In Miami there are a lot of terrible, terrible Cuba jokes circulated by exiles that haven't been to Cuba since the Fifties.
Here's one involving Superman:
One day, Superman decided to visit Cuba. He noticed, however, that when leaving the island, his flight was incredibly sluggish. Had Castro slipped him some Kryptonite while he was in the country? That's when he noticed why: lots of Cubans were holding on to his cape.[/list]
Yeah more like its the problem that sometimes supes its seen more as an USA symbol rather than universal.
Who remembers that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE album cover, "the Evil Empire" with a picture of a slightly sinister Superman?
Latin Americans, especially Latin American intellectuals, often consider a product of American pop culture as being imperialist in message - if not directly, than in subtext, and this is not a trait exclusive to Superman. The book HOW TO READ DONALD DUCK provides a Latin American perspective on exported American pop culture, particularly on Disney comics.
This attitude is changing, as many young people growing up in Latin America take pop culture seriously, and do not consider it "trash" culture or disposable. Elan Stavans, author of THE RIDDLE OF CANTINFLAS and the comic book A LATINO HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES shows, featuring Superman and Captain America besides masked wrestlers and the Mexican
Calavera figure.
Incidentally, I lived in Little Havana in walking distance from the Gonzalez relatives during the protests. My God, was that ever a surreal scene. One Dad was walking his kid around on his shoulders - a kid that was a lookalike ringer for Elian himself. Little notecard protest sandwich boards were hung on either side of dalmatian weiner dogs. By far the weirdest part of the whole scene was Donato Dalrymple, the fisherman that saved the boy and the Kato Kaelin "comedy relief" of this entire affair, coming by and absorbing adulation from all the elderly Cuban grandmothers.
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