Lunes Latina: Top 10 Geeky Hispanics

Special Martes Edition
By Teresa Jusino

Last week, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by spotlighting the Top 10 Geeky Hispanic Characters.  This week, we’re keeping it real by spotlighting the Top 10 Geeky Hispanics; those men and women in the entertainment industry that both create geeky work and raise awareness about Hispanic cultures, issues, and concerns while fostering a geeky environment in which Hispanics can play an ever-increasing role.

This week:  The Top 10 Geeky Hispanics

10) Ricardo Montalban, Actor

His performance in one episode of a little 1960s sci-fi show called Star Trek led to an entire movie in the show’s film franchise focusing his character, popularizing a war cry that has passed the lips of every geek at least once when they are facing a moment of extreme frustration…

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Mexican-born actor, Ricardo Montalban, has had a long and varied career as an actor.  However, he is best known to geeks as Khan Noonien Singh in the 1967 episode of Star Trek called “Space Seed” and later from the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  Khan was not his only contribution to the geek canon.  He played ape sympathizer, Señor Armando in Escape From the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes in the 1970s, and TV geeks everywhere would hit me over the head with blunt objects if I didn’t mention his most famous TV role:  Mr. Roarke on the late 1970s-early 1980s hit, Fantasy Island.  At a time when there were very few, if any, roles for Latinos on television, Montalban represented us all with great talent, distinguished style, and really amazing pecs.

9) Gina Torres, Actor

Every fangirl wants to be her, and every fanboy wants to do her.  Cuban-American actress Gina Torres got her start playing Hel on the cheesetastic show, Cleopatra 2525, and did even better work as Anna Espinosa on the JJ Abrams spy show, Alias.  However, she is best known among geeks for her glorious work in the Whedonverse.  She played the goddess, Jasmine, in the fourth season of Angel, and played her most well-known character, Zoe Washburne, on the television show, Firefly, reprising her role in the film, Serenity.  Not only is Torres a talented, nuanced actress, but she is also a woman whose beautiful, Afro-Cuban looks broaden the image of Latinas in the media, making people aware that Latinas don’t just come in one shade.

Rene Echevarria, Writer/Producer

It’s one thing to be a Hispanic actor, contributing to the visual landscape of entertainment, but it’s also important when Latinos contribute to the landscape by controlling how geeky stories get told.  Cuban-American writer, Rene Echevarria, is best known as a writer/producer on both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, penning some of my favorite episodes, like “I, Borg” and “The Offspring.“.  He’s also contributed to the show, Dark Angel, and was the co-creator of the USA series, The 4400.

7) Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez, Comic Writers/Artists

One of the few visions of Latinos and Latinas in comics come from Los Bros Hernandez.  Mexican creators Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez created Love and Rockets in 1981, and since then they have told the stories of Latino men and women – stories that cover everything from traditional Hispanic cultural issues to modern, alternative stories in which Latinos and Latinas take the central roles.  They have excelled at telling Latina stories, and their major characters, like Maggie and Hopey from their Locas stories, are predominantly female.

6) Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Writer/Producer

Puerto Rican writer/producer, Javier Grillo-Marxuach has brought Latino geekery to the mainstream.  He was one of the original writers for Lost, staying with the series through the first two seasons.  He’s been a writer for numerous geeky shows including The Pretender, Charmed, and Medium.  Now, he’s the producer of the hit ABC Family show, The Middleman, in which a young Latina artist named Wendy Watson is recruited to “fight evil so you don’t have to.”

5) Rosario Dawson, Actress/Comic Creator/Geek Girl Extraordinaire

Rosario Dawson, a crazy mix of Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban, Irish, and Native American, is one of the coolest geek girls in Hollywood!  In addition to performing roles in some geektastic films like Sin City, Clerks II, and Death Proof, she is also an avid comic book lover, and has recently created her own title, Occult Crimes Taskforce, the film rights of which have been purchased by Dimension Films.  That, and she is a shameless fangirl and Trekkie.

4) Elizabeth Avellán, Producer

As an independent producer in her own right, as well as half of Troublemaker Studios, Venezuelan-born Elizabeth Avellan is a force of nature, having been responsible for some of Hollywood’s most intriguing (and geeky) films like From Dusk Til Dawn, The Faculty, Grindhouse, and Sin City; Spanish-language films like Secuestro Express (starring Mia Maestro of The Motorcycle Diaries and TVs Alias); and with her business partner in Troublemaker Studios (and ex-husband), Robert Rodriguez, films like Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and the Spy Kids franchise – films that are mainstream, yet still address Latino characters and concerns in a real way.  It is inspiring to know that there is a powerful Latina calling the shots behind some of the coolest titles in film.

3) Robert Rodriguez, Writer/Director/Producer

Remember, you are a Cortez, a quote from Spy Kids, is a subtle yet poignant reminder to all Latinos that we should always be proud of who we are and where we come from.  Mexican-American writer/director/producer, Robert Rodriguez, and his projects also inspire that pride.  From the time of his first feature film, El Mariachi, which he famously wrote, produced, and directed on a budget of $7,000, he has been using movies to tell stories that appeal to a mainstream audience while staying true to his Mexican roots, bringing Spanish-speaking characters into the foreground of film.  He is now one of the most powerful creative forces in Hollywood, and with two more Sin City films in the works, we have much more geekery to look forward to!

2) Joe Quesada, Writer/Artist/Editor-in-Chief, Marvel Comics

Geeks love their comics, and ever since Cuban-American Joe Quesada took over as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics, he’s been giving them plenty to love.  Not that every decision he’s ever made has been well-received.  Hard-core fanboys are still reeling over the One More Day story arc in Spider-Man, and plenty of complaints are bandied around about Marvel’s “event comics” and how cumbersome they are with all their tie-ins and complex mythologies.  However, Quesada’s decisions have shaped what readers come to expect from the comics industry, and that is no small achievement.   He’s created the “Ultimate” Marvel universe, a Marvel universe whose titles are aimed at people who have never read Marvel characters before and can’t go back through decades of issues for backstory.  He’s brought some of the best writers in comics, like Brian Michael Bendis and Garth Ennis, up from the indie ranks, propelling them to comic stardom.  Meanwhile, his commitment to the fans is admirable, and his “Cup o’ Joe” column wherein he answers fan questions is a fun weekly staple.  However, he doesn’t kowtow to the fans.  He will just as easily shut down an overly-enthusiastic fan as answer his/her question…but this isn’t to say he doesn’t care what they want or about what they have to say.  The man has a plan, and the plan has served him well.  Issues of Marvel comics continue to fly off the shelves, and the brand seems to be in good hands.

1) Sonia Manzano, Actress/Writer

Every geek has a beginning, and for most of the geeks reading this, I would imagine that Sesame Street had a lot to do with their ability to read, their curiosity about the world, and their love of learning.  What I’ve discovered as I’ve gotten older and spoken with more and more people who didn’t grow up in New York, where Sesame Street is filmed, is that the show provided them with their first impression of Latinos.  Sonia Manzano’s “Maria” was the first Puerto Rican that many children ever “met.”  Maria, along with her husband Luis (played by Emilio Delgado), provided a glimpse into the life of a Latino family that many children never would’ve gotten otherwise.  There was plenty of Spanish bandied about, Maria even visited Puerto Rico with her Muppet friends during the show, and the sign outside the Fix-It Shop proclaimed Se Habla Español.  However, Sonia Manzano didn’t just play Maria.  She was also a writer for the show, earning 15 Emmy Awards for her efforts.  Sonia Manzano tops our list, because she makes it her life’s work to focus her talent on our littlest geeks, teaching them about how to learn, love, and share in a multicultural, multilingual world.

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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.  As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. She has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan, which beat up her Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man crush in a fight proving once again that writing skill trumps gadget skill even when that gadget skill is attached to bulging biceps.  Teresa is also an aspiring fangbanger.