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Promotional art for The Wall, Live from Washington, D.C.
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Prime Video

The Wall, Live from Washington, D.C.

George Lopez

HBO · 2017 · 59 min

George Lopez targets politics and cultural sensitivities live in D.C.

George Lopez is visibly angry. Standing on stage at the Concert Hall in Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, he addresses the Trump presidency by confronting the proposed border wall. He argues that building it is pointless because his community will simply get over it, but the political broadsides are actually a secondary focus. The bulk of the hour sees him returning to his familiar territory: contrasting traditional Latino upbringings with modern American anxieties. Filmed and broadcast live on HBO in August 2017, the special came during a busy stretch of career transitions for Lopez, who was juggling a self-titled TV Land sitcom and a national arena tour. While the title and the promotional material leaned heavily on the political tension of the era, the meat of the set targets contemporary cultural sensitivity. He ridicules peanut allergies, gluten-free diets, and the rise of emotional support dogs. When he does return to the White House, he points out the absurdity of nativist go-back-to-your-country rhetoric by noting that as a fourth-generation American, deporting him would be like releasing a zoo-born lion into the jungle. Critical reception was mixed. Reviewers noted that the set felt considerably meaner and more divided than his classic family-centric hours. He relies on his established perspective of tough-love parenting and cultural pride, but the delivery carries a defensive edge.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Donald Trump's leaked phone call with the president of Mexico pleading about border wall payments

    Directly mocks Trump and Trump voters with profanity-laced rebukes, declares that if he dies the next day it was not an overdose, and delivers the retort that Latinos will 'get over' the wall.

  2. The constitutional definition of equality making the word 'minority' obsolete

    Argues that 'minority' implies being less than someone else and that all people are equal, suggesting telling anyone who says 'go back to where you came from' to do the same.

  3. Visiting Mexico as a Mexican-American born in the United States

    Reflects on avoiding farm labor picking tomatoes in Sacramento as a teen, joking that visiting Mexico made him realize how American he was, comparing himself to a zoo lion released into the jungle.

  4. Contrasting sheltered modern youth with his upbringing

    Compares cultural differences between Latino and white family discipline and mocks the things modern kids get away with that previous generations never tolerated.

How it plays

Tone
Defiant, angry, satirical, and politically charged.
On stage
Dressed in a black suit in front of an upside-down American flag, delivering sharp, defiant, bilingual, and unapologetically raw political satire.
Pace
Captures the urgent, high-wire energy and immediacy of a live stand-up television broadcast.
About
Donald Trump and political rhetoric, Immigration and the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall, Latino culture and Mexican-American identity, Generational differences in parenting

What the critics said

Sean L. McCarthy of Decider highlighted that the live television broadcast format captured authentic club comedy energy and ensured timely political commentary, while audience reception noted a more confrontational and divisive tone than his previous work.

In the room: Energetic, responsive Kennedy Center audience predominantly made up of Latino fans.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: hbomax.com, tvguide.com, imdb.com, nowtv.com, decider.com, rottentomatoes.com, yourtahoeguide.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Broadcast live from the nation's capital during the first year of the Donald Trump presidency, two days after The Washington Post published a leaked transcript of Trump's phone call with the president of Mexico regarding border wall funding.

Details

Released
Taped
Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington
Runtime
59 min
Where
HBO
Director
Troy Miller
Topics
Before
Why You Crying? (2004)
After
The Wall (2017)

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