Creator's Statement
Funny Brown People was born out of my experiences growing up in Oxnard, California to Mexican immigrant parents where laughter was a way of life. My father and grandfather were kings of the one-liner. They would make fun of the silly stereotypes we saw portrayed on TV and films about our Latino community. Gang life, narcotraficantes, and one-dimensional immigrant characters were so different from the rich, complex characters in our own family that all we could do was laugh. Even in my favorite mainstream family drama of last year, Ozark, the Mexican-American family represented in the show was led by a violent cartel kingpin. This does not represent my experience as a Mexican-American.
Yes, there were times of discrimination growing up when a fellow resident in our condo followed us home from the pool to see if we in fact were residents of the complex. But even then, we managed to laugh at the situation. And in the retelling, we got the last laugh.
The family in Funny Brown People is lead by a traditional immigrant patriarch — Jerónimo Valdez. He’s proud of his culture, hard working, wants a better life for his children, but is also rigid in his views. His children — the intellectual high school freshmen JJ and scholar athlete Lydia — are intelligent, progressive Americans who will bring dad around. Jerónimo finds American culture confusing and doesn’t understand why Americans don’t get him. Over the course of the season, Jerónimo will learn how to be more American, in his own way.
Yes, there were times of discrimination growing up when a fellow resident in our condo followed us home from the pool to see if we in fact were residents of the complex. But even then, we managed to laugh at the situation. And in the retelling, we got the last laugh.
The family in Funny Brown People is lead by a traditional immigrant patriarch — Jerónimo Valdez. He’s proud of his culture, hard working, wants a better life for his children, but is also rigid in his views. His children — the intellectual high school freshmen JJ and scholar athlete Lydia — are intelligent, progressive Americans who will bring dad around. Jerónimo finds American culture confusing and doesn’t understand why Americans don’t get him. Over the course of the season, Jerónimo will learn how to be more American, in his own way.
