Is Eva Longoria’s "Devious Maids" stereotyping Latinas?

Eva Longoria just can’t keep away from the drama and that is why this summer she is bringing it to your nearest TV set.

“Devious Maids” is a new Lifetime series executive produced by Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) and Marc Cherry (“Desperate Housewives”). The show takes an “upstairs-downstairs” look at five maids and their rich and famous employers inside their Beverly Hills mansions where murder and mayhem collide. The story centers on the close-knit group of maids who are as clever, witty, outrageous and devilish as their employers because in their world, whoever holds the dirt holds the power and these maids are surely sweeping in more gossip than anything else.  

The series will definitely give us all something to talk about this summer because besides the juicy affairs and murder secrets the five maids are played by, surprise surprise, an all-star Latina cast.

Dania Ramirez (“Entourage”) plays Rosie Falta, a widow who left her son back in Mexico when her husband died.  Roselyn Sanchez (“Rizzoli & Isles”) will play Carmen Verde an aspiring singer who hopes that her pop star employer Alejandro, played by the half Cuban actor Matt Cedeno (“Days of Our Lives”), can help jump-start her career. Judy Reyes (“Scrubs”) will play Zoila Del Barrio the senior maid for Genevieve Delatour played Susan Lucci (“All My Children”), a co-dependent, emotionally unstable wealthy woman.  She works alongside her teen daughter Valentina Del Barrio played by Edy Ganem, who has a crush on Genevieve’s son, Remi. Lastly, the fifth maid Marisol, played by Ana Ortiz (“Ugly Betty”), is recently hired to clean the home of a newlywed couple with a complicated love history.

As stereotypical as these roles might seem let’s pause, take a second and give the series a chance before causing a riot. Call me crazy, but this is an amazing cast of Hispanic Women who I know can give their characters depth allowing the audience to even forget they are maids. In addition, it’s produced by Longoria, a strong Mexican-American woman whose philanthropy has focused on the betterment of children, women and the Latino community. Because of these reasons alone I think that the Hispanic maids theme is only a very thin layer of a multidimensional cake and therefore I have convinced myself to take a chill pill and so should you, at least till after the first episode airs.

In the premiere, after the brutal murder of their fellow maid Flora played by Paula Garces (“Harold & Kumar”), the four maids turn to each other for support. Meanwhile, Marisol, the newcomer maid comes to the new couple’s mansion with ulterior motives, when someone she loves becomes wrapped up in Flora’s murder she goes undercover to learn the truth.

The drama was inspired by the Mexican soap opera, “Ellas son la Alegría del Hogar” and it will premiere this June 23. What are your thoughts on these Latinas playing maids? Do you think this series will only further the stereotype or change it?

Here’s a video of the original novela: