211 Comments

Hollywood is ignoring... who again? /s

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I would have objected on behalf of Salma Hayek and Rosario Dawson if you hadn't added the qualification of "sexualized"; both of those ladies seem to have no problem getting work, and as for "sexualized"? They live in a self-produced cloud of it, and can no more be blamed for "sexualization" than Jessica Rabbit; they were born, not drawn, that way.

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NO, not at all. Women are not "born" sexualized, nor have Hayek or Dawson "self-produced" that sexualized / sexist situation.

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Ta, MM.

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Write stories ... the actors will come.

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I'm not questioning the existence of a disparity, but it would be helpful in determining the extent of the disparity if we had some idea of the numbers in each category who auditioned or (if no auditions were held) were within the relevant market of aspiring actors, by measured demographic.

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Is there a wonksplainer for the terms 'hispanic' 'latino' 'spanish' etc? If not, could there be?

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author
Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023Author

Hispanic: People, cultures relating to Spain and Spanish language.

Latino: Used to describe people from Latin American countries that can speak Spanish, English or Portuguese.

Spanish: From Spain.

So a Puerto Ricans/Mexicans/Chileans are both Hispanic (As their language/culture traces back to Spain) and Latino (as they are part of Latin America), but Cubans/Dominicans can be Hispanic but not Latino (as they are not part of Latin America. Most Puerto Ricans and Mexicans would prefer Latino as it is more encompassing and is not tied to Spanish colonialism.

Brazilians would be Latino as part of Latin America, but not Hispanic as they speak Portuguese (so not related to Spain) and conversely Spaniards (like Antonio Banderas) are Hispanic or just Spanish, but NOT Latino as Spain is not in Latin America.

Hope this helps.

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So in NM the term generally used is Hispanic and as a collective it sounds like that's probably the most inclusive since the Spanish-speaking folks there are descended from the original colonizers as well as some more recent immigrants from Latin America...?

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Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

I mean a longer piece for the general Wonkette audience. I have my own reasons that I use/don't use individual terms. I and observations abt which groups seem to gravitate towards one or the other and why. Just seems a useful 'splainer.

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I would love another movie with my boyfriends Gael and Diego. Oooh Cassandro is on Prime. Hooray!

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More blockbusters are covering more demographic bases. Especially when it comes to appealing to the various coveted Asian markets. Michael Pena no longer works more than all the other Latino actors in the business put together. Little signs of progress here and there. But nobody ever steps on Nepotism City's Third Rail -- seeing who is over-represented to such a degree that diversity remains a genuine problem, and asking why that is.

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so Peña is just a name, but also means 'cliff'. Pena means shame or pity.

I'm sure Michael's family is either sick of or cackles at the misuse of their name. It's one of those cases where putting the tilde or accent in makes a difference.

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Michael Shame would prefer to be Michael Cliff? Who would have known!

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founding

haha it's a real concern! have a friend named Uva de Aragón whose Spanish-language articles often get translated into English and sometimes her name gets translated to Grape from Aragon

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I still seethe whenever I think about the decision to cast Jennifer Connelly as Alicia de Larde Nash, John Nash's real life CENTRAL AMERICAN college professor wife in A Beautiful Mind. What an unbelievable insult to all of the latina actresses who played maids and mothers to gang members all in the supposed interest of "authenticity" to then be denied the opportunity to play an accomplished, well-educated latina -- not to mention have her represented accurately on the screen. Infuriating. (and shame on Ron Howard).

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As a Mexican American, I feel bad didn’t see Blue Beatle at the theater.

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Why was Paul sad???

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Sometimes I'm sorry I'm here.

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founding

why particularly

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I can't do sht about casting agencies. I have no idea why this person seems to think I can.

See, unlike the vision in some people's minds, lots of us wypipo are actually BRRRRRROKE.

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founding

so, not actually related to the essay at hand

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I love Wonkette so much, but as a latina judging from this comment section I would abandon immediately maldito sea

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author

Porque? Dime lo que podemos arreglar.

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Nov 11, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

I'm calling the manager on everyone who is speaking in a language I don't understand!!!

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

no tiene q ver con ustedes los escritores

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author

Bueno, te entiendo. Hay un montón the buenos comentos, pero también tenemos unos cuantos que necesitan lear más.

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

tu lo ves con cara buena y lo aprecio, sabes mejor q yo lo lindo y lo malo de esa gente. Pero como lectora embullarme por ver en este sitio por fin un ensayo dedicado a los latinos y entonces todos los comentarios hablando de otra cosa? me molesta

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founding
Nov 10, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

but it's fine!

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

Blue Beetle came out this year staring Xolo Maridueña and set in a fictional version of El Paso, but thats just one superhero movie. My partner cried at the end of Spiderverse when she felt represented for the first time.

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Wait wait wait… reverse bias for a moment here. 39 of 800 movies *did* feature a Hispanic/ Latino person with a disability

761/800 is .95125. So that’s just shy of 5% of the movies for this very specific niche.

Are 1 in 20 American residents in this category? Are 1 in 20 worldwide moviegoers? I think not.

Are Latinos underrepresented in Hollywood? Yes I am willing to consider that. Are LGBTQ+ or handicapped people? Can’t draw a conclusion from this narrative. Is this particular article really twisting the hell out of the data to support the conclusion they wished for (and want YOU) to reach??? Hell yeah.

Bad godamn methodology, credibility is shot, and they’ve sabotaged their own argument IMNSHO.

Data leads to conclusions. Pre-judgement of what those conclusions is bad science in any field.

(And credulous acceptance of a “study” like this is pretty weak thinking. What other research and cross checking did you do to support your reporting?)

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author

Simple answer: If they make up 34% of ticket buying/tv watching audience YET only represent 5 percent of representation....seems a bit skewed.

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My point was about the methodology, not to suggest that Hispanics/Latinos were notunderrepresented.

It’s much more meaningful IMO to say that whites are still badly over-represented.

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Nov 11, 2023·edited Nov 11, 2023

It’s less than 5% though his math is wrong. 39/800 movies having one character who represents a minority group does not mean that 5% of the people featured in all 800 of those movies are representatives of that group.

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What's the correlation?

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I wonder if Scott Baio and Steven Segal are getting parts in Russia. Just askin' questions, y'all.

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Also, too, I love Michael Pena. Loved him in Crash and The Martian.

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Nov 10, 2023Liked by Michael Mora

I was thinking of him.

Drama daughter met him when she was making him a costume.

He has a rep. for being difficult, but she really liked him.

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"Difficult" might be a euphemism for expecting to be treated with respect.

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I think he said something along those lines.

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