Hispanic/Latino Stereotypes in America
* Latin Lover:
The
Latin Lover stereotype was first popularized by Italian actor Rudolph Valentino
and became a film standard after his performances in the film The
Sheik.
* The Bafoon:
The Male Buffoon always plays the fool for comic relief.
He is childish, simpleminded and bumbling.
* The Harlot:
The Harlot is lusty and hot-tempered; a slave to her passions.
Hispanic domestics are a staple in media depictions of affluent American families. The Hispanic Maid and Gardener stereotypes speak heavily accented English liberally sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases
* Speedy Gonzales:
Speedy Gonzalez was one of the few Latino characters children were exposed to on television throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s and he was the equivalent of the Mexican Sambo. His overactive libido, huge sombrero and thick accent came to represent Mexico for generations of Americans. His cousin and sidekick, the lazy, drunken Slowpoke Rodriguez was even more offensive.
** Misconceptions of Hispanic/Latino Stereotypes**
* Bedazzled:
Brendan Fraser asks the devil — played by Elizabeth Hurley — to turn him into a millionaire. She does, in the form of a Colombian drug lord.
* Maid in Manhattan:
Jennifer
Lopez
plays a maid at a fancy hotel who falls for a rich senatorial candidate who in
turn falls for her, just because she is a pretty woman.
* Spanglish:
Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni play a wealthy couple who hire a Mexican single mom, played by Spanish actress Paz Vega, as their housekeeper.
* Modern Family:
Sofia
Vergara is depicted as a loving, not-too-bright and very loud bombshell mom.
* Desperate Housewives:
Eva Longoria plays a Mexican ex-fashion model bombshell. But she has two overweight kids and decides this must be a result of her husband’s Latino genes
