La Brega – Season 3
5. Wearing Puerto Rico On Your Sash
Puerto Rico has a reputation as a beauty queen mecca, the pageant scene is treated as seriously as any competitive sport in the archipelago. And in 2024, the scope of Puerto Rican dominance in the world of beauty pageants expanded even further: for the first time, Mister Puerto Rico became Mister World. Danny Mejía, who had never competed in any pageant before, went to Vietnam all by himself to represent Puerto Rico. In this episode, we learn what it means that Mister World is Boricua, and explore the history of these nation-building contests that are deeper than they seem at first glance.
Read the episode transcript here.
***
Original art by Tania González. You can see their Instagram here.
Can’t wait for the next episode? Join Futuro+ for early access to the whole season, ad-free listening, and exclusive bonus content for La Brega http://futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.
For more information:
- Watch Danny’s winning performance with Vietnamese veterans of the Vietnam War.
- Read Manuel Aviles Santiago’s work on “Puerto Rico’s Miss Universe Participation as a Symbol of Cultural Nationalism.”
Additional material by:
- Channel 4 Television Corporation & HBO
- Danny Mejía
- El Nuevo Día (Grupo Ferrer Rangel)
- El Tio de las Reinas
- Luis Fonsi
- Rafael Hernández
- Rolf Løvland with lyrics by Brendan Graham
- The Miss World Organization
- The Miss Universe Organization (JKN Global Group and Legacy Holding Group USA Inc)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
