Tony Plana on the end of “Ugly Betty” and smashing stereotypes
By Leslie Gray Streeter | Pop Shop, TV | March 31, 2010
During Tony Plana’s keynote speech at last week’s Love of Literacy luncheon at the Kravis Center, hosted by the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition, the “Ugly Betty” patriarch talked proudly about how the ABC series is the most successful show ever about a Latino family. He mentioned that it’s a crossover hit, meaning that the majority of its audience is non-Latino, because “it strikes a universal chord with people.”
What Plana didn’t emphasize in his speech, but which anyone in the audience who follows entertainment news knows, is that despite the awards and the success, “Ugly Betty” is soon to be no more. And Plana, who took a moment to chat after his speech last week, thinks that a great loss. Universally.
“I was hoping it would have run longer,” says Plana, who has spent four years playing Ignacio Suarez, the culinarily curious, nurturing father of unlikely titular fashionista Betty Suarez (America Ferrera). “It should have run longer – it was one of the most critically acclaimed shows. What was an experiment turned out to be a hit, and it deserved a longer run, based on the accolades. I don’t think enough was done to sustain us on the air.”
Of course, even the most popular programs can be susceptible to negative forces like a constant change in timeslots and unsatisfying plot twists. “Ugly Betty”’s demise has been attributed to both of those. But in its four years on the air, Plana acknowledges, it provided a funny/sad glimpse into a world where people of different racial and cultural heritage, sexual orientation, income level and world view interact – a world that looks like a lot America. Or your office, maybe. During our chat, he talked about how important that show became, even in its relatively short run.
Question: What do you think will be the ultimate legacy of “Ugly Betty”?
Answer: It made a massive impact with Latino culture, for the amount of people it was able to reach, but at the same time brought a high level of entertainment. It made cultural observations about relationships, and especially made some very important (comments) about the value of tolerance. Ignacio cooks from other countries, and was always reaching to find something about different cultures.
Q: Do you have a favorite storyline?
A: The immigration storyline (where Ignacio was deported back to Mexico, leaving his daughters to try to get him home) was very good. And I like the relationship that he has with his grandson (an artsy kid named Justin who, in recent episodes has admitted to himself his attraction to a male classmate). Ignacio is this macho Latin male, coming around to how to related to (Justin). That’s something not everyone would do. He’s a really great artist, with a real passion and sensitivity. It’s a real lesson to learn, for families who are most fortunate enough to received the gift of sometone like that in their families, who is not ordinary, but extraordinary.
Q: I’ve watched the show since the beginning, and I have to tell you that it’s been really great this season, although…and I have to say this…before this season it had really gotten convoluted and away from what it started out to be.
A: (Nods) It really came together this year. The show is a wonderful balance of the beautiful people and the normal people. It’s our fourth year together. (The show) is really, to a certain degree, about tolerance – even in (the characters’) petty infighting, it’s hard not to be attracted to their integrity.
Q: So do you think that “Ugly Betty” was the start of something, in terms of networks recognizing the importance of multicultural programming?
A: I hope that us being cancelled too early doesn’t affect the desire of other networks to reach those audiences.
0 comments:
Post a Comment