‘Mayans MC’ Creators on Giving Latinos a Platform on TV – Albeit a Criminal One
TCA 2018: “I have this damage inside of me that I have to get out” says co-creator Elgin James
Tim Baysinger | August 3, 2018 @ 4:24 PM
Last Updated: August 3, 2018 @ 10:23 PM
FX
“Mayans M.C.” co-creators Kurt Sutter and Elgin James addressed their reason for using the all-too-common trope of depicting Latinos as gang members on television.
“It’s something that I said that I never want to do once I became an artist, and then realizing that it was exactly what I have to do as an artist as opposed to pretending it doesn’t exist,” said co-creator Elgin James, who said he grew up in a world rife with gangs and violence. “I have this damage inside me that I have to get out.”
The “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff follows Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo), who is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the California/Mexico border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.
“The stories I like to tell and the characters I like to create are damaged, right? And they live outside of the parameters of perhaps the norm or what is expected,” said Sutter. “As a result of that, there is a rogue component, an outlaw component. And obviously that’s the case here, right? But I never write these guys or these women from a point of view of them being dangerous or bad. I write them from the idea that they’re human beings with complex feelings, complex external pressures and complex relationships.”
James added that, for the crew, this is a story that hit very close to home.
“A lot of the people on ‘Mayans M.C.,’ both in front of the camera and behind the camera, actually grew up in the cycle of poverty and violence and then incarceration,” he said, adding that as a kid all he saw were “one-dimensional” depictions of people of color on TV, especially ones who become criminals. “This is the first time we can tell our own stories from the inside out.”
He also doesn’t care if people consider the show good or bad for society, arguing that he’s just telling his own personal truth.
“I don’t want any nice people, who worry about what I’m going to do for society, to tell me that I can’t tell my story,” he continued. “I don’t write stories for society. I make art for the consumers that society rejects.”
What We Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Spinoffs -- So Far (Photos)
We're on the verge of the penultimate season of "Game of Thrones," the HBO mega hit that has given us cultural catchphrases like "winter is coming" and "all men must die" and that has run our lives since 2011. However, the network isn't done with the series yet. News broke in May that it was considering four potential spinoffs, which set the theory parts of our brains spinning. We wont' know anything new for a while, but here's what we know.
HBO
Four (or five) potential ones are in the works
Originally, HBO announced that there are four potential spinoffs in the works, with each attempting to “explore different time periods of George R. R. Martin’s vast and rich universe.” However, Martin wrote on his LiveJournal that over time, while he was meeting with writers (more on this later) a fifth one came into consideration. So now there's five, supposedly.
HBO
... But don't expect all of them to make it
Just like the Starks, not every show or good idea can make it to the end. In THR, HBO president of programming Casey Bloys said that while it would be great if all four ideas are strong (a "high-class problem," he called it) but they'd be lucky to get one.
"This show is very special. I'm not looking to have as many as possible. My sense right now is we would be very lucky if one of the four rises to the level that we have set," he said.
HBO
Four (or five) different writers have been brought on
Max Borenstein and Brian Helgelan are both working solo on their own potential follow-ups to the hit fantasy series, while Jane Goldman and Carly Wray will each team up with author George R. R. Martin on two other projects. For the mysterious fifth project -- if it exists -- Martin wrote that it's a separate writer, but he didn't disclose the name. Bloys declined to comment on the matter.
We won't see anything until after the series finale airs
The current focus is to finish up "Game of Thrones" Season 8. "Our No. 1 goal is the seventh season this summer and getting the eighth season written and aired," Bloys said. "You're not going to see a situation where the next show in the 'Thrones' universe launches off the back of this one. The show that Dan and David have created will get its proper send off first. We wouldn't want to take away from that in any way."
HBO
... And we don't even know when that'll happen
However, Bloys adds that because HBO wants to take its time with its beloved "Thrones'" final season, it's unclear when audiences will see it. We can hope it'll come out in 2018, as every other season has come out annually, but he suggested that maybe it could happen in 2019.
HBO
Current showrunners are not working on spinoffs
Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have been working on "Game of Thrones" for a long time. After the series finale, they're going to take a well-deserved break.
"They want to enjoy the show as fans and don’t want to worry about the scripts or production issues. We were hoping to have their names on it out of respect for them, but we understand why they don’t want that,” Bloys said.
When the spinoff news broke, Martin did what he typically does and took to his LiveJournal to talk about it. He clarified some things, specifically that they're not "spinoffs" in the traditional sense since they won't include any current series characters.
"None of these new shows will be 'spinning off' from 'Game of Thrones' in the traditional sense," he said. "We are not talking 'Joey' or 'AfterMASH' or even ['Frasier'] or 'Lou Grant,' where characters from one show continue on to another."
HBO
George R.R. Martin is writing for some of them
Depending on who you ask, Martin is either writing for two of the planned series or for all of them. Bloys said that the author is writing for two of them -- the ones with Jane Goldman and Carly Wray -- but Martin said he's consulted on more. So what "writing for" means in regards to the spinoffs is a little unclear. Regardless, Martin is involved.
"Every one of the four has visited me here in Santa Fe, some of them more than once, and we've spent days together discussing their ideas, the history of Westeros and the world beyond," Martin wrote.
Getty Images
No, "Dunk & Egg" and "Robert's Rebellion" won't be subjects
We speculated back when the spinoff news was announced that some good ideas would be the "Dunk & Egg" stories or a retelling of "Robert's Rebellion," which sets the events of "Game of Thrones" in motion. However, Martin disappointed with his blog post, which said neither would be a subject. The rebellion would be old news by that point and he's not done with "Dunk & Egg." He has even more to write.
Yes, Martin is working on all of these projects, but he's still going to finish "Winds of Winter," the sixth book in the "Song of Ice and Fire" series. We understand he has the right to take as long as he wants, but we're hungry and winter is here already.
HBO
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Did you know that George R.R. Martin is picking up even more responsibilities?
We're on the verge of the penultimate season of "Game of Thrones," the HBO mega hit that has given us cultural catchphrases like "winter is coming" and "all men must die" and that has run our lives since 2011. However, the network isn't done with the series yet. News broke in May that it was considering four potential spinoffs, which set the theory parts of our brains spinning. We wont' know anything new for a while, but here's what we know.
HBO
HBO
