Being Latino is Awesome

Being Latino is awesome. Latinidad is such a kooky concept. Ask anyone in Latin America, and they will not use it to define themselves. We tend to define ourselves by our nations. Of course, the moment you move to the United States, you instantly become Latino. I’m not trying to debate the term or get into fights about how Italians are Latino because the word comes from “latin” as in the language the Romans spoke because I think that argument is, as they would say from Rome to Francia, Hispania, Germania and all the way up to Londinium, “fucking stultus.” Check my declension, I haven’t written or read Latin since college.

Any basic research will show you that the terms Latin America and Latino were used by the French to describe Mexico and South America, and by the United States to define all of us when they decided we didn’t count as white anymore. In the end, it is a term invented by colonial powers to assign difference. To make it clear that there are different parts of America.

I’m writing this at an airport lounge in Bogotá, Colombia, reliving Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime show performance last night. I will not bore you talking more about the show. Just watch it. It was perfect. It was American and Latino because these things are obviously tied together. We are all American. We are part of the American continent. One giant landmass full of people who hate kings. That’s kind of the whole deal of every one of these countries. Safe for Canada, who are the one sibling who still likes to talk to their abusive dad. I get it, Canada, it’s hard.

Bad Bunny’s show was a celebration of being American. Of being Latino. Before the show, people in the United States very publicly wondered what is there to celebrate about being American or being Latino these days. As I scrolled through the memes and videos of Bad Bunny’s show, I found this image I’d seen many times before:

For those who didn’t understand Benito’s lyrics, it reads: “being Latino and having cringe is a biological contradiction.” I sincerely think this is the only way you can continue to be. Here’s the thing, being Latino is awesome. It’s certainly scary right now, of course. But the horrible things do not, nay, cannot negate our existence. That is what they want. That is how the lose. It is impossible to negate the existence of real humans. Being Latino is to be constantly faced with injustice, exploitation, corruption, disorder, chaos, violence, and all the horrible stuff white Americans are realizing now are the norm in most illiberal governments, and choosing to not only exist, but thrive. To create. To make beautiful, colorful things. That was Bad Bunny’s show.

This also all reminded me of two movies I’ve seen in the past two weeks. I saw Sentimental Value, a Norwegian movie that got several Oscar nominations and A Poet, a Colombian movie that did very well in Cannes and has no Academy Award nominations, but it’s protagonist is called Óscar, so they have an Oscar already. While the performances in Sentimental Valie are beautiful, especially the ones by Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who play Alexander Skarsgaard’s two daughters, it’s mostly a movie that goes like this:

It’s pretty good! I liked it. But it felt deeply alien to me. Unlike A Poet, which caused in me that feeling you get when watching great art where you go “oh my god, life is like this, and I can’t believe someone put it into words/images/music.” Obviously comparing two very different films is kind of silly, especially since they are trying to do different things. I don’t think anyone would call Sentimental Value a comedy. However, they both are movies about artist dads who are bad dads to their daughters and are tying to reconnect with them. And somehow A Poet, said things I found more interesting. I am sure it is because my heart is not pickled like a Scandinavian herring. My heart is the heart of a Colombian poet. It is full of contradictions in its existence. The peoples of the Americas are people of hybridization, of mix, of miscegenation. We are MESSY. And so our stories are proudly mixed and messy. I think that’s why Bad Bunny’s show resonates with all Latinos and, despite what the viewers of TPUSA’s All-American Kid Rockvaganza might say, with all Americans. We share similar stories. Similar feelings. And even though it’s falling apart, we choose to celebrate.

Together we are America. That’s a good statement. Good enough to print on a football.

P.S.: One final note on the TPUSA show (okay, two notes)

1. Maybe don’t name your organization TP? People might associate it with toilet paper and by that I mean dookie.

2. I didn’t watch this horror show, but I did see some clips of white people clapping at the ones and threes. There is something very telling about a show in the current United States and the current state of the world that refuses to acknowledge reality. A show that does not address the discontent and fear out in the world. A show in a silo for people whose minds are in a silo. And I don’t wanna be stuck in a silo with Kid Rock. I want to be in a big stadium with the people having a party.

PPS: Gotta board my plane so if there’s typos or this is rambly and bad, I’m gonna blame the fact that I was rushed.