LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--mun2.tv, the award-winning digital platform for Hispanic cable network mun2, launched Naco, Pocho, an original, made for web digital documentary on Mexican and Mexican-American attitudes on taste, class and acculturation (mun2.tv/nacopocho). Drawing from the experiences and opinions of public figures including actor/director Edward James Olmos, Latin music superstar Jenni Rivera, musical group Tucanes de Tijuana, Mexican pop group 3Ball MTY, and journalist Gustavo Arellano, Naco, Pocho presents opinions on the social meaning behind the controversial, yet commonly used Spanish language slang terms “Naco” and “Pocho.”
English Version with Spanish subtitles
http://www.mun2.tv/watch/shorts/naco-pocho
Spanish Version with English subtitles
http://www.mun2.tv/watch/shorts/naco-pocho-english-subtitles
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term “Naco” is a Spanish slang word often used in Mexican Spanish to describe, bad mannered, poorly-educated, but sometimes wealthy Mexicans.
According to Pocho Magazine, the term “Pocho” is used to describe an American of Mexican descent, considered by Mexicans to not be “Mexican” enough and by non-Mexicans of not being fully “American.”
“We want to start a conversation about outsiders and how they’re changing Mexican culture. The terms ‘Naco’ and ‘Pocho’ have been used to police the boundary between high and low culture, between the rich and the poor, but a fast growing middle class, especially of Mexicans in the U.S., is blurring those distinctions,” says Jose Marquez, VP Interactive Strategy, mun2.
The documentary also features interviews with Xavier El Eléctrico (dancer), Gustavo Arellano (writer and editor, Ask a Mexican, Taco USA), Penelope Menchaca (TV host, 12 Corazones), Alacranes Musical (musical group), Alex Rivera (music artist), Luis de Alba (actor and comedian, El Pirruris), Edoardo Chavarin (designer, NaCo), La Bronka (radio host), Larry Hernandez (music artist), 3ball MTY (musical group), Gloria Trevi (music artist), Daniel Hernandez (writer and journalist, Down and Delirious in Mexico City), Lalo Alcaraz (writer and cartoonist, Pocho, La Cucaracha), Gerardo Ortiz (music artist), Los Tucanes de Tijuana (musical group), Edward James Olmos (actor and director, Stand and Deliver, American Me, Selena, Battlestar Galactica), Montez de Durango (grupo musical), Jenni Rivera (music artist), and Duelo (musical group), all of whom relate their experience with, and understanding of the terms “Naco” and “Pocho”, which have been used as a method of establishing social hierarchy and segregation within the Mexican community.
Naco, Pocho marks the latest mun2.tv original. The award-winning site received an Imagen award in 2011 in the Best Web Series category for an original online program about Mexican American culture titled "Chismex," and has become the leading platform for young Latinos to define and celebrate their identity.
Quotes from "Naco, Pocho" special:
Lalo Alcaraz: “Hipsters have been pushing the naco thing for a long time, by that I mean the lower class, the working class aesthetic that naco represents in Mexico.”
3Ball MTY: “Naco is freedom, being naco, you can do whatever you want.”
Gustavo Arellano: “Everyone seems to have an opinion as to what counts as being a true Mexicano and what doesn’t, and if you’re not a true Mexicano, then you’re a Pocho.”
Montez de Durango: “In the eyes of a Caucasian we will always be Mexicans, whether you were born in the USA or Mexico, even if your English is more fluent than the Caucasian, even if you have a better education, if you look Latin or Mexican then you will be labeled as Mexican.”
Gerardo Ortiz: “I am a Pocho, and I think that 90% of my fans are also Pocho”
About mun2:
mun2 is the leading Hispanic cable network for young millennial adults 18-34. From reality to music, on-air to digital, mun2 creates original content that resonates across a multi-screen platform. Young, vibrant and unabashedly Latino, mun2 has a distribution to over 38 million households. The network is part of Telemundo Media, a division of NBCUniversal.
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