Depiction of Latinos in 20th Century Film Essay -- Latino Portrayal Fi

Depiction of Latinos in 20th Century Film Graphs Not Included Over the course of this past century, the depictions of assimilated Latino characters has improved a great deal. Early portrayals of Latino assimilation generally proved to be a montage of unrealistic caricatures which seemed to convey the filmmaker's creativity more so than true representations. This formed the manner in which the American people at large viewed not just Latino characters attempting to assimilate, but also those who were not. As Cine-Aztlan puts it, film "manipulates the human psychology, sociology, religion, and morality of the people, in a word the ideological super-structure of modern capitalist society" (pg.275, Chicanos and Film). As the years went by however, mainly because Latinos started gaining power in the film industry and depicting (as opposed to creating) Latino characters, the images of Latinos who were adapting (either by choice or by societal force) to the lifestyle and values of the United States, grew more and more representative of what was actually taking place outside of the film studios. Today, most portrayals of assimilated Latinos are fairly accurate. The forces to which their modification is portrayed are not so much representative of middle-class White America however, but rather that of Urban Hip-Hop culture. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rex Ingram. 1921) provides us with an inaccurate portrayal of an assimilated Latino character. First and foremost, it is important to note that Julio Desnoyers (the Latino character in question) is played by Rudolph Valentino, a non-Latino. This in itself makes him seem "un-Latino" to the Hispanic audience. Also, Julio represented the prototypical Latin Lover during t... ...e growing power of Latinos in the film industry. Latino producers such as Joseph Vasquez have made many films (such as Hangin? with the Homeboys and Manhattan Merengue) which show Latinos in a truer light. Also, since some of today?s hottest movie stars are Latino, big time producers cannot ignore the influence which they bring to the studio. Leguizamo, Antoni Banderas, and Jeniffer Lopez are just three examples of the growing number of latin@s whose appeal and presence in the film industry can help the overall cause of Latino representation, whether it be assimilated depictions or wholly cultural ones. It is important to recognize that American society recognize that there are indeed differences between U.S. Latin@s and Latin@s in their respective countries. In order to do this; both must be portrayed in popular film. GRAPH