The next time you see a Latinx character on TV or film, ask yourself: Is this legit?
Today’s depictions of Latin American people on TV and film often fall short of who we really are. Many times, Latinx characters are defined by their association to a particular Latin American country and are limited to superficial, often stereotypical quirks. The Latinx sidekick in a film may drop a few Spanish phrases or make references to his low-rider.
These depictions, while an improvement from the overwhelming criminal portrayals of Latinxs, fail to capture the complexities of Latin American culture. We are a blend of different colors, traditions, and history that is impossible to convey on the surface of a poorly written character. Connecting to a character who makes a point to reference his bachata preferences is difficult when I don’t listen to bachata, even though I’m Dominican. I’m much more than that.
Instead, I would like to see Latinx characters who are defined by the things that make them important to the show or movie. If a Latinx character is in space fighting aliens and traveling through wormholes, for example, does he or she need to drop couple of coños to assert his or her ethnicity? Or, would we prefer to see that this Latinx character is equal to his or her cast members in qualifications and alien-killing skills? Why is there a need to make him or her caricatures for Latinxs?
Consider Elena of Avalor, Disney’s new Latina princess. As a parent of two young girls, I met the news of Disney’s first Latina princess with a sense that I maybe someone gets it out there in TV land. But, after about 10 minutes into an episode, I realized that this was more of the same oversimplification of Latin American culture that plagues most shows. The characters appear to have been plagiarized from a secret book titled How to Create Hispanic Cartoons. The themes seem to include a blend of Mexican, Colombian, and Spanish culture, and many of the characters speak in the stereotypical Zorro accent. Hopefully, I’m simply being cynical, and this was maybe done with the intentions to try to include as many Latin America nations as possible because Disney wanted to reach young Latinas from all over. But, something tells me they may have just been clueless.
I’m not saying remove all references of Latinx cultures from Latinx characters. That would be a disservice to the beauty that is our culture. I am saying, however, that these references should do more than supply the scene with the Hispanic punchline. They should be integral to the story and feed into more in-depth character development. And sometimes, they’re not needed.
Michael Peña’s character in The Martian, Major Rick Martinez, comes to mind as an example of a film that did not rely on stereotypes. Major Rick Martinez was clearly Latino, but what defined his character was his relationship and interactions with Matt Damon’s character, Mark Whitney. There were no wise cracks about Latinxs, and Peña delivered a good performance that didn’t rely on shallow hints to his ethnicity.
Growing up, I did not have many TV and film characters who I found relatable. Even today, I find myself unable to relate to many Latinx characters on screen. While there are more of us on TV and film than ever before, our depictions have not exactly improved. According to the Latino Media Gap Report, by Frances Negrón-Montaner, TV Latinx depictions associated with crime rose from 6% in 1994 to 24% in 2013.
We want to see Latinxs who are like us – people with complexities in background, interests and aspirations. The need for young Latinxs to see someone who looks like them on screen and is as deep as they are is real and refreshing in world where most of what they see is white. This is true for most minorities on screen. Studios should take a closer look at us for who we are and realize that we are not merely “as seen on TV.”