My final project, “Make Way for Latinx in Media: We’re Here to Stay!”, is about the representation we find in media surrounding the Latinx community. Growing up I never got the chance to see myself in media. Recently, I noticed that there were more Latinx actors and characters in the media I watched. That’s when the idea of doing a project showcasing how far media has come regarding representation came to mind. I began talking about it with my friend Daniela and we decided to work together. Our video is not meant to tell you what you should or should not watch. It is just to point out the small details of representation we have seen in these shows and movies.
My final project relates to what we talked about in class because it explores the idea of identity. Our project is based on the identity of these characters and ourselves and how they compare. Often we see what white directors envision a person of color’s experience is without ever consulting an actual Hispanic. As a result, the media became oversaturated with harmful stereotypes of Hispanics being gangsters, hypersexual, and aggressive. In these pieces of media, we see a common theme of family. I remember always being told that my family comes first. Many of these characters like Wednesday Addams, Miles Morales, and Jaime Reyes put family first. Our video explores how the cultural identity of these characters and their actors is expressed. The representation in these shows was not thrown in my face or made the characters only personalities. It came in the shape of Wednesday listening to “La Llorona”, from Miles being told his future comes from the sacrifices of his ancestors, and from Jaime having a shrine for La Rosa De Guadalupe. I also saw how Iñaki Godoy shows his pride in being Mexican. He doesn’t shy away from his culture and even celebrates Cinco De Mayo with his fellow castmates and brings them along to try Mexican food.
Another way my final project relates to this class is that we had an entire lesson on Miles Morales being the first Afro-Latino Spider-Man. We watched a video where a YouTuber went around the map of Mile Morales’s home in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales video game. The mention of Rio Morales making tamales and speaking Spanish on the phone felt like my everyday life. It was something that I could relate to. We also talked about the difference between Miguel O’Hara in the comics versus in the movie. Miguel is an Irish-Mexican however, his ethnicity is never mentioned in the comics at all. Miguel being part Mexican wasn’t important at all. Yet in the movie, we can see a clear difference. Miguel has a much darker skin tone and is more open about his ethnicity. He mumbles Spanish curses under his breath and everyone knows his favorite food is empanadas. I hope that the media continues to work on properly representing Hispanics and incorporating them into their cast.
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