A decade ago, accurate-or at least favorable representations of Latin Americans were an all too welcome Pop culture commonplace.
If it wasn’t ‘Taina‘ gracing our screens on Paramount’s Nickelodeon it was the fiery sounds of Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, figureheads for what has now be known as ‘The Latin Explosion‘.
Today, the story isn’t quite the same.
For, while the likes of Pitbull continue to fly the flag for Latin American music overseas, the demographic remains both mis- and underrepresented on the small screen.
Until now.
Starring 3LW front woman Adrienne Bailon and 106 & Park host Julissa Bermudez, That Grape Juice is pleased to welcome the Style Network‘s ‘Empire Girls’.
Friends for over a decade, the ‘Girls’ landed the show following requests by friends to allow cameras into their lives.
Bermudez told us:
I had fears about being on Reality TV- because it really puts you out there, but so many funny crazy things would happen to us and our friends would be like “where are the cameras?!”
However, if you were hoping for the table tossing, cat fighting that plagues a number of today’s shows, think again. According to Bailon, “Empire Girls is feel good TV, it focuses on us being strong independent women with real goals and aspirations“.
She went onto admit:
Of course there’s going to be drama, but it’s all real. None of it’s exaggerated for the cameras.
We’re both Latina, I was born in the New York and Julie was born in the Dominican Republic, but we both represent a huge demographic in the US, and that’s the second or third generation Latin American woman- and the show reflects that.
Both of them declaring:
It won’t endorse the stereotypes.
Our story is about inspiration, it’s about hard work, determination and progress and you’ll definitely see that with both of us trying to each our seperate goals.
Catch the ‘Empire Girls’ every Sunday only on The Style Network, (9-10pm. ET)