Hollywood Is Failing Miserably at Latinx Representation, Study Shows - A report by USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found a severe lack of Latinx characters and actors in film. – VICE

[Silence of the Troons]

Spielberg’s Latinx ‘West Side Story’ Is Fighting Hollywood Whitewashing

His new cast is a correction to decades of white actors playing the movie's Puerto Rican roles.

www.vice.com

In his new Netflix special, Latin History for Morons, actor and comedian John Leguizamo takes his audience through a robust retelling of Latin American history. The special, taped last spring in New York, was inspired by the realization that his teenage son wasn’t learning about his ancestry in school. His son’s gap in education led Leguizamo, who is Colombian-American, on a research binge, which turned into the filmed special about overlooked Latinx contributions to American society.

Leguizamo’s special covers what he believes to be the essentials from the start of the Mayan civilization up to today, which he jokingly refers to as the “Pitbull” era. The historical walkthrough is structured to examine how Latinx people came from a sprawling empire made up of 70 million indigenous humans to a segregated society where they are now policed, targeted, and belittled at every turn.

The special is more than a history lesson. Within the first few minutes of the special’s start, Leguizamo admits that at times, his otherness as a Latino left him feeling hopeless because of historical erasure. He bluntly states, “If you don't see yourself represented outside of yourself, you just feel fucking invisible." With that statement, Leguizamo examines how genocidal wipeout from European conquistadors starting in 1492 and centuries of inaccurate, racist representation has plagued modern Latinx people.

A critique of the film is that, despite Leguizamo’s attempt to frame the Latinx experience as monolithic, it isn’t. Different facets of postcolonial-systematic oppression affect Latinx communities in different ways and Leguizamo's attempts to umbrella these issues was frustrating for some.

Surprisingly, one thing Leguizamo could have spent more time discussing was the representation of Latinx people in Hollywood, especially considering that he stated his children often relate to figures in modern pop culture more so than historical figures.

UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report 2018 found that while minorities represent nearly 40 percent of the total population in the United States in 2016, only 2.7 percent of all top film roles went to Latinx actors. In broadcast-scripted shows, Latinx people were underrepresented as well, playing six percent of all roles.

It’s easy when you’re naming off some of Hollywood’s Latinx super stars like Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria, Michael Peña, Sofia Vergara, and Salma Hayek. But as Leguizamo notes during the special, many Latinx actors have taken (consciously or subconsciously) typecasted roles that are overly sexual, domestic, criminally minded, or gang-related.

While monetary excess and long-term success appear to solidify the aforementioned Latinx actors into the Hollywood elite, it can be argued that honest, nuanced storytelling is not being made because of the lack of opportunities for writing, producing, and directing roles.

Latinx directors, over any other minority group, are the least likely to be on set in the director chair according to 2018’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. (Overall, 1.3 out of every 10 film directors are people of color.) When Latinx directors aren’t making executive decisions regarding the face of their films it shows—Latinx people have 5.6 percent the roles in cable scripted shows and, of the few movies made last year that did have a minority or Latinx lead, were least likely to get ample international distribution.

At one point in Leguizamo’s special, the actor states that, throughout the 33 countries that make up Latin America, they all stem from a handful of indigenous civilizations (Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs), and that no matter what borders now divide the modern countries, Latinx people all come from the same roots. It’s a romantic thought, but not one that explains the one-dimensional European-featured, loosely-curled hair of Latinx people in film.

For an example of this we can look to the CW's Charmed that premiered last month and was helmed by the creators of Jane the Virgin (Jessica O’Toole, Amy Rardin, and Jennie Snyder Urman). The show was initially marketed as a Latina version of the original 1990s hit show, but once the cast was set it was revealed that only one of the actresses is actually Latinx, Melonie Diaz. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Madeleine Mantock, who plays the eldest half-sister, identifies as Afro-Carribean and Sarah Jeffery, who plays the youngest half-sister, identifies as African-American. Rather than cast Latinas for the role of Latina sisters —which could have been just as visually diverse— the network went with white-passing Latinas.

There is a blatant discrepancy in the success of “white Latinx” actors versus Afro-Latinx actors in Hollywood, particularly when it comes to women. Last year’s Top 10 Latino Celebrities published by Variety featured Hayek, Vergara, Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba, and Cameron Diaz —Zoe Saldana was the only Afro-Latinx person represented. The discrepancy is also evident in the lack of Afro-Latinx representation on panels meant to uplift, promote, and hear the perspectives of working Latinas in Hollywood.

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The moment Europeans conquered the Americas, as Leguizamo narrates in his special, not only did they bring weapons, germs, and diseases to the continents—they brought Eurocentric idealism and anti-Blackness, as well. Though any ancestry test can quickly point out how many Latinx people have African roots within their bloodlines, generations of Latinx people inheriting European ideals and a lack of factual historical context of their ancestry have led to a pattern of anti-Black exclusion that blatantly thrives today.

Undoing the cultural erasure of Latinx contributions to American society isn’t an issue that’s going to be solved by one Netflix special. Money talks, and, in Hollywood, things will only change in front of and behind the camera when Latinx people demand better and more consistent representation through financial investment. The work also needs to be done internally to educate others how systematic oppression and colorism is ingrained into Latinx history—from the Caribbean to Central and South America. In the meantime, we can appreciate Leguizamo for attempting to start the conversation.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

>Latinx

Into the trash it goes.

 

[HeyYou]

Whitey forced latinxxx to hate niggers, we dindu nuffin. We have Africa running through our veins.

(Vice, you're not going to convince latinos they're black. You know and are trying to damage control that for latinos to address their lack of prominence in media the real issue that needs to be addressed is black overrepresentation, and latinos hate black people for reasons outside of white people.)

 

[Marco Fucko]

Whitey forced latinxxx to hate niggers, we dindu nuffin. We have Africa running through our veins.

(Vice, you're not going to convince latinos they're black. You know and are trying to damage control that for latinos to address their lack of prominence in media the real issue that needs to be addressed is black overrepresentation, and latinos hate black people for reasons outside of white people.)

Seriously, Hispanics are way more common throughout America than blacks but black Americans have way more of a presence carved out in media due to longer presence overall in the states.

Also how is Spielberg not dead or retired yet, and when was his last good project? A corny 1950s "gang" musical remake, are you shitting me?

 

[JohnLenin]

You best be getting your ass beat if you're hipanic and get caught saying latinx we don't play with that shit. Also again why do these people expect to learn about their heritage/culture at fucking school. Learning about it isn't the same as experiencing it and it's something these people will never have.

 

[Clop]

Latinx directors, over any other minority group, are the least likely to be on set in the director chair

Yeah, and if we push them over the others, then someone else is the least likely one. Are you seeing the fucking problem with this shit yet?

 

[HeyYou]

The other thing is literally nobody is complaining that the new West Side Story has Puerto Ricans (or if they cast literally any latino and called it a day). The movie looks to be accurately casting the gangs in regards to the source material and setting, like the male main lead being a huwhite dude. West Side Story isn't a "latinx" story, it's about two groups of people coming to accept and understand each other, which probably flies over this dipshit's head.

 

[Irwin M. Felcher]

Yeah, and if we push them over the others, then someone else is the least likely one. Are you seeing the fucking problem with this shit yet?

So long as they new "least likely one" is white men, then no. No, they do not.

 

[Clop]

So long as they new "least likely one" is white men, then no. No, they do not.

That's a big fucking trek to get whitey down to least likely in a white majority country. If by some miracle they managed to push enough people into the industry, it would be the wokest and brokest industry.

 

[HeyYou]

That's a big fucking trek to get whitey down to least likely in a white majority country. If by some miracle they managed to push enough people into the industry, it would be the wokest and brokest industry.

Pretty much why YA sales are dropping like a brick.

 

[Queen Elizabeth II]

I'll get upset about a lack of latin representation in Hollywood when the latinix trans-species space demigurls start getting upset about a lack of white representation in Telenovellas, Bollywood and Nollywood productions.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Also how is Spielberg not dead or retired yet, and when was his last good project? A corny 1950s "gang" musical remake, are you shitting me?

The last great summer blockbuster of his was Minority Report, although he's made some ok dramas since, most recently I thought Bridge of Spies was pretty good.

But he's in borderline sleep walking mode with the blockbusters today, Ready Player One was so mediocre, you'd never guess he directed it, it felt like it could have been directed by anyone, I keep dreaming of him knocking it out of the park one last time with a Jurassic Park caliber success, but that's seeming less and less likely.

And I hate that he's wasting his time with a West Side Story remake, that sounds so boring.

 

[Uranus Pink]

If anyone else had directed Ready Player One it would have better and less retarded than what Spielberg had done.

 

[The Cunting Death]

If anyone else had directed Ready Player One it would have better and less exceptional than what Spielberg had done.

Have you read that book? It would have been r3tarded regardless of who directed it.

 

[Terminus Est]

Seriously, Hispanics are way more common throughout America than blacks but black Americans have way more of a presence carved out in media due to longer presence overall in the states.

Also how is Spielberg not dead or retired yet, and when was his last good project? A corny 1950s "gang" musical remake, are you shitting me?

Hispanics? You mean there are more people from Spain in America? I didn't know that. Because that is what Hispanics are. Spanish as in Europeans.

 

[HeyYou]

Hispanics? You mean there are more people from Spain in America? I didn't know that. Because that is what Hispanics are. Spanish as in Europeans.

Is there a language barrier problem? Hispanic in the US means someone from any Spanish speaking country, whether it's Spain or its former colonies.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

"throughout the 33 countries that make up Latin America, they all stem from a handful of indigenous civilizations (Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs)"

This is complete bullshit. All three were nearly wiped out by disease and peonage and aside from a handful of countries (parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia) the lower classes were either replaced by African slaves or immigrants from Europe (in some countries with Asians). Latin Americans can be of any race. This idiot is conflating race with ethnicity. It's like saying Poles are of one race and Danes are of a different one altogether.

Whoever wrote this racist and ethnocentric garbage should be flogged.

Edit: Some South American countries have a large number of mixed race indigenous/Europeans, namely Peru/Bolivia/Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico do as well but they are in North America. The Spanish-Portuguese slave trade dominated the Caribbean and Atlantic Coasts of Latin America until the 19th century, None of the people from these countries believe they are all alike or even have anything in common as Simon Bolivar found to his dismay.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

I mean you got Sofia Vergara walking around with her dumb fake accent that she purposely plays up....
There was a 2003 interview she did on a talk show and her voice was completely normal. I don't get her at all

 

[d12]

Hispanics? You mean there are more people from Spain in America? I didn't know that. Because that is what Hispanics are. Spanish as in Europeans.

I have never heard anyone refer to Hispanics as peoples exclusively from Spain, what part of Bongland are you from?

 

[Queen Elizabeth II]

I've never heard anyone in Europe refer to someone originating from Spain in the English language as anything other than a Spaniard (In Britain and Ireland) or Spanish (Everywhere else).

Hispanic here pretty much exclusively refers to people originating from South American countries.