How the Comedy of ‘Bordertown’ Nails Immigration Tensions

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying it's been a wacky presidential primary season. And while reasonable minds can disagree on immigration policy, we can all agree that lots of ugly things are being said about immigrants.

For some insight, I turned to an unlikely source: "Bordertown." It's an animated sitcom on Fox, set in the fictional bordertown of Mexifornia. It's basically a comedy about immigration.

In the second episode, Mexifornia residents congregate at a town hall meeting to discuss what to do with a $10 million windfall to the city budget.

"I think it should go toward building a border wall," suggests Bud Buckwald, a border patrol agent and one of the show's main characters.

Sound familiar?

http://www.fox.com/watch/598904899611/7765855488

"We wrote the show two years ago, before Donald Trump," says Lalo Alcaraz, a writer and consultant on "Bordertown."

America has been going through a huge demographic shift, and this election season is bringing the huge rifts it's created into stark relief. Alcaraz, a longtime political cartoonist in Los Angeles, says animated comedy could be the best way for us to address these controversial topics head-on.

This wouldn’t be the first time Americans turned to comedy during times of social upheaval. "Bordertown" creator Mark Hentemann modeled his animated sitcom on "All in the Family." The legendary sitcom was set in the 1970s, in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement.

"Back in the 'All In the Family' days in the '70s, Archie Bunker was complaining about Black Power, feminism, the emerging gay rights movement," Alcaraz says. "This is an updated version, and set in a place where we can talk about those things."

While "All In the Family" was based in Queens and focused on urban issues, "Bordertown" is set on the outskirts of America. But the issues it raises are at the center of our political debate.

The show is based on two families, the Buckwalds and Gonzalezes. They are next-door neighbors. The Buckwalds are headed by Bud, who is a border patrol agent. And Ernesto, a gardener, is the patriarch of his clan.

"Bud Buckwald, who’s kind of a bigoted Archie Bunker-ish white guy," Alcaraz says. "He feels out of sorts. He feels like his world has changed and can’t cope with the new reality that is the U.S."

In one episode, Bud Buckwald bemoans what he sees, as his status declines in an increasingly diverse America.

"You know I was always told if I worked for the man long enough, eventually I'd become the man," Buckwald says. "Well, I've been working at that station for 20 years but I ain't the man. Steve is. Even Ernesto is the boss of his grass thingy. It's like the Mexican has become the man and I've become the Mexican."

And Bud’s Mexican immigrant neighbor, Ernesto?

"Ernesto Gonzalez has been in the U.S. for 25 years or so and is doing a little bit better than Bud, and Bud cannot deal with that," Alcaraz says.

But like all the characters in "Bordertown," and really, in much of America, Ernesto's views on immigration are not easily understood.

In the episode about the border wall, Ernesto's nephew urges him to speak out against it. Ernesto obliges and starts by telling the crowd, "I came to the U.S. where everybody's voice can be heard and counted."

Alcaraz says you think Ernesto is going to give an inspiring speech about how great America is, but it quickly devolves.

Ernesto hails America's democratic process. It might not be perfect, he says, but it's better than the government he left behind. And then he ends his speech by saying, "So in conclusion, Gonzalez landscaping, we love you lawn time!"

Alcaraz says the scene is a riff on how immigrants may have a political point of view, but at the end of the day they're very practical people.

http://www.fox.com/watch/592630339703/7765855488

"In animation and cartoons, I firmly believe you can say so much more that you can’t in live action or boring old essays," Alcaraz says.

The jury is still out as to whether audiences agree, and there’s no word yet if "Bordertown" will get a second season. But a Trump presidency might make a second season too irresistible to pass up.