I'm not coping well with the fact that my daughters left me today, so in order to keep some sort of distraction I'll make a post about one of my personal heroes. George Lopez.
I'm not exactly sure where I first stumbled upon George Lopez. I'd heard of him before, and even seen him in Shark Boy and Lava Girl, but I don't think it was until I became aware of his show on Nick at Nite that I got a better appreciation for the man as a comedian. All I knew is that after watching the first episode in reruns, I was hooked. I don't recall ever laughing quite so hard at a sitcom as I had this one.
I'm sure there was some attraction to him ( and no I don't mean it like that, cochinos!) because of the obvious Chicano connection. After all I am LOCOduck, But I related to the humor as well because that's what I grew up around myself. It's odd to note as well that George Lopez seems to be the perfect mutation of two people, my step-father; a typical stereo-typical Mexican Alpha Male cut-out, who aside from the various bruises and fantastic insults, I gained two note worthy things from. A sense of perverted humor, (including a healthy addiction to porn, THANKS Orozco) and an appreciation for segundo barrio oldies. Then there is my biological Dad, ( who while yeah, didn't stick around for reasons that would require an entirely new blog post) was the nurturing, intelligent and supportive male figure in my life. Not to mention, that I think he and George Lopez do look oddly alike.
If you pushed my two hispanic father figures into one, I sincerely think George Lopez would be the result. In his situation and stand up acts, I hear the barrage of Mexican curse words my step father would use until I pissed myself laughing, some of the same mannuerisms are there as well. Hell the opening "Low Rider" song was a staple in my step-father's tape deck. But then there are samples of my bio-dad as well, George Lopez is one superbly intelligent man, goal driven, and family oriented, he seems like he would give you the shirt off his back, much like my father.
Therein lies more of the respect and connection.
But let's face facts, George Lopez is one really funny "buey." I have watched his HBO special "Tall, Dark and Chicano" about 4 times now. It was filmed live in San Antonio where any of my regular readers know my heart lives it's second home. I find something new to laugh at every damn time I see it. Whether it's the jokes about burritos and McCaca's, the latter of which just tickled my little girls, or his facial expressions, the man is comic gold.
He gives the Latino community a superbly respectable face, dresses like a modern day "Jaime Bond" and is cherished by so many. I think HE was the reason I was willing to sit through Beverly Hills Chihuahua, (which I ended up really liking and buying.)
As you can see I have a world of admiration and respect for the man. He remains high on my list of people I'd love to meet. And he's the kind of Latino I'd like to grow old and become.
Muchas Gracias George, you make one helluva man.
