By Brandon Soliz
In 2016, data collected by Pew Research showed the number of Latinos has surpassed 58 million in the United States.
However, since 1996, 69 percent of housekeeper/maid characters portrayed in the media are Latino. The aforementioned character is just one of many stereotypical roles taken on by Latin American actors and actresses, said Latino Lubbock Magazine founder Christy Martinez-Garcia said.
“In the media today, we see so many accounts of misrepresentations of Latinos,” Garcia said. “Growing up, yes, some of the things I was taught are just based off of traditions. My family was in the agriculture, farming workforce. We worked in the fields for many and mainly for my father to support the family. That’s what it was all about. But you watch a movie and see this and it’s not authentic. They don’t show the true story behind these kinds of occupations. Latinos often are hard-working, driven people who make sacrifices.”
Kent Wilkinson, a professor at Texas Tech University and the director of the Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication, said he believes these stereotypes are just one of the many problems seen on screen in homes across the nation.
Wilkinson, who has a specialization in Hispanic media, said the overall misrepresentation of Latinos in the media is because of the lack of diversity when it comes to primetime television shows and/or movies.
“You can turn on a movie or click on the T.V. guide and be intrigued by a show and watch it, then walk outside and have that plot from the show flipped if you present it with Latinos,” Wilkinson said. “All stories broadcasted or told can have their characters virtually any race unless it is in fact a historical piece or documentary. If it’s just a character playing one specific static character, then I see no problem in having that represented by a Latino or just someone of color.”
Wilkinson’s statement with actor choice coincides with the statistics presented in an article by CNN.
According to CNN, 57.4 of the English-speaking Hispanics in the U.S. are bilingual, meaning that these actors would have less trouble with a language barrier than those who are not.
For Garcia, an overall change in representation should begin with Latinos on a local level.
“We need to fill those seats in local government, school boards, newsrooms, and such to find roles in a more national and global scene,” she said.
In an article by The Odyssey, from 2010 to 2013, Latinos have seen a range of numbers when it comes to the percentage of Hispanics in writing, producing and directing roles – however, they do not pass more than 5.2 percent.
For 2013, the article states Latinos in Hollywood made up 5.2 percent of writing positions, 2.7 percent in directing positions and 2.1 percent in producing roles.
According to Pew Research, those numbers are on the rise.
For instance, the most recent case of Latino representation on the rise comes in the 2018 Oscars where director Guillermo del Toro of Mexico won his first Oscar award for Best Director and where films such as “Coco” and “A Fantastic Woman” took home the prize.
Discussing the popularity of Latinos in music in the 90s, Wilkinson said the success had reached its peak before beginning to decline in the mid-2000s.
“(N)ow, we’re seeing more Latinos in much, much bigger roles and being seen on a national level,” he said. “That makes me think we’re on the verge of or are currently in the next peak. Will it last long? I don’t know. But I do know that misrepresentation is still a thing for Latinos and it’s not close to where it needs to be to be accurate with the current population in America.”
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