美国国家公共电台 NPR--Latino legends helped pave the way in Hollywood, but the road is still rocky

Latino legends helped pave the way in Hollywood, but the road is still rocky

Transcript¹

Latinos have been a part of Hollywood since the silent movie era. But they continue to be underrepresented in front of and behind the cameras. USC's Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and UCLA's latest Hollywood Diversity Report show that Latino actors get just 7% of film leads.

In the early days of cinema and to this day, Anglo actors played so-called Spanish roles, sometimes in brownface. USC professor Laura Isabel Serna says Latinos were often used as background extras, wrangling² horses for Western pictures. Luis Reyes, author of a new book called Viva Hollywood, says Latino actors who did get speaking parts were typecast in cliched roles.

"You know, the stereotypes³: Oh, you're Latino? You'll play the bandido," Reyes says. "There was a guy that played a bandido so often he had his own costume. It was about earning a living. 'I got black hair, I look dark. You wanted me to be a cantina girl? No problem.'"

Hollywood stars Ramon Novarro and his second cousin Dolores del Rio got their starts in silent pictures and were promoted as "Latin lovers." Both came from influential⁴ aristocratic families in Mexico. Navarro's family had moved to Los Angeles to escape the Mexican Revolution in 1913. He went from being an extra to starring in the 1925 silent film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Among his hits is the 1931 film Mata Hari with Greta Garbo.

Dolores del Rio was also recruited to Hollywood to be a sex symbol. Her famous friends Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich reportedly regarded her as the most beautiful woman in Hollywood. Del Rio starred in silent films such as High Steppers, Pals⁵ First and Ramona. When talking pictures took over, she was also a success, after proving she could sing.

"She was seen as an exotic woman," says Cynthia Prida Bravo, consul⁶ for cultural affairs for the Consulate⁷ General of Mexico. "She played the European, very sophisticated woman and she played the Indigenous⁸ woman. She was so sure of herself. That's why we're still celebrating her almost after a hundred years."

Serna further explains del Rio's appeal in Hollywood. "She's exotic looking, but she's not particularly dark. I think that works for the studios, as it continues to work for the studios today. So she's portrayed⁹ as being very 'acceptable.' And she was very insistent¹⁰ that she didn't want to play roles that she considered stereotypical¹¹."

There were other tropes used then, and even now. For comedic effect, there was the "hot-tempered, fast-talking, spicy¹² wildcat" Latina. Actress Lupe Vélez, known as Lupe "Tabasco" Vélez, starred in at least eight Mexican Spitfire movies in the 1930s and '40s.

Then there were the sultry femme fatales not billed as Hispanic. Rita Hayworth, born Margarita Carmen Cansino, whose dad was from Spain, and Raquel Welch, born Jo Raquel Tejada, whose father was Bolivian.

"Everybody changed their names in those days," says Reyes. He adds that the studios may have anglicized names to appeal to white audiences, but that didn't mean the actors were ashamed of their heritage. And some, like del Rio, returned to their roots. In the 1940s, she helped launch Mexico's Golden Age of Cinema. Among her most famous films were María Candelaria, the first Mexican film screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, and Las Abandonadas, for which she won an Ariel, Mexico's equivalent of an Oscar.

But in Hollywood, it took years for the Academy Awards to give its first Oscar to a Latino actor. Puerto Rican José Ferrer got it for playing an adventurer, swordsman and poet in the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac. Two years later, Mexican American actor Anthony Quinn won his first Oscar for Viva Zapata!

Actor Edward James Olmos credits Oscar winners Ferrer and Quinn for paving the way for later generations to play serious, non-Latino roles.

I am a Latino actor and I'm proud of it. ... My intention was to tell stories about me and my culture.

Edward James Olmos

Still, like those before him, Olmos says he was often cast in cliched roles, but he says that didn't mean he played them "stereotypically¹³."

He says the head of casting at MGM asked him to change his name. So he did, from Eddie Olmos to Edward James Olmos.

"I am a Latino actor and I'm proud of it," says Olmos. "I said no to more things than I said yes. My intention was to tell stories about me and my culture."

The actor born in East LA starred in some of the most iconic Chicano films, including Zoot Suit, The Ballad¹⁴ of Gregorio Cortez, Stand and Deliver and Selena. In 1997, he helped found the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival to showcase the work of Latino and Latinx creators. He also helped start a youth cinema project for children from fourth grade through college.

Moreno was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York and in Hollywood played a lot of what she called "Conchita Lolita" Latina roles or the generic¹⁵ ethnic¹⁶.

"I never ever was able to do a part without assuming some kind of an accent," she told NPR in 2011, adding that even for the Nuyorican musical West Side Story there were challenges. "We all had to wear one color makeup¹⁷, very very dark. And I remember asking the makeup man in real annoyance¹⁸, why can't the makeup match our different skin tones because Hispanics are many different — some of us are very fair."

Moreno says it took years to get another good role after her Oscar. But she persevered¹⁹, acting²⁰ on television and onstage. And now, at age 90, Rita Moreno continues to act in Hollywood. She was in last year's West Side Story remake, where newcomer Ariana DeBose played Anita.

DeBose made history at this year's Academy Awards, where she accepted her Oscar.

"You see a queer, openly queer woman of color, an Afro Latina who found her strength in life through art, and that's what I believe we're here to celebrate," DeBose said onstage.

Actor John Leguizamo was also onstage at this year's Oscars celebration, which included an all-Latino performance from Lin-Manuel Miranda's animated²¹ musical film Encanto.

"All these beautiful Latinx faces, we got great representation tonight, people," he said, before reminding the audience of the legend that the Oscar statuette was modeled on Emilio "El Indio" Fernández in 1928.

For years, Leguizamo has railed about Hollywood's limited opportunities for Latino actors and stories. He recently shared his outrage²² on social media when film producers cast white actor James Franco to play Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"I grew up in an era where Latin people couldn't play Latin people on film, where Charlton Heston played a Mexican, where Pacino played Cuban and Puerto Rican," Leguizamo said on Instagram. "They told you to change your name. Stay out of the sun, that only white Latinos or white-passing Latinos will get jobs. I've been told so many times you can't have two Latin people in the movie, otherwise, people think it's a Latin movie, you know how, whatever. So no, no appropriating our stories? No, no more of that. I'm done with that."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

3 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

5 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

6 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

7 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

8 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

9 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

11 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

12 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

13 stereotypically   

adv.带有成见地(stereotype的副词形式)

参考例句：

14 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

15 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

18 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

19 persevered   

v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She persevered with her violin lessons. 她孜孜不倦地学习小提琴。
• Hard as the conditions were, he persevered in his studies. 虽然条件艰苦，但他仍坚持学习。 来自辞典例句

20 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

21 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

22 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。