If you grew up in the Spanish-speaking world in the last 50 years ago — and possibly even if you didn’t — you probably knew who Walter Mercado was.
A strange amalgam of Liberace, Charo and Tony Robbins, Mercado was a genderfluid TV astrologer, who explained your sign and what your fortunes would be.
And interestingly, it was virtually always upbeat, positive. Even in super-macho Latino culture, his becaped flamboyance was given a pass.
He was an unlikely star. But a star he really was. I was not one of those weaned on Mercado’s campy cheerfulness, but looking from the outside, you might think Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado is a mockumentary, so improbably was Mercado’s worldwide popular success, but after watching this new