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Throughout history, there have been stereotypes that certain ethnicities are more prevalent in menial labor such as line cooks, maids, cleaners, nannies, and farmhands, often in service to white characters. This stereotype is often an exaggerated case of the truth: Certain minority groups ''have'' indeed been over-represented in menial jobs due to a variety of factors, such as colonial history, refugee status, and the immigration laws of the creator's country. In PoliticallyCorrectHistory this will be carefully sidestepped, but in accurate or exaggerated {{Period Piece}}s and HistoricalFiction, the older versions of this trope can still be found.
to:
Throughout history, there have been stereotypes that certain ethnicities are more prevalent in menial labor such as line cooks, maids, cleaners, nannies, and farmhands, often in service to white characters. This stereotype is often an exaggerated case of the truth: Certain minority groups ''have'' indeed been over-represented in menial jobs due to a variety of factors, such as colonial history, refugee status, and the immigration laws patterns of the creator's country. In PoliticallyCorrectHistory this will be carefully sidestepped, but in accurate or exaggerated {{Period Piece}}s and HistoricalFiction, the older versions of this trope can still be found.
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icymi: Undid softsplit, cleaned examples, sent specific histories in the description to Analysis.Ethnic Menial Labor. Asked about it here
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
[[/folder]]
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Undid softsplit, cleaned examples, sent specific histories in the description to Analysis.Ethnic Menial Labor. Asked about it here
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Throughout history, there have been stereotypes that certain ethnicities are more prevalent in menial labor such as maids, nannies, and farmhands. This stereotype is often an exaggerated case of the truth: Certain minority groups ''have'' indeed been over-represented in menial jobs due to a variety of factors. In PoliticallyCorrectHistory this will be carefully sidestepped, but in accurate or exaggerated {{Period Piece}}s and HistoricalFiction, the older versions of this trope can still be found.
The reverse trope is ForeignRulingClass.
The reverse trope is ForeignRulingClass.
to:
Throughout history, there have been stereotypes that certain ethnicities are more prevalent in menial labor such as line cooks, maids, cleaners, nannies, and farmhands. farmhands, often in service to white characters. This stereotype is often an exaggerated case of the truth: Certain minority groups ''have'' indeed been over-represented in menial jobs due to a variety of factors.factors, such as colonial history, refugee status, and the immigration laws of the creator's country. In PoliticallyCorrectHistory this will be carefully sidestepped, but in accurate or exaggerated {{Period Piece}}s and HistoricalFiction, the older versions of this trope can still be found.
In American works, an early propensity for Irish and {{Chinese|Laborer}} laborers in fiction as been replaced by Hispanic and Southeast Asian characters in contemporary times. Black workers were common post-slavery, and remain today in modern examples of {{Mammy}} and (occasionally) MagicalNegro. Western European works will feature Eastern European or North African characters in blue-collar jobs. Works set in Latin America might have indigenous menial labor to the Spanish-descended upper class. For the specific reasons, see [[Analysis/EthnicMenialLabor the analysis page]].
Reasons for choosing blue-collar work might be TheIllegal (they don't want to risk deportation by working for a reputable employer) or WorthlessForeignDegree (they are professionals in their home countries, but these credentials aren't recognized).
The reverse trope isForeignRulingClass.
ForeignRulingClass. SuperTrope to ChineseLaborer and ChineseLaunderer.
In American works, an early propensity for Irish and {{Chinese|Laborer}} laborers in fiction as been replaced by Hispanic and Southeast Asian characters in contemporary times. Black workers were common post-slavery, and remain today in modern examples of {{Mammy}} and (occasionally) MagicalNegro. Western European works will feature Eastern European or North African characters in blue-collar jobs. Works set in Latin America might have indigenous menial labor to the Spanish-descended upper class. For the specific reasons, see [[Analysis/EthnicMenialLabor the analysis page]].
Reasons for choosing blue-collar work might be TheIllegal (they don't want to risk deportation by working for a reputable employer) or WorthlessForeignDegree (they are professionals in their home countries, but these credentials aren't recognized).
The reverse trope is
Deleted line(s) 21,75 (click to see context) :
!!In the United States
'''The Irish Laborer'''
Irish immigrants to the United States were often considered "backwards" and only fit for menial labor. This led to many of them having no choice but to accept such jobs. Female immigrants often worked as washerwomen or maids; the term "bridie" or "bridget" meaning "maid" stems from their prevalence in that field. Males worked on farms, on the railroads, and at similar, back-breaking tasks. They continued this role far into the next period, working alongside the Black slave and later Black Laborer. (In the ante-bellum DeepSouth, they were hired slave overseers.) They often did jobs considered too dangerous for slaves--after all, once the slave trade was abolished and the only way to get more was to breed them, a slave became a valuable investment, while Irishmen were dime-a-dozen, and more were coming over all the time.
It wasn't until the early part of the 20th century that the Irish were finally seen as "white" (for centuries they were seen as a completely different race from the English) and thus finally began to cast off a lot of the explicit racism held against them (many businesses had so-called NINA rules, an acronym for No Irish Need Apply). Like many previously discriminated communities facing a new level of upward mobility, the Irish joined the police force in record numbers in the hopes of improving their reputation in the community -- OfficerOHara is a subtrope of this; it's also the reason older media refer to police cars as "Paddy Wagons."
In Britain, a similar stereotype for the male Irish workman emerged, as most of England's canal network in the Industrial Revolution was made by Irish labour teams (as it was cheaper). The slur "Navvie" refers to this stereotype and is highly insulting to many Irishmen today.
Only very old media covered this trope at the time, although you can still find it in HistoricalFiction and {{Period Piece}}s that are trying for historical accuracy.
'''[[ChineseLaborer The Chinese Laborer]]'''
Discrimination relegated most Chinese immigrants to menial labor after they entered the United States. This trend was mostly contemporary with the Irish Laborer. The Chinese suffered especially hard in the 1870s when legislation denied them the basic rights of citizenship based on their ethnic origin.
Some of this can still be found to this day with the ChineseLaunderer. The most commonly seen historical figure is the Chinese Railroad Worker, although the girl illegally imported and sold into prostitution can be seen in media representing the early 20th century, as well.
'''The Black Laborer'''
Black Americans released from slavery often had to accept positions as menial laborers. The reasons for this were both a lack of training and deep-seated prejudice that kept them from rising higher in society. This would continue until after the Civil Rights Movement.
Literature from this period will often evoke this trope.
One recurring figure from this period is the {{Mammy}}, a nursemaid who would continue to provide an important mothering role well into adulthood. The Black Maid, Black Farmhand, and Black Railroad Worker are also common. There are a lot of parallels between {{Mammy}} types and {{Magical Negro}}es.
'''The Hispanic Laborer'''
A combination of political correctness and a movement toward this ethnic group genuinely become overrepresented in menial labor has shifted modern media to the Hispanic Laborer. Latin immigrants to the United States tend to be poorer than most, and thus rarely have the education necessary for jobs above the service industry. For [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]], their choices are even narrower: They must take jobs that can be paid under the table. This has led to a disproportionate number of Hispanics in jobs involving manual labor, especially in states bordering Mexico. Since California is where most of those movies and TV shows are made, this trend is carried over into modern media, though good luck finding any Latin characters even in shows that are set in L.A., a city that now is more than 50% Hispanic.
Hispanic Laborers will always have a thick Mexican accent and will be prone to sprinkle their (sometimes unusually precise) English speech with Spanish words or sentences. Alternatively, they will not speak English at all. They will also have the stereotypical [[LatinoIsBrown Latino look of brown skin and dark hair]]. The most common variant is the Hispanic Maid. Also often seen are the Hispanic Pool Boy, Hispanic Farm/Ranch Hand, Hispanic Busboy/Dishwasher, and Hispanic Gardener.
Note that if the employer is Hispanic, the laborer will be of any ethnicity ''but'' Hispanic.
'''The Hawaiian Laborer'''
Though rarely depicted in modern fiction, during the 19th century Hawaiian workers were widespread throughout the West Coast and into Canada; back when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom. Hawaiians came to the United States to work as fur trappers, sailors, cooks, cowboys, fishermen, miners, field hands, and many other jobs.
'''The Filipino Labourer'''
Also now rare in modern fiction (in fact, it seems to have been rare in ''any'' fiction unless written by Filipino-Americans), this especially became common in the early 1900s, when the U.S. invaded and colonised the Philippines (seizing it away from Spain), and many Filipino men came to work to the American mainland, mostly as farmers on fruit and vegetable plantations, but also as fish cannery workers, sailors, houseboys, and dishwashers and restaurant workers in existing ethnic enclaves like the various Chinatowns. Many of this early wave of Filipino labourers, now known as ''manongs'' (roughly, "big brothers" or sometimes "uncles"), were also drafted to work in Hawaii itself (then also a U.S. colony, like the Philippines was), thus producing a bit of overlap with the Hawaiian Labourer example, above. Filipino-American author Carlos Bulosan's ''Literature/AmericaIsInTheHeart'' is a classic exploration of this labour class.
!!In Europe
'''Eastern European Laborer'''
Britain, by virtue of having one of the most open policy toward immigration from the 2004 EU entries (second only to Ireland and Sweden), also has a lot of manual labourers and tradesmen from Eastern Europe, mostly Poland but with a sizable minority from Lithuania and Slovakia. Contrary to popular belief, most are expatriates rather than immigrants, arriving in the country with the intention of working for a few months and then returning home. At one point there were believed to be more than a million migrant workers in the United Kingdom; there are fewer nowadays as the source countries have become more prosperous, making it less profitable to work there. They show up or are referenced in quite a few works set in post-2004 Britain; fictional examples are almost invariably Polish.
This stereotype can also be seen in the United States with the ''au pair'' nanny, who is not menial in reality but is often treated so in fiction. She is a young European girl, usually Swedish, Norwegian, or Finnish, for some reason. Occasionally she'll be German or French (or some flavor of Caribbean). Germans and French were more common in the post-World War II period through the 1970s, as those countries were still rebuilding their ruined economies and a trip to America was a good way to get ahead.
'''North African Laborer'''
By virtue of the proximity of Spain, France, and Italy to North Africa, and the colonial links between them (Algeria and Tunisia were French colonies, Morocco was a joint French and Spanish colony, and Libya was an Italian colony), the stereotypical immigrant laborer in these countries is an Arabic-speaking North African. Many of them are illegal immigrants, but most are in the country legally; many are there on temporary work visas and intend to return home rather than stay permanently. Stereotypes of these are a peculiar mix of what Americans think of menial black labor and general Arab/Muslim stereotypes (i.e. covered women, bearded men, and general religious fanaticism), although the latter bit is only true of a small segment of the population.
Contrast {{Meido}}, a maid who is invariably the same race as her employers (or at the very least some flavor of Japanese).
'''The Irish Laborer'''
Irish immigrants to the United States were often considered "backwards" and only fit for menial labor. This led to many of them having no choice but to accept such jobs. Female immigrants often worked as washerwomen or maids; the term "bridie" or "bridget" meaning "maid" stems from their prevalence in that field. Males worked on farms, on the railroads, and at similar, back-breaking tasks. They continued this role far into the next period, working alongside the Black slave and later Black Laborer. (In the ante-bellum DeepSouth, they were hired slave overseers.) They often did jobs considered too dangerous for slaves--after all, once the slave trade was abolished and the only way to get more was to breed them, a slave became a valuable investment, while Irishmen were dime-a-dozen, and more were coming over all the time.
It wasn't until the early part of the 20th century that the Irish were finally seen as "white" (for centuries they were seen as a completely different race from the English) and thus finally began to cast off a lot of the explicit racism held against them (many businesses had so-called NINA rules, an acronym for No Irish Need Apply). Like many previously discriminated communities facing a new level of upward mobility, the Irish joined the police force in record numbers in the hopes of improving their reputation in the community -- OfficerOHara is a subtrope of this; it's also the reason older media refer to police cars as "Paddy Wagons."
In Britain, a similar stereotype for the male Irish workman emerged, as most of England's canal network in the Industrial Revolution was made by Irish labour teams (as it was cheaper). The slur "Navvie" refers to this stereotype and is highly insulting to many Irishmen today.
Only very old media covered this trope at the time, although you can still find it in HistoricalFiction and {{Period Piece}}s that are trying for historical accuracy.
'''[[ChineseLaborer The Chinese Laborer]]'''
Discrimination relegated most Chinese immigrants to menial labor after they entered the United States. This trend was mostly contemporary with the Irish Laborer. The Chinese suffered especially hard in the 1870s when legislation denied them the basic rights of citizenship based on their ethnic origin.
Some of this can still be found to this day with the ChineseLaunderer. The most commonly seen historical figure is the Chinese Railroad Worker, although the girl illegally imported and sold into prostitution can be seen in media representing the early 20th century, as well.
'''The Black Laborer'''
Black Americans released from slavery often had to accept positions as menial laborers. The reasons for this were both a lack of training and deep-seated prejudice that kept them from rising higher in society. This would continue until after the Civil Rights Movement.
Literature from this period will often evoke this trope.
One recurring figure from this period is the {{Mammy}}, a nursemaid who would continue to provide an important mothering role well into adulthood. The Black Maid, Black Farmhand, and Black Railroad Worker are also common. There are a lot of parallels between {{Mammy}} types and {{Magical Negro}}es.
'''The Hispanic Laborer'''
A combination of political correctness and a movement toward this ethnic group genuinely become overrepresented in menial labor has shifted modern media to the Hispanic Laborer. Latin immigrants to the United States tend to be poorer than most, and thus rarely have the education necessary for jobs above the service industry. For [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]], their choices are even narrower: They must take jobs that can be paid under the table. This has led to a disproportionate number of Hispanics in jobs involving manual labor, especially in states bordering Mexico. Since California is where most of those movies and TV shows are made, this trend is carried over into modern media, though good luck finding any Latin characters even in shows that are set in L.A., a city that now is more than 50% Hispanic.
Hispanic Laborers will always have a thick Mexican accent and will be prone to sprinkle their (sometimes unusually precise) English speech with Spanish words or sentences. Alternatively, they will not speak English at all. They will also have the stereotypical [[LatinoIsBrown Latino look of brown skin and dark hair]]. The most common variant is the Hispanic Maid. Also often seen are the Hispanic Pool Boy, Hispanic Farm/Ranch Hand, Hispanic Busboy/Dishwasher, and Hispanic Gardener.
Note that if the employer is Hispanic, the laborer will be of any ethnicity ''but'' Hispanic.
'''The Hawaiian Laborer'''
Though rarely depicted in modern fiction, during the 19th century Hawaiian workers were widespread throughout the West Coast and into Canada; back when Hawaii was still an independent kingdom. Hawaiians came to the United States to work as fur trappers, sailors, cooks, cowboys, fishermen, miners, field hands, and many other jobs.
'''The Filipino Labourer'''
Also now rare in modern fiction (in fact, it seems to have been rare in ''any'' fiction unless written by Filipino-Americans), this especially became common in the early 1900s, when the U.S. invaded and colonised the Philippines (seizing it away from Spain), and many Filipino men came to work to the American mainland, mostly as farmers on fruit and vegetable plantations, but also as fish cannery workers, sailors, houseboys, and dishwashers and restaurant workers in existing ethnic enclaves like the various Chinatowns. Many of this early wave of Filipino labourers, now known as ''manongs'' (roughly, "big brothers" or sometimes "uncles"), were also drafted to work in Hawaii itself (then also a U.S. colony, like the Philippines was), thus producing a bit of overlap with the Hawaiian Labourer example, above. Filipino-American author Carlos Bulosan's ''Literature/AmericaIsInTheHeart'' is a classic exploration of this labour class.
!!In Europe
'''Eastern European Laborer'''
Britain, by virtue of having one of the most open policy toward immigration from the 2004 EU entries (second only to Ireland and Sweden), also has a lot of manual labourers and tradesmen from Eastern Europe, mostly Poland but with a sizable minority from Lithuania and Slovakia. Contrary to popular belief, most are expatriates rather than immigrants, arriving in the country with the intention of working for a few months and then returning home. At one point there were believed to be more than a million migrant workers in the United Kingdom; there are fewer nowadays as the source countries have become more prosperous, making it less profitable to work there. They show up or are referenced in quite a few works set in post-2004 Britain; fictional examples are almost invariably Polish.
This stereotype can also be seen in the United States with the ''au pair'' nanny, who is not menial in reality but is often treated so in fiction. She is a young European girl, usually Swedish, Norwegian, or Finnish, for some reason. Occasionally she'll be German or French (or some flavor of Caribbean). Germans and French were more common in the post-World War II period through the 1970s, as those countries were still rebuilding their ruined economies and a trip to America was a good way to get ahead.
'''North African Laborer'''
By virtue of the proximity of Spain, France, and Italy to North Africa, and the colonial links between them (Algeria and Tunisia were French colonies, Morocco was a joint French and Spanish colony, and Libya was an Italian colony), the stereotypical immigrant laborer in these countries is an Arabic-speaking North African. Many of them are illegal immigrants, but most are in the country legally; many are there on temporary work visas and intend to return home rather than stay permanently. Stereotypes of these are a peculiar mix of what Americans think of menial black labor and general Arab/Muslim stereotypes (i.e. covered women, bearded men, and general religious fanaticism), although the latter bit is only true of a small segment of the population.
Contrast {{Meido}}, a maid who is invariably the same race as her employers (or at the very least some flavor of Japanese).
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!Examples:
to:
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!!Irish Laborers
to:
[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In a rare modern example English actress Alice Eve [[FakeIrish played]] an Irish nanny in the second ''Film/SexAndTheCity'' movie.
* In a rare modern example English actress Alice Eve [[FakeIrish played]] an Irish nanny in the second ''Film/SexAndTheCity'' movie.
to:
*
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[[folder:Music]]
* Music/ThePogues' song "Navigator" is a sympathetic elegy for the Irish railroad workers - or "navvies" - in [[OopNorth Northern England]] in the 19th Century.
-->The canals and the bridges, the embankments and cuts\\
They blasted and dug with their sweat and their guts\\
They never drank water but whiskey by pints\\
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
* Music/ThePogues' song "Navigator" is a sympathetic elegy for the Irish railroad workers - or "navvies" - in [[OopNorth Northern England]] in the 19th Century.
-->The canals and the bridges, the embankments and cuts\\
They blasted and dug with their sweat and their guts\\
They never drank water but whiskey by pints\\
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
to:
*
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'''s "Pastoral Symphony" segment includes two centaurettes, [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Sunflower Sunflower]] and [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Otika Otika]], who are clearly designed to look black, while the
-->The canals
They blasted and dug with their sweat and their guts\\
They never drank water but whiskey by pints\\
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
Changed line(s) 99,128 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
* As noted below, Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' was redrawn (and voiced) as an Irish maid.
* The Disney short adaptation of ''John Henry'' has Irish laborers (including an Irish foreman) working on the railroad alongside John and the black laborers.
[[/folder]]
!!Chinese Laborers
* ChineseLaborer
* ChineseLaunderer
!!Black Laborers
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A minor character in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', Lyta Hall's black friend Carla, lives off the money her grandmother made by playing a maid, like Hattie [=McDaniel=] below.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'''s "Pastoral Symphony" segment includes two centaurettes, [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Sunflower Sunflower]] and [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Otika Otika]], who are clearly designed to look black, while the rest are [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation oddly-colored]] and Caucasian-looking. Sunflower is shown doing menial jobs like polishing the other centaurettes' hooves, while Otika serves as part of Bacchus' entourage. Both have been removed from later releases due to controversy.
* [[''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'']] : The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Hattie [=McDaniel=] played [[TypeCasting the role of many a Black maid]], including Scarlett O'Hara's mammy in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''. She reputedly said that she'd rather play a maid [[MoneyDearBoy for a weekly wage of $700]] than ''be'' a maid for a weekly wage of $7.
* Bubba's mother in ''Film/ForrestGump'' is depicted as a chef for an aristocratic family, from a long line of the same, likely back to slave roots. In the end, the trope is {{inverted}}: once Forrest cuts her in to the profits from Bubba Gump (since he was friends with Bubba, and the business was what he wanted to do with him after their military service), Bubba's mother turns the tables and hires a ''white'' cook.
-->'''Forrest:''' And ya know what? She didn't have to work in no one's kitchen no more.
* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' features a housekeeper named Cleo early in the film whose entire purpose is to tell Dorothy Walker where her daughter is and then never be seen again. She's later referenced by Mr. Gailey when he takes Susan up to the store, but that's the last reference to her. She was played by an uncredited Theresa Harris, who had a long acting career of mostly bit parts, a great deal of which were maids.
* A particularly insulting "Mammy" example can be seen with Eulabelle in ''Film/TheHorrorOfPartyBeach'', which was mercilessly called out in the episode of ''[=MST3K=]'' that featured it -- Eulabelle is obese, speaks in "Oh Lawdy!" colloquialisms, and is convinced that the monster is a case of bad [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]]. The actress was named Eulabelle Moore, and her few acting credits have her playing the same type of role, though this was the only one to use her real name. Amusingly, Eulabelle is one of the only characters in the film to [[OnlySaneMan display any sort of common sense]] about the eponymous horror: when one of the white "heroes" gives up looking for [[WeaksauceWeakness sodium]] to kill the monster after calling only one warehouse, Eulabelle berates him for giving up so damn easily.
* Bart, protagonist of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', starts out as a railroad worker, and his overseer in the opening scene makes a specific reference to "when you was slaves". He later comes back for the other laborers [[spoiler:so they can build a fake Rock Ridge to trick the bandits, in exchange for some land to grow crops.]] While Bart is black, Chinese and Irish workers also show up.
-->'''Howard Johnson:''' All right. We'll take the niggers, and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish. ''[the assembled laborers turn and act as if they're about to go home]'' Oh, prairie shit. All right. Everyone!
* In ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'', Okwe - played by Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor - was a doctor in his home country of Nigeria, but as an undocumented immigrant in London, ends up working as a cab driver and doing odd jobs around a hotel. A lot of the hotel's staff are immigrants, not all of them documented. At the end of the movie, Okwe gives a brief monologue about all the ways people like him are invisible and treated as subhuman, yet society would grind to a halt without the services they thanklessly provide.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
* As noted below, Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' was redrawn (and voiced) as an Irish maid.
* The Disney short adaptation of ''John Henry'' has Irish laborers (including an Irish foreman) working on the railroad alongside John and the black laborers.
[[/folder]]
!!Chinese Laborers
* ChineseLaborer
* ChineseLaunderer
!!Black Laborers
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A minor character in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', Lyta Hall's black friend Carla, lives off the money her grandmother made by playing a maid, like Hattie [=McDaniel=] below.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'''s "Pastoral Symphony" segment includes two centaurettes, [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Sunflower Sunflower]] and [[http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Otika Otika]], who are clearly designed to look black, while the rest are [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation oddly-colored]] and Caucasian-looking. Sunflower is shown doing menial jobs like polishing the other centaurettes' hooves, while Otika serves as part of Bacchus' entourage. Both have been removed from later releases due to controversy.
* [[''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'']] : The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Hattie [=McDaniel=] played [[TypeCasting the role of many a Black maid]], including Scarlett O'Hara's mammy in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''. She reputedly said that she'd rather play a maid [[MoneyDearBoy for a weekly wage of $700]] than ''be'' a maid for a weekly wage of $7.
* Bubba's mother in ''Film/ForrestGump'' is depicted as a chef for an aristocratic family, from a long line of the same, likely back to slave roots. In the end, the trope is {{inverted}}: once Forrest cuts her in to the profits from Bubba Gump (since he was friends with Bubba, and the business was what he wanted to do with him after their military service), Bubba's mother turns the tables and hires a ''white'' cook.
-->'''Forrest:''' And ya know what? She didn't have to work in no one's kitchen no more.
* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' features a housekeeper named Cleo early in the film whose entire purpose is to tell Dorothy Walker where her daughter is and then never be seen again. She's later referenced by Mr. Gailey when he takes Susan up to the store, but that's the last reference to her. She was played by an uncredited Theresa Harris, who had a long acting career of mostly bit parts, a great deal of which were maids.
* A particularly insulting "Mammy" example can be seen with Eulabelle in ''Film/TheHorrorOfPartyBeach'', which was mercilessly called out in the episode of ''[=MST3K=]'' that featured it -- Eulabelle is obese, speaks in "Oh Lawdy!" colloquialisms, and is convinced that the monster is a case of bad [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]]. The actress was named Eulabelle Moore, and her few acting credits have her playing the same type of role, though this was the only one to use her real name. Amusingly, Eulabelle is one of the only characters in the film to [[OnlySaneMan display any sort of common sense]] about the eponymous horror: when one of the white "heroes" gives up looking for [[WeaksauceWeakness sodium]] to kill the monster after calling only one warehouse, Eulabelle berates him for giving up so damn easily.
* Bart, protagonist of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', starts out as a railroad worker, and his overseer in the opening scene makes a specific reference to "when you was slaves". He later comes back for the other laborers [[spoiler:so they can build a fake Rock Ridge to trick the bandits, in exchange for some land to grow crops.]] While Bart is black, Chinese and Irish workers also show up.
-->'''Howard Johnson:''' All right. We'll take the niggers, and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish. ''[the assembled laborers turn and act as if they're about to go home]'' Oh, prairie shit. All right. Everyone!
* In ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'', Okwe - played by Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor - was a doctor in his home country of Nigeria, but as an undocumented immigrant in London, ends up working as a cab driver and doing odd jobs around a hotel. A lot of the hotel's staff are immigrants, not all of them documented. At the end of the movie, Okwe gives a brief monologue about all the ways people like him are invisible and treated as subhuman, yet society would grind to a halt without the services they thanklessly provide.
to:
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
* As noted below, Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' was redrawn (and voiced) as an Irish maid.
* The Disney short adaptation of ''John Henry'' has Irish laborers (including an Irish foreman) working on the railroad alongside John and the black laborers.
[[/folder]]
!!Chinese Laborers
* ChineseLaborer
* ChineseLaunderer
!!Black Laborers
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A minor character in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', Lyta Hall's black friend Carla, lives off the money her grandmother made by playing a maid, like Hattie [=McDaniel=] below.
[[/folder]]
*
* [[''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'']] : The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Hattie [=McDaniel=] played [[TypeCasting the role of many
* Bubba's mother in ''Film/ForrestGump'' is depicted as a chef for an aristocratic family, from a long line of the same, likely back to slave roots. In the end, the trope is {{inverted}}: once Forrest cuts her in to the profits from Bubba Gump (since he was friends
-->'''Forrest:''' And ya know what? She didn't have to work in no one's kitchen no more.
* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' features a housekeeper named Cleo early in the film whose entire purpose is to tell Dorothy Walker where her daughter is and then never be seen again. She's later referenced by Mr. Gailey when he takes Susan up to the store, but that's the last reference to her. She was played by an uncredited Theresa Harris, who had a long acting career of mostly bit parts, a great deal of which were maids.
* A particularly insulting "Mammy" example can be seen with Eulabelle in ''Film/TheHorrorOfPartyBeach'', which was mercilessly called out in the episode of ''[=MST3K=]'' that featured it -- Eulabelle is obese, speaks in "Oh Lawdy!" colloquialisms, and is convinced that the monster is a case of bad [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]]. The actress was named Eulabelle Moore, and her few acting credits have her playing the same type of role, though this was the only one to use her real name. Amusingly, Eulabelle is one of the only characters in the film to [[OnlySaneMan display any sort of common sense]] about the eponymous horror: when one of the white "heroes" gives up looking for [[WeaksauceWeakness sodium]] to kill the monster after calling only one warehouse, Eulabelle berates him for giving up so damn easily.
* Bart, protagonist of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', starts out as a railroad worker, and his overseer in the opening scene makes a specific reference to "when you was slaves". He later comes back for the other laborers [[spoiler:so they can build a fake Rock Ridge to trick the bandits, in exchange for some land to grow crops.]] While Bart is black, Chinese and Irish workers also show up.
-->'''Howard Johnson:''' All right. We'll take the niggers, and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish. ''[the assembled laborers turn and act as if they're about to go home]'' Oh, prairie shit. All right. Everyone!
* In ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'', Okwe - played by Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor - was a doctor in his home country of Nigeria, but as an undocumented immigrant in London, ends up working as a cab driver and doing odd jobs around a hotel. A lot of the hotel's staff are immigrants, not all of them documented. At the end of the movie, Okwe gives a brief monologue about all the ways people like him are invisible and treated as subhuman, yet society would grind to a halt without the services they thanklessly provide.
* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', Walter and the Dude check in on a retired TV screenwriter who lives in North Hollywood. They find the guy trapped in an iron lung, attended by a Hispanic housekeeper named Pilar.
-->'''Walter''': Does he still write?\\
'''Pilar''': Oh no! [[{{Understatement}} He has health problems]]!
* Bart, protagonist of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', starts out as a railroad worker, and his overseer in the opening scene makes a specific reference to "when you was slaves". He later comes back for the other laborers [[spoiler:so they can build a fake Rock Ridge to trick the bandits, in exchange for some land to grow crops.]] While Bart is black, Chinese and Irish workers also show up.
-->'''Howard Johnson:''' All right. We'll take the niggers, and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish. ''[the assembled laborers turn and act as if they're about to go home]'' Oh, prairie shit. All right. Everyone!
* ''Film/{{Cake|2014}}'' has the white Claire's Latina housekeeper/caregiver Silvana. Claire also has a gardener named Arturo, whom [[SexForSolace she sleeps with]] in one scene.
* In ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'', Okwe - played by Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor - was a doctor in his home country of Nigeria, but as an undocumented immigrant in London, ends up working as a cab driver and doing odd jobs around a hotel. A lot of the hotel's staff are immigrants, not all of them documented. At the end of the movie, Okwe gives a brief monologue about all the ways people like him are invisible and treated as subhuman, yet society would grind to a halt without the services they thanklessly provide.
* Carmen the Latina house maid in ''Film/DownAndOutInBeverlyHills''.
* Bubba's mother in ''Film/ForrestGump'' is depicted as a chef for an aristocratic family, from a long line of the same, likely back to slave roots. In the end, the trope is {{inverted}}: once Forrest cuts her in to the profits from Bubba Gump (since he was friends with Bubba, and the business was what he wanted to do with him after their military service), Bubba's mother turns the tables and hires a ''white'' cook.
-->'''Forrest:''' And ya know what? She didn't have to work in no one's kitchen no more.
* PlayedForHorror in ''Film/GetOut2017'', where something is off about Walter and Georgina, the black groundskeeper and housekeeper to the WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant Armitages. It turns out that [[spoiler:out of a twisted admiration for black bodies, the Armitage grandparents have {{body surf}}ed into the original Walter and Georgina, and the Armitages are helping their neighbors do the same.]]
* An important plot point in ''Film/GodsOwnCountry''. The film is set on a farm in Yorkshire, and Johnny's family hires a migrant laborer from Romania, Gheorghe, as the elders of the family are getting old and need additional assistance. Johnny resents Gheorghe's presence at first and treats him with some xenophobia, but then they fall in love...
* Scarlett O'Hara's black mammy in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''.
* Eulabelle in ''Film/TheHorrorOfPartyBeach'' -- an obese black woman, speaks in "Oh Lawdy!" colloquialisms, and is convinced that the monster is a case of bad [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]]. Amusingly, Eulabelle is one of the only characters in the film to [[OnlySaneMan display any sort of common sense]] about the eponymous horror: when one of the white "heroes" gives up looking for [[WeaksauceWeakness sodium]] to kill the monster after calling only one warehouse, Eulabelle berates him for giving up so damn easily.
* In the Creator/AdamSandler film ''Film/JackAndJill'', Jack's family has a stereotypically Hispanic gardener.
* Invoked in ''Film/KnivesOut''. Marta Cabrera is actually a highly-skilled nurse attending to the aged Harlan Thrombey, but his family treat her like the maid. There are condescending conversations about how she's one of the [[YouAreACreditToYourRace "good immigrants"]], although nobody seems to know what country her family are actually from.
* ''Film/{{Machete}}'' centers on migrant workers, including the title character who ''seems'' to be just a Mexican day laborer.
* The eponymous character in ''Film/MaidInManhattan'' is a Hispanic maid to a rich white man.
* ''Film/MeetTheFockers'' has the Hispanic Isabel, the Fockers' former housekeeper who runs a catering business. When she was working for the eponymous family, main character Greg lost his virginity to her. She also has a son, which leads to Jack (the father of Greg's fiancée Pam) trying to find out if Greg is the father of said son. [[spoiler:He isn't.]]
* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' features a housekeeper named Cleo early in the film whose entire purpose is to tell Dorothy Walker where her daughter is and then never be seen again. She's later referenced by Mr. Gailey when he takes Susan up to the store, but that's the last reference to her.
* It seems that the entire crew of Rocky's restaurant in ''Film/RockyBalboa'' is Mexican, judging from the ranchera music they hear.
* ''Film/ElNorte'' is a grim tale of a brother and sister who flee political persecution in Guatemala, becoming undocumented laborers in the United States.
* English actress Alice Eve [[FakeIrish played]] an Irish nanny in the second ''Film/SexAndTheCity'' movie.
-->'''Walter''': Does he still write?\\
'''Pilar''': Oh no! [[{{Understatement}} He has health problems]]!
* Bart, protagonist of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', starts out as a railroad worker, and his overseer in the opening scene makes a specific reference to "when you was slaves". He later comes back for the other laborers [[spoiler:so they can build a fake Rock Ridge to trick the bandits, in exchange for some land to grow crops.]] While Bart is black, Chinese and Irish workers also show up.
-->'''Howard Johnson:''' All right. We'll take the niggers, and the chinks. But we don't want the Irish. ''[the assembled laborers turn and act as if they're about to go home]'' Oh, prairie shit. All right. Everyone!
* ''Film/{{Cake|2014}}'' has the white Claire's Latina housekeeper/caregiver Silvana. Claire also has a gardener named Arturo, whom [[SexForSolace she sleeps with]] in one scene.
* In ''Film/DirtyPrettyThings'', Okwe - played by Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor - was a doctor in his home country of Nigeria, but as an undocumented immigrant in London, ends up working as a cab driver and doing odd jobs around a hotel. A lot of the hotel's staff are immigrants, not all of them documented. At the end of the movie, Okwe gives a brief monologue about all the ways people like him are invisible and treated as subhuman, yet society would grind to a halt without the services they thanklessly provide.
* Carmen the Latina house maid in ''Film/DownAndOutInBeverlyHills''.
* Bubba's mother in ''Film/ForrestGump'' is depicted as a chef for an aristocratic family, from a long line of the same, likely back to slave roots. In the end, the trope is {{inverted}}: once Forrest cuts her in to the profits from Bubba Gump (since he was friends with Bubba, and the business was what he wanted to do with him after their military service), Bubba's mother turns the tables and hires a ''white'' cook.
-->'''Forrest:''' And ya know what? She didn't have to work in no one's kitchen no more.
* PlayedForHorror in ''Film/GetOut2017'', where something is off about Walter and Georgina, the black groundskeeper and housekeeper to the WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant Armitages. It turns out that [[spoiler:out of a twisted admiration for black bodies, the Armitage grandparents have {{body surf}}ed into the original Walter and Georgina, and the Armitages are helping their neighbors do the same.]]
* An important plot point in ''Film/GodsOwnCountry''. The film is set on a farm in Yorkshire, and Johnny's family hires a migrant laborer from Romania, Gheorghe, as the elders of the family are getting old and need additional assistance. Johnny resents Gheorghe's presence at first and treats him with some xenophobia, but then they fall in love...
* Scarlett O'Hara's black mammy in ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''.
* Eulabelle in ''Film/TheHorrorOfPartyBeach'' -- an obese black woman, speaks in "Oh Lawdy!" colloquialisms, and is convinced that the monster is a case of bad [[HollywoodVoodoo voodoo]]. Amusingly, Eulabelle is one of the only characters in the film to [[OnlySaneMan display any sort of common sense]] about the eponymous horror: when one of the white "heroes" gives up looking for [[WeaksauceWeakness sodium]] to kill the monster after calling only one warehouse, Eulabelle berates him for giving up so damn easily.
* In the Creator/AdamSandler film ''Film/JackAndJill'', Jack's family has a stereotypically Hispanic gardener.
* Invoked in ''Film/KnivesOut''. Marta Cabrera is actually a highly-skilled nurse attending to the aged Harlan Thrombey, but his family treat her like the maid. There are condescending conversations about how she's one of the [[YouAreACreditToYourRace "good immigrants"]], although nobody seems to know what country her family are actually from.
* ''Film/{{Machete}}'' centers on migrant workers, including the title character who ''seems'' to be just a Mexican day laborer.
* The eponymous character in ''Film/MaidInManhattan'' is a Hispanic maid to a rich white man.
* ''Film/MeetTheFockers'' has the Hispanic Isabel, the Fockers' former housekeeper who runs a catering business. When she was working for the eponymous family, main character Greg lost his virginity to her. She also has a son, which leads to Jack (the father of Greg's fiancée Pam) trying to find out if Greg is the father of said son. [[spoiler:He isn't.]]
* ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' features a housekeeper named Cleo early in the film whose entire purpose is to tell Dorothy Walker where her daughter is and then never be seen again. She's later referenced by Mr. Gailey when he takes Susan up to the store, but that's the last reference to her.
* It seems that the entire crew of Rocky's restaurant in ''Film/RockyBalboa'' is Mexican, judging from the ranchera music they hear.
* ''Film/ElNorte'' is a grim tale of a brother and sister who flee political persecution in Guatemala, becoming undocumented laborers in the United States.
* English actress Alice Eve [[FakeIrish played]] an Irish nanny in the second ''Film/SexAndTheCity'' movie.
* ''Film/SundayBeautyQueen'' is a documentary about exploited Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong, and how they empower themselves by participating in an annual beauty pageant.
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
* Baz Luhrmann's modern-day version of ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' turned the nurse Hispanic.
* Many of the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
* Baz Luhrmann's modern-day version of ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' turned the nurse Hispanic.
* Many of the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
Changed line(s) 134,135 (click to see context) from:
* Sam and Dinah Johnson, the resident handyman and cook of ''Literature/TheBobbseyTwins'' respectively.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
to:
* Sam and Dinah Johnson, the resident handyman and cook of ''Literature/TheBobbseyTwins'' respectively.
''Literature/TheBobbseyTwins''' white family respectively, are both black.
* Matya the Hungarian nanny in ''Literature/{{Capital}}'', despite her degree in mechanical engineering. Lanchester has said he was writing about the real-life social phenomenon of highly educated Eastern Europeans coming to do menial jobs in Britain in search of higher wages and the "London dream".
* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods: In 1950s Puerto Rico, wealthy matriarch Clarissa cannot find household help among locals because she is a MeanBoss. In the end, she hires a Guatemalan maid through an agency, but it does not occur to her or anybody that Xochil might be indigenous. Clarissa is floored when Xochil arrives in her traditional Mayan dress.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 filmadaptation.adaptation, is about a white journalist interviewing black maids.
* Matya the Hungarian nanny in ''Literature/{{Capital}}'', despite her degree in mechanical engineering. Lanchester has said he was writing about the real-life social phenomenon of highly educated Eastern Europeans coming to do menial jobs in Britain in search of higher wages and the "London dream".
* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods: In 1950s Puerto Rico, wealthy matriarch Clarissa cannot find household help among locals because she is a MeanBoss. In the end, she hires a Guatemalan maid through an agency, but it does not occur to her or anybody that Xochil might be indigenous. Clarissa is floored when Xochil arrives in her traditional Mayan dress.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film
Changed line(s) 137 (click to see context) from:
* Calpurnia in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Yet, unlike many of these examples, her station in life was another part of the book's dissection of racism in America. Calpurnia is treated as an equal member of the family and is written as a fully-fleshed-out human instead of as the flat "Mammy" stock character. She has a much bigger part in the book than in the film, which had to cut many scenes and subplots for time and many of Calpurnia's scenes were too. But her sensitive and important portrayal makes her one of the few examples of this type of role that does not create ValuesDissonance today.
to:
* Calpurnia in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Yet, unlike many of these examples, her station in life Upton Sinclair's ''Literature/TheJungle'' was another part of all about workers in Chicago, but the book's dissection main character Jurgis was Lithuanian. Poles and Slovaks were mentioned extensively (as were the Irish, but the Eastern Europeans had [[http://www.online-literature.com/upton_sinclair/jungle/6/ mostly displaced them]] from the most menial jobs).
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is ofracism in America. Calpurnia Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra family when [[ChildLabor she is treated as an equal member of around six or seven]]. Then when daughter Laura Vizcarra marries Isidro del Solar, she brings Juana with her. Juana stays with the family and is written as a fully-fleshed-out human instead of as the flat "Mammy" stock character. She has a much bigger part in the book than in the film, which had to cut many scenes and subplots for time and many of Calpurnia's scenes were too. But her sensitive and important portrayal makes her one of the few examples of this type of role that does not create ValuesDissonance today.decades. After a centenarian Laura dies, Juana moves in with Laura's son Felipe.
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of
Changed line(s) 140,141 (click to see context) from:
* Dilsey and her extended family serve the Compson family in Faulkner's ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury''. Like the above examples, she is a fully realized character and offers one of the only morally and mentally sound perspectives in the whole book.
* Clare's childhood maid in ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife''.
* Clare's childhood maid in ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife''.
to:
* The African-American Dilsey and her extended family serve the Compson family in Faulkner's ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury''. Like the above examples, she is a fully realized character and offers one of the only morally and mentally sound perspectives in the whole book.
* Clare's childhood maid in''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife''.''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'' is black.
* Calpurnia in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Yet, unlike many of these examples, her station in life was another part of the book's dissection of racism in America. Calpurnia is treated as an equal member of the family and is written as a fully-fleshed-out human instead of as the flat "Mammy" stock character. She has a much bigger part in the book than in the film, which had to cut many scenes and subplots for time and many of Calpurnia's scenes were too.
* Richard Henry Dana's classic memoir ''Literature/TwoYearsBeforeTheMast'' frequently mentions Hawaiian workers.
* Clare's childhood maid in
* Calpurnia in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Yet, unlike many of these examples, her station in life was another part of the book's dissection of racism in America. Calpurnia is treated as an equal member of the family and is written as a fully-fleshed-out human instead of as the flat "Mammy" stock character. She has a much bigger part in the book than in the film, which had to cut many scenes and subplots for time and many of Calpurnia's scenes were too.
* Richard Henry Dana's classic memoir ''Literature/TwoYearsBeforeTheMast'' frequently mentions Hawaiian workers.
Changed line(s) 145,148 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Martha Jones is stuck as a maid in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood "The Family of Blood"]] while undercover in 1913. But it seems a little bit different in her case, in that she's basically the undisputed protagonist for those episodes, the other characters are blatantly prejudiced toward her and she tries to demonstrate to them how wrong they are, and she's usually a [[HospitalHottie med student]].
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when Josh is considering hiring Charlie Young as the President's personal aide, he is a little worried about hiring a young African-American man for such a position because of this trope. Leo mentions the situation to Admiral Fitzwallace (also African-American), who scoffs at the notion that there's anything wrong with it as long as the person is paid a fair wage and treated with respect.
* In ''Series/WhatsHappening'', single mom Mabel Thomas worked as a maid. The actress' objection to the portrayal was one reason why she eventually left the show.
* Creator/WhoopiGoldberg has told a story about how the first time she saw an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and noticed the character of Uhura (an early aversion of this trope), she called to her family to "Come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when Josh is considering hiring Charlie Young as the President's personal aide, he is a little worried about hiring a young African-American man for such a position because of this trope. Leo mentions the situation to Admiral Fitzwallace (also African-American), who scoffs at the notion that there's anything wrong with it as long as the person is paid a fair wage and treated with respect.
* In ''Series/WhatsHappening'', single mom Mabel Thomas worked as a maid. The actress' objection to the portrayal was one reason why she eventually left the show.
* Creator/WhoopiGoldberg has told a story about how the first time she saw an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and noticed the character of Uhura (an early aversion of this trope), she called to her family to "Come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"
to:
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when Josh is considering hiring Charlie Young as the President's personal aide, he is a little worried about hiring a young African-American man for such a position because of this trope. Leo mentions the situation to Admiral Fitzwallace (also African-American), who scoffs at the notion that there's anything wrong with it as long as the person is paid a fair wage and treated with respect.
* Creator/WhoopiGoldberg has told a story about how the first time she saw an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and noticed the character of Uhura (an early aversion of this trope), she called to her
* Lupe, Lucille's put-upon maid, in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. The stereotype is subverted in "Staff Infection," where (via one of the series' trademark chain of events solely subject to FinaglesLaw) Lindsay tries to put an end to a strike using Latino scabs, who turn out to be Lupe's family (whom Michael had directed to meet their bus for their Catalina Island family reunion at the Bluth Company's parking lot), one of whom is a university professor.
* ''Series/TheCleaningLady'' centers around Thony De La Rosa, a Filipino-Cambodian cleaning lady, as she takes jobs with a local gang in order to earn enough money to keep her immunocompromised son alive long enough for a bone-marrow transplant.
* Kitty's Hispanic maid Celia on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg.'' She's a pretty standard case in most episodes, but when the main characters attend her niece's wedding we [[HiddenDepths learn all sorts of surprising facts about her]] from her family and old friends, including that she [[NinjaMaid worked as a sniper during her home country's civil war]].
* The main characters of ''Series/DeviousMaids'' are Latina maids working for the wealthy elite of Beverly Hills, although it's inferred from their off-duty scenes that they live normal middle-class lifestyles and can afford stylish clothing. Only Rosie and Zoila are legitimate maids. Carmen is using the job to develop connections in the music industry and Valentina is using the job to get close to her object of affection. [[spoiler:Subverted with Marisol, who's actually an English professor who's posing as a maid in order to investigate the truth behind the framing of her son for murder.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Afro-British Martha Jones is stuck as a maid in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood "The Family of Blood"]] while undercover in 1913. But it seems a little bit different in her case, in that she's basically the undisputed protagonist for those episodes, the other characters are blatantly prejudiced toward her and she tries to demonstrate to them how wrong they are, and she's usually a [[HospitalHottie med student]].
** In the episode "The Sontaran Strategem" the Sontarans disguise their army of human clones as Polish migrant workers who can't speak English very well so that nobody will notice [[CloneDegeneration they're not capable of speaking any language very well]].
* One of ''Series/FawltyTowers''' most memorable characters was Manuel, the bellhop/waiter from Barcelona, who spoke comically bad English and was generally unqualified for his position. This was generally played as not his own fault, however, and more evidence of hotel owner Basil's cheapness for hiring Manuel - presumably a refugee, since Generalissimo Franco was still alive when the show first ran - in the first place. Notably, in all of the attempts at remaking ''Fawlty Towers'' for an American audience, Manuel's equivalent character was changed to Mexican rather than Spanish.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Gentefied}}'' focuses on Ana's mother Beatriz, who is overworked and mistreated at a sweatshop along with several other Hispanic and some East Asian laborers.
* In ''Series/{{Pasadena}}'', two of the three maids portrayed on the soap were Hispanic.
* The cleaning woman that George falls for in one episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' mentions that she grew up in Panama.
* In an episode of ''Series/StrongMedicine'' Lu rags on her colleague Andy regarding her Eastern European nanny/housekeeper and supposedly exploiting the woman. Andy angrily informs her that the woman was a doctor in her native country, that she is NOT underpaying her, and she has filed all the necessary paperwork so that she doesn't get into trouble.
* ''Series/TopGearUK'' has the ''Top Ground Gear Force'' special, in which Jeremy Clarkson and co. are assisted by Polish migrant workers. One of them gets wounded during the chaos the trio naturally caused and the rest [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly flee]] as Sir Steve Redgrave discovers his ruined garden.
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when Josh is considering hiring Charlie Young as the President's personal aide, he is a little worried about hiring a young African-American man for such a position because of this trope. Leo mentions the situation to Admiral Fitzwallace (also African-American), who scoffs at the notion that there's anything wrong with it as long as the person is paid a fair wage and treated with respect.
* In ''Series/WhatsHappening'', black single mom Mabel Thomas worked as a maid.
* Kitty's Hispanic maid Celia on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg.'' She's a pretty standard case in most episodes, but when the main characters attend her niece's wedding we [[HiddenDepths learn all sorts of surprising facts about her]] from her family and old friends, including that she [[NinjaMaid worked as a sniper during her home country's civil war]].
* The main characters of ''Series/DeviousMaids'' are Latina maids working for the wealthy elite of Beverly Hills, although it's inferred from their off-duty scenes that they live normal middle-class lifestyles and can afford stylish clothing. Only Rosie and Zoila are legitimate maids. Carmen is using the job to develop connections in the music industry and Valentina is using the job to get close to her object of affection. [[spoiler:Subverted with Marisol, who's actually an English professor who's posing as a maid in order to investigate the truth behind the framing of her son for murder.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Afro-British Martha Jones is stuck as a maid in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood "The Family of Blood"]] while undercover in 1913. But it seems a little bit different in her case, in that she's basically the undisputed protagonist for those episodes, the other characters are blatantly prejudiced toward her and she tries to demonstrate to them how wrong they are, and she's usually a [[HospitalHottie med student]].
** In the episode "The Sontaran Strategem" the Sontarans disguise their army of human clones as Polish migrant workers who can't speak English very well so that nobody will notice [[CloneDegeneration they're not capable of speaking any language very well]].
* One of ''Series/FawltyTowers''' most memorable characters was Manuel, the bellhop/waiter from Barcelona, who spoke comically bad English and was generally unqualified for his position. This was generally played as not his own fault, however, and more evidence of hotel owner Basil's cheapness for hiring Manuel - presumably a refugee, since Generalissimo Franco was still alive when the show first ran - in the first place. Notably, in all of the attempts at remaking ''Fawlty Towers'' for an American audience, Manuel's equivalent character was changed to Mexican rather than Spanish.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Gentefied}}'' focuses on Ana's mother Beatriz, who is overworked and mistreated at a sweatshop along with several other Hispanic and some East Asian laborers.
* In ''Series/{{Pasadena}}'', two of the three maids portrayed on the soap were Hispanic.
* The cleaning woman that George falls for in one episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' mentions that she grew up in Panama.
* In an episode of ''Series/StrongMedicine'' Lu rags on her colleague Andy regarding her Eastern European nanny/housekeeper and supposedly exploiting the woman. Andy angrily informs her that the woman was a doctor in her native country, that she is NOT underpaying her, and she has filed all the necessary paperwork so that she doesn't get into trouble.
* ''Series/TopGearUK'' has the ''Top Ground Gear Force'' special, in which Jeremy Clarkson and co. are assisted by Polish migrant workers. One of them gets wounded during the chaos the trio naturally caused and the rest [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly flee]] as Sir Steve Redgrave discovers his ruined garden.
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when Josh is considering hiring Charlie Young as the President's personal aide, he is a little worried about hiring a young African-American man for such a position because of this trope. Leo mentions the situation to Admiral Fitzwallace (also African-American), who scoffs at the notion that there's anything wrong with it as long as the person is paid a fair wage and treated with respect.
* In ''Series/WhatsHappening'', black single mom Mabel Thomas worked as a maid.
Changed line(s) 153,154 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/ARaisinInTheSun'', Walter Younger is a black chauffeur. He's making pretty good money, but he still feels like he's essentially a glorified version of this trope, and the play focuses on his and his family's different ideas of what they can do with the money, and how they can meaningfully improve their station in life.
* In ''Theatre/ARaisinInTheSun'', Walter Younger is a black chauffeur. He's making pretty good money, but he still feels like he's essentially a glorified version of this trope, and the play focuses on his and his family's different ideas of what they can do with the money, and how they can meaningfully improve their station in life.
to:
*
* Music/ThePogues' song "Navigator" is a
-->The canals and the
They blasted and dug with
They never drank water but whiskey by pints\\
And the shanty towns rang with their songs and their fights
Changed line(s) 157,158 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' is a more controversial reminder of the time when the original shorts were filmed. She was a heavy-set black housekeeper who often had to deal with the title characters' antics. Attempts to get around this have in the past included redrawing her as a slim white woman with an [[{{Oireland}} Irish accent]], or more recently by redubbing her original performance to remove more offensive dialect from her lines (but not changing her race). A recent revival replaced her part with another slim white woman explicitly referred to as ''Mrs'' Two-Shoes. The character was apparently inspired by Hattie [=McDaniel=] and not surprisingly, Lillian Randolph, the woman who played her, was ''also'' frequently cast as a maid.
* Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' is a more controversial reminder of the time when the original shorts were filmed. She was a heavy-set black housekeeper who often had to deal with the title characters' antics. Attempts to get around this have in the past included redrawing her as a slim white woman with an [[{{Oireland}} Irish accent]], or more recently by redubbing her original performance to remove more offensive dialect from her lines (but not changing her race). A recent revival replaced her part with another slim white woman explicitly referred to as ''Mrs'' Two-Shoes. The character was apparently inspired by Hattie [=McDaniel=] and not surprisingly, Lillian Randolph, the woman who played her, was ''also'' frequently cast as a maid.
to:
*
-->'''Marcus''': Would I ''mind''? I almost boiled them some cabbage!\\
'''Hugh Dennis''': (in "cockney racist" voice) Bloody Poles, coming over here, taking our jobs...\\
'''Marcus''': No, ''doing'' our jobs.
Changed line(s) 161,164 (click to see context) from:
!!Filipino Laborers
[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
to:
[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
*
Changed line(s) 167,168 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheCleaningLady'' centers around Thony De La Rosa, a Filipino-Cambodian cleaning lady, as she takes jobs with a local gang in order to earn enough money to keep her immunocompromised son alive long enough for a bone-marrow transplant.
* ''Series/TheCleaningLady'' centers around Thony De La Rosa, a Filipino-Cambodian cleaning lady, as she takes jobs with a local gang in order to earn enough money to keep her immunocompromised son alive long enough for a bone-marrow transplant.
to:
*
Changed line(s) 171,191 (click to see context) from:
!!Hispanic Laborers
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Mexican-American actress Creator/LupeOntiveros estimated she'd played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros was a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
* The eponymous character in ''Film/MaidInManhattan''
* Blanca from ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane''
* ''Film/MeetTheFockers'' has Isabel, the Fockers' former housekeeper who runs a catering business. When she was working for the eponymous family, main character Greg lost his virginity to her. She also has a son, which leads to Jack (the father of Greg's fiancée Pam) trying to find out if Greg is the father of said son. [[spoiler:He isn't.]]
* Baz Luhrmann's modern-day version of ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' turned the nurse Hispanic.
* Carmen the house maid in ''Film/DownAndOutInBeverlyHills''.
* Enrique the [[spoiler:gay]] pool boy in ''Film/LegallyBlonde''. He seems to be from Spain, though, rather than one of its former colonies in Latin America.
* It seems that the entire crew of Rocky's restaurant in ''Film/RockyBalboa'' is Mexican, judging from the ranchera music they hear.
* ''Film/{{Machete}}'' centers on migrant workers, including the title character who ''seems'' to be just a day laborer.
* In the Creator/AdamSandler film ''Film/JackAndJill'', Jack's family has a stereotypically Hispanic gardener.
* ''Film/ElNorte'' is a grim tale of a brother and sister who flee political persecution in Guatemala, becoming undocumented laborers in the United States.
* ''Film/AngelAndBigJoe'': Angel is a migrant farmworker. He forms a bond with Big Joe, a telephone lineman.
* ''Film/{{Cake}}'' has Claire's housekeeper/caregiver Silvana, who is arguably the {{Deuteragonist}} of the film. Claire also has a gardener named Arturo, whom [[SexForSolace she sleeps with]] in one scene.
* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', Walter and the Dude check in on a retired TV screenwriter who lives in North Hollywood. They find the guy trapped in an iron lung, attended by a Hispanic housekeeper named Pilar.
-->'''Walter''': Does he still write?\\
'''Pilar''': Oh no! [[{{Understatement}} He has health problems]]!
* Invoked in ''Film/KnivesOut''. Marta Cabrera is actually a highly-skilled nurse attending to the aged Harlan Thrombey, but his family treat her like the maid. There are condescending conversations about how she's one of the [[YouAreACreditToYourRace "good immigrants"]], although nobody seems to know what country her family are actually from.
* Many of the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Mexican-American actress Creator/LupeOntiveros estimated she'd played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros was a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
* The eponymous character in ''Film/MaidInManhattan''
* Blanca from ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane''
* ''Film/MeetTheFockers'' has Isabel, the Fockers' former housekeeper who runs a catering business. When she was working for the eponymous family, main character Greg lost his virginity to her. She also has a son, which leads to Jack (the father of Greg's fiancée Pam) trying to find out if Greg is the father of said son. [[spoiler:He isn't.]]
* Baz Luhrmann's modern-day version of ''Film/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet'' turned the nurse Hispanic.
* Carmen the house maid in ''Film/DownAndOutInBeverlyHills''.
* Enrique the [[spoiler:gay]] pool boy in ''Film/LegallyBlonde''. He seems to be from Spain, though, rather than one of its former colonies in Latin America.
* It seems that the entire crew of Rocky's restaurant in ''Film/RockyBalboa'' is Mexican, judging from the ranchera music they hear.
* ''Film/{{Machete}}'' centers on migrant workers, including the title character who ''seems'' to be just a day laborer.
* In the Creator/AdamSandler film ''Film/JackAndJill'', Jack's family has a stereotypically Hispanic gardener.
* ''Film/ElNorte'' is a grim tale of a brother and sister who flee political persecution in Guatemala, becoming undocumented laborers in the United States.
* ''Film/AngelAndBigJoe'': Angel is a migrant farmworker. He forms a bond with Big Joe, a telephone lineman.
* ''Film/{{Cake}}'' has Claire's housekeeper/caregiver Silvana, who is arguably the {{Deuteragonist}} of the film. Claire also has a gardener named Arturo, whom [[SexForSolace she sleeps with]] in one scene.
* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', Walter and the Dude check in on a retired TV screenwriter who lives in North Hollywood. They find the guy trapped in an iron lung, attended by a Hispanic housekeeper named Pilar.
-->'''Walter''': Does he still write?\\
'''Pilar''': Oh no! [[{{Understatement}} He has health problems]]!
* Invoked in ''Film/KnivesOut''. Marta Cabrera is actually a highly-skilled nurse attending to the aged Harlan Thrombey, but his family treat her like the maid. There are condescending conversations about how she's one of the [[YouAreACreditToYourRace "good immigrants"]], although nobody seems to know what country her family are actually from.
* Many of the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
to:
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
*
* The eponymous character in ''Film/MaidInManhattan''
* Blanca from ''Film/FunWithDickAndJane''
* ''Film/MeetTheFockers'' has Isabel,
*
* Carmen the house maid in ''Film/DownAndOutInBeverlyHills''.
* Enrique the [[spoiler:gay]] pool boy in ''Film/LegallyBlonde''. He seems to be from Spain, though, rather than
* It seems that
* ''Film/{{Machete}}'' centers on migrant workers, including the title character who ''seems'' to be just a day laborer.
* In the Creator/AdamSandler film ''Film/JackAndJill'', Jack's family has a stereotypically Hispanic gardener.
* ''Film/ElNorte'' is a grim tale of a brother and sister who flee political persecution in Guatemala, becoming undocumented laborers in the United States.
* ''Film/AngelAndBigJoe'': Angel is a migrant farmworker. He forms a bond with Big Joe, a telephone lineman.
* ''Film/{{Cake}}'' has Claire's housekeeper/caregiver Silvana, who is arguably the {{Deuteragonist}} of the film. Claire also has a gardener named Arturo, whom [[SexForSolace she sleeps with]] in one scene.
* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', Walter and the Dude check in on a retired TV screenwriter who lives in North Hollywood. They find the guy trapped in an iron lung, attended by
-->'''Walter''': Does he still write?\\
'''Pilar''': Oh no! [[{{Understatement}} He
* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' has
* Invoked in ''Film/KnivesOut''. Marta Cabrera is actually a highly-skilled nurse attending to
*
Changed line(s) 194,196 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods: In 1950s Puerto Rico, wealthy matriarch Clarissa cannot find household help among locals because she is a MeanBoss. In the end, she hires a Guatemalan maid through an agency, but it does not occur to her or anybody that Xochil might be indigenous. Clarissa is floored when Xochil arrives in her traditional Mayan dress.
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra family when [[ChildLabor she is around six or seven]]. Then when daughter Laura Vizcarra marries Isidro del Solar, she brings Juana with her. Juana stays with the family for decades. After a centenarian Laura dies, Juana moves in with Laura's son Felipe.
* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods: In 1950s Puerto Rico, wealthy matriarch Clarissa cannot find household help among locals because she is a MeanBoss. In the end, she hires a Guatemalan maid through an agency, but it does not occur to her or anybody that Xochil might be indigenous. Clarissa is floored when Xochil arrives in her traditional Mayan dress.
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra family when [[ChildLabor she is around six or seven]]. Then when daughter Laura Vizcarra marries Isidro del Solar, she brings Juana with her. Juana stays with the family for decades. After a centenarian Laura dies, Juana moves in with Laura's son Felipe.
to:
*
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra
Changed line(s) 199,211 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Pasadena'', two of the three maids portrayed on the soap were Hispanic.
* Rosario on ''Series/WillAndGrace''
* Celia on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg.'' She's a pretty standard case in most episodes, but when the main characters attend her niece's wedding we [[HiddenDepths learn all sorts of surprising facts about her]] from her family and old friends, including that she [[NinjaMaid worked as a sniper during her home country's civil war]].
* Catalina from ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', is a bit lower class version.
* Elliot from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had one before the show.
* In a ''[[Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun 3rd Rock From The Sun]]'' episode, Strudwick's family was shown to have a Hispanic pool boy.
* The cleaning woman that George falls for in one episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' mentions that she grew up in Panama.
* Lupe, Lucille's put-upon maid, in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. The stereotype is subverted in "Staff Infection," where (via one of the series' trademark chain of events solely subject to FinaglesLaw) Lindsay tries to put an end to a strike using Latino scabs, who turn out to be Lupe's family (whom Michael had directed to meet their bus for their Catalina Island family reunion at the Bluth Company's parking lot), one of whom is a university professor.
* The main characters of ''Series/DeviousMaids'' are maids working for the wealthy elite of Beverly Hills, although it's inferred from their off-duty scenes that they live normal middle-class lifestyles and can afford stylish clothing. Only Rosie and Zoila are legitimate maids. Carmen is using the job to develop connections in the music industry and Valentina is using the job to get close to her object of affection. [[spoiler:Subverted with Marisol, who's actually an English professor who's posing as a maid in order to investigate the truth behind the framing of her son for murder.]]
* One of ''Series/FawltyTowers''' most memorable characters was Manuel, the bellhop/waiter from Barcelona, who spoke comically bad English and was generally unqualified for his position. This was generally played as not his own fault, however, and more evidence of hotel owner Basil's cheapness for hiring Manuel - presumably a refugee, since Generalissimo Franco was still alive when the show first ran - in the first place. Notably, in all of the attempts at remaking ''Fawlty Towers'' for an American audience, Manuel's equivalent character was changed to Mexican rather than Spanish.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Gentefied}}'' focuses on Ana's mother Beatriz, who is overworked and mistreated at a sweatshop along with several other Hispanic (and some East Asian) laborers.
* Became a point controversy during production of the Netflix sitcom ''Series/{{Uncoupled}}''. Actress Ada Maris was approached to play a role in the show, but once she read the script, she saw it was a stereotypical Hispanic housekeeper, speaking broken English and whose life revolved around picking up after her white male boss. Maris called out the show and the hypocrisy of providing a nuanced look at the lives of gay men while resorting to stereotypes for ''other'' minority groups. Netflix responded by ultimately removing the character.
* In ''Pasadena'', two of the three maids portrayed on the soap were Hispanic.
* Rosario on ''Series/WillAndGrace''
* Celia on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg.'' She's a pretty standard case in most episodes, but when the main characters attend her niece's wedding we [[HiddenDepths learn all sorts of surprising facts about her]] from her family and old friends, including that she [[NinjaMaid worked as a sniper during her home country's civil war]].
* Catalina from ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', is a bit lower class version.
* Elliot from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had one before the show.
* In a ''[[Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun 3rd Rock From The Sun]]'' episode, Strudwick's family was shown to have a Hispanic pool boy.
* The cleaning woman that George falls for in one episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' mentions that she grew up in Panama.
* Lupe, Lucille's put-upon maid, in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. The stereotype is subverted in "Staff Infection," where (via one of the series' trademark chain of events solely subject to FinaglesLaw) Lindsay tries to put an end to a strike using Latino scabs, who turn out to be Lupe's family (whom Michael had directed to meet their bus for their Catalina Island family reunion at the Bluth Company's parking lot), one of whom is a university professor.
* The main characters of ''Series/DeviousMaids'' are maids working for the wealthy elite of Beverly Hills, although it's inferred from their off-duty scenes that they live normal middle-class lifestyles and can afford stylish clothing. Only Rosie and Zoila are legitimate maids. Carmen is using the job to develop connections in the music industry and Valentina is using the job to get close to her object of affection. [[spoiler:Subverted with Marisol, who's actually an English professor who's posing as a maid in order to investigate the truth behind the framing of her son for murder.]]
* One of ''Series/FawltyTowers''' most memorable characters was Manuel, the bellhop/waiter from Barcelona, who spoke comically bad English and was generally unqualified for his position. This was generally played as not his own fault, however, and more evidence of hotel owner Basil's cheapness for hiring Manuel - presumably a refugee, since Generalissimo Franco was still alive when the show first ran - in the first place. Notably, in all of the attempts at remaking ''Fawlty Towers'' for an American audience, Manuel's equivalent character was changed to Mexican rather than Spanish.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Gentefied}}'' focuses on Ana's mother Beatriz, who is overworked and mistreated at a sweatshop along with several other Hispanic (and some East Asian) laborers.
* Became a point controversy during production of the Netflix sitcom ''Series/{{Uncoupled}}''. Actress Ada Maris was approached to play a role in the show, but once she read the script, she saw it was a stereotypical Hispanic housekeeper, speaking broken English and whose life revolved around picking up after her white male boss. Maris called out the show and the hypocrisy of providing a nuanced look at the lives of gay men while resorting to stereotypes for ''other'' minority groups. Netflix responded by ultimately removing the character.
to:
[[folder:Western Animation]]
*
* Rosario on ''Series/WillAndGrace''
* Celia on ''Series/DharmaAndGreg.'' She's a pretty standard case in most episodes, but when the main characters attend her niece's wedding we [[HiddenDepths learn all sorts of surprising facts about her]] from her family
*
* Elliot from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had one before the show.
* In
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': In her youth, Bojack's blueblooded mother Beatrice had a Hispanic maid.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "The Itis", all of the kitchen staff in Granddad's soul food restaurant are Mexicans. They're the only employees left over from the previous restaurant in that location because Ed Wuncler I fired everybody except the illegal Mexicans. Played with when Chico, one of the line cooks, takes Huey's side in an argument with Granddad about the value of soul food and expounds on how soul food was a survival technique for slaves who had no other choice but to eat the parts of the pig that the masters wouldn't eat. Huey and Granddad reply with open-mouthed stunned stares, to which Chico says: "What, I can't take an Afro-American Studies class at the community college?"
* The
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' Mr. Strickland has a maid named Lupino.
* {{Parodied}}/{{Subverted}} in
-->'''Housekeeper:''' Ms. Klimer, I told you. My name is Nancy. I'm from Ohio.
* In an episode of
* Lupe, Lucille's put-upon maid, in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. The stereotype is subverted in "Staff Infection," where (via one of the series' trademark chain of events solely subject to FinaglesLaw) Lindsay tries to put an end to
* The main characters of ''Series/DeviousMaids'' are maids working for the wealthy elite of Beverly Hills, although it's inferred from their off-duty scenes that they live normal middle-class lifestyles and can afford stylish clothing. Only Rosie and Zoila are legitimate maids. Carmen is using the job to develop connections in the music industry and Valentina is using the job to get close to
* One of ''Series/FawltyTowers''' most memorable characters was Manuel, the bellhop/waiter from Barcelona, who spoke comically bad English and was generally unqualified for his position. This was generally played as not his own fault, however, and more evidence of hotel owner Basil's cheapness for hiring Manuel - presumably a refugee, since Generalissimo Franco was still alive when the show first ran - in the first place. Notably, in all of the attempts at remaking ''Fawlty Towers'' for an American audience, Manuel's equivalent character was changed to Mexican rather than Spanish.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Gentefied}}'' focuses on Ana's mother Beatriz, who is overworked and mistreated at a sweatshop along with several other Hispanic (and some East Asian) laborers.
* Became a point controversy during production of the Netflix sitcom ''Series/{{Uncoupled}}''. Actress Ada Maris was approached to play a role in the show, but once she read the script, she saw it was a
* Also played with on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', where one can hire the Mexicans at the Home Depot to do your (home)work. Twist is, they are quite competent when it comes to writing English
* Mammy Two-Shoes in ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' was a heavy-set black housekeeper who often had to deal with the title characters' antics. Attempts to get around
Deleted line(s) 214,282 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', [[MemeticBadass RAMIREZ]] being made to [[HypercompetentSidekick DO EVERYTHING]] has led to this going down as a meme. As one comment on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuLj5uCgSk this video]] says, "ive (sic) heard of cheap mexican labor, but this is ridiculous".
* In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', Professor Chaos hires illegal Mexican immigrants to be his Chaos Minions. They don't seem to mind the goofy and undersized uniforms made of bowler hats, t-shirts, and tin foil, since the professor apparently pays quite well (having been paid by the BigBad). As a party member, after you help him settle his finances Professor Chaos can summon a Minion to act as a temporary party member to take hits for the team.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Home on the Strange'', one of the characters gets a Hispanic maid...who turns out to be a middle-aged man.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebVideo/{{Idiotsitter}}'', the Russel family employs a Hispanic maid named Joy. She speaks fine English and is fairly well-treated by her employers -- except for that time a [[IntoxicationEnsues high-on-peyote]] [[GenderBlenderName Billie and Gene]] laugh and commander her to suck on their dicks.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': In her youth, Bojack's mother Beatrice had a Hispanic maid.
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' Mr. Strickland has a maid named Lupino.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "The Itis", all of the kitchen staff in Granddad's soul food restaurant are Mexicans. They're the only employees left over from the previous restaurant in that location because Ed Wuncler I fired everybody except the illegal Mexicans. Played with when Chico, one of the line cooks, takes Huey's side in an argument with Granddad about the value of soul food and expounds on how soul food was a survival technique for slaves who had no other choice but to eat the parts of the pig that the masters wouldn't eat. Huey and Granddad reply with open-mouthed stunned stares, to which Chico says: "What, I can't take an Afro-American Studies class at the community college?"
* Also played with on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', where one can hire the Mexicans at the Home Depot to do your (home)work. Twist is, they are quite competent when it comes to writing English essays on Hemmingway (just be clear when you ask them to write the essays), or teach math. They're also fairly decent private detectives.
* Whenever a gag calls for a maid on ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', it's always a Hispanic woman. [[RichBitch But Mallory treats all her menials equally]].
* {{Parodied}}/{{Subverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs,'' as Pristine Klimer tries to talk to her housekeeper in broken Spanish.
-->'''Housekeeper:''' Ms. Klimer, I told you. My name is Nancy. I'm from Ohio.
* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' one episode has Francine and Hayley get jobs as maids. Their employer acts like they're Mexicans, at one point threatening them with deportation, despite them neither looking nor speaking in any way Hispanic.
[[/folder]]
!!Hawaiian Laborer
[[folder:Literature]]
* Richard Henry Dana's classic memoir ''Two Years Before The Mast'' frequently mentions Hawaiian workers.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* The popular sea shanty "John Kanaka" is a tribute to Hawaiian sailors on American ships, known as Kanakas.
[[/folder]]
!!Eastern European Laborer
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', there was a series of comics in which Lithuania lived with America and was hired to help take care of his house. This was to represent American outsourcing to Lithuania in that time period. Lithuania himself was pretty happy with the arrangement (it meant no longer working for [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]]), but had to go back to his old job after America causes a depression.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* An important plot point in ''Film/GodsOwnCountry''. The film is set on a farm in Yorkshire, and Johnny's family hires a migrant laborer from Romania, Gheorghe, as the elders of the family are getting old and need additional assistance. Johnny resents Gheorghe's presence at first and treats him with some xenophobia, but then they fall in love...
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Eva Starzia Schnorbitz Melitzskova in British sitcom ''Baddiel's Syndrome''.
* Magda in British sitcom ''Lead Balloon''.
* Pete Campbell more or less rapes his neighbor's German au pair in Season 4 of ''Series/MadMen''.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Sontaran Strategem" the Sontarans disguise their army of human clones as Polish migrant workers who can't speak English very well so that nobody will notice [[CloneDegeneration they're not capable of speaking any language very well]].
* ''Series/TopGearUK'' has the ''Top Ground Gear Force'' special, in which Jeremy Clarkson and co. are assisted by Polish migrant workers. One of them gets wounded during the chaos the trio naturally caused and the rest [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly flee]] as Sir Steve Redgrave discovers his ruined garden.
* In an episode of ''Series/StrongMedicine'' Lu rags on her colleague Andy for this regarding her nanny/housekeeper and supposedly exploiting the woman. Andy angrily informs her that the woman was a doctor in her native country, that she is NOT underpaying her, and she has filed all the necessary paperwork so that she doesn't get into trouble.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Upton Sinclair's ''Literature/TheJungle'' was all about workers in Chicago, but the main character Jurgis was Lithuanian. Poles and Slovaks were mentioned extensively (as were the Irish, but the Eastern Europeans had [[http://www.online-literature.com/upton_sinclair/jungle/6/ mostly displaced them]] from the most menial jobs).
* Matya the Hungarian nanny in ''Literature/{{Capital}}'', despite her degree in mechanical engineering. Lanchester has said he was writing about the real-life social phenomenon of highly educated Eastern Europeans coming to do menial jobs in Britain in search of higher wages and the "London dream".
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Radio]]
* In one of his monologues on ''Radio/TheNowShow'', Marcus Brigstocke describes having some work done by Polish builders, who asked if he'd mind them working over the weekend.
-->'''Marcus''': Would I ''mind''? I almost boiled them some cabbage!\\
'''Hugh Dennis''': (in "cockney racist" voice) Bloody Poles, coming over here, taking our jobs...\\
'''Marcus''': No, ''doing'' our jobs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' has "Crazy Sven". Though he's actually a taxicab driver.
* ''Webcomic/{{Polandball}}'' comics often have Polandball working as Britain's plumber.
[[/folder]]
* In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', [[MemeticBadass RAMIREZ]] being made to [[HypercompetentSidekick DO EVERYTHING]] has led to this going down as a meme. As one comment on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuLj5uCgSk this video]] says, "ive (sic) heard of cheap mexican labor, but this is ridiculous".
* In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', Professor Chaos hires illegal Mexican immigrants to be his Chaos Minions. They don't seem to mind the goofy and undersized uniforms made of bowler hats, t-shirts, and tin foil, since the professor apparently pays quite well (having been paid by the BigBad). As a party member, after you help him settle his finances Professor Chaos can summon a Minion to act as a temporary party member to take hits for the team.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Home on the Strange'', one of the characters gets a Hispanic maid...who turns out to be a middle-aged man.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebVideo/{{Idiotsitter}}'', the Russel family employs a Hispanic maid named Joy. She speaks fine English and is fairly well-treated by her employers -- except for that time a [[IntoxicationEnsues high-on-peyote]] [[GenderBlenderName Billie and Gene]] laugh and commander her to suck on their dicks.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': In her youth, Bojack's mother Beatrice had a Hispanic maid.
* On ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' Mr. Strickland has a maid named Lupino.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "The Itis", all of the kitchen staff in Granddad's soul food restaurant are Mexicans. They're the only employees left over from the previous restaurant in that location because Ed Wuncler I fired everybody except the illegal Mexicans. Played with when Chico, one of the line cooks, takes Huey's side in an argument with Granddad about the value of soul food and expounds on how soul food was a survival technique for slaves who had no other choice but to eat the parts of the pig that the masters wouldn't eat. Huey and Granddad reply with open-mouthed stunned stares, to which Chico says: "What, I can't take an Afro-American Studies class at the community college?"
* Also played with on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', where one can hire the Mexicans at the Home Depot to do your (home)work. Twist is, they are quite competent when it comes to writing English essays on Hemmingway (just be clear when you ask them to write the essays), or teach math. They're also fairly decent private detectives.
* Whenever a gag calls for a maid on ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', it's always a Hispanic woman. [[RichBitch But Mallory treats all her menials equally]].
* {{Parodied}}/{{Subverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs,'' as Pristine Klimer tries to talk to her housekeeper in broken Spanish.
-->'''Housekeeper:''' Ms. Klimer, I told you. My name is Nancy. I'm from Ohio.
* Similarly in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' one episode has Francine and Hayley get jobs as maids. Their employer acts like they're Mexicans, at one point threatening them with deportation, despite them neither looking nor speaking in any way Hispanic.
[[/folder]]
!!Hawaiian Laborer
[[folder:Literature]]
* Richard Henry Dana's classic memoir ''Two Years Before The Mast'' frequently mentions Hawaiian workers.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* The popular sea shanty "John Kanaka" is a tribute to Hawaiian sailors on American ships, known as Kanakas.
[[/folder]]
!!Eastern European Laborer
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', there was a series of comics in which Lithuania lived with America and was hired to help take care of his house. This was to represent American outsourcing to Lithuania in that time period. Lithuania himself was pretty happy with the arrangement (it meant no longer working for [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]]), but had to go back to his old job after America causes a depression.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* An important plot point in ''Film/GodsOwnCountry''. The film is set on a farm in Yorkshire, and Johnny's family hires a migrant laborer from Romania, Gheorghe, as the elders of the family are getting old and need additional assistance. Johnny resents Gheorghe's presence at first and treats him with some xenophobia, but then they fall in love...
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Eva Starzia Schnorbitz Melitzskova in British sitcom ''Baddiel's Syndrome''.
* Magda in British sitcom ''Lead Balloon''.
* Pete Campbell more or less rapes his neighbor's German au pair in Season 4 of ''Series/MadMen''.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Sontaran Strategem" the Sontarans disguise their army of human clones as Polish migrant workers who can't speak English very well so that nobody will notice [[CloneDegeneration they're not capable of speaking any language very well]].
* ''Series/TopGearUK'' has the ''Top Ground Gear Force'' special, in which Jeremy Clarkson and co. are assisted by Polish migrant workers. One of them gets wounded during the chaos the trio naturally caused and the rest [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly flee]] as Sir Steve Redgrave discovers his ruined garden.
* In an episode of ''Series/StrongMedicine'' Lu rags on her colleague Andy for this regarding her nanny/housekeeper and supposedly exploiting the woman. Andy angrily informs her that the woman was a doctor in her native country, that she is NOT underpaying her, and she has filed all the necessary paperwork so that she doesn't get into trouble.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Upton Sinclair's ''Literature/TheJungle'' was all about workers in Chicago, but the main character Jurgis was Lithuanian. Poles and Slovaks were mentioned extensively (as were the Irish, but the Eastern Europeans had [[http://www.online-literature.com/upton_sinclair/jungle/6/ mostly displaced them]] from the most menial jobs).
* Matya the Hungarian nanny in ''Literature/{{Capital}}'', despite her degree in mechanical engineering. Lanchester has said he was writing about the real-life social phenomenon of highly educated Eastern Europeans coming to do menial jobs in Britain in search of higher wages and the "London dream".
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Radio]]
* In one of his monologues on ''Radio/TheNowShow'', Marcus Brigstocke describes having some work done by Polish builders, who asked if he'd mind them working over the weekend.
-->'''Marcus''': Would I ''mind''? I almost boiled them some cabbage!\\
'''Hugh Dennis''': (in "cockney racist" voice) Bloody Poles, coming over here, taking our jobs...\\
'''Marcus''': No, ''doing'' our jobs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' has "Crazy Sven". Though he's actually a taxicab driver.
* ''Webcomic/{{Polandball}}'' comics often have Polandball working as Britain's plumber.
[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
[[/folder]]
* ''Film/TriangleOfSadness'': On the cruise ship, the passengers and "upstairs crew" of servers and attendees are predominantly Caucasian, while the "downstairs crew" of cleaners are predominantly Filipino. It becomes played with when they are stranded on a deserted shoreline and the Filipino cleaner Abigail is the only one with any survival skills, eventually ending up in charge of the mostly-white upperclass Caucasian survivors.
[[/folder]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'': The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
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* ''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'': [[''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'']] : The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
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*''WesternAnimation/Dumbo'': The controversial ''"Song of the Roustabouts"'' is performed by black labourers
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* A minor character in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Lyta Hall's black friend Carla, lives off the money her grandmother made by playing a maid, like Hattie [=McDaniel=] below.
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* A minor character in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', Lyta Hall's black friend Carla, lives off the money her grandmother made by playing a maid, like Hattie [=McDaniel=] below.
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* ''Literature/EccentricNeighborhoods: In 1950s Puerto Rico, wealthy matriarch Clarissa cannot find household help among locals because she is a MeanBoss. In the end, she hires a Guatemalan maid through an agency, but it does not occur to her or anybody that Xochil might be indigenous. Clarissa is floored when Xochil arrives in her traditional Mayan dress.
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* Many of the in the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
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* Many of the in the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra family when [[ChildLabor she is around six or seven]]. Then when daughter Laura Vizcarra marries Isidro del Solar, she brings Juana with her. Juana stays with the family for decades. After a centenarian Laura dies, Juana moves in with Laura's son Felipe.
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* ''Literature/ALongPetalOfTheSea'' takes place in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country. Here, the ethnic menial labor is of Indigenous ancestry. Juana Nancucheo, a woman of Mapuche ancestry starts working for the Vizcarra family when [[ChildLabor she is around six or seven]]. Then when daughter Laura Vizcarra marries Isidro del Solar, she brings Juana with her. Juana stays with the family for decades. After a centenarian Laura dies, Juana moves in with Laura's son Felipe.
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A combination of [[PoliticallyCorrect political correctness]] and a movement toward this ethnic group genuinely become overrepresented in menial labor has shifted modern media to the Hispanic Laborer. Latin immigrants to the United States tend to be poorer than most, and thus rarely have the education necessary for jobs above the service industry. For [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]], their choices are even narrower: They must take jobs that can be paid under the table. This has led to a disproportionate number of Hispanics in jobs involving manual labor, especially in states bordering Mexico. Since California is where most of those movies and TV shows are made, this trend is carried over into modern media, though good luck finding any Latin characters even in shows that are set in L.A., a city that now is more than 50% Hispanic.
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A combination of [[PoliticallyCorrect political correctness]] correctness and a movement toward this ethnic group genuinely become overrepresented in menial labor has shifted modern media to the Hispanic Laborer. Latin immigrants to the United States tend to be poorer than most, and thus rarely have the education necessary for jobs above the service industry. For [[TheIllegal illegal immigrants]], their choices are even narrower: They must take jobs that can be paid under the table. This has led to a disproportionate number of Hispanics in jobs involving manual labor, especially in states bordering Mexico. Since California is where most of those movies and TV shows are made, this trend is carried over into modern media, though good luck finding any Latin characters even in shows that are set in L.A., a city that now is more than 50% Hispanic.
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* Many of the in the Puerto Rican women in the 2021 version of ''Film/{{West Side Story|2021}}'' are cleaners at an upscale department store.
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* Sam and Dinah Johnson, the resident handyman and cook of ''Literature/TheBobbseyTwins'' respectively.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
* ''Literature/TheHouseOnTheLagoon'': Whenever any of the Mendizábal daughters has a baby, she must have a nanny. These nannies and additional posts are filled by members of Petra's family. Petra, a Puerto Rican descendent of enslaved Africans, has been working for the Mendizábal since the beginning.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
* ''Literature/TheHouseOnTheLagoon'': Whenever any of the Mendizábal daughters has a baby, she must have a nanny. These nannies and additional posts are filled by members of Petra's family. Petra, a Puerto Rican descendent of enslaved Africans, has been working for the Mendizábal since the beginning.
* Peter Grant's mother in the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novels cleans offices for a living. Something of a subversion, in that she cleans ''very nice'' offices, so is reasonably well-off for a laborer, and her connections with fellow West African co-workers throughout London's cleaning industry actually prove ''very'' useful on occasion.
* Dilsey and her extended family serve the Compson family in Faulkner's ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury''. Like the above examples, she is a fully realized character and offers one of the only morally and mentally sound perspectives in the whole book.
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* Sam and Dinah Johnson, the resident handyman and cook of ''Literature/TheBobbseyTwins'' respectively.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
* Dilsey and her extended family serve the Compson family in Faulkner's ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury''. Like the above examples, she is a fully realized character and offers one of the only morally and mentally sound perspectives in the whole book.
* Peter Grant's mother in the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novels cleans offices for a living. Something of a subversion, in that she cleans ''very nice'' offices, so is reasonably well-off for a laborer, and her connections with fellow West African co-workers throughout London's cleaning industry actually prove ''very'' useful on occasion.
* The whole point of ''Literature/TheHelp'' by Kathryn Stockett, and its 2011 film adaptation.
* Dilsey and her extended family serve the Compson family in Faulkner's ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury''. Like the above examples, she is a fully realized character and offers one of the only morally and mentally sound perspectives in the whole book.
* Peter Grant's mother in the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' novels cleans offices for a living. Something of a subversion, in that she cleans ''very nice'' offices, so is reasonably well-off for a laborer, and her connections with fellow West African co-workers throughout London's cleaning industry actually prove ''very'' useful on occasion.
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* Mexican-American actress Lupe Ontiveros estimated she'd played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros was a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
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* Mexican-American actress Lupe Ontiveros Creator/LupeOntiveros estimated she'd played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros was a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
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!!Filipino Laborers
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheCleaningLady'' centers around Thony De La Rosa, a Filipino-Cambodian cleaning lady, as she takes jobs with a local gang in order to earn enough money to keep her immunocompromised son alive long enough for a bone-marrow transplant.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheCleaningLady'' centers around Thony De La Rosa, a Filipino-Cambodian cleaning lady, as she takes jobs with a local gang in order to earn enough money to keep her immunocompromised son alive long enough for a bone-marrow transplant.
[[/folder]]
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Making a link for Lupe Ontiveros
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* Actress Lupe Ontiveros estimates she's played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros is a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
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* Actress Mexican-American actress Lupe Ontiveros estimates she's estimated she'd played over 150 maids in her acting career (including Rosalita in ''Film/TheGoonies''). Ontiveros is was a graduate of Texas Women's University, with majors in psychology and social work. She narrated a documentary called ''Maid in America''.
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[[caption-width-right:350:Even Music/JenniferLopez has to work under this ''gringo''.]]
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* Became a point controversy during production of the Netflix sitcom ''Series/{{Uncoupled}}''. Actress Ada Maris was approached to play a role in the show, but once she read the script, she saw it was a stereotypical Hispanic housekeeper, speaking broken English and whose life revolved around picking up after her white male boss. Maris called out the show and the hypocrisy of providing a nuanced look at the lives of gay men while resorting to stereotypes for ''other'' minority groups. Netflix responded by ultimately removing the character.
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[[folder: Radio]]
* In one of his monologues on ''Radio/TheNowShow'', Marcus Brigstocke describes having some work done by Polish builders, who asked if he'd mind them working over the weekend.
-->'''Marcus''': Would I ''mind''? I almost boiled them some cabbage!\\
'''Hugh Dennis''': (in "cockney racist" voice) Bloody Poles, coming over here, taking our jobs...\\
'''Marcus''': No, ''doing'' our jobs.
* In one of his monologues on ''Radio/TheNowShow'', Marcus Brigstocke describes having some work done by Polish builders, who asked if he'd mind them working over the weekend.
-->'''Marcus''': Would I ''mind''? I almost boiled them some cabbage!\\
'''Hugh Dennis''': (in "cockney racist" voice) Bloody Poles, coming over here, taking our jobs...\\
'''Marcus''': No, ''doing'' our jobs.
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* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
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* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
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* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' Marge is cleaning her house because she's afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
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* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' ''TheSimpsons'', Marge is cleaning her house because she's she is afraid that a hired cleaning lady will gossip about how dirty it is. In her imagination three cleaning ladies with extremely stereotypical [[{{Oireland}} Oirish]] accents do just that.
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Deleting an example because weblinsk are not examples, and the video is no longer availble to get context.
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* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVK4Dc4wBAE]].
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* In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', Professor Chaos hires illegal Mexican immigrants to be his Chaos Minions. They don't seem to mind the goofy and undersized uniforms made of bowler hats, t-shirts, and tin foil, since the professor apparently pays quite well (having been paid by the BigBad).
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* In ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', Professor Chaos hires illegal Mexican immigrants to be his Chaos Minions. They don't seem to mind the goofy and undersized uniforms made of bowler hats, t-shirts, and tin foil, since the professor apparently pays quite well (having been paid by the BigBad). As a party member, after you help him settle his finances Professor Chaos can summon a Minion to act as a temporary party member to take hits for the team.
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* Played with in ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' with Lionel Jefferson, a young black man who would come by the Bunker house once a week to pick up their dry cleaning. Archie, a cranky old racist, initially takes a condescendingly affectionate attitude towards Lionel, but it evaporates the moment he learns that Lionel's family owns the dry cleaner, make a lot more money than he does, and want to move into their neighbourhood. He eventually forms an OddFriendship with Lionel's father, George, whose business skills and hard work he can't help but admire. And eventually Series/TheJeffersons would get their own SpinOff.
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* Played with in ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' with Lionel Jefferson, a young black man who would come by the Bunker house once a week to pick up their dry cleaning. Archie, a cranky old racist, initially takes a condescendingly affectionate attitude towards Lionel, but it evaporates the moment he learns that Lionel's family owns the dry cleaner, make a lot more money than he does, and want to move into their neighbourhood. He eventually forms an OddFriendship with Lionel's father, George, whose business skills and hard work he can't help but admire. And eventually Series/TheJeffersons ''Series/TheJeffersons'' would get their own SpinOff.SpinOff.
* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Manuela, the only regular black character, is one of the maids of a wealthy family.
* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Manuela, the only regular black character, is one of the maids of a wealthy family.
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* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', there was a series of comics in which Lithuania lived with America and was hired to help take care of his house. This was to represent American outsourcing to Lithuania in that time period. Lithuania himself was pretty happy with the arrangement (it meant no longer working for [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]]), but had to go back to his old job after America causes a depression.
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* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', there was a series of comics in which Lithuania lived with America and was hired to help take care of his house. This was to represent American outsourcing to Lithuania in that time period. Lithuania himself was pretty happy with the arrangement (it meant no longer working for [[PsychopathicManchild Russia]]), but had to go back to his old job after America causes a depression.
