ABSTRACT
“If you don’t mind, maybe you can explain one thing to me […] Who gives a fuck who I fuck?” (“Happy Fucking New Year” 2016). It is a good question and one asked by the Sense8 character, Lito Rodríguez, while he battles paparazzi surrounding his Mexico City condo as he attempts to enter it, at the same time realizing someone has spray-painted the word “faggot” in huge bold letters on its façade. This scene comes to represent all Lito’s worst fears come to light: having the world discover that he is gay and reject him for it. For a character as macho as Lito, having his homosexuality out in the open is cause for much distress. Having to come to terms with his sexuality in public against the hyper-masculine persona he plays in his films, becomes the foundation for his entire character in the show. This chapter examines how, even in a show with groundbreaking LGBTQ+ representations as Sense8, popular culture in the U.S. continues to rely on one-dimensional portraits of Mexico and its people, particularly in relation to sexuality.
