Covering The Coverage: “The Real World’s” JD Ordonez May Be An Ass, But He’s Not A “Fiery Latino”

A sexy, smoldering, spicy reader brought this little tidbit of news to our attention: JD Ordonez, rumored lover of Anderson Cooper and friend to recent immigrants, is kind of an angry why. Except, oh! He’s Latino. Which doesn’t make him angry so much as it makes “fiery.”

Like an exploding rage-pepper!

At least, according to the fine folks and cultural anthropologists over at MTV:

Life wasn’t always smooth sailing for 22-year-old JD, who was raised by an abusive father unsupportive of his son’s homosexuality. When JD’s godmother took him to Sea World at age five, he vowed that one day he would become a dolphin trainer. He graduated from the University of Miami, with a degree in marine biology, and at the ripe age of 18 became one of the youngest dolphin trainers in the world. Despite his age, JD is mature beyond his years, which might be why he finds himself attracted to older men. As a bartender at night, he has always worked hard to play hard, but when his overwhelming schedule gets to him, watch out for his fiery Latino temper.

Emphasis ours. Ours, passionately! From where does this trope of the fiery (or, in some cases, flaming) Latino come? 

Guys, are we really that bad-tempered? More so than other groups of people? Fucking ANSWER the damn QUESTION! We really don’t know where this stereotype comes from: Machismo maybe? “Macho men” are seen as angry and short-tempered, after all.

We tend to think most stereotypes are too silly or far removed from reality to get under our skin, but this one has never sat well with us because it paints Latinos as animals who cannot control themselves. There’s nothing spicy or sexy about being an enraged asshole. And, yes, sure. Maybe JD Ordonez is short-tempered. He’s probably even an asshole. But we’re pretty sure it’s more complex than the fact that he’s Latino. Like maybe having an “abusive, unsupportive” dad might have something more to with that. Or growing up in Miami.

When Christian Bale recently freaked out on the set of his movie, his Welsh background was never brought up. He was just a guy with anger management issues. Whenever Bill O’Reilly hilariously loses his temper on camera, people kind of laugh and shrug but they never cite his Americanness or Irish heritage. He’s just an isolated, angry dude. So why does Latinos’ anger have to stem from some collective source? 

The funny thing about this is that MTV seems to pride itself on having an inclusive and progressive (That’s our least favorite word, but you get what we’re saying.) view on minorities and marginalized groups. So why can’t they stop using outdated, simplistic stereotypes? Maybe the marketable character of the Angry Latino is just too good to pass up.

Real World: Brooklyn | JD [MTV]