Lecture 5: How about some Latino stereotypes?

Lecture 5: How about some Latino stereotypes? Professor Daniel Bernardi / Professor Michelle Martinez

In the last lecture… • Semiotics of Stereotypes • Falling Down (1993) • Reception of Stereotypes Ben Shahn, Conversations, 1958

In this lecture… • Stereotypes & Story • Six Latino Stereotypes • Resistance is Possible • Progressive Images • Latinos Playing Latinos Dolores Del Río You can pause the lecture at any point, click on one of the hyperlinks (text that is underlined) to visit a site or view a clip, and then return to the same point in the lecture when you’re ready.

Stereotypes & Story Lecture 5: Part 1 Shot from Flying Down to Rio (1933)

Remember Semiotic Process From Noodle Tools

Remember Signs of Stereotyping “A mediated stereotype, then, operates by gathering a specific set of negative traits (signifiers) and assembling them into a particular image (sign).” – Charles Ramírez Berg Image/Sign = El Bandido Traits/Signifiers = Color, Sombrero, Smirk Signified = Connotative Meanings (race, nation, morality, etc.)

Remember Triangled Viewer Audience Invited Into Triangle Asked to Take a Side Hero (in-group) Other Character (out-group or just minor) Easiest Way into Movie is Assuming Positive Point (hence, identification) Archetype Hero + - Stereotype + Viewer

Start with Characters Entrenched Storytelling Conventions Goal-Oriented Protagonist White, Handsome, Straight, Protestant Stereotypes and Minor Characters Villains, Sidekicks, Temptresses Provide Hero w/ Opportunities to Display Moral, Physical and Intellectual Preeminence

Consider Cinematic Elements Contributing to Stereotypical Signs Mise-en-Scène Cinematography Editing Sound Costuming & Make-up Performance Shot from Falling Down(1993)

Move to Narrative Structure “The status quo posited in the movies as the best of all worlds is one that is safe, peaceful, and prosperous. But it is also one that is white, upper-middle-class, Protestant, English-speaking, one that conforms to Anglo norms of beauty, health, intelligence, and so forth.” – Charles Ramírez Berg Beginning = Equilibrium Middle = Disruption End = Restoration of Status Quo

Stereotype Commutation Test Try to substitute another ethnicity into the role being analyzed. If the part can be played just as well as another ethnic, national, or, for that matter, gender group, then it is probably not a stereotype, but rather a stock comic or dramatic type (the jealous husband, the flirtatious wife, the deceptive best friend, and so forth). If no other ethnicity can be readily substituted for the role, then chances are that it relies on specific stereotypical traits of a particular cultural group to make its comedic or dramatic impact.” – Charles Ramírez Berg.

Six Latino Stereotypes Lecture 5: Part 2

The Six Types El Bandido Harlot Male Buffoon Female Clown Latin Lover Dark Lady Jacqueline Obradors in Six Days, Seven Nights(1998)

Historical Point “Sometimes the stereotypes were combined, sometimes they were altered superficially, but their core defining – and demeaning – characteristics have remained consistent for more than a century and are still evident today.” – Charles Ramírez Berg Antonio Bandaras Douglas Fairbanks

El Bandido Frank Silvera in Hombre(1967) Dirty, Unkempt, Oily Hair Scars and Scowls Vicious, Cruel, Treacherous Irrational, Emotional, Violent Inability to Speak English Al Pacino in Scarface (1983) Click Here to See Scene from Scarface (1993)

The Harlot Linda Darnell in My Darling Clementine(1946) Corresponds to El Bandido Secondary Character Hot-tempered, Slave to Passion Inherent Nymphomania Sex Machine Innately Lusts for White Men Jacqueline Obradors in Six Days, Seven Nights(1998) Click Here to See Scene from My Darling Clementine (1946) Click Here to See Scene from Six Days, Seven Nights (1998)

The Male Buffoon Leo Carrillo in The Cisco Kid (1950) Second-Banana Comic Relief Simpleminded Cannot Master English Heavy Accent Mispronounces Words Butt of Joke Alfonso Arau in ¡Three Amigos! (1986) Click Here to See Scene from ¡Three Amigos! (1986)

The Female Clown Lupe Vélez in Honolulu Lu(1941) Counterpart to Male Buffoon Neutralizes Latina Sexuality Allows Hero to Reject for White Woman / Maintain WASP Status Quo or Equilibrium Sullied and Ridiculed Jacqueline Obradors in Six Days, Seven Nights(1998) Click Here to See Scene from Honolulu Lu (1941) – Under Construction

The Latin Lover Rudolph Valintino in The Sheik (1921) Established by Valentino Primal Sexuality Sensuous but Dangerous Romantic Promise that Could Get Out of Control Antonio Bandaras in The Mask of Zorro(2005) Click Here to See Scene from The Sheik (1921) Read More About the Latin Lover on Hispanic Online.com

The Dark Lady Dolores Del Río in In Caliente(1935) Counterpart to Latin Lover Virginal, Inscrutable, Aristocratic Arouse White Man’s Primal Desire More than White Woman Harlot Deep Down Inside María Conchita Alonso in Colors(1988) Click Here to See Scene from Flying Down to Rio (1933)

The Big Point Part of Hollywood Moviemaking Paradigm Fundamental to Storytelling Convention Common, Repeated, Naturalized Shift and Change at Denotative Level Connotative Level Remains Consistent Date Back to Early Cinema The Greaser’s Gauntlet(1908) Broncho Billy and the Greaser (1914) Read Short Essay on Distorted Images from Digital History

Resistance is Possible Lecture 5: Part 3 Shot from Flying Down to Rio(1933)

Critical Caveat Keep in mind that film texts are complicated, as are most texts found in popular culture. They contain contradictions. They are rarely monolithic. “Hollywood cinema,” as Ramírez Berg notes, “is not simple, static, or ideologically one-sided as that.” Jennifer Lopez in Anaconda (1997)

Ideological Conflict Dominant Films Contain Elements of Contradiction and Conflict Dominant Films Often Contain Progressive Elements Latino/a Actors Embed Irony and Subversion in their Performances Suggested Supplemental Reading: The Bronze Screen by Rosa Linda Fregoso

Five Cinematic Categories Featuring Counter-Stereotypes Partly Stereotypical / Partly Progressive Depart from Hollywood Paradigm Ideologically Oppositional Feature Latino/a Actors Subverting Types Made by Latino/a Directors to Counter Hollywood Paradigm

Conflicts in Flying Down to Rio (1933) Stereotypes (Buffoon, Dark Lady) Supports Whiteness as Supreme Yet Includes Stereotypical Reversal Scene on the Beach Ending w/ Bicultural Romance Julio’s Noble Sacrifice

Contemporary Example: Anaconda (1997) Jennifer Lopez’s heroism undermined the Hollywood paradigm: “the ritual commemoration of WASP male heroism is hostile territory (and, ideologically and symbolically, of U.S. imperialism in the Third World).” – Charles Ramírez Berg Click Here to See Scene from Anaconda(1997)

Latino/a Playing Latinos/as Avoid Problem of Brown Face Remember Charlton Heston as Vargas Facilitates Greater Verisimilitude More Accurate Characterization Click Here to See Scene from Touch of Evil (1958)

Problem with that Argument Latinos/as are Heterogeneous Can Puerto Ricans Play Chicanos? Authenticity is Reductive Latinos/as Engage in Stereotyping Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan(2002)

Progressive Hollywood “Although these films do follow the ‘WASP adventurer in the Third World’ formula, they nevertheless make some pointed critiques of U.S. interference in the internal affairs of Latin American nations.” – Charles Ramírez Berg The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948) Salvador (1986)

End of Lecture 5 Next Lecture: To assimilate or not to assimilate?

Lecture 5: How about some Latino stereotypes?