Illustration by Mark DancyDearMexican,
WhatdoMexicansthinkofBeck?HesmokesalotofweedandsaysalotofgibberishinSpanish,soyou'dthinktheywouldlikehim.Anyway,I'mjustaskingbecauseI'mmakingamixCDforahotMexicangirl.Youknowwhat'sup.
O Mi Amore
Dear Gabacho,
We hate him. Beck had a chance to redefine American usage of Mexican Spanish forever when the Silver Fake hipster decided to name his latest album after a Mexican Spanish slang word for a white person. Beck could've been the hombre to teach the world the wonders of “gabacho.” But Beck instead named his latest release Guero. Sure, many Mexicans use the term to disparage white people, but it doesn't have the pinpoint ferocity of gabacho—gero technically means “fair-skinned” and is used to describe Americans as well as white-looking Mexicans. More importantly, though, Beck forgot to put the umlaut (the two dots that hover above a vowel to indicate one vowel assimilating into another) over the “u” in Guero, rendering his album title meaningless. By the way, if you want to get into a Mexican girl's chonis,shore up on the Art Laboe and Luis Miguel comps. You know what's up.
See Chris Ziegler's CD Review Review for more on Beck as well as performance info.
For more Ask a Mexican! please see Gustavo Arellano's regular column.
