Saturday, September 7, 2013

My Thoughts on FX's The Bridge

I didn't want to watch it. I really didn't. Some writers and Borderland Natives had warned me it was complete garbage but I just had to smell the trash myself. People kept asking me if I'd seen it and what I thought of it and I was tired of saying, "We don't get FX in Juarez." Which is good because I later found out that you can get FX in Juarez, it's just not included in the measly 379 peso cable package that I am able to spring for. Shocker. So I moseyed on over to Amazon Prime to purchase an episode. Because I am alarmingly intelligent and tech-savvy I first purchased episode 7. As someone pointed out on my Facebook page, a 7 does look very similar to a 1 so I'm just going to take that excuse and run with it.


So there I was $4.30 later... not really getting off to a good start, but I was trying to keep an open mind. I'm not really sure where to start. There is so much say. I suppose we can start with all the white cops in cowboy hats with East Texas accents. Someone must have failed to mention to the casting directors that the majority of people in El Paso don't speak with a Southern drawl. Newsflash to anyone who isn't familiar with the city, El Paso is over 80% Hispanic and that lends a hand to the diverse culture and general feel of the city itself, not to mention the accent. It may be in Texas but it's not the Wild West, and I wouldn't confuse the everyday Joe in El Paso with Wyatt Earp. Come on people!

With that being said, you could see why I was a little surprised that everyone on the El Paso side of this show was white. Not just the police officers but the criminals, the medical examiner, the CBP agent... Oh wait, I'm sorry, there was Kitty Conchas. She was Hispanic. She says she was born and raised in El Paso and doesn't speak a word of Spanish. She almost said it like, I was born in El Paso, not Juarez you dip shit. It was as if they are two different worlds instead of what they really are. One. This is when it became abundantly clear to me that the directors and screen play writers and actors really have no clue what life is like here and how connected the communities in El Paso and Juarez are. And give me a break, it would be impossible to work the front desk for EPPD and not speak Spanish. Completely, utterly, impossible. Get your resume together Kitty, it's time to start your job hunt. Maybe there's an opening to waitress at a bistro on the West Side? Cross your fingers.

I don't mean to make this all about race and nationality, but the show was incredibly inaccurate on that front. The police officer in Juarez speaks English at home to his wife and son? Really? At first I thought they did that because people hate reading subtitles but there was plenty of Spanish thrown in the mix throughout the show. I did like how they left words like guey and pinche out of the translations. It felt like an inside joke for the Spanish speaking viewers. Really the only thing that was accurate in this episode was the fact that you can drive right through a major US Point of Entry without CBP checking your trunk. Everything else was just... off.

Not only did they get El Paso wrong, they made Juarenses out to look like assholes. I've never lived in a place that was the setting for a television show, but maybe this is how it always is? Maybe the people of Albuquerque hate Breaking Bad? I'm not sure, but man... this was pretty awful. I was happy to see that Matthew Lillard came out from the rock he's been hiding under since 1998 and happy to see one of the characters question, "why one dead white woman is more important than so many dead just across the bridge," but other than that, I just couldn't get past the inaccuracies. It felt like the longest 65 minutes of my life and I checked the clock on multiple occasions wishing time would go by faster.

In the end I was just left thinking, how in the hell can you tell a person is Hispanic by just seeing their legs and do you think Amazon will give me a refund for episode 7?

22 comments:

  1. I've somehow managed to watch the entire season and after every episode I say to myself, "why did I do that? It was so bad." The stereotyping isn't only bad, it is so, so unoriginal. Philandering, charismatic Mexican male? Check. Damaged but brilliant white woman protected by paternal older white male? Check. Overly simplistic (and pulled out of left field) reason for the killings? Check. Multiple story lines that do not tie together at all? Check.

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  2. I started watching it for Demian Bechir who played Esteban on my favorite show of all time, Weeds! I do love the guy even if the show is not accurate. He is adorable.

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    1. I'm glad you like it. I feel pretty confident that I would like it if I didn't live here. I just got hung up in the details.

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  3. I totally get everything you complain about. Yes, even up here in San Antonio, we recognize the awful stereotypes. Having said that, my wife (who is Hispanic) and I love this show. Not for the accuracy of the portrayal of the border towns, but for the mystery of it all.

    That one creepy guy with the really weird deep voice - he looks and sounds like a character Will Ferrel should be playing. I know it is impossible to to suspend reality when you are so intimate with the setting, but for those of us a little further north, it is a really awesome show.

    By the way, I don't recall if it was episode 7 or not, but when you see Patrick Swayze's brother, that is enough to make you want to hate the show. But again, aside from that, all the stereotyping and total inaccuracies of everything about it, I love it!

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    1. Dave, Juarez has got to be around 250 miles further North than San Antonio. But we know what you mean. Emily, I haven't seen "The Bridge" (other than the previews), sounds like the same stereotypes as "No Country for Old Men".

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    2. And obviously, Dave doesn't bother to look at a map! I was visualizing Laredo but thinking Juarez. Yes, I'm a dumbass. ;)

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    3. I always think US = North, Mexico = South. Texas just throws everything off! ;) Glad you and the Mrs. are enjoying the show.

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  4. I also looed forward to this show because of Demian Bichir, but after the first episode and about 5 minutes of the second one, I haven't bothered w/ it. Too bad, it touches on such an important and horrible situation.

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    1. Yes, too bad! But I hope that people are able to get something out of it. I'm just afraid that it will lengthen the stigma of Juarez in the drug war aftermath. Lord knows we don't need that.

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    2. I think that, yes, actually, everyone hates the show that is supposed to be set in their hometown, because they always get it so very wrong! I used to live in Durango, Colorado, and for a brief time, there was a show called "Durango" that was just so terribly, terribly, terribly wrong in every way. Then, as if that weren't bad enough, they named a car "Durango"! Damn you, Dodge! My advice is to never watch the show again. Pretend it never happened!

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    3. LOL, I just may take your advice... ;)

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  5. I keep watching it because I DVRd the series and will watch it when nothing else is on. I want it to be good but I think Diane Kruger is weirdest, most awkward character and actress. Demian Bechir is the bees knees! I think you definitely have to suspend reality to watch this show. I do want to check out the original Scandinavian version tho. :)

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    1. I always liked Diane Kruger but you're right, she is incredibly awkward on this show! Let me know what you think of the original is you ever get to see it.

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  6. Finally! A place where I can discuss The Bridge from a more local vantage point. Let me start off by saying that I disagree with your review, at least the El Paso part of it. I must admit that I've not been to Juarez since I moved back almost two years ago.

    I like taking pictures of the night sky as a way of keeping a record of my vantage point at that exact moment. With out fail, I look at the picture on my phone and it never looks right. That's because one is a photo on my phone and the other is reality though my eyes.

    'The Bridge' is not suppose to be reality. I never watched the TV show 'Monk' and thought that was actually San Francisco in the background. If I'm not mistaken, 'The Bridge' it is based on a similar story from Sweden. Sorta like how the movie Traffic was actually a British television series. Also, the Sonia Cross character has a condition, which you don't realize at first and why she seems so odd. Later on in the story you start to understand her story, and for that matter, you start to see Marco Ruiz' flaws as a man not just his honest cop side.

    I've only seen half the series (on Hulu for 7 bucks) but intend on finishing it. It's not the greatest TV show, but like the first season of Breaking Bad wasn't what is now, so is this show. The thing about people in El Paso is that we hang out in cliques and we think that our reality IS what El Paso is about, but it's not. The mix of people here is complex and although the show is not for everyone it does touch on the duality of the two cities. Except for the first few shows, the rest of it is mostly shot in LA. Nevertheless, I love the aerial views of El Paso/Juarez. I've never seen any thing like it. I love the way they've changed the colors of the lights to resemble one huge metroplex.

    Kitty's line has got to be the best line of the entire series (so far). They hit that one right on the nail. All of my close friends are Hispanic and they don't speak spanish. Some of them have worked at counters before and they get by. Just like my dad, who always had work but can't put an English sentence together, knows how to say “what time, tomorrow?” There is a definite divide between the pochos born here, the Chicanos that come from AZ or Cali, immigrants from central Mexico and affluent Chihuahua-Mexicans living here, when you talk about Hispanic in this area.

    I like Mathew Lillard's character. He is probably the most El Pasoan out of them all. He is a composite of several people I've met, just west of downtown. I use to work in the same building as that lawyer that is played by Lyle Lovett. I could go on. I don't see the characters on the show as stereotypes, but rather interpretations of people. You'd be amazed at what people that have never lived in El Paso say about it. I've stopped correcting them. Who's to say that they aren't right? Maybe we do have the best (quote)Mexican(unquote) restaurants? I don't wear boots, but El Paso does have a lot of nationally recognized boot makers. Maybe Marty Robbins actually walked into Rosa's. Although we are closer to 3 other state capitols, young folks still dream of Austin... so maybe this is still part of Texas.

    How do you get an El Pasoan out of your house? Tell him there is no more beer or turn on The Bridge.

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    1. Thank you, Paul. I feel at least slightly vindicated in my enjoyment of The Bridge!

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    2. Interesting perspective! I loved the aerial shots and Matthew Lillard's work in this as well. I'm happy to hear an explaination about Sonia Cross because I have never see Diane Kruger seem so... off?

      See, I still disagree on Kitty's character. I've found it more common to bump into people who don't speak English in El Paso than those who don't speak Spanish. And I don't think that's just the circle I run in because I am basing that thought on my interactions with clients at work. And in the line of work I'm in, the people live all over the city (Santa Teresa to San Eli actually) and of varying social classes. So Kitty's character still just doesn't make sense to me. Especially working the front desk at EPPD and not speaking Spanish? Or maybe I misunderstood her position?

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Paul... this is weird. I never removed any of your comments and enjoyed your perspective. Not sure why it's saying this. Can you please repost?

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  8. Everyone needs to read this! http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9717676/as-season-1-fx-bridge-winds-author-lived-juarez-takes-issue-s-portrayal-border

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  9. Lol. I'm watching the Bridge in 10 minutes, so I'm going to look out for these inaccuracies from the perspective of someone who lives in Juarez.

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    1. Sweet! Let me know what you think. Email or FB me :)

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