Dolores del Rio was frequently casted for movie roles that embodied the “exotic” and “foreign” appeal popular in the 1920s. In the silent drama film The Loves of Carmen directed by Raoul Walsh in 1927, del Rio is depicted as a Spanish gypsy, Carmen, who has the power to seduce any man. She has her heart set on Don Jose, played by Don Alvarado, and plans to win him over. Their relationship begins to take a downfall, and Carmen falls for another man--a bullfighter named Escamillo. Saddened but determined, Don Jose embarks on a journey to make Carmen his true love again.
"A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story," presented by the Latino Theater Company, was a clever production written by Evelina Fernandez and directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela. The production, which was separated into three full-length plays, documented the experiences of a Mexican family throughout four generations. In the production, all of the actors had multiple roles, giving them the difficult task of creating a different character for each role. One of the talented actors who was able to achieve this goal was Xavi Moreno. Adding to the overall portrayal of the play, Moreno uses his body and voice as an instrument of dramatic expression to create the characters of Charlie in "Faith" and Juan Francisco in "Charity."
From our previous film showing, High Noon, we got a taste of how the Western genre portrayed Chicano/a characters. The late 1970’s saw a decline of the western, and “with the decline of the filmic western came the rise of the urban violence film” (Cortés 134). The 1980’s and 90’s saw film after film released portraying gang violence, and the Latino gang film was a “natural crossroads for sex, violence, and ethnicity” (Cortés 135). Some see these Latino gang members “as updated, modern variants of the Mexican bandit type” (Treviño). 1993 brought us the film Mi Vida Loca, which shows us the life of teenage Chicano/a gang members living in Echo Park, focused on the character known as Sad Girl.
Stereotypes are the main reason of the misconception of Hispanic, but are repeatedly use in cinema. As a matter of fact, many popular cultural cliché are used in films, such as “sombreros and […] Mexicans consuming only the three diet staples of chile, tacos, and liquor” (Hernandez). This suggest that cultural aspect of Hispanic’s life are showed in movie. However, there are often overused and become, by the same occasion, stereotypes, or they are used to make fun of Latinos.
The stereotypes that are often showcased in film and media are the temptress, the “ghetto” Latina, the spitfire, the tough Latina, the maid, the conservative Latina, and the clown. These stereotypes seem to create the identity of Latina women. It is said that Latina women have a Spanish accent and a homogenous look, slightly tan, and their bodies have a curvy shape. In reality, Latinas are a heterogeneous group with different levels of assimilation in the USA, dissimilar cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and diverse physical builds (Correa).
Between dry humor and the exaggeration made by the leading actresses, all of the humor portrayed is extremely overdone. All of the humor is mainly derived from farce which is a faction of low comedy. In essence, this comedy appeals to the dim minded that find humor in
Throughout the story, she is confronted by men who act like she is the “Hot Tamale” (Cofer 105) hispanic woman, which she describes as “a one-dimensional view that the media have found easy to promote” (Cofer, 105), and according to Looking in the Popular Culture Mirror’s “Sexy, Sassy, Spicy: The Portrayal of Latina Women in American Television” by April Hernandez, it has been a trope going back to the 1920s. She describes how latina women in early films were stereotyped as “sexual bombshells” and it persisted into the 21st Century media. The stereotype profoundly affected Cofer by making non-hispanic men a little too eager to talk to her: the man on the British bus sang to her without being asked. Her date to her first formal dance kisses her extremely hard and says “I thought you Latin girls were supposed to mature early.” (Cofer, 106)
It starred three Latino men in prominent roles: Antonio, the grandfather, Pepe, the father, and Joe, the teenage son. This show helped combat a multitude of stereotypes, including one that all Latinos are naturally good at Spanish. Throughout the show, different levels of fluency are demonstrated — Antonio can say a handful of words in English, Pepe is bilingual but more comfortable in Spanish, and Joe struggles with speaking Spanish. In fact, this is the plot “We Speak Spanish,” which originally aired in 1977. Because of Joe’s difficulty speaking Spanish, English is banned in their home; however, following a series of mishaps, it is eventually understood that English is necessary in their lives.
This was positive because he worked on many famous Hollywood films which only marked the beginning for Latinos in the film industry. Indeed, while there are plenty of positive Latino roles in films, Latinos and Latinas should be included in more positive roles as opposed to negative ones. It is only fair to Latinos that they be accurately represented in films and T.V, however not much has changed, with the acceptation of a handful of movies that depicted strong, intelligent, and heroic characters, there are still some films and shows who represent the bandolero image as well as the Latin lover and the spicy “hot tamale”
Within the latino culture, the older generations take it upon themselves to guide and advise the younger generations. They do so by either sharing an anecdote and adding analytical notes or simply by telling you what to do. These concepts are represented through the short stories “Junito,” by Luis Negron and “How to Date a Browngirl” by Junot Diaz. In both of these pieces, the narrator gives advice to a young latino male, however, through the use of both first person and second person narrative and explicit diction, Negron’s piece was more realistic while Diaz’s piece is more on the side of satire due to the use of only second person narrative and hints of sarcasm.
When an academic work establishes the use of the cultural analysis approach, we obtain as a result that the concept of "cultural interactions" entails the idea of negotiation, tensions and competing forces that pursue the establishment of a common pattern of exchanges in a specific society. At the same time, this common pattern of exchanges that is in constant tension, which is dynamic, shapes the identity of individuals, and from that identity they react, make decisions and construct their vision of the world. But how many tensions can an individual tolerate? What impact do these tensions have on the construction of 'social normality '? This essay will explore these issues through the film Carmín Tropical by Rigoberto Perezcano, a film made
In the poem “You bring out the Mexican in me” by Sandra Cisneros, she begins to create a close relation with the reader by addressing the nameless lover as “you”. As Cisneros begins to utilize amplification by repeating “you” in every stanza; she makes an emphasis of the importance that the nameless lover has over her. To begin, by reading the title “You bring out the Mexican in me,” it can be interpreted that the deep emotions of passion that are perhaps hidden, are inevitably brought out to the light by the nameless lover. In the first stanza the word in italics “lagrimas” written in Spanish, translation in English for “tears,” makes the emphasis on the emotional aspect of crying for love.
The chosen vignette does not only encompass the feminism theme it also demonstrates the treatment of females by men of the Latino culture. “Next week she comes over black and blue and asks what she can do? Minerva. I don’t know which way she’ll go. There is nothing I can do” (Cisneros 84).
I’ve never seen the film A Million to Juan and just by reading your post, you explained how much the group of Latino friends were stereotyped. Being a certain race shouldn’t mean anything to anyone and it’s sad that they were stereotyped and discriminated for being Latino. You also talked about Juan and Jorge’s experience when they went shopping on high-end stores and a store clerk asked them to leave, I know exactly how that feels. When I was barely a teenager, my aunt took us to Carmel and at that time the people that lived there barely seen anyone that weren’t white. When we went I had my aunt with me, my grandma and my sisters.
Firstly, unlike the classic movies, this movie was centered by female characters. There is a heroic female character called ‘Miranda’ and her new assisstant named ‘Andy’. Miranda was kind of a queen of fashion industry. On the other hand, Andy was newly graduated young woman who wants to be a journalist. Both are career oriented women.