'Devious Maids' Cast and Crew Defend Series Against Accusations of Latin Stereotyping [VIDEO]
Devious Maids, a new drama premiering on Lifetime this Sunday, is facing accusations from critics that the show is promoting Latin stereotypes.
The show features five Latina maids, played by Ana Ortiz, Judy Reyes, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez and Edy Ganem, who serve affluent white families in Los Angeles. The series is by Marc Cherry and Eva Longoria, who created and starred in Desperate Housewives, respectively.
A few critics have accused Devious Maids of perpetuating stereotypes of Latinas always being maids or servants. "Latinas as hypersexual, nosy, scheming and, at times, totally invisible domestic servants," said The Huffington Post's Tanisha L. Ramirez about the show's one-minute trailer.
Ramirez went on to describe the series as novel for being the first English-language TV drama to feature five Latina characters as the leads, but it ultimately feels like a "wasted opportunity" because all five are "devious."
Longoria told the Los Angeles Times in early June that she was surprised by the criticism: "What I didn't expect was that much criticism from our own community having not even seen it. It doesn't define our culture, if we're playing these types of roles."
Cherry defended the show at its premiere event on June 17. "I think we've done five super positive portrayals of Latina women who are both devious and smart but have dreams of their own and are pursuing them with all the gusto in the world. And I think people are gonna get a kick out of watching these characters on their journeys."
The show's stars have all come out in support of what the show is trying to do. Though Ortiz admitted that she was shocked by the show's premise at first, she ultimately came around to it after meeting with Cherry. "I reject the notion that if a woman, a person, a human is a maid, that they don't deserve to have their story told," she said at the show's premiere event, "I just don't accept that you have to be a doctor or a lawyer to be a hero."
Devious Maids premieres on Sunday, June 23 at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.
Watch a trailer here:
