The television station, FX, currently has a new drama in development and the lead character is an undocumented Mexican immigrant working as a private investigator. It is this “illegal alien” character that has a number of conservatives up in arms about the idea of him being a [fictional] hero.
After project writer Chap Taylor began seeing less-than-kind comments about the developing show, he defended it and made the following statement:
I’m not here to insult anyone or make assumptions about their intelligence, patriotism or morality based on the networks they watch or the web sites they view. I would just like to respectfully make the following points:
1.) I am a middle-aged white guy, a practicing Roman Catholic, and a former Army paratrooper (peacetime). I am about as American as American gets. I would appreciate it if you would not pre-judge my character and intentions before you actually see the show.
2.) The pilot script hasn’t even been written yet. For people from any background to decide the value of a show before it even exists on paper, let alone has been shot, edited and broadcast is a little unfair.
3.) As several people on this comments thread have pointed out, some of the most beloved films and television programs of the last fifty years have featured characters who are gangsters, thieves and/or murderers. Aside from CITIZEN KANE, THE GODFATHER is pretty regularly named the greatest American movie ever made. The protagonist of that movie orders dozens of murders, presides over a nationwide criminal network, and ultimately murders both his brother and his brother-in-law.
4 ) The pedophile/rapist comparisons are a little out of line. I mean, seriously, watch the show before you say our lead is the moral equivalent of a guy who rapes kids.
5.) We absolutely do not intend to whitewash anyone. It will not be a show about beastly white folks or saintly immigrants. Like any good drama, we hope to make a show about people in extreme circumstances who have to make decisions – some good, some bad, and some really ugly.
6.) If we’re lucky enough to get on the air, I would respectfully request you watch the first episode before you decide one way or the other. If you then decide that you want to express your disapproval by boycotting the show, that is your right. I know, because I spent three years of my life defending it.
With immigration being a popular issue recently, talk of the show’s development only seemed to fuel the “angry flames” for those against undocumented immigration and amnesty.
