Latin American Representation in Motion Pictures
Latin American Representation in Motion PicturesMy friends and I love going to the movies. There is nothing like the taste of buttery, warm popcorn, an ice-cold soda and a great movie. We enter the movie theatre and find the perfect seat, not too close and not too far, but perfectly in the middle. As the pre-views finish and the lights begin to dim, our anticipation and excitement builds for the movie we having waiting to watch. When the movie starts and the credits begin we are sometimes presented with Latino names, such as, "Lopez," "Garcia," "Hayek," "Banderas," "Perez," "Rodriguez," "Gonzalez," and many others. When I am with my friends we can't help but cheer and feel a sense of pride. However, this feeling is quickly disrupted when we realize that the roles of our Latino stars are that of servants or drug addicts. As I witness these images, my pride slowly disappears and I feel embarrassed. I ask myself why are they speaking that way? Why do they act that way? The answers that I found were more profound than I imagined. In this paper, I will explore the various representations, depictions and portrayals of Latin American women in American Hollywood. Specifically, I will identify the dark shadow of negative i
" This role is evident in her film Flying Down to Rio. " Miramax's Gill comments on the success of "Spy Kids," which was put out by his studio's Dimensions imprint, is helping set in motion what he calls a new wave of Latino films (Chronicle). Change Is Coming Soon The second portion of this piece attempts to answer the question, "Have things really changed?" At issue is not just whether Latin Americans and Latina women are present on the screen, for the first portion of this paper demonstrates that Latin Americans can get into Hollywood. Torres was cast for her sexual and seductive appeal as the female temptress to lead the very willing Groucho down the garden path. In doing so, they have embedded an inferiority complex of not only Latin Americans, but also every other ethnic minority. As in all of the other films, Velez was the Latina revolving around an Anglo love interest. Maria in Westside Story illustrates the best example of the seņorita. She played upper-class, light-skinned aristocratic "foreign-Other. Her role is primarily behaving in any alluring fashion. Throughout the film, Rosie stays home, as the mother in the private sphere (Valdivia 1998). One example of the vamp character is Raquel Torres from the 1933, Marx Brother film, Duck Soup viewed during the course. " This winter, Miramax will release two English-language films featuring well-known Latino actors: "Pinero," about the outlaw New York Puerto Rican playwright and poet Miguel Pinero, played by Benjamin Bratt, and "Frida," starring Salma Hayek as the famed Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (Chronicle).
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Acceptance Essays
