Mayans MC, a spinoff of the widely successful TV show Sons of Anarchy, made its debut into the FX universe on September 4th. Mayans MC tells the tale of several members of a outlaw motorcycle gang as they deal with the consequences of being involved in illegal activities, including the drug trade and dealing arms. In addition the gritty crime action, the show is also able to focus in on the familial dynamics within the gang and its affiliates, and the issue of where identity and loyalty should be placed in such a cut throat world. Set in southern California near the US-Mexican border, Mexican-American culture and the characters desire to remain loyal to their roots plays a prominent role within the show itself. Upon the show’s announcement, the FX network released this poster, to advertise as well as artistically tease the show’s Hispanic premise.
Visually the poster is designed well—the artwork within is centered, creating symmetry that is attractive to the eye. There are not too many words and the font remains consistent and complementary to the theme of the poster. There is no white space, as the whole poster is colored with various shades of red, green, blue, brown, and gray. However, these colors do not make the poster any less visually appealing, and serve as symbols as well. In addition to the colors, other—and more subtle—symbols on the poster include the ancient Mayan symbol behind the main subject’s head, the skeleton aligned on the left half of the biker, and the desert landscape.
The use of semiotics allows for deeper analysis of these symbols and their significance in relation to the deeper themes of the show. The symbols help signify the importance of Mexican-American culture within the show: a skeleton representing the artwork common around the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the shades of red and green found on the Mexican flag, and the shades of Mayan blue placed on the upper section of the poster. All of these aspects of Mexican-American culture can in turn signify the large theme of identity and where loyalties lie within this violent universe. The considerable use of black and red tones within the artwork represents violence and conflict-conflict involving clashing cultures.
The idea of being loyal to cultural roots is not just limited to the plot within the show, but also had a role within the show’s production.
The concept of appropriately representing the minority experience within the United States had been a goal of the showrunners since its creation. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, show creator Kurt Sutter discussed his mission to find show writers that could relate and accurately portray the characters’ experiences. Following months of research into the culture of Latin-Americans living in the Southwestern region of the United States, Sutter was able to sign on 6 more show writers, consisting of 3 men and 3 women, all of which were of Mexican-American decent. In addition, Sutter only hired Latin-American actors for the roles that required them to avoid whitewashing the show to create a genuine atmosphere. Sutter’s dedication to being loyal to the Mexican-American cultural ideals through proper representation gives the show an authenticity that is hard to replicate within today’s pop culture.
Analysis with the use of semiotics allows for a deeper understanding of the deeper themes within a piece of media. In this case, thematic ideals of being loyal to cultural roots and proper identification is able to be seen by the imagery and symbols with the show’s poster as well as the the show’s production and composition itself. The overall violent and menacing tone of the poster depicted by its symbols helps to represent the theme of conflict(both literal and relative to the characters’ identity crises) that is prominent within the show, while showrunner Kurt Sutter proves to allow for proper identification within Mexican-American culture by avoiding the whitewashed feel that many shows popular in today’s culture contains.
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