Race and Ugly Betty

In the interest of full disclosure, I am heart broken that Ugly Betty has been canceled. Yes, the second and third seasons left a bit to be desired, but this season, its last, was really a creative renaissance for the show. When I read the story on Huffington Post, I did something I rarely do -- I read the comments and ran across this comment from SpoooonBK who said: "Ugly Betty is currently the only sitcom on American TV that focuses on an honest and positive portrait of a Latino family. We need shows like this. It is a shame that this is happening."

One of the things I find problematic about the statement is the use of the word positive to encompass the presentation of the Suarez family. Positive is such a subjective term when speaking about any presentation of a group of people on television. And for everything that we might deem positive about Ugly Betty, there are also things that could be construed as negative like the idea that Hilda was an unwed, teenage mother or that Hilda embodies the stereotype of the loud, sassy Latina women.

Whether Ugly Betty is ultimately remembered as a positive or negative portrayal of Latino families is a moot point. What is important is that another quality program is biting the dust and it's a sad day for television viewers.