User:Makotara/Chincanas in film: History of an Image

Mexican American Representation in Western Film

Introduction

There is a hidden history of Mexican American representation within Western Media. There are strong themes of Stereotyping, Sexualization, and White washing throughout the western media’s depiction of Mexican-descended people. “Stereotyping is a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment.” This ideology is broken down into thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which ultimately impact society. Sexualization is to “make sexual: endow with a sexual character or quality.” Depending on context sexualization of characters can offer both positive and negative consequences to the receiver. White washing is “To alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as: to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people.” It is important to analyze the intentional biases portrayed against the Mexican American community to understand American history more deeply.

Early Period (1900-1930)

The first depictions of Mexican Americans in film were used in a negative connotation. Mexican men were at the forefront of these stereotyped characters playing in roles that coined them as “greasers”, “bandits”, “badmen”, and overall villainous. Little to no characterization was given to these roles other than acting as the antagonist for the Anglo male lead to take down and save the day. This construct was the blueprint for western films that were prominent during this time. There were no regulations against these negative stereotypes in Hollywood during this era of film, so they kept producing different variations of these racialized images of Mexican characters, because they greatly benefitted the movie viewership. Mexican American women, in the western films of this time acted yet another object to exemplify the heroicness of the white male leads. They had the same diminished characterization as their Chicano counterparts, however, they had to be almost white passing (dark hair was permissible). They would then, sometimes use this character as a crutch to exemplify the evilness of the ‘bandit’ and allow the Chicana to be saved from their clutches by allowing them to end up with the white male protagonist.

Wartime Era (1930-1945)

World War II had an impact on the films made during this era by allowing for a less prejudiced depiction of Mexican Americans. America was pushing forth the idea of coming together as a country to get through the war. They were also doing it to appease the audiences that would be viewing these films, and that was mostly made up of people in the Americas since there was a disconnect between America and Europe during this era. The Mexican American women that were depicted in the films over this period focused more so on their femininity and highlighted things such as sensuality. Chicana women were used intentionally in western film to promote a positive view of Mexican Americans in American society, However, positive roles depicting Chicano men continued to be rare.

Chicano Women in Film (1945-present)

Westerns were still a highly popular genre of films, and they included some of the few roles for Mexican American actors. Mexican-descended women were casted in roles that still harped on the ‘sensuality’ aspect of women characters, however, this time around they had a role of power. They mainly played the roles of prostitutes, but these characters had “depth and power”. Chicana characters in these films were given actual characterization that went beyond being a woman and beyond being a woman of color. This included films such as Giant (1956), Salt of the Earth (1954), Zoot Suit (1981), Stand and Deliver (1988), American Me (1992). We can see today that although there have been advancements in the portrayal of Latina women in film, there are still many barriers against women of color. Television actress Sofia Vergara claims, "I am grateful for the opportunity because the gringos have let me in with this strong accent I have. Eight years ago nobody had an accent like this on television.' Vergara is now the highest-paid actress on TV, according to Forbes, and last year she Vergara made a whopping $43 million through her iconic role, endorsement deals and licensing." It is evident that the modern era has allowed more opportunities for roles depicting Hispanic women, but western media still holds biases that prevent complete progress.

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