Who’s our daddy? Short answer: Pedro Pascal.

Since his role as Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal solidified himself as the internet’s “daddy.” Videos under the hashtag “pedropascal” have over 8.6 billion views on TikTok, and it is showing no sign of slowing down. Whether it’s a clip from a movie, a photo shoot, or a red-carpet interview, everything Pedro Pascal goes viral.

Despite his popularity, Pedro Pascal’s rise to stardom status has not been met without controversy, especially with his status as the “daddy” of the internet. A particularly vocal segment of the internet thinks that this obsession with Pascal perpetuates unhealthy and outdated stereotypes relating to the role of men and women, reiterating the subservient role women were expected to adopt in the past.

Pascal himself has been seen to be uncomfortable in some interviews, as so many of them have been fixated on his “daddy” status; in others, however, he notably embraces the title, going so far as to refer to himself as such.

Many believe this hyper-fixation on Pascal’s attractiveness has taken attention away from his acting talents. Leader of the Hispanic Student Union, Sofia Hilgenberg, 23’, said the obsession with Pedro Pascal and “the daddy thing” overly objectifies Pascal utilizing the “Latin lover stereotype.”

A common feature of old Hollywood movies, this stereotype reduced attractive Latino men to portray them as “seducing white women” and “exotic,” said Hilgenberg.

Hilgenberg said this objectification of Latino and Hispanic people is a trend and “isn’t talked about enough,” which can be very harmful. In the case of Pascal, she says this increasing objectification has made many people “not see him as a person or an actor but as a sexual object.”

Lucas Silva, ‘23, disagrees. “Personally, I don’t really see it that way,” he said, “being Latino doesn’t seem to be at the center of [Pascal’s] public presence, so I’m not sure how that conclusion could be drawn.”

Silva thinks the obsession with Pascal is “just a trend,” and will eventually pass. “His acting in The Last Of Us was good,” he said, “but I think he’s also just another celebrity guy that people become obsessed with because he’s attractive.”

This discourse has yet to lessen Pascal’s appeal. The upcoming release of Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life, starring Pascal and Ethan Hawke, bodes well for Pascal’s continuing fame. 2023 may very well be his year.