The UK is promoting UK-Peru ties by celebrating Paddington Bear. I have a few things to say about this. Paddington is not a symbol of Peru-UK relations. It is a symbol of how the UK sees Peru. A symbol of Peru’s “darkness”, its exoticism /1
No Peruvian was involved in creating Paddington. Very few Peruvians even know who Paddington is at all. Peruvian bears are not even brown. They are black. And spectacled. Paddington doesn’t even eat Peruvian cuisine. He likes jam. Not ceviche. Not pachamanca. No. Jam. /2 
How detached from Peru is he? Well... the trailer to his own movie used Zorba the Greek as soundtrack. That specific piece evokes dark memories in Peru, since it was used by the Shining Path terrorist group to celebrate one of their most well-known car-bomb attacks /3
Peru is frequently associated with darkness and exoticism in British media. In the Harry Potter books, Peru’s main export is a special powder that quite literally *creates darkness*. /4
As a Peruvian living in the UK, I am all in favour of strengthening UK-Peru ties. But these must be *bilateral*. A Peru explained through a British gaze only makes Peruvianness invisible. Make Paddington eat ceviche for once. In fact #MakePaddingtonEatCeviche /5
There. I am done ranting.
Just noticed I didnt paste the actual Instagram post by the UK Embassy in Peru. It literally starts with “did you know that Paddington Bear is Peruvian?”
Most Peruvians would indeed need to be told this, because all he is to us is a teddy bear that sells well with UK tourists
Most Peruvians would indeed need to be told this, because all he is to us is a teddy bear that sells well with UK tourists
Oh! And one last thing (ok fine I was not done ranting). Paddington’s “Peruvian name” is eventually discovered to be “Pastuso”. This name is not only completely ignored in favour of his British ID but “Pastuso” literally means “person from Pasto”, a city *IN COLOMBIA*!!!
At this point I wont even pretend like this will be for sure the last tweet in the thread, but I just keep remembering things... like this:
Ok, UK, I get it, he eats marmalade, not jam 😂 to be fair, a truly Peruvian bear would not know the difference either! We only have one word for both
I feel this is an important point that I don’t want to get lost... I’m not calling for Paddington to be cancelled. Just that he is not a good choice to promote Peru-UK relations. Not yet at least. Its a missed opportunity not an offence https://t.co/gDNFvfPDHu
