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Eva Longoria and America Ferrera call out racism at the Golden Globes.
Eva Longoria and America Ferrera get on stage together to present an award and do a bit of social commentary at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday.
“I’m Eva Longoria, not Eva Mendes,” Longoria said during her introduction for the Best Actor in a TV Drama award.
“And I’m America Ferrera, not Gina Rodriguez,” said Ferrera, the co-presenter.
“And neither one of us are Rosario Dawson,” Longoria said.
“Well said, Salma,” Ferrera said.
“Thank you, Charo,” Longoria replied.
If confusing these, yes, Hispanic but very different looking actresses seems like a particularly far-fetched form of racism, know that the Golden Globe Awards did it exactly a month ago, when it misidentified Ferrera as Rodriguez in a tweet.
Such mix-ups are even less excusable given the minute number of Hispanics working in Hollywood. According to the latest report from the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California, just 4.9 percent of the characters in the top-grossing films of 2014 were Hispanic. That actually ties 2014 for a seven-year high, up from 3.3 percent in 2007.
In fact, Hispanic/Latino characters in film continue to be the most underrepresented ethnic group in America, given that Hispanics comprise 17.1 percent of the country and purchased 23 percent of U.S. movie tickets in 2014.
The picture gets even uglier for Hispanic actors when researchers look at the kinds of roles available to them. A 2013 report commissioned by Columbia University found that Latino characters on television and in movies are generally criminals, law enforcement, or “cheap labor.” Between 2012 and 2013, 17.7 percent of Latino characters in film were linked to crime. The same was true of nearly one in four—24.2 percent—of Latino characters on TV. An amazing 69 percent of maids in film and television created since 1996 are Latina. Still, there are more lead roles for Latina actresses now than there were in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Nielsen puts U.S. Hispanics’ spending power at $1.4 trillion per year. If that audience is at all desirous of seeing itself on screen, it would be in Hollywood’s best interests to provide the country’s Hispanic actors with more and better parts. Maybe stop mixing them up, too.
Agencies/Canadajournal
I applauded them when I saw it. It’s the truth. The world WANTS and NEEDS to see more diversity just like we see in reality. The entertainment industry does not want to make anything that isn’t created for their narrow mindset of a target. Let’s see not just different ethnicities but all walks of life. Young and old. Why isn’t there anything targeted at the senior citizens who live by the t.v.? They want to see themselves represented in the world. It is because the industry does not think it would sell. Truth is it would blow open their strategy of only for the young. For example GOLDEN GIRLS is still one of the most beloved television shows across the board. Young or old, black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight – we love it. HOLLYWOOD needs to listen to its audience and give us what we demand. I am a single, white female in her 50’s who wants to see the world reflected in the shows I watch. I do not want to watch a show filled with nothing but SWF’S/50’s…I want to see the same world I live in not some fantasy studio heads THINK I want to see.
Oh lord not again another race wants to be treated differently when will it all stop. making everything about race it sickening, if you don’t like it then go back to your Country quit trying to make us conform to your ancestry. You couldn’t handle your Country because of the way they treated you but now you come to ours and want us to change our rules to suit your Country’s believes…go home if you miss it so much….
Sounds like you need to go back to Europe.
They’re often depicted as criminals or law enforcement. Well, that seems pretty balanced to me. Quite honestly, I’d bet blacks have more of a beef in that equation than hispanics do.
And as for the accusation that essentially ‘white people think all hispanic people look alike’…there’s actual scientific evidence that shows there is truth to that. But it also means that to hispanic people, all white people look alike. And then, some people also just make mistakes. I’m white, and for years, I couldn’t keep straight which was which…Nick Nolte and Gary Busey…even though they don’t really look anything alike.