America Ferrera’s America

 by Aaron Goldstein  

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America Ferrera doesn’t know how good she has it in America.

I generally do not watch television. It bores me. During the baseball off-season, when I watch TV I generally tune in to the Fox News Channel, A&E and sometimes PBS if there’s a Monty Python rerun or some 1960’s rock n’ roll retrospective. I might occasionally indulge in some cheesy reality TV on MTV or VH1 on the weekend. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I am a huge fan of both professional wrestling and South Park. OK, who am I kidding?  I do watch a lot of television.   However, I generally don’t watch network television – FOX, ABC, NBC, or CBS (with the exception of 60 Minutes).

But one Saturday night last November I happened to be flipping the channels and came across an Ugly Betty marathon on ABC Family. I had certainly heard of the show and some of the buzz around it but otherwise had not paid it much heed. In the absence of anything else to do at the time I ended up watching several episodes back to back. I was hooked. Needless to say, I have now made it a habit to tune in to ABC on Thursday nights at 8 p.m.

The show draws a nice balance between comedy and drama and has a good ensemble cast. But the foundation of Ugly Betty is its lead actress America Ferrera. In an industry that prides itself on glamour and spectacle, Ferrera turns frumpiness and modesty into gold. She plays her role with a warmth, intelligence, wit and dare I say a beauty that somehow finds a way to navigate Betty from impending tragedy to inevitable triumph. At only 22, she possesses a poise and maturity some actresses are never able to capture.

When one comes to have an affinity for a celebrity one sometimes wonders what they think about the world and the people around them. Of course, in Hollywood it is de rigueur for its stars to wear their disdain for President Bush and Republicans as a badge of honor. Still, I am able to enjoy the work of certain actors or actresses without having to buy into their politics.

With this in mind let us set the scene in Santa Monica, California on February 25, 2007 – the night before the Academy Awards. America Ferrera was presenting an award at the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards along with Zach Braff of NBC’s Scrubs (a show I do not watch). Braff asked Ferrera, “So do you think that you have any traits in common with the country that is your namesake?” Ferrera replied, “I guess I’m a free-spirited person and America’s supposedly the ‘land of the free,’ right? Or at least we will be in 2008.” Needless to say, the left coast audience ate it up like chocolate cake.

Let me be clear. America Ferrera’s remarks do not anger me in the least. President Bush has been called much, much worse things. Just ask Chevy Chase, Kanye West or Bill Maher. I am more perplexed and puzzled by her remarks than anything else.

Given Hollywood’s left-wing disposition it is entirely possible she said it because she wanted easy applause. But let’s assume that she meant what she said and examine it with more scrutiny.

How is it that Ferrera believes that America is “supposedly” the land of the free?

The child of Honduran immigrants, Ferrera grew up in Los Angeles and has freely pursued her chosen profession and has ascended to the top of it in her early 20’s.   She has gained the respect of her peers. Earlier this year, Ferrera won a Golden Globe for best actress in a television series as well as a Screen Actors Guild award for best actress in a television comedy. She is also in the midst of producing her first film, Hacia la oscuridad, a crime thriller that also features her Ugly Betty co-star Tony Plana. There is every reason to believe that Ferrera has not yet reached the peak of her success and that the best is still yet to come. But if that were not enough, Ferrera is also freely pursuing her education at the University of Southern California, undertaking a double major in Theater and International Relations.

There are women who would give anything — not to have what Ferrera has — but to just have the chance to go to school or pursue a career. A young woman could not have had that chance in Taliban-era Afghanistan, in the Islamic Republic of Iran or in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Those places cannot be construed as lands inhabited by free people. Whatever skepticism America Ferrera might have about America I somehow doubt she would trade places with the young Saudi woman who was kidnapped and raped and yet was sentenced to receive 90 lashes – for being alone with a man who is not her relative. She is pleading with King Abdullah to spare her this punishment but under Islamic Shari‘a law the word of a woman is worth only half that of a man.  

Given that Ferrera is studying International Relations I wonder if she is familiar with Ayaan Hirsi Ali? She is the Somali-born former Dutch politician who co-produced the short film Submission, which shows Muslim women who have been physically abused by their husbands and male relatives in the name of the Koran.  Her co-producer Theo Van Gogh was murdered in broad daylight because of the film and Hirsi Ali went into hiding before eventually coming to the United States last year. I doubt that Ferrera, a self-described free spirit, would thrive either in Saudi Arabia or in Hirsi Ali’s Somalia. Or perhaps even in some parts of Europe where non-Muslim women where veils in public so as to avoid being accosted by mobs of Muslim men. America Ferrera has it very good in America.

Nevertheless, Ferrera believes America will once again be free in 2008, namely after the Presidential elections. To be precise, George W. Bush will be leaving office on January 20, 2009 when his successor is sworn into office as the 44th President of the United States. But let us consider carefully what she has said. Ferrera acknowledges that George W. Bush will leave office as required by the 22nd Amendment of the United States Constitution. There is no question that Bush will be moving out of the White House. America would be not be free if Bush were to say, “I think I like these fine trappings at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Laura and I will be staying around a little longer.” Yet even the looniest left-winger isn’t seriously entertaining the idea that Bush will remain in office after the expiration of his second term. They know it is only a matter of time before he exits public life.

The people of Venezuela might not be so fortunate. Their constitution calls for Hugo Chavez to leave office in 2012. Yet Chavez is now ruling the country by decree, nationalizing everything from oil refineries to corner stores. Given the amount of power he has wrested from the legislature and the judiciary one must wonder if Chavez will just decide to stay in the Presidential palace, constitution or not. While the American people can be certain that Bush will abide by the law and leave office, Venezuelans cannot be so certain about Chavez. 

Let us also consider Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe has been in power for nearly three decades and has managed to turn one of Africa’s most prosperous countries into one of its poorest. Zimbabweans are scheduled to go to the polls next year but Mugabe has announced that he wants to extend his term until 2010. In 2005, Mugabe told The Economist that he plans to rule Zimbabwe until he is 100 years old. This means Zimbabweans would have to put up with him until 2024. Now that’s taking President for Life literally. To be fair, many in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) want Mugabe gone given the escalating level of violence and unrest. But even if they manage to oust Mugabe, who is to say that his successor won’t emulate Mugabe and try to rule for 30 years or more to maintain one-party rule? Suffice it to say, Americans have never had to face such a problem and will not do so with President Bush.

America Ferrera is, of course, entitled to her point of view about America. She is entitled to believe that President Bush has made America less free. She is entitled to believe that America will become freer once he has left office. She is entitled to vote for anyone she chooses. Or she can choose not to vote at all. But if Ferrera had made such remarks about Chavez in Venezuela or Mugabe in Zimbabwe there is a good chance that she would be sitting in a jail cell or staring at the end of a loaded gun instead of shooting a new episode of Ugly Betty or attending USC.   America Ferrera just doesn’t know how good she has it in America.

Culture: Hollywood, Entertainment

Read more articles by Aaron Goldstein