apartment 2J in Big Time Break and said, "Did someone lose a helmet?")
"Número dos" (2x: When filing a false police report in Big Time Lies for a robbery he and James staged to avoid getting in trouble for 'soda-bowling' at Rocque Records.)
I just think it'd be great for his character to embrace his culture seeing as he's the only one out of the four guys with TWO VERY LOVING PARENTS in the picture. He strikes me as the kind of person to not really know much about his Hispanic culture because it just wasn't something his parents discussed growing up. They might've given very vague answers if anything when asked, so eventually he stopped asking. Maybe he never learned to speak the language as well as he'd hoped, but he sprinkles in a few words here and there as his way of staying true to his roots.
Perhaps he feels self conscious about not being "Hispanic enough" because he's spent the majority of his life in a predominantly white environment and hasn't interacted with many people like him. When was the last time Carlos interacted with another Hispanic character who wasn't a part of his immediate family?
I feel like focusing more on Carlos' culture (even if just a little bit) could do wonders for his character progression. It'd give a little insight as to who he is, what his quirks are, what he believes in, etc. At least then he'd be more than just a brainless moron whose lack of awareness was the punchline to many a joke (especially when it came to slapstick humor).
Seeing someone struggling with their racial identity and eventually learning to embrace the things they learned about themself would do wonders for an audience of people with similar experiences. Take me for example. Oftentimes, I don't feel Hispanic enough. I've spent my entire life in predominantly white spaces (not because it was my choice but because growing up in Catholic education meant there were very few people of color). My dad never spoke much about his Puerto Rican culture. He gave me very vague answers any time I asked about it, so I learned to stop asking. I distinctly remember him referring to me as a white person because I don't speak or act the way our people do. But that was hardly my fault, I was only a product of my environment. I wanted more than anything to learn about who I was and where I came from, but he wasn't interested in teaching me anything I could learn.
Although, I've learned from the experiences of other Hispanic-Americans that their parents hardly discussed their culture because leaving their home country behind in search of a better life also meant leaving behind a huge part of who they were. While it is truly incredible that moving to America has granted many people of color over the course of history the opportunity to provide better lives for themselves and their families, it is very disheartening to learn that some (albeit inadvertently) have lost touch with their roots and felt that being a proud American trumped being proud of their ethnicity. Perhaps that was the case for Carlos' parents or even his grandparents.
The weight that unspoken stories hold is astronomical. It would've meant the world to people like me to have someone like Carlos to relate to in this respect. There are so many unspoken stories of not just Hispanic culture but all cultures, and filling in the blanks would make answering so many questions about ourselves a hell of a lot easier. It only takes a simple conversation to feel less alienated and alone. Representation matters!
