Misrepresentation in the Media: How Would YOU Change That?
Brad Pitt, Friends, “Legally Blonde” … all Hollywood success stories that may come to mind when thinking about the greats. Also, almost all entirely white casts. This is where my mind goes when thinking of great celebrities and shows I grew up watching which means I remember little to no Latinx characters.
It’s 2019 and it’s still being made clear, especially these last few days, that the Latinx community, and other minorities, continue to be under represented in the media. Of course it’s going to be difficult to have Latinx talent as top of mind when we’re constantly exposed to Caucasian characters – not hating, just hoping to see more diversity on screen.
To put this major gap into perspective, in a CBS Good Morning interview with Gina Rodriguez, the ladies gave a surprising statistic that only 7% of Latin women get to play leading roles in major films. Wow. If this stat is as low for women, I can only imagine how much lower it will be for LGBTQ+ talent.
This week, ATTN: shared a video on the subject and it got us thinking. Take a look.
This got us thinking, we’re convinced that some of our favorite shows and movies could have easily casted Latinx talent and they would’ve still been great or even a greater success.
Pretend you’re a casting director, which show or movie do you think would’ve been better with a Latinx cast?
Here are some of our ideas:
- Rita Moreno in Golden Girls; Grace & Frankie
- Salma Hayek in Friends; 40 Year Old Virgin
- Diego Boneta in Gossip Girl; Billions
- Karla Souza in GG or 10 Things I Hate About You
- Ana de la Reguera in She’s All That,
- Rosario Dawson in Rocky; Sixteen Candles
- Gael García Bernal in Mystic River; Stranger Things, Dawson
- Sofía Vergara in Sex and the City
- Danny Trejo in House of Cards; Ozark
- Zoe Saldana in How I Met Your Mother
- Eva Mendes in a Marvel movie; Clarissa Explains It All
- Diego Luna in Birdman, Pacey?
- Lin-Manuel Miranda in Amsterdam; The Patriot
- Oscar Isaac in Django Unchained; Ocean’s Thirteen; 300
- Rosie Perez in Blossom; Still Alice
- America Ferrera in Bewitched; Suits
- Gina Rodriguez in House; Save The Last Dance
- Wilson Cruz in My Best Friend’s Wedding; There’s Something About Mary
- Jordana Brewster in Matilda; Empire Records; Austin Powers
- Ricky Martin in 300; The Italian Job
- Oscar Nuñez in I Love You Man; Ocean’s Eleven; Casino
- Stephanie Beatriz in The Big Bang Theory; How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
- Melissa Fumero in The O.C.; Just Friends
- Selena Gomez in Les Miserables, Superbad
- John Leguizamo in Can’t Buy Me Love
- Jennifer Lopez in Sister, Sister
Our picks could go on and on, but we want to know which Latinx celebrities YOU would cast to make a show or movie better. Go for it 😉
#ImproveAShowWithALatinXActor #MakingItBetterWithLatinX #BreakingBarriers #RepresentationMatters