The University of Wisconsin Press 2537 Daniels Street Madison, Wisconsin 53718 Contents 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England

Copyright© 1999 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved vii Illustrations ix 5 4 3 2 Acknowledgments

a Critical Printed in the United St tes of America Overture: An Introduction to Cultural and Analysis 3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data "Jose, Can You See": An Introduction Representations Sandoval-Sanchez, Alberto. Act One: A Critical Reading of Latino/a Jose, can you see?: Latinos on and off Broadway / Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez. on Broadway pp. cm. Found�tional Includes bibliographical references and index. l. Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz: m ISBN 0-299-16200-I (cloth: alk. paper) Images of "Latinidad" on Broadway and b a 21 ISBN 0-299-16204-4 (p k.: alk. p per) Hollywood . . a a a a de 1. Hisp nic Americ n the ter. 2. Hispanic Americ ns in motion pictures. 3. Rican Reading of the America of West Si Hispanic Americans in literature. I. Title. 2. A Puerto Story 62 PN2270.H57S26 1999 ar1 s ensa tion " 792'.089'68073-dc21 98-47441 3. A Chorus Line: Not Such a "One, Singu for U.S. Puerto Rican Crossovers 83 Some of this material has appeared before, in slightly different form, in the following publications; I am gratefulfor permission to reproduce this copyrighted material: Intermission '½ Puerto Rican Reading of the America of West Side Story." Jump Cut a 39, speci l issue: with Many Legs: U.S. Latino Theater and U.S. Latinos and the Media, Part 2, ed. Chon Noriega (1994): 59-66. 4. An Octopus 103 'jlChorus Line: Not Such a 'One, Singular Sensation' for Puerto Rican Crossovers." Its Diversity Ollantay Theater Magazine 1, no. 1 (January 1993): 46-60. in Theatrical '"An Octopus with Many Legs:' U.S. Latino Theater and Its Diversity." Ollantay Theater Act Two: Latino/a Self-Representations Magazine 5, no. 1 (Winter-Spring 1997): 66-78. Productions a a u ro i a 127 "Re-Viewing L tino The ter: Iss es of C ss ng Over, M instreaming, and Lat�nos/as <:ot to Do ':"i t? a a n 5. Staging AIDS: What's �� � C noniz tio ." In New Voices in Latin American Literature/Nuevas voces en la literatura Latma p aywng1 s latinoamericana, ed. Miguel Falquez-Certain, 157-72. New York: Ollantay Press, 1993. 6. No More Beautiful Sefiontas: Gender "So Far from National Stages, So Close to Home: An Inventory of Latino Theater on Deconstruction of Beauty Myths and AIDS." Ollantay TheaterMagazine 2, no. 2 (Summer-Fall 1994): 54-72. Stereotypes 150 "Staging AIDS: What's Latinos Got To Do With It?" In Negotiating Performance: Gender, Sexuality,and Theatricality in Latin/o America, ed. Diana Taylor and Juan Villegas, 49-66. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994.

V 1 Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz Foundational Images of "Latinidad" on Broadway and in Hollywood

Any attempt at mapping the politics of representation of Latinos/as on Broadway and in Hollywood must have as its foundation two artistic figures: Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz. Both immigrants have con­ tributed significantly to the contemporary stereotypical characteriza­ tions of U.S. Latinos/as. Miranda and Arnaz materialize the inaugural depictions of our present preconceptions and visualizations of "Latini­ dad" in the U.S. cultural collective imaginary. Given the political land- scape, particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy, both/ performers embodied the artistic translation and mediation of political relations with Latin America in the 1930s. What, at firstglance, appears to be vivid entertainment and a naive exhibition of otherness consti­ tutes, rather, a conscious and premeditated mode of representation and stereotypization of "Latinidad." Miranda's and Arnaz's perfor­ mances were loaded with political and ideological practices, maneu­ vers, and strategies. My goal in this firstchapter is to examine critically the first fleeting theatrical instances of each of the two performers, who appeared "co­ incidentally" in the same season (1939-1940) on Broadway. My archeo­ logical project will center on reconstructing Miranda's and Arnaz's per­ formances on Broadway. By analyzing their theatrical performances as in!:rpolated, imported cultural units inscribed.as exotic markers and

21 ct ne 22 A O : Latino a e res ntations on n Mirandaand Desi Arnaz / R p e Broadway Carme 23 s ers o ot .. '# igni f heme s i l de ons r te � $ ,J w l m t a o e r er r ances aid s a d s er an i a ned no co uni under t e u ndations h w th i p fo m l titie n fo t m gi U.S. Lati mm ty h m­ th·e•fo1:1 for onte ora stereot c mp ry ypes of La nos as n t e re a c te o o a n dad!' ea nca and c tura ti / i h U.S. b ll a g ry f "L ti i th t l ul l i a ina r adin m g ry. My e g will be d u ent e d wi· th th e s own rge tina Way ac m _ fil:1:1 D A . n and Too Many Girls ot . c � ... (b h 1940), whi h mcor ora e a ost n t Charting a Genealogy p � d, lm i h eir entirety, t e stars o e ra atnca h ' riginal artd· �ph me l the l acts itial rod ced on . In ly p u Broadway, olH oo It is not useful to approach the theatrical performances of Miranda fixed these er r ances on lyw d · p fo m film for future aud ences s a resu and a in so a on e et nic er r ances on road a ust orders et e n i . A lt, the Arn z i l ti . Th ir h p fo m B w y m b b w e Broad a and o l ood w y H l yw are rred eac enre e o ated it in a ontinu o do inant u tural a s o tinos and u tura ode blu : h g b l c w h c um f m c l im ge f La / c l l m _ l (sta ed us al co ed and g m ic m y musica co e as in t o e a e e ro and nction o their performances ents a d e ca es l film) mpl ­ he U.S. T x min th le fu f m n ph t t ot er cce tin t � h� h . A p g hat road a nd o t e e e onic ra a i a o road an ol ywood i is ood ons te B w y a H lly­ in h h g m cultu l im g n ry f B way d H l , t titu n unm er ted i a inar � : a t rup m ori o n a c ra c a to o k at t e o er can discurs e and re rese iona dis ursi e g y h z n i ultu cru i l l o h Angl -Am i iv p ntat l c v ontinuu it e ossi l c m, will b p e to a ine t e do andsca e o t e atin ot er task e o o er ca s ereo bl ex m h minan l p f h "L h ." My will b t �rt Angl -Am i n • t typica r resen ations o t l ep t f Latinos/as. re ertoires o t e cu ral a na and eo ra ies o atin r a o in re p f h ltu im gi ry g g ph f L Ame ic T b g , Miranda and rna atinos � � A z "L r is anics e to de ons ra o s ereo ica odes o r r sentat on o erate a s er is neit " o "H p "? Th m t te h w t typ l m f ep e i p , n w er t e istor c o , h . A th h i m ent o t eir rri al ot a d o eani is roduc d and rc ated n order to d s ri e and see as . m f h a v , b h w ere n h w m ng :e e i ul . I e c b n atm ncan rants _5. L Am • i mig o ra il and u a e a ine t e o t cs o re rese tat o d ocat on o t a n er _ el . � 1:1 , fr m B z C b , res ec x m h p li i f p n i nan l i f he "L ti oth " tiv y. A ter r n eir n tio p - f ��g �t10 , th a nalities er t e deter i in t e do inant u ra d scursi a d s ct o st e ade o eir_ den w e h m n g factor in h m c ltu l i ve web, i tin i n mu b m f th i tities i t e e do inan � h U.S. Th m t An o ri an socioc e een t ati r o er a d t e at do es c et n and ral or d deno gl -Ame c ul­ b tw he "L n fo eign th " n h "L in m ti h ic � w l m ted nd reco ni ed t m � a g z he onl as a ins and r c ot er orei n o r r ers to ran s co n o a in ke a ot er m y "L t ;' , a ial h !' "F g the " ef immig t mi g fr m L t � y h an s s e k n i rants ; � � �r i �- a � g mmig t e ca e t e sel es er c or t e o e s a road and t are constr c ed o articu at s a d or � , h y ll d h m v Am i a. F h m, h m i b , hey i t t ­ L m / an s as an s 1: Sp i h, m "Sp i h Harle ra da an r at e r denti accord n to t e at o al o t ir coun o na ere rst enerati m!' Mi n d A ­ l ing th i i ty i g h n i n ity f he try f z fi -g n i ra ts o � o mmig n wh before i ration ad no or n e are arked t ei an s ccents o estic co sc ousness o · m g h igi . Th y m by h r heavy Sp i h a . "D m n f b in a inori s de � � g m lely fine race and et n ci e n c a d r a o er desi nates t os a inos as o a e een o i er to � ? d by h i ty. th i n aci l th " g h e L t / wh h v b N w, f I w e si a e t e it m t e � t h m w h h framewor a ca act orn or raised in e and o are ent n l s or e o reco er re a a k of poffi:r l b th U.S. wh flu in E g i h. F th m, f v y, cl m on and re r r a on ti , pp op i ti o a t in s at n e o e is ere eo e o color it n t is rou also e erience a s ., ore t e e er � f " ll h g L i " b h m h . P pl f w hi h g p xp hi ­ , h m ence o a tmo a ­ � g f U.S. La / conscious ess in t e id to o racis d se ra is e loitat o nd ar al at o m t at a t o re o n h m -1960s ry f m, i nf nch em nt, exp i n, a m gin iz i n h c f c_ very and re sio o t -vi ning f he past iranda and a s a result o t e i te a co o ation o e s a er e o d eco e mte M Arn � a f h n rn l l niz f th ub lt n in th U.S.: w ul b m ra co on nts o t g l mp e f he s or o atin d canos s u rto cans i an er cans sia r c ns and t e e r i hi t y f "L "d " Chi /a , P e Ri , Afr c Am i , A n Ame i a , h _U.S. Th i ncor orat on resenc an p i , p e, d e s ence in a co o t e l ke ot cate or es o o erness o ra e t n a d atmo ast xi t m� : u.� h i . B h g i f th pe t wi hin a "im gine L /a p wo d oncreti e oli c u! c z a p ti al action e edded i a stor eo ra t a can e con e a ed as a soc o deo o ca d sc rs e ca cess o atmo mb n hi i­ g g phy" h t b c ptu liz i i l gi l i u iv � pro f L a se de r ination s 1 / lf- te m , elf-a r atio and t ic to o s ra y. to o s ra ean a cu ra eo ra ic nde nse u n ffi m n, e hn " p ( )g ph " By " p ( )g phy" I m ltu l g g ph al p . C? q e tly, as e re i e ou ast o w v s r p fr a cri a ers ecti e a in ic c art r s and ode s o re resentat on in order o re m o r m tic l p p v , m p wh h I h fo m m l f p i t we g u agenc s onin and . � y by que ti g rec ai in o r stor d s a e aces an re ons o e rritor a isua enta and hic m r con l m g u hi y, i pl y th pl d gi f giv n te i l, v l, m l, :W �, tu , f rs sense o ein atino � � a f ? g L /a an e on in to an ideo o ca const cts o t e at n ot er uc o o s ra i a med tmo a o d b l g g l gi l ru f h "L i h ." S h a t p ( )g phy in­ m g n al co uni e er �� � � mm ty. By x cisin a retroacti e o cludes the discursive positions and situations in which the imagined a d rac cm a ntica g v m ve, _P ti g c et s ecti e a e t 1: l : ro p v g z hat os ons t e ast other inhabits and transacts. These constructs read as a topos-a rhe­ it m a re e t ers p iti h p w h p n p ec e e ena e � p tiv , w will bl ourse es to ree a u te torical discursive convention composed of an ensemble of common t ster o ica re resent lv v l a h� typ l tio o our c ra � p a n f ultu ast and rea r t e aces s t e es t es s o s ico s and eton ca and rtic a on o l p ffi m h pl , motif , h m , rop , ymb l , n , m ymi l ul ti s l re resenta o t u � f e f- p ti n hro e roc ss o deco st eta r cal re at o s m t s gh th p e f n c m pho i l i n . g h stere ica a es s a ru t­ ? e ?typ l im g . A resu our act o co s i d ons r o is r etor a to o s ra s c res t e an lt, f n o s ss I w ll em t ate h w th h ic l p ( )g phy tru tu h c_h gmg a d mter n ion c;:i. u ne ­ n ve t will pro ide us t e too s to re n o r can ode o a e a n o er ake t e and v h l • tr�ce n A gl -Ame i m l f im gining th "L ti th !' I will m im s ace i e ookin r d�, i p wh l l g fo ward n order to arti u a e den o et ici a race are discursi e ar cu a ed r o , i c l te newick n- vi t h w hn ty nd v ly ti l t , het ri- Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Arnaz 25 24 Carmen Miranda and Desi cally constituted, and performed through certain stereotypical loca­ tions-that is, locus exoticus, locus tropicus, and locus urbanus. I aim to demonstrate (1) how discursive representations function when por­ traying the "Latin other"; (2) how dominant ideologies register racist and racialized discursive modes and practices in the representation of the other; and (3) how ideology interpellates and positions individuals in given social and historical contexts and power relations. The topo(s)­ graphy of this ideological apparatus can be mapped in four coor- Ji8inates: spectacle, exoticism, an inventory of agricultural and raw /2/i+inaterials, and tourism. The imagined topo(s)graphy of Latin America as a whole has its :,, own continental umbrella designation of being "south of the border:' Only a handful of countries compose this imaginary geopolitical map: Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Anything can happen, anything goes south of the border, for Latin America provides a carnivalesque atmosphere, the ideal space for romance, leisure, and sexual excite­ ment. The inhabitants of this imaginary land, at times interacting in ,. " i the liminal zone of the border itself, exist for the sole purpose of en­ : . tertaining Anglo-Americans by playing whatever roles they have . ' been assigned: performer, bandit, Latin lover, delinquent, or spitfire. "Latins"' raison d'etre is to sing, dance, romance, be comical, and live from fiesta to siesta. Neither time nor history regulates this exotic and mythical spatial terrain. In the 1930s and 1940s, Latin America became "', a postcard, a photograph, a tourist attraction, a night club, a type of theme park where fantasy and fun were guaranteed and escapism as- " sured while U.S. national security interests were guarded. "Putting on a show" meant impersonating stereotypes in which and by which the "Latin other" is objectified, depicted in demeaning or excessive ways, and/ or made into a spectacle. Women have been a traditional source of spectacle in patriarchal 1.l Caricature: "My, How You Have Grown!" society, and that misogynist tradition continues in this domain. Images of virginity, penetration, and fecundity abound in the descriptions of a a o a ncle S m, s p ­ landscapes in the chronicles of the conquest of America. Like the Span­ all t r o cal props of "L tinness" (fig. 1.1).3 � fan s e e typi o r ro th r o s p atriarchal sses � iards and other explorers, who in their conquests and colonizations t or displaces Eu pe, e p evi � � � � ential suit , ha i a a rican men ve een s perceived the New World as a foreign body (that of a woman), the ro has been replaced nd L tin Ame _ Eu e o t o all a airs, a a o h or h o h r a l c ca ated, and left u f ff United St tes h s its wn ist y of feminizing t e S ut Ame ic n plac!a. They have been si en ed, str o 2 a r ar h a al o r r r a a oth r c ntinent. P t i c al nd imperi U.S. disc u se ep esents L tin political nd e wise. • t r ca a oman contmued , b u America as a feminized and sexualized other who must be controlled, r a 10n o f L atin· Ame i s a w Rep esen t t. . . a a r le h a r a was pers rufied s fe ti tamed, and possessed. For example, in a political cartoon published cha in the 1940s, w en L tin Ame ic � _ _ nged a a h a t l o ra a ho emblem hzed L hn Ameri­ in t e Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger in 1923 nd en it ed "My,H w o a It was now Carmen Mi nd w w m n a ar o al a o a r l a c r a a r ca r o a a l ral oo histori n Edu d G e � Y u H ve G own/ Unc e S m ou ts L tin Ame i pe s nified s ca r ction of agricu tu g ds. As ,� 's ;du l t co c h a h la ho a a a lla a ha l a a h ort of Brazi . Nex mes offee. w ite Sp nis dy w is we ring m nti nd s w nd using has �ated, "Carmen is t e chief exp 27 and Desi Arnaz 26 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda

Miranda was the queen of all "banana republics" (the predominant epithet used to brand Latin American countries as incompetent and ineffective in a modern ac pitalist world). It is ironic that the very same people who negatively stereotyped Central American countries as "banana republics" were the ones (like Rockefeller and the United Fruit Company) who turned these countries into ''banana republics" in the first place. 1 Miranda's exhibitionism was restricted to the spectacular staging of a cornucopia of agricultural commodities. Out of sight of the voyeur, however, was the mineral extraction that has been veiled and silenced. Rockefeller, coordinator of Inter-American Affairs for the State Depart­ ment during Roosevelt's presidency, made it quite clear that the U.S. economic interest in Latin America was not limited to fruits: Our lines of security are not only military, they are also economic. Outward from our shores in wartime go men and finished materials. Inward must flow the raw materials to feed our factories and stock our arsenals. That demand could never have been fully met without the raw materials of our neighbors. From them our production lines needed, and got, manganese and chro­ mium and tungsten for the many kinds of steel alloys used in mechanized warfare. Tin for containers and copper for munitions. And bauxite for alumi­ num for our planes; quartz crystal for radio communications systems to lead those planes to their targets; oil to fuel the bombers, and mica for detection devices to protect us from the planes of the enemy-these and a wide variety of other strategic materials our production lines needed, and got.5

Uncle Sam's relations with Latin America are not only sexist and chauvinistic, but also paternalistic and racist. In numerous caricatures in the first decades of the twentieth century, the Latin American coun­ tries appear as a child for whom the United States must baby-sit, as seen in a cartoon published in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch in 1902, in 6 which Cuba is portrayed as a black child (fig. 1.2). The subordination inherent in such infantilization provided justification for the Anglo­ , C u bY· M ore O f1 ·t might make you sick. 1.2 Caricature: "I'll give you one teaspoonful American military inte!ference in Latin American politics and econo­ mies. By infantilizin Latin America, the U.S. assumed a position of o atory g t o are ne ative and der g e These cinematic depic i ns g power that confined the countries and its people to viewin them­ and greas rs. g a al stereotypes.7 ima e s based on ethnic and r ci selves as incompetent and in need of guidance. g o ar Romero, e atinos-Ramon Navarr , Ces ln contr , ast light-skinn d L Dominant cultural representations of Latinos/as were not limited to . f · the e acious Latin 1 overs, o 11owm g d Gilbert Roland-portray d gr Latin Americans in their home countries. In the U.S., the "Latin domes­ e e role f a o Valentino, who play d th � :�ps of a ll-time sex idol Rud lph , tic ethnic and racial others" have their own histories of misrepresenta­ of the Apocalypse in 19�1. �ese gay lustful aucho in Four Horsemen tions and underrepresentations. Both Mexican Americans and Native at enta e, sex a heroes whose aristocr ic h ? caballe!s" qualify as rom ntic Americans were targets for ridicule, stereotyping, and racism in the­ fe a e au 1e c e oid ma nets for m l · appeal, and eroticism wer cellul g � � � ater and film-let's not for et Tonto! In the film industry, there was a e to re ec t e g e simply as extras and us d Other L atinos were recruit d tradition of portraying Latinos/as as dark-skinned bandidos, villains, t e at o a 28 Ac On : L in / Representations o n Broad a w y Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 29 et i a d ra al re rese tat o hn c n ci p n i n n eeded t ortra a i e rei lo 8 o p y g v n fo a to sa the ale a e a d e ual es e t e a e r istered cale. gn rom nce, tisfy m g z n s x d ir , h y r eg t e lo eri a ul ral i a a i t e r o o a as t e re rese tatio al et Ang -Am c n c tu m gin ry n h fo m f w m n- - In h p n s e t di la e i o l in h n hnic p c rum sp y d n H ood ta le a d o road a a d e e tuall l yw s .15 n n B w y ( tele is o e lo ales e ol pec c n v n y on v i n), th c e t e s i a e of ati e as d. sse . ted a o t e d ers of t e est v v d h 1940 , no m g "L n" wom n w i m n fr m h wil fronti h a d out est t e u les of In � � � W n S hw to h j ng i ula ed as t orou l as t at of u ta a a a mta o oder a i e to o s the t h gh y h Chiq i B n n .Chiq c mi- m n-d y c ty.A n w p r a eared i t e lat c rc t ( )g aphy pp n h all arodie ra da e osi t so io ultural o st t _ of tural a ar of t e at e 1950s in y p d Mi n , xp ng he c c c n ruc ion he cul im gin y do est et i a d ra ial ot er c h "L in m ic hn c n c ati er a a a fe ale as a ba a as a o od . u h u i le al a ie s als a h ;' n Am ic s m , nan , c m ity. S c imp· - when l g l n , sters a d d a di ts ere used L n:i crimin , g ng , n rug d c e o e t at o a d o di atio o a e . a o e t stere t e a os as is w d nt bj c ific i n n c mmo fic n f L hn Am ic n w m n o o yp L tin / . C eed o le a d o to ere : d co Kid, Sp y G nza z, n T a at e a la e e d r at e te sta e as a st e t of s la ed a d re la ed b u e n w i p c n p le del ue ts a d s tio nd L in Am ric p c d g n e c n r g , � m i:u� n c y j v ni inq n n dy al r i l e a e a d as a ea s to ro ote t e a al t a e ber i t e hettos of func n g ng m m s n t es t lar e a o a o ulat mme c a xch ng n m n p m h fin nci mves ­ h g ci i wi h g L tin o s e ts a d terests of ult ati al l e t e ited it o os eles ia i h / p p i n : L Ang , M a o a d e or et i s su : n n in U.S. m in on s ik h Un Fru C m­ m , C ic g , n N w Y k. S t ng as the a uita as a o a a d a f it a h brid ster a alf bree a o a d t e e i a e olut ch ny.Chiq w w m n n ru : y mon , h - d Al m n h M x o a d t e es u as o uest c n R v i n, n h m s ch c t e ose e for a e be a e a lo eri a ult ra o o ild est a is o a d bu l nq , h W W , m ch t ede t e t e �h p r m nc c m n Ang -Am c n c u l ic n. In c m­ m , n l figh ing c d in h 1950s et e als u ta de ered t e es a e t at ba a as s uld be a art i a d ul ra re r s tat 9 o n w h­ n c n c tu o t t is ti e a e l m rci Chiq i liv h m s g h n n ho p l p e en i ns. A h m , e re f t e d et a e u ad to sel er elf t a tou of e er d t e so al roble n w fi m g n m ge : h " ci l 10 e ost s ble e a h U.S. i nd m n . She h l h s wi h ch p m" fi m. Th m vi le i a o referri to r tro al ature e ad s le arrates roa a a d l is i x mp on ?,Lat n" fl v r, ng he pic n . Th ' jing n B dw y n fi m West Side Story, er o a s be in which Pu t Ric e es i a ba a a boat o a l t e a d sout o t e ua o to a a alled t e a s n , who how sh com n n n fr m i tl isl n h f he q - l ng g ng c h o sti ute a t ea to t e a 16 tio Sh rk , c n t hr t h tor i orde t el t ood e or o a o der e t e s ati U.S. n ­ n r o h p he G N ighb p licy. n l r . Sinc h 1960 tereo i al r rese tat o s d lo , "L n" s typ c ep n u ta s a e h e s the tro s a s b l of e t..s t at ale a e be er e ated i the i n an Chiq i ' n tiv om i pic , ym o xo ici m h c s h v en p p tu th der ato o s t o t n my ic og ry c a tual e t e stereo e of t e a fore ot er t e ul e b a a a e ubli s t e sl e n truc s f h "[ ] n n r p lla e t la eo s bas c iz s h typ h "L tin ign h " in h U.S. c ­ c , h e py vi g s wi h zy ral a a doubtedl e s a o o t of e u ural i t e su u i il ed alf a p n king n h n, nc v ed d a iole t o er e t tu im gin ry. Un y, sh i c mp ne� �h U.S. c lt iz h -n k In i ns, v n g v ou s to o s ra h of at er a a d as su hab ts the re f s ear eaded b e di ators nm n c p p h y u ta o d a d ts a d beauti p ( )g p y L in Am ic n , ch, m i alm � cru l ct , m s chi e b n l s e t s o al r lo al o or _ sual leasure d ro a o itas o er o d i n fu e­ fi r ."11 In th t e ba dos t e reasers he xo ici m, tr pic hythm, c c l , vi p , �n � ntic w r s, h ndi , h g , t vaqueros o s e ta le he o er a le su e sful be aus t d l ated bo s a d t e a eo s be a (c w y ), n h l zy e he d dea ers t e d ad p c c . T c mm ci l jing was cc s c e i up ic p n c m t rug l , h ts a artoo ers o of ar e ra da o a t e at t e to of a d t e a e bers e rug dic , n h g ng m e t s ra o ered a ra c nish v i n C m n Mi n , wh w s h n h p m . Th n w opo( )g phy ff e of ur h r ar er u ta ea er ss to ad a e t e ood hbo oli ba s a es t e ng ­ e c e . Chiq i 's g ne v nc h G Neig cy n p c - h locus urbanus, locus barbarus, t e stree a d ail ere � i: t e h t n j de strat s h e ad e se e t tra s ted a a a d sti o rota o is ere e al alie s -wh mon e ow th v rti m n n mit prop g n i c p ­ h p g n ts w ill g i doer a d si i ter r i als e n , ev l s, n n s c im 12 t ssa abou s ues of fore ol t out i a d there re rese tatio of at as is s n . li ical me ge t i s ign p icy.Wi h M r n Th p n n L i ar to t e al stereo i a � tra in im l h m e o d a e e er bee a u ta a a a t out t e o d e hbor e to at as a e tra ed i typ c l w ul h v n v n Chiq i B n n ; wi h h G o N ig j c ry. L in r pp n the tereo s of a el r i ot er s type ng , vi g ol t ere oul a e e er bee a fa ous ar e ira da i o e cantinera ta e ee er n, p icy h w d h v n v n m C m n M ; w h­ m h , wh r , ( v rn k p ), a d a ost e ue tl � � a sedu t m i , nd, m fr q n y, ut u ta a a ited it ou d a e e er ade b ro ts v mp, e s or s it re r ol t se ual o Chiq i B n na, Un Fru w l h v n v m ig p fi . c r s , p fi . F iv i y, ns ity, and pass o de e o e er e estuous a d e i n fin w m n's fi y, t mp , n xplo i e e so ali ies 3 at e are edu s v p r n t .1 If "L in" m n ed to bei ati o ers ati r c ng "L n l v ;' "L n" wome rea e The Good Neighbor Policy thr u h r e it s u e n ch fam o g othe p het le t e a bo a ot ta ale : L p Ve z, " h fl m y nt h a d a li oose elt t e ood ei hbor ol a d at us als t e e a t re ur u m " n " h M xic n Spi fi a et a t e e e uela ol Fr nk n D. R v , h G N g p icy, n "L in" m ic ;" B n Acqu n t , " h V n z a o o s ted a i se arable triad the s a d eir id ol a a ua e uert a n V c n ;" Olg S n J n, "Th er t ar a to i a c n titu n n p in 1930 n 1940s. Th e �g­ P o Ric n Pepp po ;" M i An o s i al latfor de e ded t e e ste e of ea o e t e uba urri a e ta n et P n , "th C n H c re o t e uerto i a ire ra c p m p n on h xi nc ch comp n n , which n ;" Ri Mo n , " h P R c n F er e ha e alidate t e oli i a e o o i a d ul a sade a d ar e ra da the ra c ck ;" in n C m n Mi n , " a o bs ll 4 u h de rad xc ng v d h p t c l, c n m c, n c tur l cru a d B zili n B m he :'1 S c g a ai s t e is o rs a d ote tia a i e e rat o o t e er _ se ist abels learl al t e ing g n t h Ax p we n p n l N z p n t i n f h Am i­ n x l c y sign oita io of t e fe a e bod a d it he xpl t n h m l as order to se ure atio al i terests oose lt sou ht a e at o at ar al y n c . In c U.S.n n n , R ve g h m­ s commodific i n in p ri ch voyeuris a d iso ist ra t s a o tic n m gyn p c­ s eri a a e e o e trated o a o l s eri a ice e r se o tas are ob ts of i ph c lli nc . H c nc n n cc mp i hi g P -Am c n ."L tin" w m n, o " n ri ;' jec desire a a lable r � �i:i , v i fo unity through diplomacy, economic policies, strategic rmhtary agree- 31 men Miranda and Desi Arnaz 30 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Car eat re on the Anglo­ music also became a prominent f u foreign other;" ments, and cultural exchanges. The Good Neighbor policy's primary a map. "Latin" song and n cultural imaginary topo(s)gr phic .America a purpose was to safeguard foreign markets and sources, and to guaran­ n the 1920s, when Valentino started e had entered the U.S. i o ta le e tment o h o the order he ha de t a e t danc tee P fi b i11v s s "s ut f b ." T r s sp c and ed tive dance scene in Four Horsemen : : o craze with his sexy s uc tang te ?f this was having to change the image of the U.S. A succession of e a rumba craze, modeled af r of the Apocalypse. In the 1930s, ther was nte e t o n a on and m l tar o at n e o a the 23 o arized the i � � i ns, i v si s, i i y ccup io s in M xic , Cub , n the Miranda and Arnaz p pul e Cuban son. I 1940s, ominican Republic,_ Haiti, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica had made the th a to e the mambo. � on a respectively; in the 1950s it w s b amba and the c g , ma e o oo e h o a hard ell 7 n a eement a m de e s a n rhythm i g f "g d n ig b r" s .1 A gr w s a b ­ a n t mental in propagating the "L ti " o other artist was s i s ru t en the d m at n mer an nat o th o n a N e n h career w� U.S. �n �st L i A ic i ns at no c u try w s h orn avier Cugat. D esi Arnaz b ga is aze as the Spanis -b X to t ene m. ta _ l a other d me t a a ltho h the cr Judy; his in �rv ih n i11: n 's o s ic ff irs. A ug U.S. randa costarred with Cugat in Date with _Y, with Cugat's band; Mi 24 abstained from explicit interference and intervention it made sure to at musical films. music vitalized many Hollywood "L in" n a e t err to e the an l o e d m ta the de maint i f w s rategic t i ri s- C a Z � , an ili ry a a e "Latin" rhythms provided ­ � On the Anglo-American irw v s, bases in Guantanamo, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. te t a for fantasy which was yearned ed escapism, exoticism, and po n i l he r m r ol e and at e a n mer a on e sir onal T p i a y U.S. p ici s initi iv s in L ti A ic c c n­ and ng W orld War II. An internati r after the Depression duri fo n lo trat d on intro�ucing industrialization, making profitable markets ed the border and "Latinized" the A g ­ � language, music easily cross availa�le to U. s. i estors, promoting commercial interchange, and de­ 25 and melodies spread through all _ �; merican world. "Latin" styles A a veloping tourism. ?ne ?f the ost active architects of the plan was l ral expression: the cinema, Broadw y 1:1- forms of Anglo-American cu tu Nels n Rockefeller, in his posi.tion of coordinator of Inter-American la ongs.26 ? e and m usical comedies, and popu r s 19 revu s 27 Affa1rs. Rockefeller's work on hemispheric coordination and coopera­ a ed tive and contagious. Broad­ The impact of "Latin" music w s s uc and tion led to the implementation o� cultural relations and exchange pro­ e nterpolating "Latin" r hythms _ way welcomed the rumba craz by i grams. In orde� to preserve in situ strategic and security interests, a Third Little Show (1931); Anything Goes songs in m usicals such a s The massiv_ e campaign promoted Pan-Americanism in the cultural domain. Purchase (1940); and (1934); Jubilee (1935); Panama Hattie and Louisiana Many programs m bilize and circulated a cultural agenda that would la n at center s tage o f _ � ? Mexican Hayride and Let'sFace It (1941). The p ci g _ . 20 on o benefitU.S. capitalist, military, and national interests. No other cul­ hed t nnacle with the introducti f "Latin" song and dance reac i s pi tural medium c llabora�ed with the goodwill campaign to the extent Streets of Paris (1939) and ? Miranda in two Broadway musicals-The that the entertainment industry did, in all its aspects: music, dance, Many Girls (1939). Sons o' Fun (1941)-and D esi Arnaz in one-Too theat r, a d fi_ lm. Hollywood embraced the hemispheric partnership, or ty night clubs like the � � h the tin" craze, in crescendo, New Y k Ci 2 1 Wit "La creating films such as Walt Disney's The Three Caballeros (1945). a arter featured "Latin" s tars. Copacabana, La Conga, and the L tin Qu I11terest in Latin America had already been shown in the 1930s, with : movies such as The Cuban Love Song (1931); Flying Down to Rio (1933); La Cucaracha (1934�; Un�er the Pampas Moon (1935); Headin' for the Rio "Play Latin for Me" Gran_de �1936); Tr opic Holiday and Old Mexico (1938); South of the Border, 1:fexicalt Rose, and Old Caliente (1939); and Gaucho Serenade (1940). Such hm ept America. Rumba and _ In the 1930s and 1940s, "Latin" rhyt sw infatuat10 with t�e "Latin other" had been launched and officially hat n ne could escape; i t was as if 1: conga produced a dance craze t o o ndor ed in Fra�in D. Roosevelt's inaugural speech of 4 March 1933, er t m t not be overlooked that, � � everyone had dancing f eet. H owev , i us in which he explicitly addressed his political interest in Latin America mer an rhythms evoked primi­ in many of the popular songs, Latin A ic saying, "In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation t� the d and pervasive sexuality. tivism, liberation of the instincts and bo y, t�e pohcy_ of the good neighbor-the neighbor who resolutely respects ot d e otic locations where love Rhythm transported dancers to ex ic an r hi self and, because he does so, respects the rights of others-the � affairs awaited them. neighbor w�o respec s his obligations and respects the sanctity of his ere to Stay," published in Song ! In an article entitled "The Rumba is H agree ents in and with a world of neighbors:'22 n e lanation for � Hits Magazine in 1941, Jose Morand gives the followi g xp Dunng the ea of the G�od Neighbor policy, it was not only film � �� the genealogy of the rumba: that played a sigruficant role in defining the Latin American as "Latin a e rese a s r a a Arnaz 33 32 Act One: L tino/a R p nt tion on B o dw y Carmen Miranda and Desi s s and in what way does it differ fromthe ordinary American ll e se r a e l her _ ong , What is this music sh 0 r hat wi b u d epe t d y in ot ani 1 1 dictiona y t s a Jazz? I believe the answer lies in its racial origin. The story probably goes back 5 e a lar res ses m t nt a s a s h a l imit d voc bu y p uppo P ·s Iic , nd film · Suc ha to the Moors in Spain. Take some of your beautifulLatin American tunes and mu h a s as ell s s · � t e e e o a wit "L tin ;' w a as_ ummg a ff ctiv c mmunic tion a if you have studied the subject you can feel that Moorish influence in many of nd sh la a e a ric n er a s ers a Spani ngu g nd Lahn Ame the melodies, especially those with a minor strain in them. The melodic quali­ Anglo-Am ic n und t nd ties of the Moors and Spanish gypsies combined with some rhythmic ideas ltural reality. . cu s al s rs e s ra hy of Lahn he l r ic di cu i_v �opo( )g p from the great continent of Africa just across the straits-that seems to have T Ang o-Ame ican mu erfor e res he r adway p - been the parentage of the rumba, and geographically it seems logical, though er s maximum xp sion m t B o Am ica would find it he re a a a er debuting on t G at nobody seems able to produce definite proof. Mixing of races often produces a es of Mirand nd Arn z in 1939. Aft m nc a har s a ers a l 28 he r s es l sh sh nd c i" m ric _ p on i - unusual combinations of rhythm and melody. e y, sfu owman ip Whit Wa t i ucc ra a a l r her re Mi nd nd s he y to Hollywood. Fu t mo , tie took t m immediate ers he h le e l ra e s rh h h fr a re e l a e a rs a l ral r of t W i sp cu ating, Mo nd conn ct yt m wit A ic , v a ing a e e e m di to nd cu tu p om�t Arn z b cam th iconic lear ha ra al r h a rh h a e e l s f a r a e a ade it c t t ci o igin. Bot "L tin" yt m nd th p op e o L tin Ame ic eighbor policy. Variety of 19 F bru ry 1941 m G d N e h l s h are hybrid, mestizos, mulattos-in his own words, "unusual." Mor­ r ars would advanc t e po itic of t e_ Good A�;lo-Ame ican film st e e r l s r sh servic b ­ and's observation shows that music can be racialized and, at the same r l s h of the bo der'': "Fi m ta uttle N · hbo po icy " out he e e e e rh h a e r s e s a a s ese h r a a l s r l at � xp ns tim , yt m c n mobiliz aci t conc ption nd ttitude . In th llywood and Sout Ame ic , t ea t pa tia� y ��!n Ho s ar s r r s rh h a e s e ra e s all a ra e es er e s r s t tmg thl� p mg. It te m , yt m nd xotici m connot c - pecific y Afric n c ­ f the United Stat gov nm nt, i in p o pect o el e eller ee to ce- and race can be musically performed. ll e he re l f a s rvey by N son Rock f committ wi b t su t o u 30 hr h a e a s he ra a he re r s r e s It was t oug d nc b nd , t dio, nd t co ding indu t y e ll between the contin nt :' • • . m nt goodwi e ll al ha a s e e l a e a f rse r a e e e e s th goodwi o!ihc t t "L tin" ongs b cam popu ar nd in d m nd. And, o cou , Miranda and A n z b cam mbodim nt of i:: her as ll hes s s r la h he ra r e h a henhci on t e w Ho ywood to put t e ong in ci cu tion wit in t p c­ s r e he e h h to imp int t nic u: � t at gy of t tim , w ic intended er a e f s la he ral ra h al ha a a re h a Am ic n tic o ethnic imu crum. In t cultu topo(s)g p ic map t t I he es se a eric and to c ptu t e L hn t movi t in L tin Am s l ease ra a s s sf11; am charting, the songs themselves, in this era of cultural exchange e ar e s here s s ome un about Mi nd ' ucce movi m k t . T wa r as Va 1- s er he e r l re rese h he a r e s a re her umo ; � fo t ed by t Good N ighbo po icy, -p nt ow t "L tin fo ­ a r r a h rn bout U.S. action to � pp op i tion, wit conc _ a re e h r s e a h s ereo a a s er ar e ra a s fe tu m ign ot e " i conceiv d nd ow t typical "L tin" im ge w e ety f e er 0 put it, "C m Mi nd i be_mg � o 6 Nov mb 194 i:i 1 e re r a a e e s as e f he s rs e r s e a h e she s m_ Bu n_os Ai s p op g t d. Inde d, mu ic w on o t di cu iv fo mation e new 'Down Argentin W y,' and w il known th he er r r le, Peru through which Latin American culture became visible and, most of e a e r she is little known in t int io o m Chi 29 and Rio d J n i o, h l e s he e s er e he s a s e a r l er a ha a hen _t e fi t t tim , t eotyp d. T medium of mu ic w s e p ci lly powe fu r ls he e South Am ic . W t will h ppen ': � � o e ew r in ss r s he e se as here s a e he ra e a a e ress es h Mi anda i t b cau it w everyw : on t g , in film, on t dio, in th here e s but dv nc p notic t at Mi no on know la hs la hs f a eh l a e e e r er a ha e r h o but ug - ug o d nc a l, nd in v rybody's m mo y. idol of South Am ic ' v b oug t n thing he e h or s h l Panama Hattie), h h 31 T "Good N ig b " ong (in t e fi m t oug it he bring biz:' • t kind that don't e l e a s r s a ar f he r l learl ll s a e he s ere s l ra a Nort ik to m, wa p ody o t Good Neighbo po icy, c y i u tr t s t t o­ l they know: in tant y, Mi nd took El Litt e did leas 00 000 a ear f a er a s r es h l e a a h e a e a s er ar r t t $2 , y , typing o L tin Am ic ns. It in c ib t e imit d voc bul ry wit by surprise. S he b c m up st , ea ning � l er a s a e h a s a a a e ar a he e which Ang o-Am ic n communic t wit "L tin ": " mig /o, mu­ e he h hes a fem l st t t tim - b coming t ig t p id _ . he a s has a a s a h a er r s l , w n chos migo , t m nana, adi6 , si si, macho migo, muc o m cho:' l e ra a s r a care did not flou i h u�h 195! Un ik Mi nd ' , A n z's e all a sh a ll s a e h s le e e a er es I Love Lucy h h s Lucill B . It is stoni ing nd i u tr tiv that t i xicon mbodi s s i he rea e he s comedy wit i wife c t d t ituation e f a s h er e a e h a s are e e a a a he he r al s ars h r ed th Good o im ge t at p p tu t ow "L tin " conc iv d: m n n -t l h h he was one of t o igin t w o p omot A t oug r e ress s rese e f e s e al e s he re es e ee h s a ra y, A Book, x e nt­ conc pt o tim i fundam nt to xpo e t diffe nc b tw n e h r l y, ph A naz _r N ig bo po ic in i utobiog e a a l r a l res si he her s a a s h her a rs a tour to M x­ "L tin" nd Ang o-Ame ic n cu tu ; si-t "ot " i lw y ex­ that he was invited wit ot cto on goodwill ment e a sh s r se e as ected to accept Uncle Sam's will; and macho amigo, mucho macho­ r h s ale e ause he spok Sp ni . Hi p e nc � p ico not fo i t nt but b c h a e are e e as h s a hese l s l he e a le about the Good Neig - "L tin" m n froz n in tim mac i t s. T ingui tic cu tural used to get a reaction from t M xic n peop s s a hers s h as es s es a a se r a a er 32 con truct - nd ot , uc fi ta, i t , g ucho, no , c b ll o, r licy. • • bo po e er 0 s as a se a a ara as s h a l a a l e Variety ar le 6 Nov mb 194 , m it l t two chiquit , norit , p tio, m c -con titute t e voc bu ary, kind of Am zing y, th tic from 34 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway paragraphs, opened the door to the issue of stereotyping the "Latin other" in the Anglo-American cultural imaginary: Mexicans are frequently cast as South Americans, and nothing brings more grumbling. A Hollywood writer, here recently, explained that seeing the tre­ mendous number of European types, he had an entirely new conception of casting possibilities for authentic South American locale pix. Nothing draws more resentment than the impression that North Americans believe South Americans are part Indian. All over South America, dress is similar to that in the States and Europe. Yet filmscome here showing "South American characters" in tight laced pants and long sideburns or shawls and mantillas. That's museum stuff, film men here argue, and it has no excuse.33 This comment points to the complexity of the politics of ethnic repre­ sentation. First, it shows how ignorant Anglo-Americans are in their depictions of Latin Americans. Second, it introduces the issue of race and mestizaje in Latin America. Third, it brings to the forefront the problematics of authenticity. From this vantage point, an interrogative positioning emerges, facilitating a critical reading: Where do Miranda and Arnaz fit in this model? How authentic are their performances? How do race, ethnicity, class, and gender determine their own repre­ sentation and performance as "other"? How is the "other" portrayed through costumes, locale, body gestures, song and dance, and foreign accent? Do Miranda and Arnaz accommodate their performance acts within the Anglo-American cultural models of the representation of the "Latin foreign other" and within the horizon of expectations of the Anglo-American audiences on Broadway and in Hollywood? Do Miranda and Arnaz continue to involuntarily perpetuate the dominant stereotypes of the "Latin other"?

The Brazilian Bombshell: Carmen Miranda

Down Argentine Way (1940) was the product of the marriage between the Good Neighbor policy and Hollywood. Responding to the U.S. urgency to establish hemispheric ties, the movie was an ideological The New . The Streets o� Pans.. (Bill Rose Theatre Collection, and political package used in initiating a new covenant with Latin Carmen Miranda m Foundations.) 1.3 Arts, Astor,y Lenox and Tilden America. With the goal of making the filmmore attractive and pleasing York Public Library for the Perfonnmg to Latin American audiences, Hollywood interpolated Carmen Miran­ da's Broadway performance in The Streets of Paris, which had been a rousing box office success (fig. 1.3). Thanks to Hollywood's effort to bring a touch of ethnic authenticity to the screen, Miranda's perfor­ mance was preserved almost in its entirety. It must be noted that this 35 36 ct ne tino A O : a e resentations n La / R p o Broad a e w y Carmen Ml·randa and D si Arnaz 37 ttem t t authentici a p a is so re istered ty al in the tin merican o t e lm s g La A loc tio f h fi ; a uis e es nd eter a n o e avo h. h hm and viv iousness o atin meri L R y a P u ie h ve noted "Down e e th g t ac f L A - Way is R b a Arg ntin dience t fl (1940) not e r ei the , e er s: n ��;�� ? �ri n ma s he stereot ica abl fo b ng st in a series o echnico H g, t Am ca Way," p t yp l c ls t o fir r musi can cultur . a a t t u ed atin f T lo ­ ation. o a n meri. s the and o man ere or F x ha tiliz "L c round and the resent f L ti A ca a l f ro ce wh all w - is essential to " ba kg mes 34 he movie rep c ti a e amination ." T re r otten 35 e o ics s nal se ua eration and leis. re a ri c l x o e ethn c re resentation s a fo g : T h tr p i g x l lib u atinos as on ad f th i p o rie L / Bro way and in ol od f e ou h eri a o fers a a ood time nd drea s o o rim H lywo . ou h am c s tim . S t Am c f " er zy" g , a m f l ve. p ri on irand s act Alth g I fo u . . a ly M a' the movie as ho ing s he o en nu er of he this s n is ou o e s nce e m , a w e cons te re A t p mg �b t film, o g t f p1 ac , � xa le o o o d s l titu s a g p f H llyw o ' "otherin rac i es at a t on ta es lace r genti n Shouldn't Miranda, have been smg- Down Arge e g" p t c . the c i k p m A a. ntin Way's lot is sim ams. h stead r t u uese uch an error of ethnicit lan p e and su er cial in · p y merican pl p a oun n o ing Sp m Of o g .? S / - A oman le a fi : y g A e . w (G a rich e or er gl ­ ua e as no ': II received in atin erican mo ie mar ets ir in nd ), N w hose ho is c g w t L Am v k . M ­ orses l s in ove Y k w bby lect g g h , fa l l ith a rich r entine ol ­ a s ntr duction o r en a as a t t l e arrassment r t e in w A g ardo ho is attend and ' i o f A g fm w o a mb fo h h rse sh in he (Ric ), w g a o ow card re ses ­ lo eric. n l m indus and e sed n lo merican misun t U.S. Ri o to se l end horse Ang -Am a fi try xpo A g -A - ndin out that she fu l Gl a ter fi g is a ra rd a a f s nd n o n iona ist ethm. an d raci al di erences n · n C wfo is ther ho has e i g f �r l' c ' ff i Lah standi mi . H fa , w h d a on d r t� ng fa ud ith the ra a l g­ erica .ira da s act t he ni t c u is redi e ut m nd ly fe w C ords s inst cted . M n � gh l b c bl , b ru b� a se them o wf , ha ru him not to Am ll any his orses ter i a are not d n s native t o r en ina his o en n sce e re ist rs f h . Af ardo s re to r sa � c: � A t . T p i g n g e es to uenos R c ' turn A en n lend mb fli B ires ith her aunt g ti a, G a con s on ith n th n o eri an cult a a inar re ard A w to ac uire a ne h e � l Im c ur l im g y g ­ uer cardo q w rse and to c n th fu i w q Ri er interest in horses o o ­ he re resentation o e tin fore n other and its eo ra h . H rallels her sear h ing t p ; � �,L� ig " g g p y: ut t ere is a pa a hus an B h in onvenience the c for b d. ne s. m er · s s a e as the oth er n d t e other and the her ll e n c : mance ets co licated 'fi � m a h ot . A g o- c r o s ther ro g mp hen i o ig a d ' fa discovers t at enda w R ­ ra hic loca ons eco e con a ion o di erent e ot s es the tro h Gl is a ra r n or g p ti b m a fl f f ff x ic it : p­ ther s consent C wfo d. I er to ain s fa ' or s re ations i d g hi .i s th e a as the ndes h ere ro ance com or esta and sie ta f hi l h p w ith enda c rdo c , p mp , A -w m , f t, fi , s enter the est horse Gl , Ri a decides to b in a race ter intensive are orever uara te d . Af trainin t e horse f g r:i � . he victo con nces g, ns T ry the ther to ch h wi . ith n th s re u ced and ra ist. a o se in atins n he vi fa n e his mind n i i p 1 di C w y f e , "L " i t film ther acce ts a g the end t e W fa lenda and the ou . I , h a e one dimens. ona randa stand s for he a in stereo e o the p G le ives h il ever · t "L � " typ f does c p l app y a ter r - i 1 · Mi How armen ir nda f . a est se orita ho . s a a s anc and advocat n e en.o ent C M a t t s n lo merican y n w � lw y d . i g th 1 ym to o s r h fi in hi A g -A ima n g p ( )gap o atin merica gi ary o e nc t assion a d se ua e . th u h her e o c loo s y f L A ? ter iranda s suc ess f lif , i i ing p :1 x tJ ro g x ti k . entiet en Af M ' c on road Tw h C tury o resa the lucrative B way, her atins in the m e a e t oman e or o n for the F x fo w otential o her Ot "L " m? r :�: c knw ir ise she inca ated p f ct re c ly, rn the ideal s m o a . P ­ la ness and s o aced l fe s mer ca a de onstrates y b ation t e oo zi l w-p � . ;,��':t�A i nW y" m , o i iranda s cameo liz of h G ei h or p l cy. M ' a earance n the d N g b a ns r de on mules si a n r. veness and ar ica eha or usion pp i film as via e throu h the "L ti " i , g A_ g p 'ti f c l b vi ; incl o a uenos ires w bl ? h _ f B A ni ht clu er rmance g the ha eu s a ays ta n a siestam:\he c re a e o the horses is a as art o a g b p fo his scene o curs c uff r i lw ki g , a t k r f p our o the cit s i . T c rotes ue a d o ica. h racte e se ants and v l a er f t f y' ht e iven t enda h s lo e hus er n g lif , g o Gl ito a atin g q :1 c ir:i 1 c a r t rv i l g ok lik tl he lu ende vous by T , "L . ." T C b R eaturin iranda condescend aricatures of e ica ea an s o is an o or ms u s visited z , f g M as am n the mg c M � n s t ; Tit pp tu - cl b this scene , w o g . In club iranda s road i hust er o ta es advant o th urists· ca do c sta i es he anted to , M ' B ay act as trans t c l wh k �g f fo Ri r ry ll z t pl o l ood re ealin w w a e f t e handso e r he cour eo s and char rich H l yw , v the ideo o ical dis ­ � ve e een the g l g rsive con n um im g o h m Latm � ; u ming b tw reat hite and cu ti u a allero he co or l auc o � o' o der ven a t e a ove o G W Way the cto o reams c n i ll h b f­ Down Argentine Fa ry f D b , t l fu g � . N w Way ens ith he . fenses at he s e tators ue��: ires' otes ed the lm and op w son outh merican , th t p c m B A ;r t fi an immedia e t g "S a d e oses the m ted A W y" ent eth e o ad to ree i an reshoot some cenes that t ly xp an stereo cal hi h ll li i d typi ays th u h Tw i C nt ury F x h d 37 s w c Ho ood visua es and w ro g ere de rad. and sul in to r ent. es yw liz characteri es at w g mg m· t g A g m . son in o h z L meri ans his g, the ad a er inA c . T h d s rst earance n a o b t Bro w y p rmance and the movie t s m or an o note t a iran a y rein r es t fo circu ates and I i i p t t t t M' ' fi app i H ll - fo c e stereo ical , l con rms he h typ Anglo-American re resentations wood film was her �roadway act r s T his not only fi r merica s n p o o th r� A . A o Broad iranda mesmeri f S u tan ent ali to he Im o r ant it anchors ir nd in way,M es the m a dience g i ty t , : t M a a a ears in the echnico z fil u he � �:t pp T or ri iance o color . S her road a e erienc : �i��he ec� e su h an im ediate l b ll l costumes and B w y xp . b m c m e elr his f fu litter � ing j w y. Int enin scene ra g ­ sensation. and a cu ra con f orY he udi ·ences nd t eater cri cs op g , Mi da introduces the da ltu l i t a a h ti n zzled au . ? - Carmen Miranda was no newcomer to the entertainment mdustr y; 39 Miranda and Desi Arnaz Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway earmen 38 son s o sin s ee anish e o ta nda g t a en anda g thr Sp• na e .s . S n ri Mira 44 e an experienced performer. Before her arrival on Broadway, she T.T C rm Mir et of . ta . s t s sh was er m i t o f e o se . i;, o a . e wn xt gm ri e n a ar n ra e a recorded more than t ee re a mm n h r a he had b e st i B zil. Sh h d hr hund d he cc mp o ss an t s f d , t a s een . . F r Mi Mir n records and had been featured in five films. On a cruise to South s as a b s ii:ig la ho s si lw y b a o o e a zzli g Spani h h esen o� ne � ; �hic w in ix America, Lee Shubert, after seeing her er r an e at the Casino de ood in the ig h p �:�:�h of a s p fo m c pr t g? an s e eets g to e s s a P ri . chief h a e t r 1: Th Str e s a d o Urea, recruited Miranda to appear in his latest musical revue, Streets minut s e fin l th fir t ar,. an o s un m my e , t o s a s lK � d i d r t n fr o o e e mg. th 5y c of Paris, which opened on Broadway on 19 June 1939. Her performance h r kn w wh t a " ''N b dy en t is a a . 4 o o e ravill . stopped the show at the end of the first act. Though she sang in Portu­ n my m v m t.I m to e.F r m ahn. Amen-· . ecta e of herself, of L guese, communication through language was not necessary as long as r n ke a s cl t only did Mi en e glam rized No � �: !tc ritics and audi c s � there was music and spectacle. As one critic noted, "The language of n t ica b women, � e a native of can � t e and spl ndor, Brazil is Portugese. Maybe you no spikka. But let Miranda sing to you 1 a ir: with all i s plumag her as a trop c �� and you' re practically a native. For her language doesn't need an inter­ the jungles: preter. Her flashing smile, those what-big-eyes-you-have, a shrug or a e o uese hat e in a rtug s s . . and n r g m c wlik P an e a e e re an r n t e e t e o e in ead gg ling, c t e e the an two d thos m rv lously xp ssive h ds, i g h b ll h world n b , wayi�g e s ous da E vel p d au en e t a y , Mir s e e in the wi':h m rry, mi chiev round. Call it 'oomph,' 'yumph,' or go way back to Elinor Glyn and s g di c o k w r s sto s e s 4 39 s o n e u h w.6 ca t t ran a n a ren t n er , b t he p th ll i 'it.' Tha 's Mi d :' Mira d 's di io of "South Am i­ :r::m nly o c i s ee P e a e t, en- n a ious sin ly, limp d, w can Way" (which, with her heavily accented pronunciation as "Souse s an ast nis g r, m king rv hi gly gr c e ea s i o i s o e eh . 4/ er a a e er a e e) a ne t e She un s o e r m y . � Am ic n Way," bec m h sign tur tun w s o of h musical cm s d . N rar r b rd ha c m h till.g o a f erence numbers. . . e r of Mirand 'difs t e ate to mak e m tapho e critics did no h sit a -. For Broadway audiences, Miranda constituted the most eccentric, Th nstrous oli 3 ec tific tion animalization and mo and sexualitythrough . exuberant, and popular cultural manifestation of Latin America. The­ h e audien e th an itties n o wi t e ater critics described her as a fiery Brazilian singer and dancer, with u es o o e i t th c en she s ne f h r Brazili d .m . m at eff t is e asta 4s re e e e en n t n e a n e an [Wlh sna a e the t·mg. pica sque y mov m ts, hips i mo io , s nsu l ha d g stures, d e . o a , ec d v f ke ch rm r an d d xterity an in e ents exotic language, a woman who hypnotized and electrified audiences a o e a nt of n an. at e9 r c g mov m he has the fa e ed g rg y l nd on Broadway and in Hollywood. She impersonated not only Latin c a im o to ns 4 S s t t a es t e toasts . a e e e t . m k h f w American women but Latin America itself, becoming both the "ambas­ h tev r ls i· i ha r w e Miranda's perfo - . . e t e w ords to describ sadress of Brazil" and the "ambassadress for the Good Neighbor pol­ ears that cnt�cs lack d h It app anguage; she was too erence t h at o b s ctru ted l icy." Critics were well aware of Miranda's political role: mance: it was h er diff e to be classified: s an a e se e t o se e t s o n i o o s e s o a slipp ry . t a t t A dv rti m n for R o v l ' go d- e ghb r p licy, h i w rth half o es e s di , tha hu e i o t e t ns s t at ous e n n as s . o fficul , m f c 40 at s t t a fic ult t d crib · to o ds t at ndr d d pl ma ic del ga io . It' h 'S Am rica way.' C rme h .i dif a e s to e it h Wh it i ha n neu ti . t e. g t in w r . . s a e o h rr tt mp� se n s ss an a is the eatest e ent ou e a ons t o t e a s n e a a v gr w ro . c m d e as a dr m tic. critic h he sa e . n m d x efi d . Mi Mir d gr v in r r l ti wi h S u h Am ric i c a e se se an o t b ra n th m th e e e t e na a a ou d t m time e is t e t 41 k n d at a a st the on y h Pa m C nal. w l m ust e at e ted r h impac e e ess t g_ .m. F rr nea a s o m b t mp d n' ant c v- e e is a e a e se e t o t e o e o o e e s a su e N v rthel , i a a s a a rly alw y e s os es an b ·1li but h i an a H r fin dv rti m n f r h g od-n ighb r p licy, h r i p rb o , lw y b rb ric een' e se en f Carm n' c tum e on o a s a e v t r b d nei o st n ht e u en e a e he a u 42 ho ou th _p c betw th oes ghb r. La ig th a di c h il d r r ptuo sly. e in he wi exc �ti. f as t e o one r g r t r ghly s e anse s okn Z . It d out th e wn h T rrid oin a a . Thi xp i t en s Miranda, a foreigner singing in a foreign language, became such a b e waIS· tlin ana ons f oe p t t es o i s. e n g ray .so no o ut ible m ti o R a ec a e at e r e e r n t n e r e ve, b giv ff nvi visu l sp t cl th th Po tug s ly ics did o i t rfe e with th t m city. Mi. randa . . nfuse race and ethni r e n r ce at n e e cr t a e t at e a ence of words, critics co_ ec ptio p o ss all. I de d, som i ics ssum d h sh w s In the abs exual "barbaric . ra a1 , ethn· ic, and s n a m enti rety, the ci singi g in Sp nish: personifi · e s, 1·t s . n rmed by t h e : a1 a inary as i fo e Anglo-American cul� other" i n th erica a s the "Torrid e n a sin s i h t son s n anis to t e o a e t o r rt01 un � n Am Th Mira d g rap d-r y hmed g i Sp h h acc mp nim n f ( ra cal discursive e t topo s)g phi ?': �': �;� r e epithet of "ho a a i n n ut s a ates e t t ta t e o u st m a Ju a es he th Br zil a ba d .... B he r di h at ha will x h Br adh r air­ ran a's place of ong n t ant t s u e " Zone:' Mi d co di ioning pl hi S mm r. 43 c e a a e rese 40 A t On : L tino/ ta r a Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz R p n tions on B o dway 41 a a e t a ts e t m c c ta o t t e racl ta wic h ll i roti cat r sc o a a as e se e r te ra a s e c es onnoe a ti ns, in addi i . . h c ao� eto lo mg he in Film h l r An Lopez h pr ci ly int rp e d Mi nd 's function i l on titu n i of th L f m . eo es s s ec ac e e a e a t a Amen an n tiv p pl : a a p t l of thnicity nd s xu lity, explaining h t When Carmen Miranda t s t s joined he ca t of The Streets of Pans t s s s rs s s s of t r s t r he boy s he en emble adop ed he a ss and girl Miranda function narratively ... and di cu ively a a exual feti h, freezing hei Inca G odde of t r t s s s a of a lengthy run. s1 Good Fortune and oken e na ra ive and the plea ure of the voyeuri tic g ze and provoking a regime th s s a a t t r s of pectacle and pecul rity. She acknowledges nd openly par icipa es in he She eengs s s s ra s ong from Brazee! s. . s t r r ss and her bod ng wi s s s feti hization, taring back at the came , implicating the audience in her exual fee�-a p ince out t ; h he -eye , hand , hip , s u s s s s s s a t of an Az ec frieze wi� a , t di play. B t he i al o an ethnic feti h. The look he return is lso that of he a bird of paradis t s 1: nther s grace, he plumage r s s r ss e and he wile 0 f E ve and . t of ethnographe and it colonial spectator tand-in. He Latin Americanne is L1h h combined.s2 s s s r s s r [The] r displaced in all it vi ual plendo for imultaneou colonial approp iation public ... ado ed t t ursts 58 t her ho tam 1 1: c ewing he s a a :: � , and wildly fun knack and denial. � Engli h l nguage roun� t ut s _ for c1ent Inca t til I came o oundmg like dialec .s3 an an- ter ec a se sat o a ce e r ar e a a ca e b oming n i n l l b ity, C m n Mir nd be m ese aAf t e e ca r a a as a ac a rac a a rac Th a es c ec p rt of h Anglo-Am ri n cultu al im gin ry viv ious nd a a a i lized nd ist im e t e ea e t a a s e tert er a e te a r gara (I_n a, Azt ) combm nima liz tion (panthe e e e e sd wie h th b eeutifulac s anoric a whoe towould e lwa ey nca ain.c Hss imes g , quie r s s as e t c rabird f d i e of ' er rap rpa tuat th ter o qu r t, h s ontinu d b imit t d in mpy ro -dr sing p rfo ­ Lsetino /a xo i � h ,, ;;t a at e typese a e acts a e act r r ar e e a s e t ea e a e as ar a ciale ot - i nd gu who � r a a , n iv Portu m nc by m l o s o p odi d by f m le in th h t r, mov­ er o n ma w M i d C ec e e s c erc a s a a e a r Gotta Sing Gotta 1 arm?e i and d p s nific tion ca s e e er Cunha,s b om s th ie , eomm i l , nd TV: As John Kob l, th utho of ca a ec ofs acall nat·ve Am e e a Danc , ts t e a e a a er s s a cl t eca e r en resn · v n h · · mgmg cIn di l t. Thi ' . o erceb com s n e apoine ersoou , "ha rr sex egg rt ted m nn i m nd o hing b m ra . s e ese t aof igno ane , . s a s t e a 1 u 1 tingre1 fr m m ISp· 59 uI tu l mi r pr . t e cc ptionrs nd a f m l imp n to e' d aligh " (fig.c 1.4).e re ea e s . a a ntra tion of h "L t· e a e Bananas Is My Busin ss, at en f o. ca gn o h "r, o u Mir nda, n immig . . a s a a b esc us tra e a a e efilmer do s aum ntaryrs a l ssd inr 1994, illua ­ er ca c ntra from L in A e a a n s1,_ mh b1t nd v 60 Anglo-Am i n ultu � e cas e lidats th t es how Mira nda einva nttod ha t ge peo onse. creA het popule rityre a l eim g_in ry; _ong e wild fauna cs lesd In , Azt c , and wor off, Mir nd b g n p rody her wn lf- a ion: th mo a s and flor of th ese c rc s a cesth s e e e er e c e e s e e a e s gu c la tr an ng Mir o{ J� e a . Ina the i um t h p rform d h thni inv ntion, the mor h b c m a clowni h er andra 'e alin isti p y :: acce are nar , ca e e e s e r t a l a a s et wit d:;n � g?er t d s of c nd . e ec a ent m k­ cari tur . Inde d, wh n h retu ned o Br zi in 1940, Br zili n did e e e sehnicity.Althou g h4 s c t cce e e a e e e t e a e a a a s s a ngmgre IS d l t bl sepr h nsibl noi � r er acce , ite i in om­ solno a e pt h r p rform nc . Th y ef l accb trsey d erby Mire nd , whoer ch d se ar c , nothingas i 1_d: 5 o te s a yw a sove , h en of tifi iality e ntce r agis s r ed h r actra outa sto e Holl cood;s thc y e etu dc h a of ab inga Amst ersi an­a o ess as e· An M L ' · as t e ar opez1 ha not d, "At • h r thern . t e ons ign of iz d. In Mi nd ' ffort to on tru t h r hni nd n tion li p on t e c we ll of h tifi er acce t e s e a e eca e l yw e er s e c e t ar ce�li y of �11 oth rnes ul imat ly be am e ce e e, h nt inc hac U.S.,as ha ha de undoubta a t dly b c m a ''Hocar l a oodizes d."s ec Hacmue a i­ e e s a 1anc1 ffi i n m k e tis c a1. s tmg d vi , xploit d al t w f k , n c of mimi ry, niv l que p t l d­ mt nt nd pub1· in adv r- esse sa e o e ecta o s e ca a . . t s ers ·tyc eamp gn . 55 Wi . ra a s e r dr d to tisfy th horizon f xp ti n of Anglo-Am ri n udi­ c hine hi p pe tiv s a s a s a e ces e c e e le e a a e t e s e c a a, Mi nd ' _ }: r fo �ance . rum e es re c dis pl y imul n . R je tion by h r p op l d Mir nd to r spond with h ong a ewh rea thni nd n c c ­ e s ca e ac e c e e t a e c s tionalst id nhh a nd n es a s ec me on tant onstru "Th y ay I m b k Am ri aniz d:' Sh lef Br zil with a brok n argoti tion. In fa t h c a e tion ea e a s a ec c le e e s ;3 �? e tacle of thni yw ity. Sh i a' 1 rna ar e e ity nd f minin­ h rt. Ov r time, Br zilian h ve r on i d with h r Holl ood im­ ca se aRob rt , in 9 j, a s t a e a e e ces rs t a t e s e tes :t ::;; :t l i u e et �c�l , a xpl in h t "b g and U.S. audi n still wo hip he "l dy with h tutti-frutti ar eMirs ndaests o exagg ra er­ t s a a e se es e a ca e ca t e e stgo of hm 1ty 61 st t xt as s ce a nde femininity,h ha :' A S r J. W lch ob rv in "Th Mir ndifi tion of Am ri ;' a uggs a that h y xi re er o re s ect c ear at e ra e er ca s c a a c a econI y urfa , th nd in thi e s eer s ectac te th y do not f , " nly in tro p is it l th sh Mi ndifi d Am i a mu h a e w ry Mir nd n b as e ca e e et c a a e a ca a as r s rm h p 6 62 C rm n i gu o ter o l ." a5 it Am ri niz d h r." L me l rify th t th "Mir ndifi tion" of t at t M"e and w t an a c r c e e ca ca t e c e a c rat e ral e e t e c fist edf int a,: . h no o a � typ�ess nd a i atur Am ri nno b onfus d with tr ns ultu ion Th cultu x­ ca essonly mbodi d h r c a e s l e e a a t a a e e eonca rue i n of L , i nn . c a tmna / "South Ame h ng i imit d to th Anglo ppropri tion of rhy hm nd im g erea er" in th Anglo- mA e s - a ca a es e se t a a s r es a e s re s e s ere n n ultu I · 1 th ft a s ec m�gmhffere ry of t� 94O within rniv l qu t ing; Mir nd ' Po tug e l nguag i ­ a se a, ?ut al o r gi ; c er and e se e es rc sta ce er acce t es e t e as a s e t e do p tacl: o � nd xu lity c s a c a n e, u�mg h body duc d to noi . Und r th e ci um n s, h n driv hom h it of x ti i m nd ra e ss ac at a a c s r t t e ara ers a ial nd ethmc oth rne .57 f t th Mir nd fun tion prima ily wi hin h p met of "L tin- 42 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 43

be remembered as the most outrageous and hilarious representation of "Latinidad" in Hollywood and in the U.S. cultural imaginary.63 She became the pseudostereotypical image that would define the Latin American/U.S. Latina identity. Her obituary in the New York Times ac­ knowledged this: "Miss Miranda, whose explosive, hippy dancing, thick-accented singing and garish costumes, became a prototype of the dynamic 'Latin' female."64 An unforgettable parody of Miranda was Betty Garrett's imitation, with her rendition "South America, Take It Away'' in Call Me Mister (1946).65 The song pokes fun at the implemen­ tation of the Good Neighbor policy and the Latin rumba, samba, and conga crazes. It also refers to Miranda's hypnotizing hip movements and stylized mannerisms. Although this parody is a response to Miran­ da's Broadway performance and popularity, it also registers the pres­ ence on Broadway of another Latino. In the refrain "South America! Babalu! Babalu ay yay, babalu!" none other than Desi Arnaz was parodied. It is the word "babalu" that refers to Arnaz's performance, a musical act that, like Carmen Miranda's, would activate and mobilize the Anglo-American topo(s)graphical imaginary of the "Latin other." At this discursive intersection, the Queen of Samba and the King of Rumba were the spokespersons for the Good Neighbor policy and shared the cultural pedestal on Broadway as the sole representatives of Latin Americans and performers of "Latinness." Miranda and Arnaz were onstage representing, performing, and speaking for all Latin Americans and U.S. Latinos/as. Their vocabulary may have been lim­ ited to bizarre, primitive, exotic, and incomprehensible sounds, but they spoke more than words. "Babalu" and " ay ay" said it all about Latin America and its peoples. The sound and musical interpretation of "babalu" and " ay ay" were powerful evidence for Anglo-American audiences that these performances were indisputably ethnic, authentic, and exotic. With Miranda's and Arnaz's debuts on Broadway in 1939, the Anglo-American cultural representation of the "Latin foreign other" was here to stay. Miranda and Arnaz were predestined to be­ 1.4 Willard Scott on the Today show,impersonating Carmen Miranda. come the foundational images of "Latinidad" in the U.S. topo(s)graph­ ical cultural imaginary of Latin America. ization." The "Latin exotic foreign other" . in the US 1·s onlY ass1 1 as Iong I·t p a · · m·1ate d I hys t e function of entertainm . The Latin Lover: Desi Arnaz co_medy) ent ( 1 a , and when Miranda's a look nd fashio:;: �; ! ;::��:� ensm and spectacle. 1.��i Unlike Carmen Miranda, the daughter of migrant Portuguese With the a a p ss ge of time, Miranda a working-class parents, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III, better h s become more complica more campy, more postmodern. ted known as Desi Arnaz, was the son of one of the wealthiest political Miranda's performances will alway� families in Cuba. After a group of military men, among them Fulgencio Desi Arnaz 45 nen Miranda and One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway can 44 Act

Batista y Zaldivar, overthrew Gerardo Machado's dictatorship in 1933, Arnaz's father was jailed and the family property was confiscated. Ar­ naz and his parents went to Miami in exile. Arnaz, whose life story is a riches-to-rags-to-riches one, was not embarrassed to admit publicly the menial jobs he had taken to earn a living, and he willingly ex­ pressed his gratitude to the U.S. for his fortune and success: "I really wanna tell you my first job in this country was cleaning bird cages. It's very true. We came to this country, we didn't have a cent in our pockets. From cleaning canary cages to this night here in New York, it's a long ways and I don't think there is any other country in the world that could give you that opportunity. I wanna say thank you, thank you America, thank you:' 66 Arnaz's artistic career began in 1936 at the Roney Plaza Hotel in Miami Beach, when he joined a rumba band, the Siboney Sextet. He was discovered by Xavier Cugat, who, after seeing him perform, asked Arnaz to join his band. In a short time, Arnaz learned the art of show business from Cugat and, in 1937, put together his own band, which became a great sensation after introducing the conga line. When the band reached New York, Broadway's musical director and producer George Abbott and the musical team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (who had a new show, Too Many Girls, in the works) were at­ 67 tracted to Arnaz's charismatic and artistic potential. On 14 October 1939, Arnaz appeared on Broadway as Manuelito in Too Many Girls (figs. 1.5 and 1.6), a role he would later reprise in the filmv ersion. This musical tells the story of young Consuelo (played by Lucille Ball), whose wealthy father hires four young men to guard her while she attends the fictional Pottawatomie College in New Mexico, his alma mater. The all-American boys, whose contract forbids any romantic involvement with Consuelo, get involved in college life, join the football team, and bring about a winning football season. The stu­ dent body does not know that these four are ringers: three have pre­ viously played in the Ivy League, and Manuelito has played in Argen­ . (Vandamm Collection, Billy Rose Amaz on Broadway m Tao M Girls tina. As the plot advances, Consuelo falls in love with one of the boys, 1.5 Desi for the Performing Arts, Astor, The New York p u ic L'br;I ry who struggles with his decision to break the contract. In the end, Theatre Collection, :? Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.) romance wins and Consuelo marries her bodyguard. During the filming of Too Many Girls Arnaz met Lucille Ball, whom i i s he married. Together they later produced and starred in the most pop­ n n the film reaches t climax women. His interpolatio i :�::!;: k� ar s a e e n e es e 68 a n ul itu tion com dy t levisio s ri of all tim , I Love Lucy. Wh t a e;; �usical num?er�; I and dances f ��� with �om­ is Arnaz's role in this film? His Manuelito is not critical to the develop­ amsh, w h :;:!;�dzed e rmed Spic and �p naz p rfo anets; "She Could ment of the plot; he is simply a minor character whose accent is ex­ n s and c ast e , ara br r ;� ����: ��;�:a; � s he first act, "Bab�lu;' plained by giving him an Argentine nationality. Manuelito's presence � [i:S �! s lose t ha t e er ;a sa S ' e conga n umber. D1o is required to add a touch of "authenticity"; not only is he a hotshot e , erotic and seductiv an overwh e 1rm·ng , fi ry, ' football player, he is a hot ''Latin" obsessed with Anglo-American 46 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 47

"as a South American broken-fieldrunn�r, D�si Arnaz is a good_ wooer 71 of women." Obviously,Arnaz was defined _in terms of sexuality and hia bility to seduce women. Men reacted differently; to them he was s merel y noise: "Mr Arnaz is a noisy, black-haired Latin whose face, unfortunately, lacks expression and whose performance 1s· d evo1'd of a e"n gr lr�az is not the only marker of difference in the musical. The story ta k e s place in New Mexico, and, significantly, the name of the college . P ottawatomieI a word that inscribes difference within the othered IS • a e of the Native American The sets and costumes register d'f1 - sp c . . fere nee in terms of Mexican and· Native American signs• o f ot h erness. This space of otherness is a liminal zone where passion• · t 1 1s se oose and morals relaxed. This ambience explains why Consuelo must be arded under "the law of the father:' Also, this layered liminal bor­ tr allows Arnaz to shout like a "tribal �hieftain:' 73 and ;,o "[appr?xi- 1.6 The . Broadway cast of Too Many Girls. (Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York ate] a tribal chant to Chango, the Afncan God of War in the final Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.) :usical number.74 The whole scene constructs itself in relation to a prl·mitive worldview in which Native American and African cultures converge at center stage, with tribal rituals, chants, and access1ve Costello was Arnaz's song-and-dance companion in these numbers, a rhythms. Puerto Rican actress whose "trademark was that she could swish her . 69 In the film's opening musical numbers, which take place at the c?l- derriere at warp speed." This duo's popularity was so immense that lege, the camera deliberately presents few cl�se-ups of some_ Na;,1ve they would perform at Club La Conga after the stage show. � American faces.75 Furthermore, Arnaz s drum 1s decorated with In­ In the filmversion of Too Many Girls, Ann Miller took over Costello's role, and dian" motifs, revealing how African and Native American cultures are Arnaz's performance of "Babalu" was moved 76 to the closing fusedin the finalmusical number of the film. Such moments of pseu­ of the film, where a big, loud celebration was needed to mark the vic­ dotransculturation do not represent the multicultural nightmare �u­ tory of the last football game. In this finalmusical act of the film, Arnaz ban critic Gustavo Perez Firmat observes in his analysis of the film: appears in football regalia with his conga drum hanging around his "The movie's ignorance is so utterly blissful that I find its m�d�ess neck. The scene is energizing and sexy, exploiting Arnaz's vivacity, sex agglutinating energy difficult to resist. To be sure, Too Many Girls 1s a appeal, and virility,which are all corporalized in the exhilarating, im­ multiculturalist's nightmare:' 77 Rather, I would say, this is a cas� of pulsive, "savage" movements and sounds of his drum playing. The blatant cultural appropriation and "Latinization;' given that the fi�al crescendo of rhythm is accentuated by Arnaz's placement in front of a movie scene has been molded and accommodated for the entertain­ bonfire that frames him, facilitating close-ups of his agitated, sweaty ment and enjoyment of an Anglo-American audience: The lyrics have body. Students are dancing the conga at Arnaz's feet, expressing eu­ disappeared, thus erasing the Spanish language, w�ch has been re­ phoria and eroticism; the rhythmic drive builds as he furiously pounds his conga. placed by unintelligible sounds signaling generic ethnic otherness and a a a cultur l difference. Thus, Spanish langu ge has been reduced to mere That same p ssion made Arnaza matinee idol on Broadway. Women noise. The audience does not care about the verbal content; it prefers went crazy for his good looks and sex appeal. Thus, Arnaz embodied to enjoy the visual spectacle of difference and the pri�itive sounds of a new Rudolph Valentino, an updated version of the "Latin lover." Arnaz's "oe oe" as the conga. beat intensifies, possessing the cast and That each played an Argentine (Valentino's being the gaucho Four in audience. This exotic and racialized space liberates individuals (actors Horsemen of the Apocalypse) made the connection more explicit. The and audience), unleashing their sexual instincts as they dance a c_on�a press did not fail to notice the "Latin lover" aura; Arnaz was hailed as until the beating of the drums provoke the explosion of their bodies in a "terpsichorean Rudolph Valentino" by one critic;70 another said that a volcanic fury. 48 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 49

learned it, challenge Anglo-American audiences. As they On Broadway, "Babahi;' sung in Spanish, was a spectacle of oth­ they had erness because of its exoticism and primitiveness. Arnaz's rendition of pleased, they imposed their difference and foreignness: within the car­ "Babalu" located the audiences in the realm of African religious ritu­ nivalesque, they camouflagedtheir Latin American origins and staged als.78 Those audiences did not understand the relation of the lyrics to humorously their ethnic identities. Pleasing, in these terms, means to Afro-Cuban cultural and religious practices. In Santeria, Babalu Aye is give enjoyment, as well as to perform within one's own will (in spite one of the Orichas, a deity in the Yoruba mythological world. The chant of how constrained one may be by stereotypes). On the stage, Arnaz functions as a prayer and an offering in exchange for protection and and Miranda did as they pleased. Arnaz to playing future happiness in love, health, and prosperity. Given the syncretism Significantly, their accents limited Miranda and of African and Catholic religions in Cuba, Santeria identifies Babalu the roles of marginal characters. Arnaz's accent would haunt him Aye with Saint Lazarus. In the Yoruba mythical world, Babalu was a throughout his life, and was emphasized in his famous recurring line after lascivious and promiscuous man who, after having sex with many as Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy: "Honey, I'm home!" In an episode women, became ill. His body was covered with lacerations and only his Little Ricky was born, Lucy is afraid their son will have his father's dogs, licking his sores, would follow him. When appropriated by San­ accent. She tells Ricky, "Please promise me you won't speak to our teria, Saint Lazarus became the patron saint of people sick with leprosy, child until he's nineteen or twenty." Throughout I Love Lucy's TV run, s accent was not only in a comic context but in a cruel reality: smallpox, venereal diseases and, more recently, AIDS. In "Babalu;' Ar­ Arnaz' naz impersonates and mimics the voice of a black man ("negro" ) who his accent was a form of embarassment, one that impeded the progress is worshipping the Orisha to be successful in love with his "negra!' of his artistic career. Even within the domestic sphere, Arnaz as Ricky up his ethnic act; his accent must be exiled from The is�ue of race and racism is embedded in the line "quiero pedir a Ricardo must clean Babalu una negra bembona" (I want to ask Babalu for a negra with the home, because it is a marker of difference. It is allowed only in the thick-nigger-lips). The spectacle and the vocal impersonation only per­ public sphere, as a form of entertainment in his night club, the Trop­ 79 icana (which would eventually be renamed Babalu). It is ironic that petuated the notion of the racial "other" as performative. 82 Lacking a translation, the audience had no knowledge of the African "what we remember most about Ricky is the sound of his voice;' that origin of the song "Babalu;' nor of the African origins of the rumba and is, his accent, and his "Babalu" cries. the conga; neither were they informed of the African roots of Carmen As the years passed, Arnaz sounded like a broken record, always Miranda's sambas and bahiana outfits.80 Like Miranda, Arnaz was con­ performing "Babalu" on I Love Lucy. This repetitiveness paralleled the demned to communicate through queer sounds, hyperbolic ethnic rep­ evolution of Miranda's singing and performance into comedy and par­ resentations, running gags, and visual spectacle. In this aspect, a state­ ody. Through the years, Miranda's voice became squeaky, her exag­ ment by Xavier Cugat helps explain the reception process of such gerated, accented broken English, over-pronounced rs, and plays on ethnic spectacles: ''Americans know nothing about Latin music. They words became monotonous, nonsensical, predictable, and sometimes neither understand nor feel it. So they have to be given music more for annoying. When her filmIf I'm Lucky (1946) was released, critic Bosley the eyes than the ears. Eighty percent visual, the rest aural."81 Crowther of the New York Times reduced her performance act to "ani­ 83 In films and in song, Miranda's and Arnaz's English was fractured mated noise!' Her act ceased to develop; it became more artificial, and mangled whenever, in excitement, anger, or frustration, they burst excessive, grotesque, clownish, and farcical. Indeed, her bahiana tur­ The Gang's into a chain of incomprehensible noise. Such instances of verbal non­ bans and hats became a comic amalgamation of fruits, as in sense were overemphasized by their thick accents. These tongue twist­ All Here (1943). Miranda and Arnaz were condemned to repeatedly ers, pl�ys on words, and linguistic anarchy were major components In this aspect, of their performances and critical to their efforts to please Anglo­ enact their performances as pure ethnic entertainment. They had no American audiences. Their accents and linguistic outbursts translated choice other than to make the best of the "Latin foreign other" roles as markers of exoticism and ethnic difference, and particularly articu­ Hollywood had for them. Arnaz was very conscious of his limitations, for �ated their "fieryLatin temperaments." However, both actors, by refus­ as he confessed in his autobiography. Referring to the auditions mg to show full command and performance of the English language Too Many Girls, he said, ''At that time the Latin type they were describ­ and grammar, and by insisting on converting it into gibberish once ing, [able to handle comedy, song, and dance] was not easy to find in 50 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 51 this country. ... The only ones who were known then were the roman­ and the loud tribal chanting transported the au�ience� to Cub� and tic Rudolph Valentino types and the George Raft types, or i i the other spec ifically to the topo(s)graphical Afro-Cuban d scurs ve location as extreme, the Crispin Martin lazy Mexican .. i. 8 character or the Leo Car­ co g a_ry. 4 represented in the Anglo-American c1:1l�r� 11ecbve1 im ; � rillos:' "Latin" roles were so scarce in Hollyw i i ood that when Arnaz The convergence of race and et hmc ty s a so1 cryst a 1ze m "Sh e returned from military service in 1945, he had o already been replaced ld Shake Her Maracas;' one of the _songs A_rnaz performed in T� with Ricardo Montalban. Cou 91 Many Girls. This song stereotypes Lahn American culture and corm- Broadway and Hollywood's racist practices were apparent in pro­ Uy degrades Latinos/as by attributing to them a bad temper and lack ducers' initial refusals to televise c a situation comedy with the charac­ � ·ntelligence. It tells the story of Pepito and Pepita, who fall in love ters Lucy and Ricky as protagonists who had an interethnic marriage: � i p national origins-he is from Cuba and she is from Rio "The big ite their brass at CBS thought he was not the type to play a typical American 85 d:f Mar. (Notice how these locations echo Arnaz and Mi:anda's ho�e­ husband." Ball and Arnaz were well i i aware of the difficul­ lands.) Furthermore, like Arnaz and Miranda, both Pep to and Pep ta ties of doing a show together: "[E]xperts insisted the program was entertainers: Pepito plays the guitar, and Pepita shakes the mara­ doomed to fail. They said 'a foreigner' are with an accent wouldn't be be­ Of all places, they end up in Harlem, where they ca� co�summate lievable, playing an average 86 cas. American husband:' There is no doubt their love. In these terms, the location of the protagomsts m Harlem that race was a subtext: Arnaz was the other, the "Latin" type; although signals their position in the U.S. as "Latin foreign ethnic and racial Caucasian, his origins were "south of the border." Furthermore, Cuba others": They are allocated to the othered space of African Americans, was seen in racial terms, linked to Africa culturally and ethnically, as since race determines a priori their identity in the U.S. we saw earlier in the 1902 political cartoon about Cuba. Precisely be­ Arnaz also activated and perpetuated the stereotyped imaginary cause of his Cuban ethnicity, it was inconceivable that Arnaz could construction of Cuba as the land of romance and mafianawith another play certain roles, including I Love 92 the husband in Lucy. Arnaz once song, "Cuban Pete." With this song, he is self-proclaimed as the "king declared, "You know,I think if it wouldn't have been for Lucy,I would of the rumba beat" and exalts his expertise as a "Latin lover"; he sends have stopped trying a long time ago because I was always the guy that thesenoritas dancing, and people can forget their worries if they dance didn't fit. When she did 'My Favorite Husband' on radio they said I to his tune all day long. How, then, can we separate the Latin Ameri­ wasn't the type to play the part. Then finally she wanted to do the can ethnic identity from the Anglo-American stereotype of the "Latin television show and she said 'Well, I want to do it with Desi.' So every­ other"? body again said, 'Well he doesn't .. 8 . he is not right to play your hus­ Moreover, Arnaz goes farther in his representation of the "Latin band."' 7 At work here are racist practices. The Hays Code stated that other" as a racial other. If, in his rendition of "Babahi;' he impersonated "miscegeneration (sex relationship between 88 the white and black races) the African race and Cuban ethnicity through music and sound, and is forbidden:' This prohibition included half-breeds, mulattos, Native "Cuban Pete" shamelessly stereotyped "Latins;' it would not be until Americans, African Americans, Asians, Arabs, and, of course, "Latins:' 1953 that Arnaz carried his ethnic and racial act to its maximum ex­ Even off stage, Arnaz was not the type to receive an invitation to pression. It is only reading backwards that "Babalu" exl:'oses its full join the most prestigious golf course 89 in Palm Springs, the Thunder­ meaning: the visual representation of the racial other, which had been bird. Arnaz'sracial and ethnic roots were exposed and overtly deval­ partially silenced and camouflaged, is disclosed in the 19 January 1953 ued on another occasion. The 93 In a television appearance on Ed Wynn I Love Lucy episode, "Lucy Goes to the Hospital" (figs. 1.7 and l.8). Show, in which Lucille Ball was being interviewed, Arnaz interrupted The episode opens with the character Ricky holding a book that has by playing the drums. After a series of interruptions Wynn finally said, a photo of an African with a painted face on one page and a photo of "You' ll ruin the whole show playing those 90 drums. They'll think it's an African mask on the other. As Ricky intensely studies the photos, some African show." These comments not only racialize Arnaz's per­ he makes faces in imitation of what he imagines to be African: he formance, but also register blatant racism. This appraisal of Arnaz's opens wide his mouth and eyes and grimaces. It is not until later in performance supports the idea that, since his first appearance on the episode that the audience learns that he is rehearsing a voodoo act. Broadway,Arnaz's musical number "Babahi" was read as a racial and This is a new act, and Ricky's performative act of creation parallels ethnic performance. The "savage" percussion, the rapturous music, Lucy's act of giving birth. When Lucy and Ricky arrive at the hospital, Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 53 52 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway

1.7 Desi Arnaz in blackface in the I Love Lucy episode "Lucy Goes to the Hospital." 1.8 Desi Arnaz in blackface performing at the cabaret in the I Love Lucy episode "Lucy Goes to the Hospital."

Ricky realizes that he has to get ready for the new voodoo number at inscribesa vulgar and demeaning deformation of the racial other, and establishes power relations. As Eric Lott has aptly observed in "Love his night �lub. He calls his friend Fred to ask him to bring over his and Theft: The Racial Unconscious of Blackface Minstrelsy": "'Black' makeup kit. Once Fred returns, Ricky goes to the bathroom to put the be looked at, makeup on. Ricky comes out in blackface and goes to the fathers' wait­ figures were to shaped to the demands of desire; they were ing room, where he scares a nurse because "the voodoo make-up is a screens on which audience fantasy could rest, securing white specta­ grotesque amalgam of whitened eye sockets, darkened skin, painted­ tors' position as superior, controlling, not to say owning, figures:' 95 on fangs and a fright wig of black hair:' 94 The terrified nurse calls a Ricky's impersonation of the racial other positions his voodoo act policeman and Ricky leaves for the club. During his performance, Fred within a discursive web where Africans incarnate primitiveness and cannibalism. Yet I would like to go a step further. Race is a significant c�lls and informs him that the baby is born. Still with his makeup on, Ricky heads back to the hospital. Chaos reigns when he terrorizes the element in this episode, from the opening to the closing frame. It is staff and the policeman tries to arrest him. Ricky clarifies his identity crucial to examine the spectacle of blackface because, at this moment, as a performer, thus justifying the blackface, to the policeman. Never­ whenLittle Ricky is being born, ethnicity and race intersect. The racist theless, when a nurse comes to the waiting room to announce that practices that confined Arnaz are now made visible in his character Lucy delivered a baby boy, Ricky responds as the father and she is Ricky's blackface. It can be read that Ricky/Arnaz is parodying, sub­ shocked, paralyzed, and speechless. verting, and transgressing the Hays Code, which banned miscege­ As a whole, the blackface episode is a distorted and grotesque mas­ nation. It is obvious that an interracial marriage was not a usual oc­ querade that articulates racist practices within the domain of comedy currence in the hospital, which explains why the nurse was so taken and performance. Blackface impersonation converts the racial other aback A black man was not expected to be in that space. Ricky/ Arnaz into an object of humor. What attempts to be amusing and entertaining was able to bring a black man into a forbidden zone by means of black- 54 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz 55

face, just as he had been able to bring a "Latin" man into the forbidden as well as with class, racial, gender, and sexual biases. Undoubtedly, it zone of an interethnic marriage, one which was perceived as an interra­ is the entertainment industry that serves best to stage, perform, and cial marriage. I interpret this moment of ethnic, racial, and sexual inter­ enact national, cultural, racial, and ethnic identities. In these terms, section as Arnaz's effort to perform race as spectacle through blackface. Miranda personifies the samba and Arnaz the rumba and the conga. white Ironically, underneath all that makeup, there is a man. <;=onse­ When examined closely, both entertainers appropriated music and quently, the baby will be white. Similar to the function of masquerade rhythms fromthe African components of the socionational spectrum of at carnival, the blackface functions as a catalyst to expose and then ethnic identities, social classes, and races that constitute the imaginary subdue all fears and suspicions that the baby was the offspring of an national communities of Brazil and Cuba. Although there is a high interracial marriage. In these terms, Ricky's enactment of race at the degree of transculturation and hybridization, what is absent here is the moment of his son's birth is pure masquerade, just as it was when Ar­ self-representation of and by the African constituency. Consequently, naz sang "Babahi" on Broadway in 1939. His blackface musical num­ Miranda'sand Arnaz's ethnoracial spectacles must be approached with ber is all simulacrum, held up by the scaffolding of racist stereotypes caution. When analyzed their performances reveal the institutional and practices, and continuing the Broadway tradition of "racialized ideological apparatus and social practices of racism in Latin America, entertainment as [a cultural] commodity." 96 translocated to the U.S. Both Miranda and Arnaz are Caucasians who simulate blackness. Authenticity and the Burden of Representation Their performances of blackness speak for the African demographic component of both countries, but, in both musical acts, the African In The Latin Tinge, John S. Roberts quotes Xavier Cugat as saying, "To is made invisible. The African is unrepresentable because the racist succeed in America I gave the Americans a Latin music that had noth­ dominant culture has not opened a space of or for African self­ ing authentic about it." 97 This declaration is loaded with all kinds of representation. There is no room for the subjugated and the subaltern issues. How authentic are cultural, ethnic, and racial representations? to speak, to perform, and to re-present himself. Instead, two successful Up to what point do Latin American migrant entertainers-like entertainers who are white have taken African culture and have appro­ Miranda and Arnaz-have to accommodate their performances ac­ priated their own re-presentation. Miranda and Arnaz have turned Af­ cording to the Anglo-American stereotypical representations of the rican culture into a performance and an impersonation of the other "Latin foreign other" and to satisfy the Anglo-American horizon of with their staging of blackness as simulacra. In this sense, their perfor­ expectations? Why, above all, do artistic performances like music and mances function in accordance with given relations of cultural hege­ dance embody and activate national identities? In the cases of Miranda mony, social power, and racialized/racist practices at home and and Arnaz,why are they singing in Portuguese and Spanish when they abroad. This means that the Afro-Brazilian and the Afro-Cuban are left are not being understood? Are they speaking to themselves, to reas­ out, silenced, and relegated to the margin. As a result, a black physical sure their belonging to an imaginary nationhood abroad? From where body marked by race has no "authentic" representation or voice in the are they speaking? Who are they representing; for whom are they sociocultural arena. Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilianrepresentations are speaking? acceptable as long as the performers perform blackness-that is, put at Nobody questions Miranda's and Arnaz's nationalities. They are the the forefront the performance of blackface. quintessential personifications and emblems of Brazilian and Cuban When considering that Miranda's and Arnaz's theatrical acts in­ national identities. It seems as if, after migration, Miranda and Arnaz scribe signs of otherness and racial markers of difference, it must be had to objectify their ethnicities in order to stage them and to reaffirm asked: whose culture is being represented? Whose race is being per­ their national differences. Yet such a task requires a process of selection formed? Both entertainers invent an ethnic spectacle of the African of national traits and symbols, through which a new identity is forged racial other: Miranda does this through both her costumes and her and made visible. This process mobilizes an inventory of "national samba;98 Arnaz does this with his drum and voice, performing a San­ things" containing all elements native to a given nation: music, dance, teria ritual incorporating the rumba and the conga. In this process of rhythms, typical costumes, folklore, foods, national holidays, religions, cultural appropriation of the African other, a process that keeps at a and art. This inventory is charged with ideological and political views : distance the legacy of transculturation in their native countries, Mi- 56 Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway Mirandaand Carmen Desi Arnaz 57 randa and Arnaz represent and perform the African components of imaginedtopo(s)graphy of Latin America, her heavy and faked accent, their respective countries by using stereotypical elements that define her compelling charisma, and her breathtaking talent made her more the African other: vivacity, vitality, rhythm, brilliant colors and exoti­ "authentic" according to the Anglo-American ways of seeing the cism. Additionally, both the samba and the conga incarnate the carni­ "Latin other". Her presence accurately corroborated and validated val tradition of Brazil and Cuba. In the evolution of the Brazilian,, and dominant Anglo-American stereotypes of Latin America and Latin Cuban national identities, these festive forms of music and dance were Americans. popularized, giving voice to the marginalized lower classes composed The ultimate irony is that native Brazilians and Cubans see and mainly of African descendants and mulattos. For each respective na­ identify with, respectively, Miranda's and Arnaz's cultural perfor­ tion, these national constructions became cultural icons that signified mances and ethnic and racial impersonations as accurate representa­ and emblematized a populist representation of what it is to be Brazil- tions of their national identities. Miranda and Arnaz appear to consol­ ian, or Cuban within the parameters of transculturation. idate a national identity that can only be seen, objectified, and Once Miranda and Arnaz emigrated, they entered the Anglo­ projected from a distance, particularly when that national identity is American topo(s)graphical cultural domain of the representation of reenacted and exported by emigrants. Indeed, these emigrants became Latin America, primarily as racialized and exoticized others. It is here the guardians, preservers, bearers, and transmitters of nationalism. that the "authenticity" of their ethnicity metamorphoses into a stereo­ They became the cultural ambassadors of their country of origin and type. With the passage of time, both performers had to hold on to its people. Thus, Carmen Miranda, according to Heitor Villa-Lobos, their memories and constantly reenact and reaffirm their foreignness, represents Brazil at its best: "Carmen Miranda carried her country in nationality,and ethnicity.At this intersection of nationalism and migra­ her luggage, and taught people who had no idea of our existence to tion (always constructed within the realm of the memory of what was adore our music and our rhythm. Brazil will always have an unpayable ethnic or racial in their homelands) Miranda's and Arnaz's musical per­ debt to Carmen Miranda."99 formances convert, over time, into parody.This process applies to their Miranda's and Arnaz's authenticity was not questioned by U.S. au­ "Latin" accents and their overemphasized mispronunciation, exempli­ diences, who assumed that, since the two were native Latin Americans, fied predominantly in the extravagant and exaggerated rolling of the they automatically enbodied a native Latin American nationality. In letter r. This is most noticeable in Arnaz's musical rendition of a Span­ both cases, their representations of ethnicity in the domain of perfor­ ish popular tongue twister that overpronounces the r: "r con r cacharro mance were equivalent to ethnic Latin American realities. This was con r barril, rrr, rrr, rrr." In Miranda's case, at the beginning of her not true, however, for their representation of race. As discussed above, career her songs delivered the softness, gentleness, and musicality of Miranda's and Arnaz's musical acts appropriated African elements that the Portuguese language ("Mama eu Quero" and "Bambu, Bambu"); relegated Afro-Brazilians and Afro-Cubans to the margins. In this later, she was overemphasizing syllabic repetitions and atypical sounds, sense, their performances staged a partial blackface minstrel show that turning herself into a caricature. Her rs and plays on words became perpetuated the racist stereotypes within the Anglo-American cultural her signature in songs like "I yi yi yi yi (I Like You Very Much)/' "Chica imaginary.10° Furthermore, their ethnicity, which converged in the Chica Boom Chic;' "Chattanooga Choo Choo/' and "Weekend in Ha­ Anglo-American cultural imaginary with race, restricted them from vana." In her recordings with the Andrew Sisters, "Cuanto le gusta;' acting in any roles that signified white ethnicity and race. Of course, "The Wedding Samba;' "I See, I See;' and "The Matador;' Miranda's their accents, not their skin color, were the main obstacles. However, pronounciation locates her in the realm of comedy, clownishness, and they were considered ideal actors for impersonating any nationality laughter. More surprising is that her lyrics refer to Mexico instead of marked by race or "Latin" ethnicity: for example, Miranda played Cu­ Brazil. In "The Wedding Samba" she sings about the land of the Rio, bans and Brazilians and Arnaz played Argentines and Cubans. Hoping and in "The Matador" the lyrics refer to a utopic love relationship to get more serious acting roles, Miranda even dyed her hair blond. in the Rancho Grande. Obviousl Miranda's way of seeing Latin y, Unfortunately, her efforts to whiten her performance never succeeded. America has been influenced and shaped by the Anglo-American to­ In contrast, white actors were allowed to play "Latins"; for example, po(s)graphical discursive construction of the nations "south of the bor­ Don Ameche played an Argentine in Down Argentine Way. Given these der." It is ironic that Miranda's assimilation of the Anglo-American racist practices in which the other plays the imagined "Latin other;' Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway iranda and Desi Arnaz 58 Carmen M 59 There is also a sleepy Mexican peon, a character with a sarape, and Lucyim personating Carmen Miranda by wearing a Mirandaesque cos­ tume and lip-synching to "Mama eu Quero.11102 This scene is of vital importance in understanding Miranda's and Arnaz's position in the Anglo-American cultural imaginary. First, it displays an inventory of what Anglo-Americans (Lucy) consider Latin America to be. Second, it puts all Latin American countries in the same shopping bag (Cuba, Brazil, Mexico). Third, it reveals the dominant stereotypes of the "Latin other": the beautiful senorita, the sleeping peon, and, although absent at the moment, Arnaz's "Babahi" act, which is silently present and as­ sociated with these dominant representations. Lucy's display concret­ izes how all these stereotypical objects constitute the "Latin other." Within this Anglo-American cultural, racial, and ethnic construction of the "Latin other;' the world of entertainment converges with the world of the sleepy and lazy peon. This conflation crystallizes how, for Anglo-Americans, the concept of "Latinness" exists as a conglomera­ tion of "Latin" things and peoples. Within this Anglo-American cul­ tural imaginary construction, the "Latin foreign other" intersects with the "Latin domestic ethnic and racial other;' the Mexican American. As a whole, this episode stages, activates, and mobilizes the Anglo­ American stereotype of a Latin American primitive world "south of the border" and in the Southwest. With this episode, such a semiotic representation of "Latinness" in­ augurates a historical moment through which a foundational image of 1.9 The I Love Lucye pisode "Be a Pal:' "Latinidad" emerges as a stereotype. This image exemplifies how, within the Anglo-American cultural and topo(s)graphical imaginary of Latin America and the Southwest, the "Latin other" can be repre­ Miranda and Arnaz shared the burden of representation: any roles they sented and objectified with a given number of "authentic" props. played represented all "Latins:' Given that their ethnic performances Critic Gustavo Perez Firmat, in his analysis of the episode and the situated them within the Anglo-American cultural imaginary,both had song, concludes that "Lucy momentarily turns the living room into a 3 to enact ethnicity according to the Anglo-American stereotypical con­ womb, or at least a maternal space."10 I believe that this scene signifies structs and expected behavior of the "Latin other:' more than an attempt to bring Ricky to his childhood, to the world No image puts into question the authenticity of Miranda's and Ar­ of the mother; it also signifies a new mode of representing and per­ naz's ethnicity as much as the stereotypical portrayal of both of them forming the "Latin other:' Perez Firmat also states that Lucy turns the in the 22 October 1951 third episode of I Love Lucy, "Be a Pal" (fig.1. 9.). living room into a Little Havana. Such an interpretation, from Perez When Lucy is afraid that Ricky is losing his interest in her, her friend Firmat's Cubancentric perspective, fails to see the new representation Ethel suggests a Dr. Humphrey book, Keep the Honeymoon fromEnding. of "Latinidad." No Little Havana would make room for Mexican cul­ Its third chapter suggests "that the wife surround the husband 'with tural icons, for a primitive and underdeveloped economy with lazy things that remind him of his childhood."' 101 Lucy, in her effort to re­ peasants and mules, nor claim Miranda's performance in Portuguese create the authenticity of Ricky's homeland and childhood, decorates and her queer costume. the living room with all kinds of things that she thinks are Cuban: Ricky's response to Lucy's act of ethnic impersonation is direct and palm trees, bananas, sombreros, sarapes, a flock of chickens, a mule. plain: "Lucy honey, if I wanted things Cuban, I' d have stayed in Ha- Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway men Miranda and Desi Arnaz 60 Car 61 vana." 104 This declaration reveals how conscious Arnaz was of his mi­ negotiated with the dominant stereotypical representations of the gration and of what he had left behind. He had no intention of living "Latin other." In these terms, Miranda and Arnaz's exaggerated accents within a nostalgic re-creation of Cuba, because that would be an im­ can be read as resistance. This is the reason why Arnaz is wearing posture; all replicas are fake. Nevertheless, Arnaz seemed to have a suit in the "Be a Pal" episode. If he had worn a "Babahi" costume, found a way to deal with his past through his music. He erased any he would have acted in complicity with the dominant practices of symptoms of nostalgia, which would have led to a representation of stereotyping. authenticity by placing ethnicity and nationality within a sacred do­ Reading Miranda and Arnaz superficially erases their agency and main, untouchable and unchangeable. He was then able to perform their complex negotiations with the dominant Anglo-American cul­ Cuban ethnicity within the Anglo-American cultural construction of ture. Hence, authenticity itself must be questioned: how "authentic" the "Latin other." In this scene, Arnaz was conscious of his stereotyp­ are immigrants after they leave their homeland? How "authentic" are ing, participation in, and propagation of "Latinness" and "Latinidad" ethnic performances? Up to what point did Miranda and Arnaz per­ in the U.S. Perez Firmat finds it "odd that Ricky does not notice the form the artificiality of authenticity that Anglo-American stereotypes inappropriateness of sombreros, sarapes, and Carmen Miranda as met­ provided them? Although their authenticity may be argued, it is cer­ 5 onyms of his childhood:' 10 But Arnaz did not react to these props, tain that Miranda and Arnaz constituted a new mode of representing because those stereotypes were not his true self; he was capable of "Latinidad:' These new representations were propagated through the­ staying at a distance. He knew (as did Miranda) that he was per­ ater, music, film,and television in a moment in U.S. history when pop­ forming for an Anglo-American audience and that stereotypes would ular culture was intersecting with mass culture. The commodification sell. Thus, "authenticity" was not a performance issue onstage for either and mass-marketing of these images magnifiedtheir power and reach, Arnaz or Miranda but it might have been a personal identity issue transforming them into foundational images of "Latinidad" in the U.S. offstage. As a whole, this episode of I Love Lucy functions as a palimpsest 6 of Latin American ethnic, racial and national identities.10 What has happened is that this symbolic Anglo-American representation of "Latinness" has been written and superimposed over the ethnic, racial, and national identities of Latin Americans. That is to say, in this col­ lage, those previous identities are only registered as Anglo-American stereotypical representations of the "Latin other." Yet the original iden­ tities are not completely erased, are still legible. They can be (t)raced. Since Miranda and Arnazincarnate in their performances the presence of given Latin American national authenticity,for Anglo-American au­ diences that presence as "Latin foreign other" authenticates Miranda's and Arnaz's original national, racial, and ethnic identities. It is neces­ sary to scrape those stereotypes in order to dismantle them. In this process, the true meaning of "palimpsestos" in Greek-to scrape again-registers its whole significance: it is urgent to scrape stereo­ types, to deconstruct them again and again in order to do away with them. After migration, both Arnaz and Miranda had to reinvent them­ selves according to the Anglo-American cultural imaginary of the "Latin other" and their horizon of expectations. By doing so, they ap­ propriated those stereotypes, making possible the execution of their own agency and articulating contestatory discursive strategies as they 204 Notes to Pages 16-25 Notes to Pages 26-28 205

nial population within the U.S.Their exploitation and poverty,based on social 5. Nelson A.Rockefeller, "The Fruits of the Good Neighbor Policy," New discrimination or blatant racism, can be seen as a product of imperialism. In­ York Times Magazine, 14 May 1944, 30.

deed, third world ghettos in the U.S.function as a form of internal neocolonial­ 6. "William Ireland [?], "I'll Give You One Teaspoonful, Cuby. More of it ism, according to J.M. Blaut: "[Neo-colonialism] leads to the poverty, social Might Make You Sick;' Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch 1902, reproduced in Johnson, immobility, and physical permanence of the Third World ghetto." J.M. Blaut" Latin America in Caricature, 123. "The Ghetto as an Internal Neo-Colony," Antipode 6, no. 1 (1974): 39. See also 7. See Allen L. Woll, The Latin Image in American Film (Los Angeles: UCLA his "Assimilation versus Ghettoization;' Antipode 15, no. 1 (1983): 35-41. Latin American Publications, 1997) and Arthur G. Pettit, Images of the Mexican 24. Kobena Mercer, Welcome to the Jungle: New Positions in Black Cultural American in Fiction and Film (College Station: University of Texas Press, 1980). Studies (New York: Routledge, 1994), 91; emphasis in the original. 8. For the issue of Latino surplus as extras, see Luis Reyes and Peter Ru­ 25. Ibid., 92. bie, Hispanics in Hollywood: An Encyclopedia of Film and Television (New York: 26. Ibid., 214. Garland, 1994), 8. 9. For an excellent inventory of "Hispanic" types of characters and themes Chapter One in film,see Gary D.Keller, Hispanics and United States Films (Tempe, Ariz.: Bilin­ gual Review /Press, 1994). 1. I have adopted Edward Said's terminology "imaginative geography" 10. For a critical reading of "social problem films" see Chon A. Noriega, from chapter 2, "Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientaliz­ "InternalOthers: Hollywood Narratives 'about' Mexican-Americans;' in Medi­ ing the Oriental;' of his Orientalism (New York: Vintage, 1979), 49.The American ating Two Worlds: Cinematic Encounters in the Americas, ed. John King, Ana M. Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3d ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Lopez, and Manuel Alvarado (London: British Film Institute, 1993), 52-66. 1992), 1889, gives the following definition of "topography": "1. Detailed, pre­ 11. Reyes and Rubie, Hispanics in Hollywood, 2. cise description of a place or region; 2. Graphic representation of the surface 12. See Charles Ramirez Berg, "Immigrants, Aliens, and Extraterrestrials;' features of a place or region on a map, indicating their relative positions and CineAction!, Fall 1989, 3-17, for an insightful article in which he reads aliens elevations. 3. A description or an analysis of a structured entity, showing the in science fiction films as a metaphorical representation of Latino/a illegal relations among its components.... 4.a. The surface features of a place or aliens in the U.S. Berg's provocative critical reading unmasks science fiction region. b. The surface features of an object. ... 5.The surveying of the features fantasies in order to demythify how the dominant culture represents the of a place or region. 6. The study or description of an anatomical region or "other;' and how issues of migration are embedded in science fiction films.

part." This alternative reading opens the door to a new topo(s)graphy, one that is 2. For example, Columbus reads the New World as a woman's body: "I interplanetary and located in outer space, the locus sidereus, whose inhabitants findthat [the world] is not round ....and on one part of it is placed something are horrific alien creatures and monsters. Indeed, I have noticed how these like a woman's nipple." "The Third Voyage of Columbus;' in The Four Voyages films take place in the Southwest and California, locations whose populations of Columbus, vol. 2, ed. Cecil Jane, (New York: Dover, 1988), 30. Among the have a large number of Latinos/as-for example, Starman, Close Encounters of

scholars who have worked on the imagery of womanhood when used to mate­ the Third Kind, and E.T. More recently, Jurassic Park and The Lost World represent rialize the conquering and colonization of a "virginal space" and to express Central America as a locus primitivus. Indeed, in The Lost World the dino­ colonial relations of power, see Rebecca Scott, "The Dark Continent: Africa saur brought to San Diego constitutes a threat when it crosses the border ille­ as Female Body in Haggard's Adventure Fiction;' Feminist Review 32 (1989): gally, while the film shows illegal migrants being detained at the border 69-89; Chandra Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Co­ headquarters. lonial Discourses;' Feminist Review 30 (1988): 61-88; Joanna De Groot, '"Sex 13. In order to achieve recognition and fame, many U.S. Latinas had to and Race' : The Construction of Language and Image in the Nineteenth Cen­ deny their Hispanic roots and change their names; for example: Margarita Car­ tury," in Sexuality and Subordination: Interdisciplinary Studies of Gender in the men Cansino morphed into Rita Hayworth. This practice continues: Raquel Nineteenth Century, ed. Susan Mendus and Jane Rendall (New York: Routledge, Tejada changed her name to Raquel Welch, Florencia Bicenta de Casillas Marti­ 1989), 89-128; and Louis Montrose, "The Work of Gender in the Discourse of nez Cardona to Vicki Carr, Dolores Conchita del Rivero to Chita Rivera. the Discovery," representations 33 (1991): 1-41. 14. Now, how are we to think about women who display their bodies as 3. Sykes[?], "My How You Have Grown;' Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger spectacle, as Carmen Miranda did, and which Charo perpetuates in her exhibi­ 1923, reproduced in John J.Johnson, Latin America in Caricature (Austin: Uni­ tionism? Given that roles for Latinas are limited and require the incarnation versity of Texas Press, 1993), 103. of negative stereotypes, can Latinas use these stereotypes as a tactic of/ for 4. Eduardo Galeano, Memoryof Fire: Centuryof the Wind, trans. Cedric Bel­ agency and assume the position of a speaking subject? Are Latina performers frage (New York: Pantheon, 1985), 131. conscious of the imprisonment of their bodies and subjectivities as desired 206 Notes to Pages 29-30 Notes to Pages 30-31 207

objects in the cultural imaginary as "Latin foreign other;' "Latin domestic eth­ up by many years of political, commercial, technical and cultural contacts. The nic and racial other;' and/or "sexual other"? When nonstereotypical roles are partners-the United States and the twenty other American republics-are not available and sex and race are visual markers of identity, Latina actresses already co-operating in a dozen practical fields, including long-range plans must perform within the limited stereotypes available; such is the case of Rita for the postwar period. Why should we not succeed? The problems are great, �oreno in West Side Story, and Lupe Velez in the film series The Mexican Spit, but they are not insurmountable.... Improving food supplies in all parts of fires, and as a lascivious jungle native in Kongo (1932). Velez had to portray the hemisphere and establishing rising standards of health and sanitation are "Chinese, Eskimos, Japs, Squaws, Hindus, Swedes, Malays and Javanese:' See basic necessities. Better transportation by land, sea and air, and a marked ad­ Woll, The Latin Image in American Film, 38. Moreno had to impersonate other vance in industrial organization are the other factors on which we count to ethnic and racial groups, including "half-breeds;' native Americans, and even transform this hemisphere, raise its living standards, and immeasurably an "oriental" in The King and I; Marfa Montez is well-known for her exotic strengthen its world position:' Nelson A. Rockefeller, "Will We Remain Good roles, including that of Cobra Woman (1944), and her impersonations of Arab Neighbors After the War?" Saturday Evening Post, 6 November 1943, 16. women, such as Scheherezade in Arabian Nights (1942). 20. These projects included many sectors: the appointment of cultural at­ 15. I am using Laura Mulvey's theorization of women as visual pleasure: taches; radio broadcasting; journalistic propaganda; the study of Spanish; vis­ "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split iting scholars; translations; Latin American studies projects; exchanges of intel­ �etween active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects lectuals, writers, faculty and graduate students; the establishment of libraries; In its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. their tradi­ the presentation of lectures; the financing of research; art exhibitions; the ti nal exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, Rockefeller Foundation and Guggenheim fellowship awards; and many other � _ with the1� appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they activities and programs. I highly recommend the Bureau of Educational and can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object Cultural Affairs' Cultural Relations Programs of the U.S. Department of State, His­ is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to strip-tease, fromZiegfeld to torical Studies 2 (Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of State, 1976) for a de­ Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, and plays to and signifies male desire:' tailed description of all the programs and cultural exchanges available during Laura Mulvey, Visual and Other Pleasures (Bloomington: Indiana University the time of the Good Neighbor policy. Press, 1989), 19; emphasis in the original. 21. Latin America was finally on the map. Proof of this is in the many 16. "Chiquita Banana (I'm Chiquita Banana);' words and music by Len movie titles with actual geographical references to countries with a surplus of Mackenzie, Garth Montgomery, and William Wirges, 1946; in Great Songs of material goods, commercial ports, and militarily strategic locations: The Cuban Madison Avenue, ed. Peter and Craig Norback (New York: Quadrangle, 1976), Love Song (1931); Flying Down to Rio (1933); Under the Pampas Moon (1935); Down 87-89. Argentine Way and Girl fromHavana (1940); Down Mexico Way, That Night in Rio, 17. Paul W. Drake summarizes briefly the U.S. military interventions in Havana Rose, and Weekend in Havana (1941); Panama Hattie and Moonlight in Latin America in "From Good Men to Good Neighbors;' in Exporting Democ­ Havana (1942); Holiday in Mexico and Club Havana (1946); and Mexican Hayride racy, ed. Abraham F. Lowenthal (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, (1948). For those filmswithout a specificgeographic referent, there was always 1991), 3-40. an imaginary topo(s)graphy of exotic and stereotypical locales that had 18. For an excellent outline of the political frameworkof the Good Neigh­ cropped up since the 1920s: "Bargravia, San Mafiana, Santa Maria, Costa bor policy, see Harold Molineu, U.S. Policy Toward Latin America: From Regional­ Blanca, Costa Casaba, Centralia." Keller, Hispanics and United States Film, 116. ism to Globalism (Boulder,Colo.: Westview Press, 1986), 11. 22. Franklin D. Roosevelt, "The Year of Crisis: 1933" in The Public Papers 19. Rockefeller published two "manifestos" that sum up the philosophy and Addresses of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, vol. 2, comp. and collated by Samuel and political platform of the Good Neighbor policy. In one he stated, "I believe I. Roseman (New York: Random House, 1958), 14. the Good Neighbor Policy expresses the will of the people of the United States. 23. "The son is perhaps the oldest and certainly the classic Afro-Cuban It proclaimed complete forbearance from interference by any one republic in form, an almost perfect balance of Africanand Hispanic elements. Originating the domestic affairs of any other. It inspired greater confidence and trust. It in Oriente province, it surfaced in Havana around World War I and became a developed the inter-American system as a realistic laboratory for the form and popular urban music played by string-and-percussion quartets and septetos. type of world organization which may lie ahead ...The New World has been, Almost all the numbers Americans called rumbas were, in fact, sones. 'El Man­ is today and always will be, a land of opportunity. Together we hold the re­ icero' ('The Peanut Vendor') was a form of son derived from the street cries of sources, the mutual confidence and the experience which, with courageous Havana and called a pregon. The rhythm of the son is strongly syncopated, leadership, can translate our common aspirations into reality." Rockefeller, with a basic chicka-CHUNG pulse." John S. Roberts, The Latin Tinge (New York: "The Fruits of the Good Neighbor Policy," 15, 31. He also proclaimed, "the Oxford University Press, 1979), 231. opportunities are there. An atmosphere of mutual confidence has been built 24. Cugat appeared in the following films: Go West, Young Man (1936); The 208 Notes to Pages 31-37 Notes to Pages 37-40 209 Heat'sOn (1943); Bathing Beauty and Two Girls and a Sailor (1944); Weekend at the Hemispheric Bid;' Newsweek, 28 October 1940, 59. Miranda's and the Nicholas Waldorf (1945); Holiday in Mexico and No Leave, No Love (1946); This Time for Brothers' performative acts speak from the margin, as pure entertainment and Keeps (1947); LuxuryLiner, Date with Judy, and On an Island with You (1948); Nep­ exoticism. In the film, the presence and participation of people of color is lim­ tune's Daughter (1949); and Chicago Syndicate (1955). ited to a stereotypical representation as comic characters, joyful entertainers, 25. Within the Anglo-American cultural worldview, "Latinization" often and fierydancers. This ethnic and racial rainbow is magnifiedand intensified implies a cultural appropriation that exoticizes or commodifiesthe "racial and' with Miranda's sambas and the Nicholas Brothers' tap dancing and acrobatic ethnic other." moves, all seen in Technicolor. 26. After talkies appeared, "Latins" were always represented in exotic lo­ 37. "Twentieth-Fox erred on "Down Argentine Way" .... in picturing the

cales, performing romantic or spicy musical numbers. Evidently, "Latin" actors Argentinos as operating a phoney race track, while the gents from the U.S. and actresses could work as long as they had exotic looks and pronounced were the good folk. (There has also been some criticism on the casting of Car­ accents. Gary D. Keller has stated that "the production of Hispanic-focused men Miranda as an Argentine. She's a native of Brazil.)" "Films' Latin Ameri­ musicals immediately followed the advent of the sound era. In fact, the stereo­ can Cycle;' 22. type of the "Latin world" as lively and musical, characterized by fiestas (when 38. In the reconstruction of Miranda's life and professional work on Broad­

not siestas) and even music and dancing in the cantinas carried such sway that way and Hollywood, I am indebted to the following books: James Robert Par­ beginning with sound, it became commonplace for music to enter Hispanic­ ish, The Fox Girls (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1971) and Martha focused films even if they were not musicals per se." Keller, Hispanics and Gil-Montero, Brazilian Bombshell: The Biography of Carmen Miranda (New York: United States Film, 121. Donald I. Fine, 1989). 27. In addition, Technicolor (full-color cinematography) opened the doors 39. Joyce Dana, "Carmen, Rio Style: This One Has a Last Name (It's Mi­ to exotic and colorful locales "south of the border!' randa) And She's the Good Neighbor Policy Itself." Clipping from Carmen

28. Jose Morand, "The Rumba is Here To Stay," Song Hits 5, no. 7 (1941): 13. Miranda file, Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, New York; no 29. Many songs had as the main theme Latin America or the peoples of sources available. Latin America. I have categorized these songs in the following manner: (a) 40. Wilella Waldorf, "'The Streets of Paris' Opens at the Broadhurst The­ romanticizing Latin America as paradise: "Havana;' ''A Weekend in Havana;' ater;' New York Post, 20 June 1939, 10. "South of the Border;' "Down Argentina Way," "They Met in Rio;' "In Copa­ 41. John Anderson, "The Streets of Paris Opens As Summer Revue;' New cabana;' and "Romance and Rhumba"; (b) exoticizing Latin America as sex­ York Journal and American, 20 June 1939, 10. ual paradise: "With my Concertina;' "I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much);' 42. Arthur Pollock, "Carmen Miranda Tops The Streets of Paris;' Brooklyn "Sing to Your Senorita;' "Tropical Magic;' "South American Way," "Rio Daily Eagle, 20 June 1939, 7. Rhythm;' and "Thank You South America"; (c) exoticizing Latin American 43. Brooks Atkinson, "The Streets of Paris Moves to Broadway," New York women: "Conchita, Marcheta, Lolita, Pepita, Rosita, Juanita Lopez;' "Pepita;' Times, 20 June 1939, L 25.

"Lily-Hot from Chile;' "Carmenita McCoy," and "Nenita"; (d) stereotyping 44. Burns Mantle, "There's Hellzapoppin' in This Streets of Paris Revue, Latin American men: "Cuban Pete;' "The Gaucho Serenade;' and "The Gau­ Too;' New York Daily News, 20 June 1939, 33. cho with the Black Mustache"; (e) racist: "Rhumbaboogie;' "Macumba;' 45. Peter Kihss, "Gestures Put It Over for Miranda;' New York World- "Chica Chica Boom Chic;' "Spic and Spanish," "Shake Your Maracas;' and Telegram, 8 July 1939, 6. "South America, Take It Away." 46. "New Shows in Manhattan;' Time, 3 July 1939, 42-43. 30. "U.S. Film Stars the Best Good Will Ambassadors, Say Latin Ameri­ 47. Pollock, "Carmen Miranda Tops 'Streets,"' 7. cans;' Variety, 19 February 1941, 1. 48. Waldorf, "'The Streets of Paris' Opens;' 9. 31. "Films' Latin-American Cycle Finds Congarhumba Displacing Swing 49. Richard Lockridge, "The New Play: 'The Streets of Paris,' a Bright Re­ Style;' Variety, 6 November 1940, 22. vue Opens at the Broadhurst," New York Sun, 20 June 1939, 13. 32. Desi Arnaz, A Book (New York: William Morrow, 1976), 133-35. 50. Robert Sullivan, "Carmen Miranda Loaves America and Vice Versa;' 33. "Films' Latin-American Cycle;' 22. Clipping from Carmen Miranda file, Lincoln Center Library for the Performing 34. Reyes and Rubie, Hispanics in Hollywood, 17. Arts, New York; no sources available.

35. "South American Way," Words and music by Al Dubin and Jimmy 51. Clipping from Carmen Miranda file, Lincoln Center Library for the McHugh, 1939. Performing Arts, New York; no sources available.

36. Interestingly, Miranda is not the only "other" here: there is a song-and­ 52. Ida Zeitlin, "Sous American Sizzler;' Clipping from Carmen Miranda dance number performed in Spanish by the Nicholas Brothers, "negro hoof­ file, Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, New York; no sources ers" from the U.S. whose participation puts race at the center stage. "Celluloid available. 210 Notes to Pages 40-44 Notes to Pages 44-48 211

53. John Kobal, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance: A History of American Musicals and the great advantage over most important "Latin musicians" of being both (New York: Exeter, 1971), 193. upperclass (the son of a former mayor of Santiago de Cuba) and pure white. He 54. Chon Noriega has observed that [w]hen the characters speak Spanish also had a talent for meeting useful people, encountering Bing Crosby while he [in films] ... it functions as an empty code for ethnicity. In short, there is no was with Cugat, and Sonja Henie and Joe E. Smith in Miami. In reality,Arnaz need for subtitles, because nothing is said:' Noriega, "InternalOthers;' 61. was not a musician but an entertainer:' Roberts, Latin Tinge, 82. 55. Ana M. Lopez, "Are All Latins from Manhattan? Hollywood, Eth� 68. Arnaz also appeared in the following films:Father Takes a Wife (1941), nography, and Cultural Colonialism;' in Unspeakable Images: Ethnicity and the The Navy Comes Through (1942), Bataan (1943), Cuban Pete (1946). Holiday in Ha­ American Cinema, ed. Lester D. Friedman (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, vana (1949), The Long, Long Trailer (1954), and Forever Darling (1936). 1991), 419. 69. Kathleen Brady, Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball (New York: Hyperion, 56. Shari Roberts, "'The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat': Carmen Miranda, A 1994), 96. Spectacle of Ethnicity," Cinema Journal 32, no. 3 (1993): 14-15. 70. Review of Too Many Girls, Time, 11 November 1940, 76. 57. On the subject of exoticism and otherness in films, see Ella Shohat, 71. Brooks Atkinson, "Too Many Girls Opens with a Score by Rodgers & "Gender and Culture of Empire: Toward a Feminist Ethnography of the Cin­ Hart Under George Abbott's Direction;' New York Times, 18 September 1940, 19. ema;' Quarterly Review of Film and Video 13 nos. 1-3 (1991): 45-84. 72. Bosley Crowther, "The Screen in Review," New York Times, 21 Novem­ 58. Lopez, ''.A.reAll Latins from Manhattan?" 418-19. ber 1940, 43. 59. Kobal, Gotta Sing, 193. Miranda's impersonators include Imogene 73. Brady, Lucille, 96. Coca, Betty Garrett, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Bennett, Joan Bennett, Jo Ann Mar­ 74. Will Friedwald, liner notes for The Best of Desi Arnaz the Mambo King, low, Esther Williams, Eddie Bracken, Denis Quilley, Cass Daley, Jerry Lewis, RCA/BMG compact disk CD 07863-66031-2. Milton Berle, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Today Show weatherman Willard Scott, 75. The Native American presence is registered as another exotic token in Bette Midler, and animated characters Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck. the scene in which Consuelo is on her way to the college. After she writes a 60. Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business, prod. David Meyer and Hel­ letter addressed to Beverly Waverly Esq., her secret boyfriend, she asks the bus ena Solberg, dir. Helena Solberg, 91 min, Fox-Lorber Home Video, 1994, driver to stop at an Indian trading post. She gives the letter to a Native Ameri­ videocassette. can woman who hands it to a Native American man, who is wearingan Indian 61. In the 1990s, Miranda's popularity has been resurrected with Bananas outfitand sitting with his legs crossed. This scene represents the Southwest as Is My Business, and also with Biography: Carmen Miranda, prod. Kerry Jensen­ the land of the "other" and, by doing so, the film pretends to incorporate a Izsak, dir. Elizabeth Bronstein, 50 min., Arts and Entertainment Television Net­ touch of authenticity. work, 1996, videocassette. 76. Arnaz relates the following anecdote about a trip to Taos, New Mex­ 62. Sara J. Welch, "The Mirandification of America;' Samba 2, no. 19 ico, where Lucille Ball was filmingVall eyof the Sun: "There were a lot of Indians (1995): 4. in the movie and, having nothing else to do, I took one of their drums and 63. Miranda performed in the following movies: Weekend in Havana (1941), showed them the conga beat. Soon I had the whole Indian tribe doing the That Night in Rio (1941), Springtime in The Rockies (1942), The Gang's All Here conga all over their village"; Arnaz,A Book, 127. This shows how easily Afro­ (1943), Four fills in a Jeep (1944), Greenwich Village (1944), Something for the Boy, Cuban culture can replace Indian culture, since both cultures are marked by (1944), Doll Face (1945), If I'm Lucky (1946), Copacabana (1947), A Date with Judy difference. The drum is the medium that facilitates such a transition; in other (1948), Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), and Scared Stiff(1953). By 1945 she was making words, the iconic image of a drum-associated with otherness-can speak a over $200,000 yearly, becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood. See Par­ thousand words. ish, The Fox Girls, 514. 77. Gustavo Perez Firmat, Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way 64. "Carmen Miranda Is Dead at 41: Movie Comedienne and Dancer;' (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994), 54. obituary,New York Times, 6 August 1955, 15. 78. I am assuming that Arnaz did a rendition of "Babalu" on Broadway. 65. "South America, Take It Away," words and music by Harold Rome, In the film he only performed a conga. However, in the recording The Best of 1946. Desi Arnaz the Mambo King he starts with "Babalu" and metamorphoses it into 66. Desi Arnaz, in A Tribute to Lucy, prod. Film Shows, Inc., 93 min., Good­ a conga. I suggest that both "Babalu" and the conga constitute a single unit. times Video, 1989, videocassette. Arnaz's racialized act does not acquire its full significanceuntil he performs, 67. John S.. Roberts had reservations about Arnaz's talent, saying, "Like in blackface, the same conga in I Love Lucy ("Lucy Goes to the Hospital"). Cugat, Arnaz was an important popularizer. Unlike Cugat, he knew relatively The "I Love Lucy" Collection vol. 4., prod. CBS Entertainment, CBS/FOX Video little about the music he was hybridizing. But he had looks, charm, chutzpah, 1989, videocassette. 212 Notes to Pages 48-57 Nates to Pages 58-62 213

79. "Babalu", Spanish words and music by Margarita Lecuona, 1939. 101. Bart Andrews, The "I Love Lucy" Book (New York: Doubleday, 1985), 80. For definitions and descriptions of the African roots of conga, samba, 231. and rumba, see the glossary included in Roberts, Latin Tinge, 220-33. 102. It is interesting to notice that Ball asked Miranda for permission to 81. Xavier Cugat, in an unnamed interview quoted in Roberts, Latin imitate her. Ibid. Tinge, 87. 103. Perez Firmat, Life on the Hyphen, 40. 82. Perez Firmat, Life on the Hyphen, 29. 104. Cited in ibid., 38. 83. Bosley Crowther, review of If I'm Lucky, New York Times, 20 September 105. Perez Firmat, Life on the Hyphen, 41. 1946, 41. 106. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, 1303, "palimpsest" 84. Arnaz, A Book, 77. means "l. A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been 85. Lucille Ball, Love Lucy (New York: Putnam, 1996), 189. written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and 86. Desi Arnaz and Al Stump, 'America Has Been Good to Me;' American often legible. 2. An object, a place, or an area that reflects its history. Latin Magazine, February 1955, 84. palimpsestum, from Greek palimpseston, neuter of palimpsestos, scraped again: 87. Desi Arnaz, in A Tribute to Lucy. palin, again." 88. Keller, Hispanics and U.S. Film, 98. 89. According to Lucille Ball, Thunderbird in Palm Springs was not only Chapter Two one of the most beautiful golf courses, but also "one of the most prejudiced. Not only did it refuse to admit Jews, but, celebrity and property owner or not, Desi was not invited to join either;' Ball, Love Lucy, 245. 1. Norris Houghton, ed., Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story (New York: Dell, 90. Desi Arnaz, in A Tribute to Lucy. 1965), 167. All citations refer to the above edition of West Side Story, and are 91. "She Could Shake Her Maracas;' music by Richard Rodgers, words by hereafter cited parenthetically in the text. When, however, there is no page Lorenz Hart, 1939. number next to the citation, I am directly citing the movie: West Side Story, 92. "Cuban Pete;' words and music by Jose Norman, 1936. prod. Robert Wise, dir. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 152 mins., CBS/Fox 93. The episode, which centered around the character Lucy's giving birth, Video, 1984, videocassette. was enormously popular: "That night 44 million Americans (more than one 2. The term "Nuyorican" applies to Puerto Ricans bornand raised in New fifth of the population-and 30,000 of them sent personal congratulations) York City. It was mainly used by literary writers to denominate their literary tuned in to watch." Brady, Lucille, 213. and artistic movement in the late 1960s as "Nuyorican poetry." This label of/ 94. Michael McClay, I Love Lucy: The Complete Picture History of the Most for identity expresses a consciousness about ethnic pride and difference, cul­ Popular TV Show Ever (New York: Warner Books, 1995), 165. tural and linguistic hybridity.For a definition of Nuyorican literature, see Nuy­ 95. Eric Lott, "Love and Theft: The Racial Unconscious of Blackface Min­ orican Poetry: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Words and Feelings, ed. Miguel Al­ strelsy," representations 39 (1992): 28; emphasis in the original. garin and Miguel Pinero, (New York: William Morrow, 1975); and Sandra 96. Michael Rogin, Blackface, White Noise: Jewish Immigrant in the Hollywood Marfa Esteves, ''.A.mbivalenciao activismo desde la perspectiva poetica de los Melting Pot (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 9. Nuyoricans;' in Imagenes e identidades: El puertorriquefioen la literatura, ed. Asela 97. Xavier Cugat, in an unnamed interview quoted in Roberts, Latin Rodriguez de Laguna, (Rio Piedras, P.R.: Huracan, 1985), 195-201. See also Tinge, 87. Soledad Santiago, "Notes on the Nuyoricans;' Village Voice, 19 February 1979, 98. Miranda dressed as a bahiana, with "a silk turban, golden earrings, a 12-15; Herejes y mitificadores:Muestra de poesia puertorriquefiaen las Estados Un­ starched skirt, trimmed sandals, golden bracelets and balangandiis... an orna­ idos, ed. Efrain Barradas and Rafael Rodriguez, (Rio Piedras, P.R.: Huracan, mental silver buckle, with amulets and trinkets attached, worn on feast days 1980); and Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez, "La identidad especular del alla y del by the slaves .... The long, broad skirt was suitable for Carnival; indeed men aca: Nuestra propia imagen puertorriquefta en cuesti6n;' Centro de Estudios who dressed like Bahian women had always participated in Carnival parades. PuertorriquefiosBulletin 4 no. 2 (1992): 28-43; Sandoval-Sanchez, "Puerto Rican Moreover, outside the markets and doorsteps of Bahia where the true Bahianas Identity: Air Migration, Its Cultural Representations, and Me 'Cruzando el sat, turbans and the balangandiis were considered leftovers from slavery days:' Charco' ;' in Puerto Rican Jam: Essays on Culture and Politics, ed. Frances Negr6n­ Gil-Montero, Brazilian Bombshell, 54, 56. Muntaner and Ramon Grosfoguel (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota 99. Heitor Villa-Lobos, quoted inBananas Is My Business. Press, 1997); and Sandoval-Sanchez, jMira, que vienen los Nuyoricans!: El 100. A friend once told me the story of how her mother dressed her as temor de la otredad en la literatura nacionalista puertorriquena;' Revista de Carmen Miranda and darkened her face for Halloween. Crftica Literaria Latinoamericana 45 (1997): 307-25.