Latin American Representation in Motion Pictures essays

Latin American Representation in Motion Pictures essays Latin American Representation in Motion Pictures My friends and I love going to the movies. There is nothing like the taste of buttery, warm popcorn, an ice-cold soda and a great movie. We enter the movie theatre and find the perfect seat, not too close and not too far, but perfectly in the middle. As the pre-views finish and the lights begin to dim, our anticipation and excitement builds for the movie we having waiting to watch. When the movie starts and the credits begin we are sometimes presented with Latino names, such as, "Lopez," "Garcia," "Hayek," "Banderas," "Perez," "Rodriguez," "Gonzalez," and many others. When I am with my friends we can't help but cheer and feel a sense of pride. However, this feeling is quickly disrupted when we realize that the roles of our Latino stars are that of servants or drug addicts. As I witness these images, my pride slowly disappears and I feel embarrassed. I ask myself why are they speaking that way? Why do they act that way? The answers that I found were more profound than I imagined. In this paper, I will explore the various representations, depictions and portrayals of Latin American women in American Hollywood. Specifically, I will identify the dark shadow of negative images that has followed Latin American women from the emergence of film through today. Finally, I will identify the ways in which these issues are beginning to change from the former negative representations to the emergence of a more positive, celebrated representation of Latin Americans. The New Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines power as " a position of ascendancy over others: authority, the ability to act or produce an effect, one that has control" (Merriam Webster 569). There is an underlying issue of power in American cinema. From the time that motion pictures emerged in 1895, the power in cinema was mostly defined and held in the hands of one elite group: the dominant white race. As Stuart Ha...