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July 17, 2006
Looking the Part
I recently saw an article that talked about the fact that many Latino actors do not get hired because they don't look the part. This particular article focused on those that are of African descent and appear to be black rather than Hispanic/Latino. I started thinking to myself what a shame that is. As powerful as the media is you would hope that those casting directors would want to use the tool they have at their disposal to change perceptions of what the terms Hispanic or African-American really encompass and who they represent. Not to mention that it would shine some light on how ridiculous it is to segment people in that way.
When you live in places like New York City, for instance, it is a lot easier to blur the lines and not place people into categories. You're exposed to Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Panamanians, Venezuelans, Haitians and other nationalities with strong African roots as well as Spanish ones. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure many in New York would automatically assume you are Puerto Rican, but you definitely become aware that being black and being Hispanic are often one in the same.
People who live outside of an area as culturally exposed as New York City, which is most of the country, have to endure stereotypes from others and it's very frustrating. A good example of that is in the movie Clueless when "Cher" tells her brother that she didn't ask the housekeeper where her shirt was because she doesn't speak Mexican, although her housekeeper is from Honduras and Mexican isn't a language. In fact, I once told someone that I was Dominican, not Mexican, and they said, "Same thing." But that's the problem; they are not the same thing. Actually, not even close to being the same thing. I find that sort of comment to be not only ignorant on that person's behalf, but also offensive on mine. And it's not because there is anything wrong with being Mexican, but because I happen to have a great deal of pride in my culture and I don't appreciate someone clumping with a pile of other people just because I have year-round tan. You would think that the studios and the networks would like to help people understand those differences and expose their audience to a world where people are not just white, black, Hispanic and Asian. You would think that they would want to use the power of the images on movie and TV screens to represent the world and our country in the state that it actually exists; to expose people to things that they would normally never know rather than to perpetuate the things that divide us as people.
It was mentioned in a previous blog that it is important for us to be able to define ourselves and develop a true sense of who we are. I think the majority of us would like that for ourselves - unfortunately, we live in a society that doesn't foster that and is instead content to place us in a box. Perhaps it's time we discarded "out-of-the-box" thinking and replaced it with "out-of-the-box" living?
Posted by sonia.diaz at July 17, 2006 11:49 AM
Comments
Excellent points, all. The fact is, though, that the media continues to be largely controlled by white males who don't "get it" yet that people are defined in many ways, not just in how they look. As a deep fried Southerner, I can assure you that the stereotyping goes way beyond looks. How often do people with Southern accents get portrayed as anything but ignorant? For some reason, Hollywood thinks it's still OK to make fun of people with Southern accents, as if political correctness needn't be considered for this particular group.
Ironically, these same Hollywood types for some reason think that as long as an actor "looks Hispanic" s/he has the whole PC angle covered on that front. Sad, isn't it?
BTW, one of my all-time favorite comedians is Henry Cho, in part because he's an Asian who speaks with a Southern accent and does an entire routine on how that really messes with people's heads.
Posted by: Marilynn at July 24, 2006 5:05 PM