Handy Manny

As a show featured on Disney Junior that aired on September 16, 2006 targeting children ages two to six, Handy Manny is centered around a Latinx handyman and his lovable singing tools.

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Although Manny teaches children to always help their friends in need Handy Manny (voiced by Wilmer Valderrama) perpetuates the stereotype that Latinx immigrants in the United States can only aspire to work as handymen or other low income positions. The problem with this is that from an early age children can feel like this is all people in their culture will ever amount to and hence starts the initiation of the “self fulfilling prophecy”  referred to by the Journal of Social issues. A self fulfilling prophecy is when a subject confirms beliefs imposed on them by outside forces such as parents, teachers, the media, society, ect. The journal claims that the first step towards initiating the self fulfilling prophecy is that “First, a perceiver must hold a false belief about a target, as when a teacher underestimates a student's true potential.” Fulfilling the role of a teacher, Handy Manny has the potential to encourage Latinx children to only aspire to fulfill the jobs society assigns to them.

A favorable characteristic of the show is that it does embrace the bilingual ability of some of its Latinx viewers with Manny and some of his tools use occasional use of Spanish vocabulary. This helps Latinx children to connect and embrace their identity but also does not make them feel left out if they do not speak Spanish.