LOS ANGELES — Latinos make up 19% of the United States population, but made up fewer than 5% of all lead or co-lead characters across 1,600 top-grossing films over the past 16 years, per a new report by USC.
The third annual study on Latinos in film by the USC Inclusion Initiative looked at 1,600 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2022 in Hollywood. The findings highlighted the lack of representation that persists on screen and behind the camera. On screen, Latinos had 10 lead or co-lead roles across 2022’s 100 top-grossing films. Behind the camera, 3.5% of casting directors were Hispanic or Latino.
One of the authors in the study, Ariana Case, explained the problem behind the camera might not always be as noticeable, but are felt with the types of stories and characters in film.
“We found that the stereotypes that exist for storytelling about the Hispanic and Latino community really go up for the characters who are in the lead roles or other top roles,” Case said.
The report found 58% of all Latino speaking characters in 2022 were depicted as part of organized crime, followed by violent crime and criminal.
“This can have a tremendous effect on people from this group. It can also really provide a reasoning for people who aren’t in this group to view Hispanic and Latinos in this country in a negative light,” Case said.
It’s an issue filmmaker Armando Ibañez believes is directly related to the lack of Latino voices in writer rooms and director chairs.
“The stories that have been told have not been written by people who are directly impacted by the stories, by underrepresented communities. And that’s why they do not come out really accurate,” Ibañez said.
As an undocumented person living in the U.S., it’s also what drives him to write stories about the undocumented and LGBTQ+ community that feel authentic to his experience.
“I feel like undocumented immigrants are always portrayed as victims crossing the border and getting deported, which is something that our community goes through, unfortunately. But besides that, we are a beautiful, powerful community,” Ibañez said.
He created the award-winning YouTube series, “Undocumented Tales,” which follows a queer undocumented Mexican server living in Los Angeles. The goal was to highlight the complexity of Latino characters.
“In my work, I feel like I tell audiences the opposite. We are beautiful. We are powerful. Waking up every day is our resistance, and that’s the importance of representation, telling people that their lives matter no matter what society might say about us,” Ibañez said.
An impact he has seen in action when The Center for Cultural Power surveyed people after a showing of his work.
“They showed it to those on the more conservative side who see undocumented immigrants from a negative point of view. And after seeing the clips, about 60% of viewers changed the perception of how they see undocumented immigrants,” Ibañez said.
To Ibañez, it served as a testament to the power of authentic storytelling written by someone with lived experience.
The USC report provides solutions for studios to follow and bridge the representation gap, with the biggest call to action being to studio heads.
“It is really up to the studios to greenlight projects that are inclusive and really reflect the world that we live in,” Case said.
