Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke represents everything establishment liberalism supposedly rejects: white privilege, monied history, strong patriarchal influence, cisgender/heterosexual perspective and, most publicly, cultural appropriation.
The title of the film, Running with Beto, furthers O'Rourke's cultural theft of the Hispanic nickname, Beto (Roberto), which he got from his Hispanic nanny. O'Rourke has garnered great mileage from the confusion generated through his exclusive use of the Hispanic nickname, as his political beginnings are in El Paso, Texas, a heavily Hispanic region.
I have never heard local news networks bother to ask O'Rourke why he, a child of two white parents, chooses to run as Beto instead of his given name, Robert. White people in Black or Asian neighborhoods do not seem to portray themselves as culturally Black or Asian, so it seems odd that O'Rourke gets a free pass for his very obvious cultural appropriation when, for example, two white girls in Washington state are forced to close their taco stand because they are not Hispanic.
To add insult to injury, O'Rourke is applauded when he utilizes poor Spanish speaking at political events. He didn't grow up in "the barrio" and it shows, yet he represents himself as some representative savior of the Hispanic class.
Has O'Rourke's political career benefitted Hispanics? Not if you ask them, but his wealthy, white father-in-law seems to have benefitted greatly from O'Rourke's efforts, at the expense of El Paso taxpayers.
And so, at least for me, seeing a film that whitewashes the losing record of a privileged, wealthy white cisgender hetero male who has benefitted greatly from cultural appropriation seems a bit much.
The title of the film, Running with Beto, furthers O'Rourke's cultural theft of the Hispanic nickname, Beto (Roberto), which he got from his Hispanic nanny. O'Rourke has garnered great mileage from the confusion generated through his exclusive use of the Hispanic nickname, as his political beginnings are in El Paso, Texas, a heavily Hispanic region.
I have never heard local news networks bother to ask O'Rourke why he, a child of two white parents, chooses to run as Beto instead of his given name, Robert. White people in Black or Asian neighborhoods do not seem to portray themselves as culturally Black or Asian, so it seems odd that O'Rourke gets a free pass for his very obvious cultural appropriation when, for example, two white girls in Washington state are forced to close their taco stand because they are not Hispanic.
To add insult to injury, O'Rourke is applauded when he utilizes poor Spanish speaking at political events. He didn't grow up in "the barrio" and it shows, yet he represents himself as some representative savior of the Hispanic class.
Has O'Rourke's political career benefitted Hispanics? Not if you ask them, but his wealthy, white father-in-law seems to have benefitted greatly from O'Rourke's efforts, at the expense of El Paso taxpayers.
And so, at least for me, seeing a film that whitewashes the losing record of a privileged, wealthy white cisgender hetero male who has benefitted greatly from cultural appropriation seems a bit much.