(This short analysis will be about the 7th video down on the given link.)
Million Dollar Listing New York is a reality television show on Bravo,which follows the lives of three real estate agents. One of these agents is Luis Ortiz, who is Puerto Rican. In this clip, Luis meets up with a client named Ian, in order to agree to sell a house. In the midst of their conversation, Ian unnecessarily asks Luis, “Aren’t you Cuban?”, to which Luis responds, “No I am Puerto Rican.” Ian then says, “Come on, same stuff”. Ian then says, “So handsome, you could be gay,” to which Luis responds, “I’m straight”. Ian then tells Luis, “Uh huh, straight to my bed.”
While the clip is less than a minute, it is packed with discourses surrounding Latinos and their sexuality. For one, conflating Cubans and Puerto Ricans is problematic, as it erases the complexities and the histories of both islands and their peoples. Additionally, bringing up comments about Luis’ sexuality assumes a fixed sexuality among Latinos. Although not shown in the clip, Ian also mentions at one point, “Come on, you have to be at least bisexual.” Ian’s incessant comments are not only a breach of Luis’ privacy (especially in a context that is supposed to be professional) but they also assume that Latinos already have a deviant sexuality. In the case of this clip, the conversation surrounding Luis’ sexuality overrides his profession and his title as a prestigious real estate agent in New York.