Latinos are still waiting to have their stories told and be able to see themselves authentically portrayed. The verifiable truth is this: there is NO diversity from ownership to lack of appearances and positive images in mass media. The idea that MTV’s “Washington Heights” does anything to level the playing field is an illusion. The only thing this show does is present a miniscule variety of the talent the viewers are used to seeing (meaning the reality “actors”), but not a diversity of storytelling perspective.
MTV could have just as easily replaced these actors with Asian or Indian ones and produce the same product. These Latino characters’ stories are being told through the MTV filter using images chosen by a white-male dominated, majority-owned media.
When we allow others to tell our stories through their filters we get the watered-down version of our stories: far from authentic, deprived of the richness of our narrative and lacking the benefit of our experience.
Latinos have no influence in the outcomes of stories on this platform. Latinos should take this moment to realize the importance of creating content and supporting persons who have and continue to create media.
Hoping to be disproven of my doubts on MTV’s capability of producing a quality Latino-centric show, I hesitantly tuned in to watch the two-hour long premiere of “Washington Heights,” but was so bored, I couldn’t make it through the second hour. The trailer for the show promised stories of young Latinos with big goals, working hard to make their dreams come true. Something I actually might tune in to watch. However, MTV sticks to its formula, remaining true to its method of profiting from exploitation, delivering an obviously scripted stereotypical representation of Latinos.
The antidote to stereotyping is knowledge, hence this list of negative stereotypes. Let’s see how many MTV was able to exploit in the first episode alone:
- The hot-headed Latina who yells and gets physically violent.
- Latinas greatest ambition is not career but to have a boyfriend.
- The only career options for Latinos are in sports or the entertainment industry.
- Slut verses Virgin.
- The submissive virgin.
- Good looking and unintelligent.
- Lighter-skinned people live in the ‘better’ part of town.
- Latinos are loud, rude and violent.
- Latinos are hypersexual and only think about sex.
- Latinos are lazy.
- Latinos are poor.
- Latinos are promiscuous.
- The light girl gets chased by boys, while the darker girls must do the chasing.
- The older generation doesn’t know how to speak English well.
- Every Latino has a relative in jail.
- Every Latino comes from a broken home.
Not only is it boring to see the same old stereotypes rehashed, but MTV fails to tell a compelling story or present sympathetic characters with any depth for anyone to care about.
The main plot line at least attempts this by focusing on Jimmy, who has dreams of becoming a major league baseball player. He was actually in the most touching moment of the show, which took place during a prison visit to see his father. They were in the midst of a serious conversation about Jimmy’s upbringing and his future when his father wouldn’t allow him to express his emotions and cry. Now that was a real moment people could relate to regardless of your zip code.
Then the show quickly spirals downhill with the horribly contrived plot line of two women who have been in Jimmy’s life for years, Reyna, a childhood friend, and Eliza, his girlfriend of two years, yet they both wait to be in front of the cameras to fulfill the stereotypical hot-headed, hot-blooded Latinas with the lack of civility to control themselves.
MTV wrongly thinks it’s great advertising to portray two Latinas in a screeching argument which ends up escalating into a physical altercation with ghetto exotic rolling on city sidewalks pulling each other’s flat-ironed hair. The fight made no sense to the friends in the group and much less sense to the me, the viewer.
We are then presented with flavorless snippets of the other character’s lives. There’s Frankie, whose dream is to be a teacher, passionately reciting poetry regarding her beloved barrio, followed by many other wacky nonsensical moments relating to boys.
Then there’s, JP who has dreams of becoming a singer/star. We get to see him perform and know that he has a caring mother but no back story to make us really care whether or not he makes it. Sadly nothing else even worth mentioning happens.
Strangely and most of all missing from the show is Latino culture. While Latinos make up 95% of this cast, we still get only about 5% of Latino culture. The actors spoke and reacted in ways they perceived were expected of them rather than genuinely portraying themselves.
When you think of culture one of the first things to come to mind is music. The mainly rap soundtrack really stood out to me of which only one song was in Spanish. Music is not the only cultural expression, but it’s a huge one and it was definitely strange merengue, bachata or reggaetón was never heard at anytime throughout the show.
There was only a small sampling of the huge selection Caribbean cuisine is known for. Other than a pot of white rice being stirred by moms, the audience was never shown that any of these “characters” had a strong connection to their heritage. In summary, missing from the show was music, food, language, traditions, heritage, neighborhood = culture.
Where is the constant slipping into Spanglish?
Where are the friends, community and family members who are always looking out for one another?
Where are the happy homes with positive role models who inspire us to achieve more?
Where are my beautiful Latinas/os of different shades, shapes and hair textures?
Where is the struggle to define ourselves as American while hanging on tightly to our roots?
It’s really great to see Latinos on the screen but it would be so much greater if they also had full control and final say. This show is proof Latinos must step up and tell their own stories or continue to be presented with stereotypes and watered-down versions.
What you can do:
- Realize Latinos are the ones who can tell our own authentic stories.
- Our power is in uniting and supporting Latino writers, producers and directors.
- Create and tell your own stories.
- Demand the network correct the lack of diversity not only of actors but especially when it comes to positions of impact.
- Demand networks create a diversity of content more in line with the multitude of cultures that actually make up the United States of America.
- Demand responsibility of the advertisers who in essence are supporting and perpetuating this lack of diversity.
Did you watch “Washington Heights?” What did you think? The rest of the Rebeldes already shared their thoughts as well.
Resources:
NALIP – National Association of Latino Independent Producers: www.nalip.org
Professional membership organization that addresses the needs of Latino independent
producers and promotes the advancement and development of Latinos in the industry.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC): http://www.nhmc.org/
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a non-partisan, non-profit, media
advocacy and civil rights organization created to advance American Latino employment
and programming equity throughout the entertainment industry and to advocate for
telecommunications policies that benefit Latinos and other people of color.
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Bella Vida Letty is a regular contributor to LatinoRebels.com and one of the Original Rebeldes, having been with the group since the very beginning. Last year she was named one of the Most Powerful Latinas in Social Media by VOXXI. You can follow her on Twitter (@bellavidaletty) or read more about her on her blog, Bella Vida by Letty.
I’ll have to take @bellavidaletty ‘s word on this one. I NEVER watch MTV and haven’t for over twenty years. I have always felt that channel is an indoctrination into consumeristic and hedonistic lifestyles.
@DignityPeace @bellavidaletty Thanks for reading. And you are not wrong about the channel.
I enjoyed reading this article. I agree with many of your statements, as I was looking for this type of criticism about this show. Its such a dreadful bore!
Honey, I’m sorry, but those stereotypes are what YOU believe. I certainly didn’t feel as though Latinos on the show were portrayed in that very fashion that you`ve described. Perhaps YOU need to dismiss your discriminatory beliefs. YOU are the problem, not MTV
@STVNWST I’m sorry you are not able to see the big picture yet. A stereotype is an image, whatever it may be, presented in the same manner over and over. These monopolistic corporations continue to profit and keep you oppressed by not presenting any positive images which is important to our well being and psychy.
@STVNWST PS I am not and will never be your honey. Keep your sexist terms to yourself because they reveal your immaturity.
I believe you need to actually watch the two episodes after the first and open your mind a little bit more. I see what you’re saying, but you need to know that it wasn’t white people that made this show, it was latinos. MTV picked it up after the fact. Also, the show is not a show about latinos, it’s a show about these kids. It’s unfortunate that the masses see this as a representation of latinos, but in reality, there is no possible way of representing latinos in just one show or movie because there are so many different sides to show.
[…] the CNN piece does a good job summarizing the show and the issues surrounding it, but we tend to side with those from the Washington Heights neighborhood who think it could have done a better job. The […]