Latinos, Politics, and American Cinema Essay

D.W. Grifiths 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, is widely recognized as one of the most consequential films in American cinematic history - it contains many new cinematic innovations and refinements, technical effects and artistic advancements, including a brilliant color sequence at the end, that laid the foundations for modern filmmaking. In 1993 the film was elected into the National Film Registry, and in 1998 voted one of the "Top 100 American Films" by the American Film Institute. Aside from its influence on Hollywood, the film has left an indelible mark on American culture as one of the most prolific pieces of anti-black propaganda of all time.

Society has focus on stereotyping every group based on myths, Ramirez explains how stereotyping can lead to a reality “A primary function of stereotypes, says Richard Dyers, is “to make fast, firm and separate what is in reality fluid” (Ramirez p.16), people tend to just judge the book by its cover before they even read the tile of it. Latinos are being portrayed as the bad, ugly, and the ones who can’t speak the language on the U.S films as Ramirez proves “Yes, there indeed were and are Mexican badits, lazy African Americans and Italian American gangsters. But banditry, laziness and criminality are not culture specific, nor do those qualities represent the group’s complete experience” (Ramirez p.16). It gives a better understanding of the different stereotypes of just not Latinos but other races too. In the film “The Bronze Screen” it elaborates about Latino until this day, they use them as the bad ones

Looking at the socially or culturally history of the United States, many historians use Hollywood films as a primary source. I also used many films such as Easy Rider (1969) or Dance, Girl, Dance (1941) to support my historical thesis paper and to make the topic more vivid by using the images of the film. Even though, some people think that films are accurate and authentic in its depiction, it is important to mention that films are still fictional. Directors and actors are responsible to make us believe their story, but this story does not have to be necessarily true. In that way, fictional films cannot be used as historical evidence in terms of how things looked like during that specific

The 4th Episode of the documentary Latino Americans: The New Latinos, claimed that many latinos groups, such as Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Domicans, that migrated to the United States had made a huge impact in America's culture and Society. One of the evidence that lead to the the main claim of the video was the story of Rita Moreno. Rita Moreno and her family moved to New York City to have a better life than in their home country, which was Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was greatly affected by The Great Depression in the U.S, so many Puerto Ricans migrated to the U.S, which included Rita’s family. The young girl wanted to became an actress in Hollywood because that was every young teenage dream during The Depression. Eventually, she made it into Hollywood, but in her movies, she was portrayed as a typical woman from

Reports show that Latinos are the most underrepresented ethnic group in film affected by stereotypical issues shown via pictures in our heads and through watching. I concur with this information as stereotype starts from a personal level, which is definite through meditation, this does not include all the negative traits portrayed by the out-group. Although we have some general stereotypical agreements within in-groups that cannot change. This stereotyping is evident in a case where a foreigner defines Bandido accurately while a (North) American will involve them with laziness, being dirty and all sorts of negativity on them. These findings make me feel that Latinos and Americans will always be contrary to their film industry.

Given the film’s early accomplishments, one is left to wonder why it was named after something that is so controversial and still debated to this day. Almost more than a century ago, D.W. Griffith’s film forever changed the industry of filmmaking with not only its groundbreaking innovative applications of the camera such as close-ups, zooming, crosscutting, all of which heightened the power, the impact, and the emotion of the drama, but also lit up the screen with racist images that will always embarrass and provoke the people of America today (I hope). Hence, the foundation of white supremacy in films was born.

What is the image of the male Latino American in the media today in television, in the movies, and in other media? Is the male Latino represented fairly in American media? And if he is often presented as a stereotype, why is he portrayed in stereotypical situations? The answers to those questions come from a number of sources that will be presented in this paper.

The main difference was that LULAC relied on a strategy of “passing,” as white or European, because with lighter complexions and Americanization came better access to jobs and mainstream social acceptance (Ruiz 667). By 1939, activists like Blanca Rosa Rodriguez de Leon better known as Luisa Moreno (instead of Blanca Rosa, which means white rose, she changed her name to Luisa, perhaps in honor of Luisa Capetillo and “Moreno,” which is a term in Spanish used to refer to darker skin complexions), along with other activists like Josefina Fierro, Eduardo Quevedo and Bert Corona helped establish the first national Latino civil rights conference, El Congreso de Pueblos de Hablan Española who worked to end segregation in public facilities, housing, education, and employment (Ruiz 667). They also worked with universities to create Latino studies departments in order to advocate the preservation of Latino cultures, rather than assimilation (Ruiz 668). These organizations helped some of the nearly five hundred thousand Latino-American veterans that returned from World War II. Later they worked to end segregation in various facets of life for Latino-Americans’ like in court cases Mendez v. Westminster (1947) and Perez v. Sharp (1948), which ended

In a diverse society, America is home to many types of people, whose beliefs and experiences may arise conflict among the races. To diminish discrimination and show that there is a connection that unites each and every individual, films offer a different perspective of the lives of whom may be misunderstood and enable audiences to discover that others live under similar circumstances as themselves. How might the depiction of 21st century Latino immigrants be compared to that of 19th century southern slaves in feature films? Time nor race is a boundary that can stop two groups from relating to each other, such is the case with African-American slaves and today’s immigrants in the U.S. Like slaves, most immigrants work for a low wage in plantations, both these two group’s motives are also similar: the struggle for freedom. One

The history of African Americans in early Hollywood films originated with blacks representing preconceived stereotypes. D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film, Birth of a Nation, stirred many controversial issues within the black community. The fact that Griffith used white actors in blackface to portray black people showed how little he knew about African Americans. Bosley Crowther’s article “The Birth of Birth of a Nation” emphasizes that the film was a “highly pro-South drama of the American Civil War and the Period of Reconstruction, and it glorified the role of the Ku Klux Klan” (76). While viewing this film, one would assert that the Ku Klux Klan members are heroic forces that rescue white women from sexually abusive black men. Griffith

From there on movies shifted from their portrayals of Latino males as "Latin lovers" to "urban banditos". Films changed from problems involving women, sex, and love to delinquency, drugs, and gang fights. Movies such as West Side Story, Scarface, and Fort Apache, the Bronx, all use Latinos as "scapegoats" to focus the problems of society to the immigration of Puerto Ricans to the U.S.

Griffith was successful in breathing new life into the films of the day. However, it was at the cost of racism, politics of the day, and opening up deep wounds that stemmed from the Civil War. Birth of a Nation was groundbreaking film, but how did it become so controversial?

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

Hollywood and the media continues to promote social stereotypes as the white male is portrayed as upper-middle-class professional who is family-oriented while African Americans are depicted as thugs, funny, maids, best friends, and servants. The media sacrifices objective depiction of races to gain better ratings and earnings. Further, in most movies, blacks are depicted as foolish, lazy, submissive, violent, animal-like, and irresponsible. The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was one of the first films to feature a strong stereotype by portraying blacks as subhuman.

From the very beginning of the early stages in American cinema, African Americans had a presence on the silver screen. The twentieth century created a new era of cinema that consisted of films produced for and targeted to an all-Black audience. “Race films” which existed in the United States for over thirty years (1913-1948), were films produced by African Americans that focused on Black themes and highlighted the talents of African American directors, producers, scriptwriters, and actors.