An Accurate Portrayal

When I think of movies that have Latino characters or the Latino culture as a focus point throughout the film there is one film that immediately comes to mind.

"Scarface"


I am sure I am not the only one.

In the past the portrayal of the Latino people has always been more often that not a negative one. The characters in the films based around a Latino culture are often prostitutes, drug lords or violent gang members.

In the films "Blow" and "Traffic", while the actual drug dealers in the United States are white and American, the stem of the problem always goes back to the Latin American countries as well as their people.

One film historian from the University of California-Riverside says the issue with the depiction of Latin Americans is the violence. The films give the idea that Latinos, as a people, are more violent than other Americans. This opinion, however, was given in 1996.

Today the depiction of Latin Americans has changed drastically. Although sometimes still drugs are associated with the Latin American Culture it is in a different perspective. Take for example the film "Maria Full of Grace." This film tells the story of a young girl who was forced to transport drugs in and out of the country using her body as a vessel only because she needed provide for her family. Instead of invoking anger in a viewer, this film creates sympathy for the girls situation.

Over my next few blogs I want to talk about the movies that have not only done positive things for the image of Latin Americans but also effected the progress in a negative manner.