The cinema, or everything that we see through a screen can cause (in the vast majority of cases) a significant effect on each individual. We have all started or stopped doing things since we have seen it on television. From a "commercial" television insignificant to a blockbuster movie, you can change a person's perspective in seconds. But if we stop seeing it as individuals or do we begin to see it in a more social way? After all, a society is a group of individuals. True?
I have never been a lover of novels, but as a young man I rarely accompanied my mother to see one more than another just to spend time with her, beyond that, the plot little or nothing interested me, recently I was back home and again I saw fragments of a novel (I do not really remember the name, but it was Mexican from the time of Zapata) and something that caught my attention was the way women were at the time (according to the novel) Women who were a second plane in a plot carried by men. What made me ask that question out loud. Was that really the way women were at that time? To which my mom answered a "Possibly". And just like that, my mother and I, we have created a stereotype of the Mexican woman of the Zapata years, without knowing if it is true or not.
Each country in Latin America, as in other continents, has its own brand, has its social differences, we may have shared stories, but as a society, none is the same. But for those who are further north, who can not be called "Latinos" this is not true, Hollywood has been responsible for unifying a single stereotype, the Latino.
While there are endless films with actors who play Latinos, there is always a common factor. All Latinos are Mexicans, a completely erroneous idea, but that little or nothing Hollywood wants to make clear. Is it that all Latinos when they arrive in the US behave in the same way? Certainly I doubt it very much, a Mexican will never be the same as an Argentinian, nor an Argentine equal to a Venezuela, nor a Venezuelan equal to a Guatemalan, as I said before, we all have some cultures, a completely different and interesting gastronomy.
Hollywood is an industry that knows what the public wants, a place where millions of dollars are handled, nothing is due or can be taken lightly. What is the perspective of an American, with respect to a Latino? and let's talk about Latino in general, since it is already an idea that has been established in all these years in which cinema has become widespread.
Latinos are bad: Yes gentlemen, the ¨Bad men¨ did not come for free. Entering politics, something that characterized the campaign of the current president of the USA is the constant attack on the Latino community residing in the USA. But what made this so significant in the voters? Put it this way, the average American sees many movies, series, from very young, now well, if 1 out of 3 Latinos is a "man" in a series, in a movie, little by little a stereotype is created. When a man arrives who proposes ¨Create a wall to repel these bad men¨, you create a significant impact, that these people do not live around you. It is false to believe that all or the vast majority of Latinos living in the United States are what the cinema wants to see. There are bad people all over the world, regardless of their race, color, social level or sex. But what groups when they say they are bad? Drug dealers, gang members, thugs, are the main roles that interpret the Latino man.
The Latin woman is synonymous with Housewife: In this there may be debatable opinions, but for anybody it is a secret that the Latin woman, is considered simply "A lady who takes care of the children and the house" Misconception for the current times . But of this we should blame only Hollywood? Incredibly not, unfortunately we live in a macho or delayed society. Remember what I said at the beginning about Mexican women in Zapata's time? A clear example, history is history, it is not possible to change, they are facts in which society must study and improve. But something that Hollywood has taken charge of exploiting is this.
Latinos who are not gang members, are cleaners or workers: The American dream is something that is not well conceptualized, for much is to achieve their dreams, for another is to have a stable quality of life and out of danger. Each case is different from those who arrive in the US. But without doubt, the vast majority end workers, servants, gardeners, ect.
