Why we started this....

Borderlands is a love song to our mothers, our Mexican-Americanness and to South Texas.

But mostly it is about Mexican and Mexican American women. 

Gerald and I were raised by extremely strong women at a time when the phrase was uttered with a bit of a snicker and not much in the way of reverence or respect.  Yes... both of us are momma's boys.  In college, Gerald used to say it proudly to anyone who'd listen.  He used to tell me that he grew up thinking his mother was the most beautiful woman in the world.  I knew what he meant because to a sensitive Mexican boy- mama means strength, security, and understanding.  And you view the rest of the world with the vision she empowers you with.  I know that was as true for him as it is for me.  I am my mother's son-- there is no mistaking that.  I have her sense of humor,  her simultaneous sentimentality and cynicism about people.  Her passion and zeal , I carry where ever I go. 


Thank you ma'.

When Gerald passed away, I couldn't stop thanking his mother for raising such a good man, such a good brother and father.  I can't imagine what she's going through-I can't imagine her grief. 

"Strong female" was something we wanted to pursue in our stories.

Today, it almost sounds trite to say, "strong female lead".   But as we saw it, Mexican women ,in particular, have been ignored by the the media, and the entertainment world.  Mexicans in general are seen as spineless, parasitic, low-skiled thugs and gangsters.  I can't think of a representation of a Mexican that is not a clown or a criminal.   

Gerald and I also felt that even when Mexican women were portrayed-- the stereotypes were mindlessly repeated -- virgin, whore, maligned mother, over-worked mother, abused mother, undereducated, willfully ignorant....etc

No portrayal of Mexican women seemed human- just stereotypes that made mainstream Americans feel good about themselves. 

We were highly aware of all this when we wrote the scripts.

But we weren't just trying to correct that deadly combination of sexism and racism through some ethnographic morality play.

No we wanted to tell stories that spoke to our own experiences with the women that raised us.... now-- of course, that's not to say Borderlands is autobiographical- hardly.  But every time we came upon a story line that needed tweaking we asked ourselves; "What would mom think?  What would  abuela do?" or "What would they have WANTED to do?" 

And that is really what guided us-- our mothers. 


Did I mention that my mother is acting in it?  Her story I'll tell later, or better yet she'll tell it.  Suffice it to say- she was born an actress.