Media in Latin America

Sarah Elgohary LAS

Research paper online

 Abstract 

As implied by John Mil Stuart, “The only way in which human can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject is by hearing what is said by every person of every variety of opinion and by studying all the modes in which it can be looked at by every character of mind.” No man ever acquired his wisdom in any way but this.” (David Haugen, pg 7).  I believe this theory to be true. People have yielded to the influence of television and media as if their life depends on it. It is funny because as stated by Darry F Zanuck in 1949, “Television won’t be able to hold on to the market. “ People will soon get tired of starting at a plywood box” (David Haugen, 88). What Darry F Zanuck said is the exact opposite of the role of television media in society   today. Media and television both promote three negative things in teenagers’ drugs and alcohol use, sex and violence. As a result teenagers imitate what they see on television. The media in society today has portrayed the expectations of women with regard to body image and gender roles negatively especially through the interpretation of television shows such as “ Ugly Betty and George Lopez In this paper, I will specifically  discuss how Latin American women are negatively portrayed in media in five countries Columbia, Costa Rica, Venezuela Mexico and Brazil.

 Hispanics are usually not portrayed as the protagonist in movies and shows. When they were portrayed they had minimal appearances or their character was extremely underdeveloped. They were usually stereotyped as thugs, gangbangers, servants, laborers, childish/immature, stupid and naive, aggressive or extremely sexual.  –Hispanics and Latin Americans women are being very unrepresented in media especially television shows, and films for many reasons. First of all, the problem is that only two percent of Latin American shows are produced by Latino people even “George Lopez was produced by Sandra bullock, a white upper class woman. This means that the majority of Hispanic people are not being   accurately Portrayed in the media because the” white producers create the Latin American characters from false stereotypes about Latin American people that are incomplete. Therefore, these stereotypical images in television shows create misconceptions of Hispanics because white producers do not know how “real Hispanics and Latin American people live, act, and survive. As a result the media  has negatively represented Mexican, Hispanic and Latino people as criminals drug dealers, Illegal immigrants, and “stupid traditional housewives such as Sofia vega from modern family.   

Another reason  for this misrepresentation  of Hispanic and Latino communities  is the fact that Hispanics and Latinos are still considered a minority in the United States, even though  they make up about 65 million People in the United States, yet the media only covers about nine percent of all Hispanic and Latino  stories, so we only get a biased and negative perspective of Latin American people from the media . In fact, 2009 the media reported twice as many stories  on illegal Mexican immigrants and the drug war than Sonia Sotomayor who is a chief Justice. Some Hispanic Americans unconsciously give in to stereotypes in  media in hopes of having a successful career and achieving the American dream. As a result, there is not enough advocacy by Hispanic Americans to stop these racial stereotypes of Latin Americans.   The media’s misrepresentation of Hispanic Americans has been going on since Manifest destiny, to the point where there is now an official racist term to classify all Hispanic Americans into one category  called brown face Brownface refers to the creation and propagation of racist Latino/Hispanic stereotypes and caricatures. "Latino" is the umbrella term for people of Latin American descent that in recent years has supplanted the more imprecise term "Hispanic." Cuban Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans, and any people who trace their ethnic roots back to Central or South America are considered Latino if they live in the United States.( Brownface.  Com) not to mention the fact that all Hispanic and Latin American characters are played by white men in brown makeup not real Hispanics or Latino men and women. .  

     There are six most common stereotypes of Hispanic Americans,  they are The Latino lover, The Domestic,  The Male Buffoon, The Harlot, The Female Clown,  And the Bandito such as Speedy Gonzalez. Each stereotype has its characteristics.  For example, the Latino lover is characterized by a heavy accent; handsome tall strongman on horseback The Latin Lover stereotype was first popularized by Italian actor Rudolph Valentino and became a film standard after his performances in The Sheik (1921) and Son of the Sheik (1926).  Secondly, The Male Buffoon is a comedian simpleminded, The Male Buffoon always plays the fool for comic relief . He can be characterized by George Lopez Who in reality is the exact opposite of this stereotype. In addition, The Domestic is characterized by the maid from family guy. In general Hispanic domestics are a staple in media depictions of affluent American families. The Hispanic Maid and Gardener stereotypes speak heavily accented English liberally sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases. Fourth The Harlot is lusty Sexualized woman who is upper-class, and hot-tempered; a slave to her passions. ( Brownface. Com) .The Female Clown is the comic counterpart of the Latino male buffoon and, like the harlot, exemplifies a common device that the Hollywood narrative employs to neutralize the screen Latina's sexuality. This is a necessary requirement because the hero must have a reason to reject the Latina in favor of the Anglo woman, thereby maintaining the WASP status quo.( Brownface.Com). For that to occur, the Latina's sexual allure must somehow be negated. Finally, the Bandito is a man who is dirty and unkempt, usually displaying an unshaven face, missing teeth, perhaps a gold tooth, and messy, oily hair. The face is scared and scowling to complete the easily recognizable stereotype. He is vicious, cruel, treacherous, shifty, and dishonest; psychologically he is irrational, overly emotional, and quick to resort to violence. His inability to speak English or his English with a very heavy Spanish accent is Hollywood's way of signaling his feeble intellect, a lack of brainpower that makes it impossible for him to plan or strategize successfully. The bandito lives on in American film as Latino drug runners, Puerto Rican toughs in New York, and East LA homeboy gang-bangers.( Brownface.  Com). Hispanic Americans, like many other minority groups in the US, have long suffered from the effects of racial stereotyping.