Where do you believe we are?
Hey all, I hope you have enjoyed this week’s discussion about Latino/Chicano Theatre in America and more specifically here in Southern California. Your research into Latino playwrights, their work and pursuit of dynamic, important stories about cultural and societal issues has added to your working knowledge, familiarity and awareness of the current state of the so called “Latino American” experience here in Southern Ca. You have now listened to Mr. Valdez and his views on this topic as well as his inspirational words on the Power of Zero. (I know I was personally touched by his speech as an artist!)
It would be silly to deny the fact the we as southern Californians do not have an active relationship with these issues either personally in our own background and personal experience or abstractly either politically, socially, economically or even religiously.
My question for this week is this, Where do you believe we are now with respect to the integration of our broad understanding of “Latino” culture into our entertainment with T.V., film, theatre, and music?
We all have a relationship to these topics about immigration, cultural identity, “Americanism” and what that means. We have seen a change and an increased amount and quantity of Latino actors, Latino-centric themes and topics driving the dramatic intent and plots in television, film, theatre and in music but is this enough? Have we reached a reasonable balance that sufficiently reflects this culture? How might we do better in your opinion? Is this a regional question because we live in Southern California?
Make sure your first post post is a minimum 150 words – 10 points.
Make sure you respond to two other posts engaging as to what your thoughts are on the post they have written. 5 points each
Total 20 points for discussion post.
First student : Kenneth
Currently, I think that Latino culture is somewhat permeated into entertainment and film. I grew up in Southern California, in an area where the Latino population is very little; almost in the single digit percentages. I went through a mixture of private and public educations, and both did not teach me much about Latino history. I would say the only thing taught was Cesar Chavez. Currently in entertainment, some of the prevalent Latino related shows I can think of are “Jane the Virgin”, “Dora the Explorer”, and “Coco” the new Pixar movie. I don’t think Latino’s have had much influence on entertainment in the US, but I can tell that they have been more prevalent recently. I think for us to see a better balance in Latinos inTV and film, there just needs to be an increase in education. I asked my 9th grade sister if she was taught anything related to Latino culture in school, and I was surprised to hear that she doesn’t recall anything. Thus, I believe an increase in education of Latino culture state wide would be really beneficial.
Second student: Amanda
I think that “Latino” culture is progressively being integrated in T.V., film, theater and music. Some songs I hear on the radio incorporate latin melodies. For the most part, I have seen children television shows display and teach “Latino” culture. These shows would include Dora the Explorer and Maya and Miguel. In addition, there is an animated film, Coco, that is based on the Mexican holiday, Dia de Muertos. However, I do not see many films or television shows that are aimed towards older audiences that are about or based on “Latino” culture. I do not think that there is enough Latino-centric themes and topics being integrated in T.V. and film and I do not think there is a reasonable balance that sufficiently reflect this culture. There are more latino actors seen in American film and television, but I think the actual “Latino” culture is not as emphasized in productions that are for young adults or older adults. I think that creating more television shows that are aimed towards young adults and older adults that sincerely focus on the “Latino” culture would improve the balance. I think this is a regional question since Southern California is near Mexico and has a high Latino population. Other states in the North may not see the imbalance between the “Latino” culture portrayed on films because they do not live in a region that has a high Latino population and may not experience a lot of exposure to “Latino” culture within their community.