"Hollywood not Brown Enough" Do Latinos Care?
•February 2, 2018
That time of the year, the 90th Annual Academy Awards is about to happen again. There is also that usual annual conversation about Hollywood not broadening the circle of opportunities in the acting categories for minorities. So much for Hollywood being a bastion of liberalism.
There are those who argue that “competition” is not only in the best interest of the arts but said “competition” makes actors and actresses better. Additionally, these defenders of the status quo assertively claim that “talent,” not ethnicity should be the primary consideration in awarding Oscars. Furthermore, they claim that it is silly to protest about Hollywood lacking diversity. Hollywood is driven by money and it shouldn’t engage in any exercise of affirmative action, they further argue. They also stated that giving awards based on one’s color of the skin will utterly destroy excellence. Why professional basketball a sport where players are overwhelmingly male and black is not being called out? They ask.
Of course, the counter-argument for the opinion above is that diversity is profoundly important for the stability of any pluralistic society. It is not only consequential for making democratic institutions stronger but diversity also validates said institutions. Pluralistic societies enjoy stability as people respect and feel more represented seeing people like them running institutions that serve them
When it comes to the acting categories, Latinos actors and actresses are overlooked in this town. We should use our economic power to demand more opportunities for our talented actors and actresses. Yes, 23% of the moviegoers are Latinos. That is, almost in 1 in 4 of these filling those movie theaters is a Latino.
Comedian Chris Rock wrote an essay back in 2013 for the Hollywood Reporter, in which he courageously wrote: “Forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You’re in L.A, you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans.” Yes, this is sadly true. And when Latinos are hired they play characters usually reinforcing offensive stereotypes.
Those running Hollywood studios unbelievably think that having Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, and Sofia Vergara presenting at the Oscars is enough for Latinos. This is so offensive. Latinos, in this industry, desperately need more opportunities. Sofia Vergara has literally humiliated Latinos with all her idiotic comments whenever she is on stage. This woman appears to sadly believe that the only way to survive in Hollywood is to humiliate herself and mocks our community {click here to watch her presenting on stage}.
Another attempt to give Latinos a false sense of representation in Hollywood was this recent film, “Coco.” Lee Unkrich, a movie director who came up with this well-through-out idea about an animated film on an important cultural day among Latinos: “El Dia de Los Muertos.” He knew, without Latinos, the studio was not going to be able to sell the film to Latinos. Hence he recruited a Latino co-director, largely all voice Latino cast, and a whole bunch of sell-out Latino consultants. It is not clear how animated characters can be equated with real Latino beings. Yes, this movie about recognizing a Latino’s story while laughing all the way to the bank. What is truly needed is the recognition of our talented Latino actors and actresses by giving them more opportunities. Viola Davis got it right, “The only thing that separates people of color from anyone else is an opportunity.”
Some statistics here in order to get some perspective of what is the issue at hand; there are about 54 million Latinos here in the United States, approximately 18% of the US population. Any study shows that Latinos have been making great strides in politics. Yes, Latinos have accumulated some political powers. And economically speaking, Latinos’ purchasing power has gone up significantly. We went from having a purchasing power of $495 billion in 200o to almost $1,6 trillion last year. Have some strides been made? Yes. But in light of the 54 million Latinos living in this country, we are still grotesquely underrepresented in many institutions. A recent study done in the school of communication at USC shows that Latino characters in Hollywood is a meager 3.1% despite us being 18% of the population. 
Whenever conversations take place about race in Hollywood, the substance of said conversations is usually about opportunities for African-Americans. Deservedly so, African-Americans are more organized for filing grievances for black actors and actresses. Unlike Latinos in this country, African-Americans have national leaders that coordinate protests throughout the nation. Many times these protests have forced those in positions of power to come to the table and negotiate. Latinos need to borrow a page from this playbook and demand more opportunities from those who run studios in Hollywood.
According to the Census, the population of African-Americans is about 13.4 or approximately 39 million. And the number of Black characters in Hollywood is about 13.6. Evidently, African-Americans have done a very good job of forcing the elites from Hollywood to provide more opportunities to blacks actors and actresses. Latinos don’t have national leaders that could unite the different factions among Latinos. Indeed, Latinos neither have a Jessie Jackson, Cornel West, or Al Sharpton to mention a few nor Latinos have robust civil rights organizations to militantly ask the question justice.
In 2015 and 2016 African-Americans accused Hollywood of not being “Black enough.” Rightfully so, After two years of harsh and well-deserved criticism over “back-to-back slates of all-whites nominees” for the Oscars. Things radically changed in 2017, this year was a year that people of color in Hollywood celebrated. Seven minority actors got nominated and six of them were blacks. Did that fall from the sky? Of course not. Leaders in the African-American community were successful in organizing and agitating their members in their community. They were in the streets protesting and calling out racist Hollywood.
There is that saying that we, Latinos, just care for immigration. And that this is the only issue that we get us animated to hit the streets. Yes, it appears so. We don’t have movements such as “Brown lives matter,” or “Hollywood is not brown enough.” Even when many Latinos are killed yearly in the hands of law enforcement people and Hollywood utterly ignored brown people. There is so much need for agitating and organizing our community. L.A. County, coroner’s data shows that in the last eight years half of all people killed by police were Latinos. In 2015, Gardena police department was forced by a judge to release a video where Ricardo Diaz Zeferino who was unarmed was killed by officers from this city. The media covered it but there was literally no protest other than family members demanding justice.
The struggle is real, Latinos are very complex and difficult to unite. We are the fastest minority group growing in this country. And we are facing profound challenges dealing with poverty, education, housing and lack of opportunities in Hollywood. We clearly need to re-align our mainstream image that we just march and protest for immigration reform. We have to do the hard work of organizing and agitating our community. We have the economic and political power that can be utilized to advance a broader Latino agenda.
Thank you for reading.
Chamba Sanchez
2/01/2018
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Sources consulted.
Barnes. Brooks. “After #OscarsSoWhite, Hispanics Seek Their Hollywood Moment.” New York Times 21 Jan. 2018. Web. 25 Jan. 2018.
Buckley, Cara. “The Oscars and Race: A Stir Over Rules to Change the Academy.” New York Times 27 Jan. 2017. Web. 26 Jan. 2018.
Moreno, Carolina. “The Oscars Are Happy To Recognize Latino Stories, But Not Latino Actors.” HuffPost-Latino Voices 18 Jan. 2018. Web. 1 Feb. 2018.
Santa Cruz, Nicole. Ruben Vives. Marisa Gerber. “Why the deaths of Latinos at the hands of police haven’t drawn as much attention.” Los Angeles Times 18 July 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
Smith, Stacy L, Marc Choi, et al. “Inequality in 900 Popular Films: Examing Portrayals of Gender, Race,/Ethnicity, LGBT, and Disability from 2007-20016.” USC School for Communication and Journalism July 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2018.
Riley, Janelle. “Oscars: Record Six Black Actors Nominated, Diversity Improves After Controversy.” Variety 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 27 Jan. 27 2018.
Rock, Chris. “Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood’s Race Problem: “It’s a White Industry.” Hollywood Reporter 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2018.
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Photo Credit: Photos above came from Bigstock
A week ago, if I remember correctly, I was listening to the radio. I heard the newscaster making a comment about the song Despacito, and I think it was nominated to be the #1 song of the year, but then a few days later they had chosen another song to be the #1, I don’t remember exactly what song they chose, but I agree with your article. Everyone knows that Despacito was very popular all over the U.S. And it didn’t get chosen because of the fact that it’s a latino song. I strongly believe, that the only reason why they were more nominees on the BET last year was because of the fact that Hollywood was getting slammed of the fact that they were being racist, because only White took home grammies. Who knows how many doors they have closed to the Latino’s that want to pursue their career as an actor or singer. We all want to succeed in this country, but how can we do so, if the fact that our skin is another color other than white. You’re right, us latinos need to stand up for our community, and have a slogan as great as “Black Lives Matter”. Get our voices heard, and see if we can make a difference!
Wow! I am lost for words. I never really put much attention into any of this and I probably would have not realized it if it was not for this blog. It is really disappointing to see that no one is fighting for brown equality. I have always heard about Black lives matter and people fighting for black equality but it is true that no one has fought for brown equality. Nothing will get done if we are not willing to fight for our rights and for what we believe in. I am a strong believer in the quote “be the change you want to see in this world” and I believe that we should all practice this. As a Latina, I am disappointed in not only myself but in my people for not uniting and standing up for each other. Many of us Latinos complain so much about not seeing many Latin faces representing us however none of us are doing anything about it. I applaud the African-Americans/Blacks for having the will to stand up for each other and for what they believed in and for actually taking action and making change for their people. I think that it is time us latinos learn a thing or two from them and do the same and start to fight for equal opportunities especially in the Hollywood industry.
The average of minorities playing in films is pretty low, but it is not like there is absolutely no minorities present in the films. They may not be the main star or have a big scene in all films. Majority are played as extras, because directors are required to have a token of each nationality in films or could be subject to a lawsuit. Everybody is not able to be a star, but I agree that people should have more movie time. The rate of people going to see these movies and watching the Oscars should have equal opportunity as the majority.
Being an African in American does not come good for all of us women. You may see us in Hollywood sometimes yet some of our women do not get paid as much as a white Americans do in Hollywood. According to the comedian Monique Hicks, she was only offered $500,000 from Netflix for a standup comedy while Amy Schumer was offered $11 million for hers. Monique decided to call it gender bias and she started a movement to boycott Netflix. She is offended enough to stand up for her rights as a legendary comedian. Sometimes African American women is always under the pressure for not achieving much so she is fed up and now it is time for a movement. If Latino men and women were pressured enough to the point they feel hopeless maybe it is time to stand up for what you believe in and don’t feel ashamed for doing it. At times if you stand up and protest the media and others might call you animals and shame you for wanting to be heard. But how much are you going to take, when is it going to be time for you to stand up for you and your people? A Black women named Monique was tired of being out cased so here she if starting a movement.
This article proves a good point that hispanic are usually underestimated and do not get major roles in the film industry. And when they do get role they are the maids, janitors or portray a role of an undocumented individual. Although that is in fact one of the reasons why some people do not stand up, this article states that African Americans do take leadership, on the other hand Hispanics have fear. Many of the individuals are not here legally therefore they stand back and do not speak up. On the hand, those who say they represent the Latino community only let themselves be humiliated like Sofia Vergara. I’ve personally never been a fan of her because she makes us look dumb, she has a tendency to make dumb remarks. For that reason one of her shows in which she comes out Modern Family, she over acts and fakes her accent. We need people who will fill in the role but show how we really are smart and very humble. If they were to have more Latinos, the film industry might actually notice how much effort they put into their work. I do agree that there needs to be more unity and Latinos need to join forces to overcome the mainstream image.
I would like to start off by saying that, I could not agree more with this article. This article took the words out of my mouth. As a female Latina living in this country, I feel like my people are being left out and seen as minorities in this country. Americans do not think we are capable of doing amazing things, the majority think we are only good for doing labor jobs for them. Labor jobs such as: Cleaning their houses,plumbing their restrooms, being the nanny of their kids etc. However, that is not the case, Latinos are more than just “maids” we are hard working people who deserve the same opportunities. There are not enough Latinos’ in Hollywood representing our community. My favorite shows consist of only White Americans. Whenever, they include a Latino in a movie or show, the actor either speaks broken English, portrayed as a criminal or immigrant. I am tired and angry of this situation. I would like to see more Latino’s who look like me, who are bilingual in Spanish and English, and who are proud of their culture. I believe that Hollywood should consider more Latino’s in their movies; it is tedious to see the same white skin color people over and over. It is important for Latinos to unite and fight for the profound challenges we are facing. Our voices need to be heard, not by violence but by educating ourselves for our rights. We need more latinos in Hollywood, but we also need more voices that represent us in politics, business, academia, law, and entertainment. We need America to become “Brown enough.”
I would like to start off by saying that, I could not agree more with this article. This article took the words out of my mouth. As a female Latina living in this country, I feel like my people are being left out and seen as minorities in this country. Americans do not think we are capable of doing amazing things, the majority think we are only good for doing labor jobs for them. Labor jobs such as: Cleaning their houses,plumbing their restrooms, being the nanny of their kids etc. However, that is not the case, Latinos are more than just “maids” we are hard working people who deserve the same opportunities. There are not enough Latinos’ in Hollywood representing our community. My favorite shows consist of only White Americans. Whenever, they include a Latino in a movie or show, the actor either speaks broken English, portrayed as a criminal or immigrant. I am tired and angry of this situation. I would like to see more Latino’s who look like me, who are bilingual in Spanish and English, and who are proud of their culture. I believe that Hollywood should consider more Latinos in their movies; it is tedious to see the same white skin color people over and over. It is important for Latinos to unite and fight for the profound challenges we are facing. Our voices need to be heard, not by violence but by educating ourselves for our rights. We need more Latinos in Hollywood, but we also need more voices that represent us in politics, business, cademia, law, and entertainment. We need America to become “Brown enough.”
This was something that i have never actually thought about, i didn’t realize that there weren’t many Hispanic actors or actresses. but now that i think about it… where are all of the Hispanic actors?? I have seen the movies Coco, i thought it was a cute film, but however i didn’t realize that it was a sell out film. I feel that there should be something done so that Hollywood would be equal to every race, every color. i feel like this system is unfair, i went to auditions for my daughter and was told that because she had brown eyes she wasn’t what they were looking for. it didn’t hit me until i saw the commercial that they were casting foe as to what they were looking for and they were all white with colored eyes. when people were protesting for “Black Lives matter” it didn’t come to mind as to why there wasn’t one for Brown lives matter. i honestly believe there should be no one who is more privileged then the other i always say this and will always believe that we are all the same, if you turn every single human inside out, rich, poor, black, white, or any other race we are all the same, our blood is red when oxygenated, our organs are the same, we all bleed the same, and for someone to think they are more then anyone else then that person is the one who needs to live the life of someone else. but back the the real problem there should be something done so that Hollywood, can have more diversity. and as far as Sofia i believe she sold out to make the money, she may feel like she is serving but i feel like she can be the one to change the game but sadly it may be to late. Black, Asian, and Hispanic, and every other race should have an opportunity to seek their dreams in Hollywood.
This article is good at pointing out with some issues that we see at our cinemas. Yes theres is a lack of latinos in film, and this can be attributed to many reason. Firstly, how many latinos are going into film making and acting? is it the same amount of other ethnicities? Another thing, Some latino countries have their own film markets. There are examples of latino movies making it into American movie theatres, and that should not be looked over. Also, we should recognize that having connections plays a big role in hollywood. Many actors are pretty much brought into films because of people they know. Maybe hispanic actors should do the same with people they believe can play the part and represent the latino community well. Lastly, we should not mark those who get job opportunities as “sell outs”. These people were hired because they knew the most about a certain topic. You cannot ask a european to make a movie about Mexican culture because they will hve no clue about it. The movie had a target audience. It is simply smart business.
I notice that each time a major award ceremony, like the Oscars, takes place the topic of diversity is brought up. The fact that the lack of diversity is only brought up during this season is very sad, and it angers me that many of these topics are treated by like fads by the media. For example, right now the popular topic is the #MeToo movement. I’m glad there is awareness regarding the issue of sexual harassment, but these topics should be a regular conversation. We should be engaging in these issues everyday, and not just when these award ceremonies take place. Too often, I see that the controversial topic being talked around this award season is forgotten on the next.
I was surprised to realize that in a community where there are predominantly Latino individuals, 18% of the population, only 3.1% are hired actors. It’s sad that even with an overwhelming population we continue to be underrepresented. And when we are represented it is done in a stereotypical manner that is demeaning. Sometimes this is done very subtly that I didn’t even realize it. I remember I saw the awards and when Sofia Vergara was presenting, and at that time it didn’t cross my mind that it was demeaning. Looking back at it, with this information, I can see how offensive this is. Sofia Vergara’s stereotypical comment had a comedic undertone, and sadly this is how Hollywood gets away with depicting Latinos negatively. I thought that Latinos were well represented in Hollywood because of Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz, but after reading this article I realize that it’s the same actors we rely on to make this statement. We often rely on these false representations, and I can speak from experience because I too believed it. When the movie “Coco” came out I was happy that my culture was being exposed to others, but sadly all of this was driven by white individuals. Sure they casted Mexican actors, but the true people profiting from my culture where white directors. In reality Latinos are not well represented in Hollywood. This article brought up the serious point that there has been an increase in African American actors because they have organized themselves to speak on this issue. In 2015 and 2016 they made the true accusations that “black enough”, and because of this we have seen an increase of their representation. I think this is great, and I feel like Latinos can learn from the organization of the African American community. I feel our topics of discussion often deals with immigration, but I feel like we should also engage in the conversation of underrepresentation. The lack of diversity in Hollywood is an issue that goes back to a problem of race and inequality, and this is something that affects us all. We have the number of people, and if we just organize well enough we can raise awareness to this prominent issue.
I honestly never paid much attention to this. Now that I realize this I put two and two together, and there are not that many minorities playing in films. The other day I came upon an article about films that have “Hispanic characters” not played by Hispanics. That’s unbelievable, how can a person take credits for another person nationality? For example, Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has played Latina characters on a number of occasions, most notably in the screen adaptation of a Zorro. Although Shakira and Salma Hayek were both reportedly considered for the role of Elena Montero, Zeta-Jones ultimately played her in both Zorro and its sequel, The Mask of Zorro. The actress will also play Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco in the upcoming biopic The Godmother. Also, Drug lord Pablo Escobar certainly, ranks among the most recognizable Latino figures of all time, however producers chose to cast New Zealand-born, Maori actor Cliff Curtis as the King of Cocaine in the 2001 drama, Blow. They don’t give much credibility to Hispanics and others are also taking their cultural roles. I think that Latinos should have more movie time in films and get to play their own race. Many Latinos complain about not seeing enough Latinos on the big screen in Hollywood. They are not doing much about it to be recognized in the Hollywood world. Actor and producer Gina Rodriguez impacted the 2018 Academy Awards nominations and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for failing to nominate a single Latin actor this year. “How I feel about the #Oscars this morning and the lack of Latinos,” she tweeted, quoting veteran actress Viola Davis. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity” -Viola Davis (Thank you @RealGDT and @pixarcoco for being our visibility).” Even though her tweet was brutally honest I completely agree with her. We might live in 2018 but there’s still no equality. I’ve always thought that everyone should be treated the same way. I see that not everyone thinks like that. Many artists are standing up for what they believe in and it might just get the attention of others. As a community we should do the same and rise up to be heard.
I completely agree with how you feel about not being knowledge in society. The Latin community is growing at large and need to be appreciate for their natural talent that most white’s in America take credit for. However, in the We have the Martin Luther King parade, a parade were people are supposed to come together to celebrate a man that was able to jump start change in the community. We can’t even enjoy the parade because people are fighting and being reckless. In the Latino community, someone has to stand and be that Martin Luther King and fight for equality.
Like you said Latinos are hard to unite, they only care for immigration because most of them here are immigrants that’s fine. Most of the people that want more representation in Hollywood are the ones that are the offspring of immigrants that were born here, or people that care for award shows. I see the only benefit of more Latinos being in more films is that more people would care for the issues that involve Hispanics. Latinos don’t have a strong voice for things compared to black people, there are so little things we unite under that it’s hard to fight for things that involve representation especially if the argument against your kind is that they should get deported and are criminals. When we do have actors portraying Hispanics they enforce the stereotypes they put us under, this really takes us a step backwards were we are a big joke to Americans that don’t put the effort to look into our culture and represent accurately. We had Coco release last year representing the famous dia de los Muertos concept, but our culture not only has that holiday that could be used to represent us, our culture is an abundance of things ranging from clothes, food, to how we view family. To get more representation in Hollywood there needs to be more incentive for these executives to put out movies that accurately represents us.
I honestly never ever paid much attention to whatever happens in Hollywood. Many Latinos complain about not seeing enough Latinos on the big screen in Hollywood. They are not doing much about it to be recognized in the Hollywood world. I’ve always thought that everyone should be treated the same way. I see that not everyone thinks like that. Many artists are standing up for what they believe in and it might just get the attention of others. As a community, we should do the same and rise up to be heard. When the movie Coco came out I was very excited to it because I knew that was my culture. It was being exposed to others, but sadly all of this was driven by white individuals. Sure, they casted Mexican actors, but the true people profiting from my culture where white directors. If we actually think about it, Latinos are not well represented in Hollywood. I feel like Latinos can learn from the organization of the African American community and maybe all come together to start some sort of movement. The lack of diversity in Hollywood is an issue that goes back to a problem of race and inequality, and this is something that affects us all. We have the number of people, and if we just organize well enough we can raise awareness to this prominent issue. I’m tired of seeing Latinos in movies where there are being stereotype. Whenever, they include a Latino in a movie or show, the actor either speaks broken English, portrayed as a criminal or immigrant. I am tired and angry of this situation. I would like to see more Latino’s who look like me, who are bilingual in Spanish and English, and who are proud of their culture. I believe that Hollywood should consider more Latinos in their movies; it is tedious to see the same white skin color people over and over.
After reading this blog, I felt anger for the injustice towards actors from minorities. I strongly agree with the quote “Hollywood is still so white”, most of the movies we watch have mostly white actors. They do a great job of course but actors of color should also have the opportunity to show their talent and what they’re capable of achieving. The few movies that do have Latino actors or African American actors, always have characters that act or talk like a “Mexican” or a “Black” would. I’ve noticed that those movies use Latino and African American stereotypes to give their movie some kind of comedy, but honestly it’s disrespectful to my people. Hollywood doesn’t have the diversity they claim to have, they discriminate minorities. So we shall protect them from the danger like our founding father James Madison advised us to. But who is to blame? I believe us people are also guilty for allowing it. We see it happening and complain about it but don’t go out there and protest on the issue. Hollywood shall give opportunities to all actors regardless of their race, ethnicity, or gender. They all deserve to walk on the red carpet and get an Oscar.
I always assumed that the Latino community was well represented in Hollywood. However, after reading this article, I started to think about how Hollywood portrayed our community. We need to inform the high profile actors and actresses when they decided to take on roles that based on stereotypes it sends the wrong message to young Latino actors and actresses. They should focus on roles and films that are going to inspire and empower. Actor Michael Pena portrayed activist Cesar Chavez in the 2014 film based on Chavez’s fight for migrant workers.
Yes. I agree on your article on how many of those big influences do not give the Latinos an opportunity or chance in the big screen or become someone well-known. There is a lack of diversity within our society. Americans do not think we are capable of doing the same things they do, the majority think we are only good for doing labor jobs for them. Labor jobs such as: cleaning their houses. However, that is not the case, Latinos are more than just “labor workers” these people are hard working individuals, who deserve the same opportunities as the white individuals. There are not enough Latinos’ in Hollywood representing our community on the big screen. The reason many of these Latinos do not fight to be noticed is due to the fact many of them are undocumented and these white men stir up fear into them. Personally, i love the film “Coco” and although it was created and directed by white individuals, we cannot entirely say they have no right to expose our culture without knowing anything about it. The film had Latino men and women and of course before they put the whole movie they got expert advice and the tradition and got inspired by their culture and structures. But in other cases there has been a lack of diversity, especially in award shows. but , when one Latino wins an award then they make a speech to remind all of us how important it is to be seen and taken seriously because we cannot let our society walk all over us.
For years now they have been trying to tell our stories. Plagued with fallacies and contempt they attempt to a story that they’re not familiar with themselves but it sounds like a good story that people would pay to see. Maybe Oprah and the Latino community could form a network that supports all ethnicities. If there is not a way to get in the in a circle then the next feasible solution would be to support and elevate one another. Grown children are what the adults in the position to help others act like. If they don’t let me play I’m taking all my toys home. Remind you of Republicans, huh? The structure needs to be restructured, with new faces that bring about a fresh new look. and that look can be threatening to starve white actors/actresses. In this day and age, you got to force a change in order to bring about an opportunity.
Well, firstly I don’t really understand what you mean by “Black Speaking, Latino Speaking and Asian Speaking”. Is that a mistake?
And secondly we should be glad as a society that there is no another “*Insert racial group* Lives Matter” organization because all lives matter, period. BLM has been the exact opposite of a civil rights movement, they campaign for segregation. Martin Luther King must be spinning in his grave because people who claim to espouse his views actually support segregation that he so valiantly fought.
And finally, i can only say that Hollywood is just a pile of shit on many levels and it should be banished into irrelevance. It’s a “society” that treats women like sex objects and minorities like tokens to show their progressiveness. What latino people should do (in my humble opinion) is not make this issue into a race war, but into a culture war. Trust me, white, black, asian and latino people who despise Hollywood have way more in common than they have with those in the Hollywood industry.
See the graph above, “speaking” is used when individual play some sort of character in an acting category – It is a sort of lingo being used in this industry
In addition, Alexie – Saying that “all lives matter” is a distraction to the misery that African Americans are facing in this country with the justice system. If a handicapped individual asks for access to higher education and institutions of education tell him that accommodating him will be obscenely expensive and the handicapped student scream at top of his lungs that “handicapped students’ education matter.” Then, the president of the university or students respond that all “students’ education matters.” This will be just a cop-out and would imply that they don’t care about access for these handicapped students. It is the same thing when one argues and tell African American students that “all lives matter,” It is mocking them for having dared to say “Black lives matters.”
I have to agree with this article, there aren’t many Hispanic actresses or actors. I honestly feel Hollywood producer’s have something against Hispanic actresses and actors. Hispanic actresses and actors are constantly being snubbed when it come to them winning Oscars and Golden Globes. Hispanic’s have now taking matters into their own hands by now directing their own movies staring Hispanic’s. Hispanic’s are normally passed looked at and are placed in movies as extras or with a very small role. I feel every race deserves a chance in Hollywood.
After reading this commentary it is blatantly clear that the primary reason for the lack of Latino participation in Hollywood is “the lack of opportunity” as I speak in a toned down manner. However in the spirit of Truth the problem in Hollywood and America is RACISM. I can see that definitely there needs to be more national leadership in the Latino community to push the agenda of more inclusion. On the other hand I also believe the Latino community is better suited at creating their own Oscars. Why even desire to play in another’s sandbox when you can build your own.
I suggest the Latino community follow in the footsteps of one of my high school graduating class mates, Jeff Friday, who saw the lack of a place for Blacks in cinema and created “The American Black Film Festival” which is held annually. This is event has been in action since 1997.
At the same time I don’t think the Latino community should stop advocating to be included. The Latino community is an integral part of this country. Like in the Constitution it says WE the people, not We the white people only.
Hollywood is a marketing tool for the whites. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Most often than not, it’s a white man scripting and directing the films that we end up seeing on the big screen. An example of this would be “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons”, a huge demographic of the African American community absolutely despises the film due to its “unrelatable” scenery yet the whole cast is composed of Black actors. Forced diverse films will have a subtle nuance of racism inflicted to them. A popular TV show, Modern Family, one of the characters is Gloria played by Sofia Vergara is a feisty and implies using violence to solve problems (criminal stereotype), an immigrant that married a white man to get papers, and she has been deported countless of times but still manages to get back to the states. A comedic film consists of three parts Hangovers, Leslie Chow an antagonist has been continuously focused on his penis size or lack thereof. Those are prime examples of forced diversity in Hollywood.
Not so long ago, I attended a little community gathering about Asians in America. As I knew “my people” are doing considerably well in this economy and politics but not socially. Not in media- music, arts, and in the big screen. Even now I don’t see the problem with that; I mean demanding the 5.7% of the Asian population in the US to focus on screenplays and acting roles seems rather a regress and not progressive. Stereotypical Asian American Jobs- doctors, nurses, lawyers, dentist, etc. The people on the panel were talking about this topic which can be concerning to some but in retrospect not so much. How come the representation of Asians in Hollywood hasn’t been prominent? This is my exact response, “Write a story, then direct it yourself! Stop asking Hollywood to “fix” a problem that you and plenty of other aspiring Asian actors can solve” All were dumbfounded and luck of the draw, many others agreed with me and even saying “Should we force our youth to conform to our desired insecurities?” The insecurities they are referring to is the lackluster of Asian representation in the media and looking forward to it is rather- pathetic. They went on talking about “It isn’t ideal for the youth to stir them to the direction of possibly making less income that if they were doctors or lawyers”
It’s no secret that the vast majority of Hollywood fame is white. It’s been this way as long as I can remember. Hispanics among other minority groups such as the LGBT community, women, and those with disabilities have the least representation in Hollywood films. But why is that? Hispanics have been known for being hard workers, domesticated, and family-oriented. It’s the Hispanics that are out doing the work that no one else wants to do – construction, landscaping, fruit picking, etc. There are a few examples of Hollywood celebrities like the professor mentioned, but those examples are far an in between.
I think a big part of what keeps Hispanics at the bottom of the totem pole is where they rank in terms of intersectionality. Society has always placed whites above people of color; it’s leveled out more over the years, but there still remains an imbalance. Traditionally, men are seen as better and more valuable than women – and we can see this when we look at the wage gap between men and women. Lastly, we have to look at class structure. People of color own the working and poor class. People of color make up the working-class population. Hispanics face many obstacles and deal with many different forms of oppression due to their race, class, and gender, and in some cases political status.
It’s not uncommon to see Hispanics who don’t get involved in politics, don’t vote, and don’t let their voice be heard. They don’t see many other Hispanics making differences or representing them in a positive light. Hispanics need motivation and more inspiration. Hispanics need to come together like the African American population did and let their voice be heard. As the saying goes, “A closed mouth does not get fed.” Hispanics need to speak up, because at the end of the day they are talented humans too. Hispanics like any other ethnic population should be given primary roles in movies if they have the talent to do so. Hollywood fame should be based on what you can do, your performance, your talent, and what you bring to the table; not your skin color. Hispanics must reunite and level out the playing field. Hollywood needs more color.
I think that everything that is said in this blog is 100% true but none of us Latinos seem to notice. We get blinded but the small recognition we get to see that we are not full being represented. I was not born in Mexico but I am A proud Latina and I stand with all of the minorities. We deserve to be rI cognizant for the important roles we play in movies and anywhere else. We have recently started moving up and I hope that Hollywood starts to recognize that Latinos and African Americans are strong workers. As for Sofia Vergara, it is such a shame that we have very few people to represent us Latinos in Hollywood and he rbeing one of them chooses to humiliate herself to get recognized. We Latinos work so hard and have so many people in the past that fought for rights and civil liberties and now we all should start to fight for our rights in Hollywood!
It’s no secret that the vast majority of Hollywood fame is white. It’s been this way as long as I can remember. Hispanics among other minority groups such as the LGBT community, women, and those with disabilities have the least representation in Hollywood films. But why is that? Hispanics have been known for being hard workers, domesticated, and family-oriented. It’s the Hispanics that are out doing the work that no one else wants to do – construction, landscaping, fruit picking, etc. There are a few examples of Hollywood celebrities like the professor mentioned, but those examples are far and in between.
I think a big part of what keeps Hispanics at the bottom of the totem pole is where they rank in terms of intersectionality. Society has always placed whites above people of color; it’s leveled out more over the years, but there still remains an imbalance. Traditionally, men are seen as better and more valuable than women – and we can see this when we look at the wage gap between men and women. Lastly, we have to look at class structure. People of color own the working and poor class. People of color make up the working-class population. Hispanics face many obstacles and deal with many different forms of oppression due to their race, class, and gender, and in some cases political status.
It’s not uncommon to see Hispanics who don’t get involved in politics, don’t vote, and don’t let their voice be heard. They don’t see many other Hispanics making differences or representing them in a positive light. Hispanics need motivation and more inspiration. Hispanics need to come together like the African American population did and let their voice be heard. As the saying goes, “A closed mouth does not get fed.” Hispanics need to speak up, because at the end of the day they are talented humans too. Hispanics like any other ethnic population should be given primary roles in movies if they have the talent to do so. Hollywood fame should be based on what you can do, your performance, your talent, and what you bring to the table; not your skin color. Hispanics must reunite and level out the playing field. Hollywood needs more color.
I strongly believe that Hispanics aren’t acknowledged through the film industry in Hollywood. Unfortunately if you do see a Hispanic playing a role in movies , they’re either selling drugs , they’re maids , gang members , being arrested by the authorities , you name it. You watch your typical show Family Guy , and you have a maid after the name of Consuela and it’s very stereotypical. They make a lot of racist and stereo typical remarks on Hispanics. The show wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t for discrimination. You might think that we play a role in Hollywood as a Hispanic population but we are just being degraded by Americans. The movie coco , was written by an American man , with the assistance of Hispanic characters. In my perspective you cannot write about a culture of you know nothing of it or didn’t grow a part of it . It’s like Americans owning a Mexican Restaurant claiming it’s 100% Mexican with white employees. Americans have portrayed Hispanics as the lower class , we aren’t acknowledged, but within ourselves we have so much potential. It’s difficult for a Hispanic to make it through Hollywood without being judged or stereotyped.
After reading this article, I got to the conclusion that I might be wrong respecting to some of my thoughts about this topic. I do have to admit, that I do not care that much about Latinos in Hollywood. I am not a movie fan and I do not watch T.V. that much; I do always find other ways to get entertained myself. I do never know what the latest movies are out in theaters, because I do visit a movie theater probably once or twice a year, and I am never familiar with the actors “in vogue”. I am not saying I do not like movies, of course, I have my favorite ones, but I can say that I watch a whole movie a couple of times per year. Usually, I do never read critics and articles about new movies at all. By the way, I love international and independent films. Even though I rarely I find the time to see one. On the other hand, I do remember those years of 2015 and 2016 in which there was a big movement of Black actors demanding more opportunities in the Hollywood industry. To be honest, I do remember that the first thing that came to my mind after knowing the news, was that I wanted to know why Black people were so furious about not finding opportunities in the film industry but none of them complained about not having other kind and more important opportunities in their lives in this rich country. As a Mexican and Latino immigrant in this country, I have felt so curious about the dreams and wishes most people have
from my community once they emigrate to this country. Many of us, without saying, the majority of us, leave their countries in the look for the opportunities they did not have in their own lands. Most of us, arrive to this country of the US with no academic education. I do not know so much about other countries in Latin America, but Mexico has the highest rate of illiteracy in Latin America, and that is one of the biggest reasons why many of us, do not “success” in this country. Many people from my country do not know how to write and read properly, and when they come to here, they focus themselves on working desperately so hard to make all the money possible, forgetting that school and academic education is also important to grow as an immigrant, human being, and Mexican. I have heard so many stories from Black and Latinos friends or just people that I meet somewhere, saying this: “My daughter does not want to go to school because she says she wants to be an actress, and if you are pretty or “hot” enough, you do not need to go to school for that”; a Mexican co-worker just told me that last week. I am not saying that is wrong or bad. I am not judging people. But I do believe that we should embrace our Latino communities to get interested on other possibilities to success in life. I do not think that being more accepted as a Latino in the Hollywood industry is the answer to success in this country and show the world that we also have “successful” and famous people inside our Latino communities in the U.S.. I really believe it, that we are capable of doing some more for this country, for the world, and for all the people in it.
We just have to find and teach the motivation to become something much better than a Hollywood celebrity.
We should work on improving our capacities to become medical doctors, engineers, scientists, or school professors. I am not saying being an actor is not a decent job; as a classical ballerina dancer, I do love arts with all my heart. I also act sometimes. To become a dancer, you also require some acting skills as well;
but we should teach our people that being an actor does not mean to become famous and rich.
We live in a world in which most people get obsesses with that. I know about so many great
actors who do not make money at all; and that is not because they are
not good actors, but just because they do not care about fame and the celebrity
business. Seeing Sofia Vergara playing ridiculous and stupid Latino characters does not affect me at all. I know so many people around me who know that not all Latinos are stupid. These kind of people feel a profound respect for us. These people I know, most of them white and Asian, know the good things and qualities found in us. I never watch the Oscar Academy Awards ever, because that academy bases its awards only on the people they
do consider are the only important ones in the film industry. And I know, that out there, and all around the world, better actors and better movies are found. I would love the people from my Latino community could grow and have better opportunities in life to become better citizens, human beings and Latinos in this country; but I do not think that those opportunities are found in Hollywood. We have more valuable things to do and offer to this country than playing stupid roles or showing our bodies in the movies.
Thank you.