tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6591651039183833014.post2554663438666854021..comments2024-01-06T05:30:53.999-08:00Comments on Women and Media FA2013: Topic: Representation of Latinas in Film/TelevisionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6591651039183833014.post-29811977714051292312013-10-26T06:55:32.022-07:002013-10-26T06:55:32.022-07:00I think your topic is very interesting. There are ...I think your topic is very interesting. There are definitely hard felt latina stereotypes that keep being perpetuated in tv and in movies. Rebecca's point of the movie Drive's character or Irina transformed into a white Irene is significant and so relevant. You cannot watch anything with a Latina in it without seeing one or more of the stereotypes you mentioned in play. Do we remember Salma Hayek's sexy Mexican character from Fools Rush In, JLo's maid character in Maid in Manhattan or Eva Longoria in Desperate Housewives? And more recently, the maids of Devious Maids or Sofia Vergara as Gloria in Modern Family? Still, I think the point of Latinas only looking like Italians is a strong one and should be given more focus. Where are our Afro-Latinas and also where are our lighter Latinas? My friend who is born in Uruguay and looks "white" is constantly offended when other Latinas ask her to defend her Latinidad. Likewise, my Dominican friend is always asking why people assume she is black. Also, I thought it might be interesting to integrate the concept of language and the way that it serves the hierarchy. (When Sofia Vergara speaks in Spanish in modern family, it is merely used to show how crazy she is, she's yelling again but what she says doesn't matter). For this, see Gloria Anzaldua's book Borderlands, especially "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" <br /><br />Here are other things I found:<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/latino-stereotypes<br /><br />http://nbclatino.com/2013/01/15/opinion-latina-stereotypes-still-rule-tv-and-films/<br /><br />http://jmq.sagepub.com/content/82/1/110.short<br /><br />http://racerelations.about.com/od/hollywood/a/Five-Common-Latino-Stereotypes-In-Television-And-Film.htm<br />http://www.latina.com/entertainment/tv/ways-sofia-vergara-portrays-stereotype-modern-family?slide=0#axzz2ipmz9M8G<br /><br />http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/24/does-sofia-vergara-yell-too-much.html<br /><br />http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/05/24/3414814/commentary-sofia-vergaras-modern.html<br />http://racerelations.about.com/b/2012/03/26/is-sofia-vergara-playing-up-latina-stereotypes.htmAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06796854011159722528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6591651039183833014.post-65237214786568948312013-10-25T16:48:36.313-07:002013-10-25T16:48:36.313-07:00After I watched "Drive," I Google and IM...After I watched "Drive," I Google and IMDb searched the movie. Apparently it's based on a book by James Sallis. In the book, the character of Irina is Latina; in the movie, the director took the creative liberty of changing her to "Irene" and casting a white English actress, Carey Mulligan. According to the A.V. Club article with the director, Nicolas Winding Refn (http://www.avclub.com/articles/nicolas-winding-refn,61788/), "And of course, the biggest strange situation was Carey Mulligan, because in the book, [Irene] is Latina, because [The Driver] moves into a Latino area." So, Refn consciously whitewashed the character, all because "The minute [Carey Mulligan] came through that door, it was just me and my assistant in the house, I was like, 'You’re it.' There was something for me that said, 'I want to protect her.' And that is what The Driver does." Refn reached the conclusion that Mulligan could be "protected" despite being "...from England and she was blonde and completely the opposite person that I was searching for" and before watching any of her other performances. He cast her based on an existing narrative about protecting white womanhood, and what he heard about her from one of his producers. <br /><br />This is really striking to me because I don't often see representations of Latinas, except as background characters in stereotypical roles, like you wrote. Here was a great opportunity for a Latina role in a major feature film and it was whitewashed. Perhaps this example can help in your project.Rebecca Mitnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07951622178929705922noreply@blogger.com