March 03, 2009

"Slowpoke-ahontas" in Ugly Betty

In the Things Fall Apart episode of Ugly Betty (airdate: 2/26/09), Mark calls Betty a "slowpoke-ahontas" because she's moving too slowly. That's it...nothing else.

Normally I don't mention moments this minor, but it's interesting because there was no context for the comment. Nobody was talking about Indians and Betty hasn't acknowledged any Native ancestry. So the reference was gratuitous...but in a good way. Once again, it shows that Ugly Betty's writers are thinking about Indians.

For more on Ugly Betty, see NMAI in Ugly Betty and Poospatuck in Ugly Betty. For more on TV in general, see TV Shows Featuring Indians.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Slowpoke-ahontas" reminds me of a comment made by a white male a few years ago who was court-ordered to attend anger management counseling.

I asked him what he had done, when I interviewed him for a job, so that therapy was required - and he simply replied that he was a "full-blooded slap-a-ho."

He was not hired.