I saw "Batman: The Dark Knight" this weekend (highly recommended) and immediately I noticed a strong resemblance between the suave mayor of Gotham played by Nestor Carbonell (of TV shows "Lost" and "Cane") and our own Antonio Villaraigosa.
I wasn't sure if there was a connection but at one point you see the mayor's nameplate: Anthony Garcia.
Coincidence?
Gotham's mayor, who wears an awful lot of eyeliner, stands up to the bad guys, survives an assassination attempt, has to call the National Guard and the city implodes.
LA's mayor, who apparently is very attractive without the eyeliner, is trying to hire more cops to protect us, is trying to force a re-organization of the public schools and criticized the cops after they abused their power during the May Day Melee.
The jury is out on each mayor's impact on cities that really have some big problems.
The Orlando Sentinel (owned by the same company as the LA Times) picked up on the idea in a article written in Spanish.
In another article by Antonio Martin Guirado, the resemblance is dismissed.
"A mayor of Hispanic origin in a megalopolis? That might bring the figure of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to many people's minds.
" 'No, there's no resemblance to him,' Carbonell said laughing. 'I didn't think of him at the time I played (the character) but sure there are connections, although for Nolan it was just by chance, because (my) character doesn't speak Spanish and I don't have an accent when I speak English.' "
I wouldn't say Villaraigosa has an accent.
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