Devious Maids sparked a considerable amount of controversy ahead of its debut this Sunday.
The new Lifetime series was created by Desperate Housewives mastermind Marc Cherry and produced by Eva Longoria. Although the first episode hasn’t made its way into the hands of the general public, some critics who’ve seen the show claim it does nothing put perpetuate Latina stereotypes.
However, Cherry recently told Access Hollywood he knew Devious Maids would ruffle some feathers. Besides, a little controversy always helps bring in curious viewers.
“I always knew there would be controversy with the show, but I also knew that working with Eva Longoria, we were going to treat these characters like gold,” he explained.
Cherry continued, “I think we’ve done five super positive portrayals of Latina women who are both devious and smart but have dreams of their own and are pursuing them with all the gusto in the world.”
According to UPI , Eva Longoria has a master’s degree in Chicano studies. However, she claims this doesn’t mean she’s an authority on Latinos.
“The only way to break a stereotype is to not ignore it. The stereotype we are grappling with here is that as Latinas, all we are is maids. And yet, this is a show that deconstructs the stereotype by showing us that maids are so much more,” Longoria explained.
Lifetime’s Devious Maids tells the story of four Latina housekeepers who work for rich and famous folks in Beverly Hills. If the show is anything like Desperate Housewives , there should be a fair amount of satire buried in the storylines.
Dominican-born actress Dania Ramirez said that she believed in the show and Marc Cherry. Although some might get hung up on the controversial nature of the series, she hopes people will tune in see things for themselves.
“The show is about who we are as people. It’s about getting to know our culture, getting to know us as passionate, loving women. And for a lot of us it’s that struggle and hard work that he have and that we spend here in America to try to achieve our dreams,” Ramirez told The Huffington Post .
Devious Maids debuts on Lifetime this Sunday (June 23). What do you think about the controversy surrounding the new series?
