I Love Lucy
As a little girl, one of the first crushes I ever had, was on Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz). I vividly remember watching I Love Lucy with my mother while folding towels warm from the dryer. I sometimes wonder how much this later influenced what I sought in a man because from a young age (we’re talking Elementary school), I very much developed a “type” and my crushes on boys very rarely strayed from a particular set of qualities.
In 7th grade, as part of sex education class, the teacher had us make a list of things we sought in a partner. It was to help us realize what we wanted. Some of the things on my list were quite different from the other girls in my class. I had the typical virtues on my list: kind, intelligent, generous, romantic… but #1 on my list was the word “accent”.
I’m pretty sure Desi Arnaz influenced this preference. It’s an odd thing to think about. To imagine that if a young Cuban man I would never meet, hadn’t pursued his dreams back in the 1950′s, my life could be dramatically different. (And the fact that an interracial couple was put on TV back then and became popular is even more shocking.)
Here is one of my favorite clips from the show. This is the episode where Lucy goes to Cuba on vacation and meets Ricky for the first time.
Posted on November 9, 2009, in Corazón, Culture, humor, marriage, nostalgia, TV/movie and tagged video. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Incidentally I love watching I LOVE LUCY too and you can imagine back then, Chinese family don’t have a clue what’s life was life in America so ya…I love those days watching sitcom at my mom’s place :D
I have written a poem inspired by I LOVE LUCY entitled “The Fake Latina,” where I mute my anger at a Cuban woman who called me “una latina facticia” by mentioning this funny TV show. I refer to this woman and her husband as “Lucy and Ricky in reverse.” It ends with the line, “No one ever dared call Lucille Ball a fake Latina.” It’s probably because she was just so funny and lovable, and she wasn’t trying so hard. . . except in the episode where she “recreated” Cuba for Ricky in their home. Even then, we were rolling on the floor.
Great post amiga! I love “accents” too and although I never made a list, I’m sure if I had… it would have been on there.
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