As an aspiring actress, I was very interested to really see the 'typecasting' and 'stereotyping' I was always warned about. The ever-feared character staple is still present today for all actors; like Jennifer Aniston as Rachel from Friends (or any other romantic-comedy leading lady) and for Jason Bateman (being the super neurotic voice of reason in a comedy set movie).
However these are just some examples, and they are not based on the person's actual demeanor in real life. In the past, especially from 20's to 50's we completely stereotyped the latin actors as only being able to play 'greasers', 'latin lovers', or 'maids'. And sadly, if we were not putting them in those roles... then we were changing their looks to make them more 'anglo-looking' and then put them in leading roles.
Rita Moreno had a very inspiring story when she boldly gave her roles everything she had, and after winning the Academy award for West Side Story she refused to stoop down and take a role that was demeaning or in any way dealing with her race in a negative aspect.
More recently, movies like 'Machete' point out the racial unfairness in Texas (and other border states). It is a farcical - action movie, but has its serious points made with in the absurd madness and gory fight scenes. Robert Rodriguez directed the film and is another person talked about in the video in class yesterday. He grew up with a video camera in his hand (just like Spielberg) and knew what he wanted to do with his career - and he fought and worked hard to get it.
It is sad to me, that many of the actors out there are fighting to be seen and heard... But that, in the past, people were specifically silenced or ignored entirely because of their cultural/racial origin. I do believe we are making great strides toward leaving all racial/gender/religious prejudice behind us for good ... but, with the copious amounts of corruption in Hollywood and Cinema - it may be a while before we sift through the garbage.
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