It’s official: the media machine hates Lincoln Heights. Why? For this reason. Courtesy of the nice people at ABC, in Jan. 2007 the rest of the country will add one more name of a SoCal community that they can pretend to understand, our very own Lincoln Heights. Though Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, The O.C., and similar forgettable shows created a problem of false expectations for their namesakes, it must have been easy to manage the eventual letdown when people actually visited those shimmering streets packed with monotony. We face a different fate, the prospect of diminished assumptions: the short promo video managed to pack in a police raid, the revealing statement “Gross…the way these people live”, a crack house, and “what kinda schmuck would move into this dump”, all in reference to LH. Aw geez, you little pricks are so kind! Did I mention it’s a cop drama? Yawn. And in a final nod at authenticity, the “drama” focuses on a Black family trying to make it in the “old neighborhood” along with a supporting cast of white people. Hmm, no Mexicans, no Chinese? That’s about what I’d expect.
It’s got flop written all over it, so it’ll be hello and goodbye soon enough, but it’s annoying that the media still has such a dysfunctional relation to the Eastside and Latinos. We tend to not exist in that world of representation, which is ultimately better because waiting for an accurate portrayal is a pipe-dream. I look forward to the disappointing ratings and eventual cancellation, maybe throw a good riddance party, and get cozy once again with the couch of obscurity. Besides, maybe this new perception of LH will make it the new Compton and slow the pace of gentrification, I guess it ain’t that bad! Screw them all the same, I’ll follow the lead and perpetuate my own myths about their drug-addled-neurotic-filled neighborhoods. Won’t you join me in this campaign?
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