‘New Groove’s’ Old Cliches

Like DreamWorks’ “The Road to El Dorado,” Disney’s “The Emperor’s New Groove” is another denigration of indigenous people and people of color. There is a word in Spanish for portrayals of such caricatures: It is payaso.

In the last few years, Hollywood has succeeded in rendering the beauty and wonder of the Aztec and Inca empires as civilizations populated by payasos. They have portrayed them as bumbling, lascivious and simple-minded people, and what’s more, they have done it almost exclusively with Anglo actors doing the voice-overs.

I have an idea for the studios: Why don’t you take a predominantly Anglo culture, say the United States, and render its population and leaders as bumbling, lascivious and simple-minded clowns? At least it would be more accurate and up-to-date and maybe it would teach something to their target audience (children) instead of teaching a significant portion of them self-loathing.

REUBEN M. QUESADA

Santa Ana