Study after study shows there’s a huge problem with Mexican-American and other Latino representation in the media.
20%
Latinos make up almost 20% of the U.S. population (of which about ~70% are of Mexican descent).
BUT
5%
Latinos make up only 5% of speaking roles.
While latinos are the largest minority group in the U.S., they are the least represented.
Black-Americans make up 13.6% of the U.S. population and make up 14.8% of theatrical roles.
Asian-Americans make up 7.3% of the U.S. population and make up 6.5% of theatrical roles.
Latino-Americans make up 19% of the U.S. population and make up 5.5% of theatrical roles.
These problems start before roles are even cast.
Latino directors make up 1.1% of all directors.
Latino writers make up 1.1% of all theatrical film writers.
Even though latinos make up 23% of all moviegoers, our stories are nowhere to be found in the media.
Why is representation important?
In a study by Paramount Insights, for those who feel poorly represented, 59% say this makes them feel unimportant, ignored, or disappointed. This sense of alienation has profound impacts, affecting their self-esteem and confidence (41%), sense of belonging (40%), and opportunities in life (34%).
For decades, our community has been either eliminated from the media, or represented as gang members, criminals, or lazy. This has a detrimental effect on self-esteem, which is one of the key predictors for a successful, happy life.
Seeing people of your background accurately and fairly represented on screen can have a tremendous, positive influence on the next generation of Mexican-American leaders.
People have been talking about this problem for decades, but progress has been extremely slow.
We’ve made it our mission to finally create change.
WHY MEXICAN-AMERICANS?
Firstly, Mexican Americans have a historical and cultural relationship with the United States that is unlike any other Latino group.
Mexican-Americans have more than 200 years of history in the land that we call the United States today, as California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming used to be to Mexico, with it’s people and culture present. In those 200 years, which started with their land and property being taken away, Mexican-Americans have also been subjected to mass expulsion and segregation.
Even in recent history, it is Mexican-Americans who are most often labeled foreigners, criminals, and a burden to society, even though our contributions to American culture are endless.
There is no Latino group in America whose reputation has been as tarnished as Mexican-Americans, and that puts them at a disadvantage, even amongst other Latinos:
MACEF carefully dissected the data and found on the UCLA Diversity report for 2022 which addresses Latino Leads:
TABLE 5: Top 10 Films by Latinx Box Office Share (2021); we see (22) White, (3) Black, and (12) Latinx actors. When we separate the Latinx Leads by group, compared to their percentage in the Latino population; we see 4 Puerto Rican (9.6% of the Latino population) leads, 2 Dominican (1% of the Latino population) leads, 2 Cuban (3.5% of the Latino population) leads, and 2 Mexican (65% of the Latino population) leads. Making Mexican-Americans the least represented by far.
Sources
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/little-latino-visibility-mainstream-media-report-says-content-dominate-rcna48984
https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2023-Film-3-30-2023.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/01/movies/how-hollywood-has-portrayed-hispanics.html