Woke films always existed. You just did not care Part III
US Films starring Latino leads
Key films
-
The Addams Family (1991)
Super Mario Bros (1993)
Street Fighter (1994)
Desperado (1995)
Anaconda (1997)
The Mask of Zorro (1998)
Out of Sight (1998)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
-
The Cell (2000)
Girlfight (2000)
Spy Kids (2001)
Frida (2002)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Maria Full of Grace (2004)
Che: Part I (2008)
The Eye (2008)
-
In the third part of the “woke” article series, we analyze US cinematic outputs featuring Latino leads. Currently, the trend of “representation” is dying in the American cinema; the tide is shifting towards the merits of a story instead of ticking a diversity hire checkbox. While Latino minorities had not seen the same wide embrace that followed other ethnicities (e.g., Black, Asian), from the mid-90s onwards cultural awareness was augmented and individuals who did not traditionally represent the then average movie goer were accepted. Investigating history offers the possibility of examining whether films took any “gambles” despite the executives’ shorthanded reservations for those protagonists sporting an accent. Although Latino heritage actors were presented as motormouth (for men) and short tempered (for women) archetypes in minor roles, US cinema did not see the rise of related opportunities till the mid-90s.
Critically acclaimed thespian Raul Julia was sensational as Gomez Addams in “The Addams Family” (1991), carving a remarkable career in Hollywood (mostly in supporting roles) but if you have to start from the mainstream somewhere, look no further than Jennifer Lopez. From her breakthrough role as Selena Quintanilla Perez in “Selena” (1996), Lopez demonstrated her ability to be a box office magnet in a remarkable career that involved the forgotten smash hit “Anaconda” (1997) - which saw “minorities” teaming up against a white villain, Steven Soderberg’s beloved “Out of Sight” (1998) and a truly ballsy film, “The Cell” (2000) without denigrating her into a sexualized and thankless protagonist. Her long career to this day reveals strong evidence of her star power.
Antonio Banderas as “El” in Robert Rodriguez’s genre defining action flick “Desperado” (1995).
On the director front, a relatively unknown Robert Rodriguez unleashed Mexican inspired content with his “Desperado” (1995) starring exclusively a Hispanic cast and cementing Banderas as the next sex symbol and launching Salma Hayek’s career. The film’s success compelled audiences who lack the appropriate “cultural” training to see the Oscar nominated “The Mask of Zorro” (1998) as well as Rodriguez’s own sequel to “Desperado”, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (2003). Wim Wender’s documentary on forgotten Cuban musicians in “Buena Vista Social Club” (1999) changed the West’s status quo in musical landscape by introducing songs and melodies that have since then, have become world famous (e.g., the bolero “Dos Gardenias“).
Naturally, during the early 2000s, filmmakers shared more freedom to tell tales without a lead filter. The (underrated) Michelle Rodriguez gave a fantastic performance in “Girlfight” (2000) before Clint Eastwood’s “The Million Dollar Baby” (2004) was a thing, as a tough female boxer, Rodriguez carried on making kid related flicks along his Latino pals in his commercial successful “Spy Kids” (2001-2011) franchise, Salma Hayek’s passion project in “Frida” (2002) earned her a Best Actress nomination as the painter Frida Kahlo, the Colombia/US co-production “Maria Full of Grace“ (2004) was a stunning drama around drug mules, Sodenberg’s “Che: Part 1” (2008) and “Che: Part 2” (2008) starred Benicio del Toro as Che Guevara and the remake of the Hong Kong flick “The Eye” (2008) put front and center Jessica Alba.
Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in “Frida” (2002)
In the 2010s, Rodriguez himself will continue producing Mexican related tales pushing Mexploitation (is there such a term?) entries with “Machete” (2010) and “Machete Kills” (2013) but a creative explosion across all genres was inevitable: “Colombiana“ (2011), “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013), “Cesar Chavez“ (2014), “A Most Violent Year” (2014), “Sicario” (2015), “Everly” (2015), ““Knives Out” (2019), “Dora and the City of Gold” (2019), “Scream” (2022), “Blonde” (2022) and “Scream VI” (2023) all embraced “diversity” unprompted. Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” (2021) and “Into the Heights” (2022) would also strictly employ a Latino cast in a decade that being different than the average resident in the US is now the new normal as opposed being a socially isolating trait. Animated movies jumped on the wagon too with “Puss in Boots” (2011), “The Book of Life” (2014), “Coco” (2017), “Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse” (2018), “Encanto” (2021), and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (2022), all successful and exciting stories in their own right.
Of course, a reluctancy to any diversity might still exist in the US and those who advocate for representation are right (within a limit). However, their belief that representation should trump the storytelling is deeply flawed. John Leguiziamo stupidly opposed the (voice!) casting of the “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023) claiming idiotically Italians are people of color (so are the Greeks, the Maltese, etc) forgetting that he was not an American-Italian in “Super Mario Bros” (1993) to begin with or a French dwarf in “Moulin Rouge” (2001). Narrowing things down to what actors can play nulls the point of acting. The former’s box office receipts of $1.3 billion dollars and counting confirm just how irrelevant his comments are. By the time you start forcing the inclusion of outside elements (no matter how pure your intentions are) in your story, you endanger the integrity of your art.
Antonio Banderas as the voice of “Puss in Boots” in “The Last Wish” (2022).
In a reversal sort of way, when Hollywood was white-washing characters and personalizing scripts around their demographic attributes (e.g., everything in English, no subtitles, unauthentic sets, poor costumes), you could argue that the US cinema walks a perilous path when it seeks to please the minor vocal crowd who has not bothered to research what has come before the “whatever” year they targeted. On the other hand, individuals who cry afoul of a film daring to “ridicule” their preponderance status, have repressed the fact that when you belong in the majority, it is only natural from any artistic perspective to be the target of comedy, drama, tragedy and satire, the way the Ancient Greeks did it. So take a deep breath, calm down, and enjoy movies.