Allison Perez
Brewington
MEDIA 1
August 13, 2014
Latin American Women in Hollywood:
Growing up my eyes were glued to the silver screen. The camera, settings, and actresses have captivated me since I was a little girl. In every movie I would see a beautiful light skinned girl portraying the lead role in most movies. I didn’t pay much attention to it until now, where I realize, I don’t know any Latin American actresses that I truly admire or look up too. It was then that I realized there was (and still is) a lack of representation of Latino actors and actresses. According to a study at USCs Annenberg,
“Less than 5% of Hollywood actors are Hispanic” (abc.com 1 paragraph, 1 sentence.)
Most importantly these Latino actors and actresses that would…show more content… When I look back at the films I love to watch all main roles were played by white women Audrey Hepburn, Emma Watson, Winona Ryder, Uma Thurman, Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Lucille Ball, and so on. Even all Disney princesses I loved were white, with exception of Disney when they came out with characters such as the Native American Pocahontas, the gypsy Esmeralda, Sultan’s daughter Jasmine, badass Mulan, and the hard working Tiana. Disney and Hollywood had one thing in common the lack of diversity and more so the lack of Latinos in the industry. Young girls grow up with the perception of seeing a white women being more beautiful than their own race. I know I grew up with that perspective for a while and as I grew I realized how I should be proud of who I am and the Latinos that are successful in the industry in…show more content… Margarita Carmen Cansino was born, whose parents who were both dancers and came from Latin America and they trained her to have the talent of dance. At the age of 16 she was contracted by Fox Film Company and soon after moved to Columbia Pictures. She always played the foreign role in movies such as, “Under the Pampas Moon,” “Dantes Inferno,” and “Human Cargo.” Rita then underwent a transformation and had her hair dyed auburn and take her mothers’ maiden name, Hayworth. After the makeover she became a bombshell and was adored by many. Her exoticness and curvy figure made her the most desirable pin up during WWII, not bad for a Latina. The only thing that kind of disturbed me about learning about Rita was the fact that Hollywood changed her to be seen as a white woman. Before I always thought she was in fact white and not Hispanic, she embraced her last name and her culture but not one industry paid any real attention to her until she changed her name and hair. Nonetheless she became a beloved actress and sex symbol for America and she was in fact