Big disclaimer here: I’m speaking as a Latina woman who absolutely hates not just the fake representation that Floriana Lima gives me, but the fact that she has spoken about this fact in a less than sensitive way. I understand Maggie Sawyer is an important character for the LGBT community, and I’m not trying to minimize that in any way. But we can only speak from our point of view, and this is mine.
I don’t want Floriana Lima back on Supergirl. I stopped watching Supergirl because Floriana Lima was on the show. I don’t want to watch a show that cares so little about me, about showing a person of my culture and background with even a tiny bit of respect and authenticity that they’d cast non-latinx actors to play both Maggie and her father.
That’s my truth. And, in the fight for better representation, we should all be listening to each other’s truths.
Supergirl did a good thing with Sanvers, from the beginning, and I waited for the other shoe to drop for an entire year. I remembered the rumblings about Maggie being Latina, and I hoped, prayed, that Supergirl would course-correct once they decided to hire an actress who wasn’t latinx. For a while there, I thought they had. I let myself enjoy the story they were giving me. And then, it happened.
By the time Season 3 came around, despite the fact that I had my fair share of issues with how they wrote Maggie off the show, I was glad she was leaving. I was glad because I couldn’t stand one more second of her butchering Spanish and Carlos Bernard’s horrible Mexican accent. I was glad she was gone because they tried to tell a story about how an entire culture and missed the mark by so much that it made me not just sad, it made me angry.
Floriana Lima is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Latina. She herself said it, and I will add the tweet here in case you want to come tell me that she’s from Brazil or something. She’s not a Latina, she does not identify as one, and she clearly shouldn’t have been portraying a Mexican.
Italian, Irish, English, Spanish, Portuguese. I’m a mutt ?
— Floriana Lima (@florianalima) March 1, 2017
Now, did she know from the beginning? Did she go audition for a latinx-coded role, specifically? I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters at this point. She HAS played latinx characters before, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. But that’s not even integral to my point.
This is not just on her – it’s mostly on the Supergirl writers, casting department and producers. But it does translate to me not wanting her back, ever.
But she’s great representation for the LGBT community, you say.
Yes, she is. And she can be great representation for the LGBT community while still being awful representation for the latinx community, and just because she’s one thing doesn’t mean I can’t call out the other thing.
Even within the good representation that she gave the LGBT community, there’s a caveat, however, how she was positioned within the latinx community and how the show attempted to portray how the latinx community, in general, deals with LGBT issues. Floriana herself talked about this subject, and about how it was a “cultural” thing.
Non latinx writers and non-latinx actors talking about latinx issues that they don’t understand. How …refreshing.
But she “looks” Latina, so what does it matter, you say.
Google is your friend. Use it. Latinx is not a race, it’s an ethnicity. We’re not all the same and there’s not one latinx “look” and to suggest that just because she’s brown (or has a good tan) she’s good representation is not just ignorant, it’s disrespectful.
But she’s just an actress playing a role, this is above her pay grade, you say.
She’s an actress who’s accepted latinx-coded roles before, one who felt the need to comment on issues that were not of her culture, one that repeatedly dismissed fans who expressed their concerns on Twitter, and one who could have – if not rejected latinx coded roles outright, at least taken into account the concerns of the community when confronted with them.
Instead she’s an actress who chose to deflect and ignore, and that makes her, if not the only guilty party in this, anything but an ally.
What brought this on now? Why am I revisiting this story? Well, there have been rumors that Lima is in talks to reprise the role of Maggie, and I’m hard pressed to think of anything that would turn me off more. Supergirl has always been a white feminist show, and for a while, I thought it was enough that it was feminist, and that I could sort of put up with its brand of feminist, because it was better than nothing, but it’s 2018 and I’m sick and tired of it’s better than nothing.
We can do better – by everyone. And, even if we can’t, we can at least listen to other people’s concerns and try. So this is my truth. This is my reality. As a latina, the character of Maggie Sawyer, portrayed by Floriana Lima, is proof that my voice, and my story don’t matter. I’d love for the world to prove that idea wrong – but on the short term – I’ll settle for Supergirl doing it by not bringing her back.
She does not represent me, and no matter what storyline you give her, she never, ever will.
Really because the Latino story is incorrect. Exactly what story is correct. It is a stupid show with horrible writing, but I like it. I enjoy it and I think Sanvers is a great looking couple and they look good together. How Latina is she supposed to be, she is from Nebraska?
It feels a little late to have this conversation – especially as I haven’t watched this show in a good three years and I’m happier for it, but I’m glad you enjoy the show? More power to you. The fact that they cast someone with Italian background to play a Latina and they took zero care in how they wrote that storyline still sucks, though. As a latina, I get to feel that.
Okay, this is four years too late but I don’t have a job right now and have nothing better to do. You talk about your disgruntlement with a non-Latinx actor playing Maggie Sawyer. How long do you think lesbians (of whom I am one) have been watching non-lesbian actresses play “gay”? And did you ever know that the comic book Maggie Sawyer (that’s where the character originated) was a tall blonde who came out later in life and had a daughter? Are you going to complain about that? Supergirl fumbled the whole “Sanvers ” story from the minute Floriana Lima decided to leave. Whatever her reason. So leave the actress’ ethnicity out of it. She and Chyler Leigh did the best they could (and some of it was outstanding) with what they had to work with.
I’m late to this thread also but considering on my current third go around of rewatching Supergirl, I will to share my opinion. I am Mexican-American with Asian (Chinese) descent and Lima herself stated she’s “a mutt” which includes being Spanish. So, firstly I didn’t mind her at all. Yes, she didn’t speak Spanish fluently but I know a lot of latinax people who don’t speak very good Spanish either and more egregious is that parents aren’t continuing the culture by keeping the Spanish language alive through their children. I much prefer Lima’s broken Spanish speaking attempts over latinax people who don’t even speak their native language. Secondly, on a slightly different note, I much preferred her for Alex than the second love interest of Jimmy Olsen’s sister, they went from a really pretty woman in Lima to whatever that other actress is. I actually have chosen to stop watching the final seasons in my rewatches of the show the second she is introduced into it. She lacks acting skills, she is SO not pretty enough for Alex and then the whole bit of her becoming Guardian and throwing a hissy fit when the Heroes were dealing with life threatening events to Earth and didn’t run to her beckon call to her people was very annoying. I STRONGLY disliked her and would much rather have Lima have either stayed or returned to the show for Alex.
My main problem with Lima, back in the day, was how she approached the question. The casting was a problem from the beginning, but she was incredibly dismissive of the concerns about her being cast for a Latina role without being Latina, as if questioning it or being concerned about it was a problem, not the fact that she was playing the role.