Photo courtesy of Richard Wisdom/Knight-Ridder Tribune
A segment of Latino culture is captured in David Gonzalez' Homies. The tiny, 50-cent figurines accent Latino dark eyes and tan skin with baggy pants, oversized shirts and sunglasses.
‘Homies* figurines hit sour note with some
By Anne Martinez
Knight-Ridder Tribune
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Peering
from gum ball machines and the
pages of online auction Web sites
are two-inch tributes to a segment
of Latino culture some would
rather forget.
The tiny, 50-cent figurines,
called Homies, accent their dark
eyes and tan skin with baggy
pants, oversized shirts and sun
glasses. A few don knit caps and
bandannas. They go by nick
names such as Smiley and Mr.
Raza.
Their sweeping commercial
success, however, spotlights an
emerging dilemma entrepreneurs
face as they try to depict and mar
ket to ethnic groups in an increas
ingly diverse country: A fine line
exists between perpetuating a
stereotype and trying to break
one.
“Everyone, in any specific eth
nic group, is going to have to face
these issues at some point,” said
Felipe Korzenny, co-founder of
Cheskin Research, a Redwood
Shores firm that specializes in
multicultural marketing. “Com
ing up with these kinds of toys
can be helpful in establishing dia
logue and, in many ways, break
ing stereotypes.”
As Homies creator David Gon
zales quickly found, it’s a tough
balance when trying to main
stream elements of Latino culture
into the world of Barbie Dolls and
Rugrats. The San Jose State Uni
versity alumnus has come under
fire as he tries to demystify life in
a Mexican-American barrio
through comical characters large
ly inspired by former college bud
dies.
Several stores in Southern Cali
fornia and Texas last year stopped
carrying Homies, a slang term
used to describe close friends, af
ter Latino and law enforcement
leaders claimed the toys glorified
negative images and glamorized
gangs.
The controversy, though, has
done little to curb the caricatures’
popularity. More than 4 million
Homies have been sold nation
wide since they first debuted last
year. Many San Jose gum ball ma
chines have run dry for months.
At their peak, some were refilled
every three days, sometimes 25
times over.
The toys even outsold Poke
mon, according to machine ven
dor Allen Towles, who bought a
second home in the Sierra Moun
tains with the help of money he
made selling 100,000 Homies.
And on a recent day, there were
more than 40 listings offering
Homies toys on Web Auction gi
ant eBay.
Gonzales expects even greater
success with his newest line of
younger, toned-down figurines,
called Mijos, a Spanish term of
endearment for children. The
characters, which hit stores this
month, still dress in baggy clothes
and go by nicknames such as
Mousy and Spooky. But their ap
pearance is far less controversial.
In fact, they look like wide-eyed,
innocent kids.
Gonzales concedes he created
the Mijos in response to the brew
ing backlash. But he’s determined
to popularize his Homies much in
the same way the Saturday-morn
ing favorite Fat Albert caricatured
African-Americans in the 70s.
By the end of the year, Gonza
les plans to release 48 new
Homies figurines. And he’s talk
ing with business executives
about creating trading cards, a
-Saturday-morning cartoon and
even an animated film around the
growing phenomenon. Several
stores, including Tower Records,
Wherehouse and Miller’s Out
post, now sell the first series of
Homies as a package.
“Not all Latinos look like Ricky
Martin or Jennifer Lopez,” said
Gonzales, 40, who grew up in
Richmond and now works out of
his two-story home in Solano
County. “There’s hundreds of
thousands of kids who look more
like my toys.”
If marketing statistics are any
indication, Gonzales’ effort has
the making for success. The U.S.
retail market is clamoring for eth
nic-specific toys, as Latino buying
power approaches $400 billion a
year - almost triple what it was 20
years ago, according to Korzenny.
Within 20 years, Latinos will
make up the single largest ethnic
group in California.
“This is about the best cultural
time to be Hispanic,” said Ko
rzenny, adding that toys must
have cross-cultural appeal to be
successful. “Right now it’s cool to
be Latino.”
He predicts a similar commer
cial phenomenon will occur
within the Asian community, the
fastest growing immigrant group
in the country. And increasingly,
traditional limits will be tested.
The chasm created by the
Homies becomes clear when you
talk to people like San Jose police
Sgt. Carlos Paredes. The gang-unit
veteran called the toys “cute”
and, unlike many of his law en
forcement counterparts, does not
believe they promote violent be
havior. He even fondly remem
bers dressing in the same bandan
nas and baggy pants as a teenager
in San Jose.
“.. .But I wouldn’t buy them for
my kids,” Paredes said of the
Homies. “It’s part of our culture,
but when people from the outside
look at it, you’re a gangster.”
Liz Hernandez shares a similar
dilemma. She acknowledges not
everyone who dresses in over
sized clothes and knit caps quali
fy as gang members. But she also
knows firsthand the power of that
stereotype.
When her youngest son,
Gabriel, was sent to the hospital
dressed in a baggy shirt and pants
after getting into a fight at James
Lick High School, a nurse called
the police fearing Gabriel was in
volved with a gang.
“Being Mexican is hard
enough,” said Hernandez, who
lives in a upper-middle class area
of San Jose’s Evergreen neighbor
hood. “Dressing in baggy pants
and a bandanna will only hurt
you.”
Homies have become popular
among kids at Santa Clara Coun
ty’s Mexican American Commu
nity Services Agency’s youth cen
ters, much to the chagrin of
Latino staff members who found
the dolls offensive. Maria Elena
de la Garza, director of one of the
Gilroy centers, said she pulled
aside an 8-year-old boy who be
gan collecting the figurines.
“He thought it was cool,” she
said. “I told him it’s not cool, be
cause some people think all Mex
icans look like that.”
Despite the controversy, the
toys have found a broad following
among teens and adults. A group
of teens in Willow Glen wanted to
know where to buy the figurines
after seeing them for the first time
last week.
“I like to dress like a cholo
sometimes,” said Mark Lemmon,
16, pointing to his baggy khaki
pants. “It’s hard, though, because
I’m white.”
For many Mexican-Americans
like de la Garza, concerns about
the Homies stem from sour child
hood memories of fighting stereo
types they say the figurines repre
sent.
But even de la Garza and Her
nandez, the San Jose mother, con
cede the toys have a potential to
break age-old cliches if more peo
ple knew about the story behind
them. If the public knew, for in
stance, that Hernandez developed
many of his characters 20 years
ago as part of a comic strip from
his days in a middle-class neigh
borhood in Richmond and as a
graphic design student at San Jose
State.
And the characters have dis
tinct personalities that Gonzales
posts on his Web site at
www.homiescentral.com. Some
are ex-gang members who are
now gang counselors. Others are
activists with college degrees in
Chicano studies.
Some of the Homies’ real-life
counterparts are just as intriguing.
Mr. Raza, the figurine dressed in
sunglasses and a Mexican sarape,
is now an Alameda County
deputy district attorney. Smiley, a
jovial character that never leaves
home without his bandanna and
sunglasses, is a Pacific Bell serv
ice technician in Oakland.
“We’re not social outcasts,”
said Steven Jesse Corral, the dis
trict attorney. “By bringing
[Homies toys! into commerce,
Dave is bringing us into the main
stream.”
Making that leap, however, has
historically proven difficult.
In 1994, comedian Margaret
Cho faced mounting criticism for
her role in the ABC sitcom “All
American Girl”, which portrayed
a Korean American family that
spoke with heavy accents.
And just last year, the debut of
the nation’s first hip-hop comic
strip, “The Boondocks,” created a
controversy because of its racial
humor about two black teenagers
who leave a Chicago urban neigh
borhood and move to the suburbs.
A handful of newspapers
dropped the strip only to later re
instate it because of its over
whelming popularity.
Gonzales doesn’t expect
overnight acceptance but sees a
prosperous road ahead.
“It’s a part of Americana, and
it’s going to be recognized that
way over time,” he said.
A&E briefs
Museum of Natural History exhibits a
variety of cultures
Several exhibits are on display at the Uni
versity of Oregon Museum of Natural His
tory, 1680 E. 15th Ave.
Exhibits include “Archaeology of Ore
gon,” “Backyard Birds,” “Clues to an Un
known Culture,” “Living Traditions,” “Vi
sions of the Dreamtime: The Art and Myth
of Aboriginal Australia,” and an articulated
La Brea Tar Pits saber-toothed cat.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Sun
day, noon to 5 p.m. There is a $2 suggested
donation, though admission is free for Uni
versity students and museum members.
“Mingqi: Early Chinese Funerary Ceram
ics” is currently one of the featured exhibits
at the Museum of Art, located at 1430 John
son Lane. The exhibit includes a selection
of Chinese funerary tomb figures from the
Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 220 A.D.) through
the Tang Dynasty (618 - 906 A.D.).
In the museum’s Chinese Imperial
Throne Room, the public can view works
from the museum’s collection of Imperial
objects from the Qing Dynasty, including
textiles, furniture, glass, ceramics and the
largest jade pagoda outside China.
The museum also features a newly reno
vated wing of Japanese art, including a
changing print gallery with traditional
wood-block prints. A second gallery offers
highlights from the collections including
Buddhist sculpture and painted screens.
Museum hours are noon to 8 p.m.
Wednesday and noon to 5 p.m. Thursday
through Sunday. There is a $3 suggested ad
mission charge, though admission is free for
students, University employees and chil
dren, and museum members. For more in
formation, call 346-3027.