Reading in Spanglish

Weekend Roundup :: Slut-shaming edition

There have been several articles floating the internet regarding an Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism study (University of Southern California) that said that Hispanic females are more likely to appear naked or scantily clad on-screen, on top of Latinos being vastly underrepresented, anyway. Especially compared to our high ticket sales and $1 trillion purchasing power.

I have a favor to ask: Get on twitter. Tell me your favorite film (past or future) that features a Latin@ actor/director/writer and use the hashtag #supportlatinofilm – here’s the trailer for mine – and below are my suggestions for your weekend reading.

 Let’s examine:

Race/Ethnicity in 600 Popular Films: Examining On Screen Portrayals and Behind the Camera Diversity :: via USC/Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism – read the study here for yourself.

One Absurd Statistic Shows Just How Bad Hollywood’s Latino Problem Is :: via Arts.Mic – I don’t know if the author read the whole study. He points to the “banner year” for black films, which the study showed didn’t coincide with continued under-representation of blacks in film since 2007. The author feels that politics is the solution.

Shut up and Take Off Your Clothes :: via Latina.com – This article, by a magazine targeted at Latinas, actually bothered to interview a Latina actor.

Why We Can’t Blame Latinas for their Hollywood Image :: via Latina.com – According to this article, because there’s nothing else, and hey, we gotta pay the bills.

Punto

This problem is complex one and these articles all pointed to different sources for the disparity and solutions. The NY Daily News article quotes  Demián Bichir as saying that Latinos should support smaller films with Latino directors/actors in lieu of blockbusters. He said:

“You would think that with Hispanics being so powerful in terms of spending that there would be a Latin superhero by now. You’d think Marvel would say, ‘Super Charro is here! Come see him fight against the bad guys!’ But in terms of superheroes or spectacular films like ‘Transformers,” the Hispanic community already is packing the theaters, so it’s not necessary.”

Let me make this clear: I don’t think that feminism can’t exist on par with owning your sexuality or being beautiful. Plenty of white actors are also playing strippers, and their nudity is often also very controversial. So if you think the role is good, take it. But it can’t be the only way we are represented.

I think the problem lies in a deep-seated national narrative that ignores Latinos. It also reflects our under-representation in other areas, such as politics. Quick! Think of Latino politicians! I thought of two off the top of my head. Uh, there are 100 Congress persons and 435 Representatives. And hey! I’m not far off. The 2011 Directory of Latino Elected Officials says there are 2 Latino senators and 31 Latin@ representatives. Um, that’s 2 percent and 0.07 percent, respectively.

I heard an NPR interview with Helen Mirren  this week about lack of meaty roles for women in general and what she said really struck me, and I’ll leave you with the quote as something to chew on:

“Don’t worry about roles in drama. That’s not your concern. Worry about roles for women in real life, because as night follows day, roles for women in drama will follow. And when you have a female president of America — which hopefully, maybe you will very soon — when you have female heads of hospitals, of legal firms, of schools, of universities, you will have roles for women in drama.”