Word: mexicanization
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...officially so enraged that last week it recalled Ambassador Charles Pilliod "for consultations." But State Department officials privately took a soothing line, blaming Sepulveda rather than the Mexican government and insisting that overall relations have not been affected. In other words: I will get along with my neighbor . . . I will get along with my neighbor . . . I will...
...that the medium isn't trying. Trial and Error, a sitcom starring Mexican-born Comic Paul Rodriguez as the grungy half of a mismatched pair of Hispanic roommates, debuted on CBS in March. But the show drew abysmal ratings and was canceled after just three weeks. Juarez, a drama about a Mexican- American lawman in El Paso, was intended to go on ABC's prime-time schedule last January. It was abandoned because of "creative differences" between the network and Writer-Producer Jeffrey Bloom (who had his name removed from the credits when one episode was finally aired in late...
There are, to be sure, reasons to dream. One is the burgeoning Hispanic audience: young, urban moviegoers who prefer American action-adventures to the low-budget Mexican films traditionally shown in Latino theaters. Now Hollywood is catering to this bloc by offering Spanish-subtitled prints of Rambo III and ) Red Heat, and the grosses for those theaters have sizzled. "The studios have re-evaluated their outdated perception of the 'ethnic' audience," says Columbia Pictures Executive Katherine Moore. "We now realize that Hispanics aren't a segregated group that attends only films that relate to them. They're a permanent part...
There are scars to heal and miles to go before Hispanic-Hollywood assimilation is complete. Begin with the wondrous and confounding diversity of Latin cultures. "Cubans," says Julia, "are as different from Mexicans as French are from Italians." Menendez, Cuban-born, catalogs the differences: "First-generation Mexican Americans are still emotionally connected to their homeland. They want movies that remind them of home. But Cubans don't identify with the underclass. Would you, if you owned Miami...
...good feeling ended in the '50s when, ironically, Hollywood got a liberal conscience and concentrated on making amends to blacks. Hispanic roles became rare, and even those tended toward gang lords and victims. Mexican-born Anthony Quinn went abroad to graduate from Frito Bandito roles to stardom in La Strada and Zorba the Greek. The signal film was West Side Story. It said Latins were no longer domesticated birds of colorful plumage; now they were a social problem, a political cause set to barrio rhythms. What kind of guarantee was that for box-office gold...