Latinx and Chicanx Film and Television

This dissertation argues that the selected literary and filmic texts examined in this study offer critical reconfigurations of the intersecting processes of neoliberal rationalities and the necropolitical order of power along the U.S.-Mexico border. Moreover, the texts examined in this dissertation refocus our attention on critical representations of social abandonment, denationalization, and the production of disposable life under contemporary neoliberal capitalism along the border region.

This paper aims to examine the current landscape of representations in Hollywood through a Chicana feminist filmmaker’s autobiographical testimonio that discusses her experiences as a film student, filmmaker and educational researcher. This paper then discusses future directions for film and media education through the interdisciplinary lenses of ethnic studies, film studies, cultural studies, and gender studies.

The purpose of this study was to provide updated data on the Latino portrayals on primetime English and Spanish-language television. Three major contributions of this study are baseline data on the percentage of white actors as well as all racial and ethnic minorities on English-language television, the portrayal of Latinos on both English and Spanish-language television, and the development of five frames that measure the representation of Latino characters. The results of this framing study showed that only 7.4% of the characters in primetime TV on ABC and CBS were Latino. Although the Latino representation in primetime American television was a bit higher in this study as compared to that in previous research, it still does not represent the 17% of Latinos in the U.S. population as a whole. The researcher analyzed weekday primetime television programs—dramas, crime and comedy series—of both English and Spanish-language TV in the first week of May 2016, which was randomly selected. A total of 403 characters were identified from English-language TV and 115 from Spanish-language TV. The different characters in the television shows were coded by ethnicity or race, gender, and their role in the shows. The five frames that were developed to show how Latinos were portrayed are professional, criminal, domestic workers, Latin lover, and Latina threat. The most prevalent frame on ABC and CBS was the criminal frame, and on Univision and Telemundo it was the domestic worker frame.

This dissertation explores how the social and cultural phenomenon defined as the
Latino trend is expressed on U.S. television. It addresses what happens when Latino identity is articulated in English and how increased Latino presence influences
mainstream culture. The analysis explores the influence of Latino-themed television on the process of cultural hybridization in the U.S. and it attempts to explain the relationship between mass media and the changing social status of Latinos. It considers social debates over the Latino trend and explores how mainstream television adapts to the changing cultural landscape.

I am interested in seeking viable ways for creating Chicano cinema that can be used as an empowering and enlightening tool for the Chicano community in the nineties. We each have a responsibility to interpret our reality, critique it, analyse it, and act upon it. Together with the participants who took part in this study, we have identified some elements of what
constitutes empowered and enlightened Chicano cinema, reflected upon the influence that Chicano cinema has had in the shaping of the social consciousness of Chicanos, and we propose an action plan that aims at transforming the process of contemporary Chicano filmmaking within the context of our specific community. The Researcher and participants of this study propose a Chicano cinema created with, by, for, and about, the diverse Chicano community.

This study investigates the way creative control is conceptualized, as well as dynamics at work in the production culture of Latina filmmakers and the variety of activities involved in the work they do. While there is no "ideal" mode of production that provides "better" opportunities for Latinas to create more "positive" images than others, there are unique advantages and challenges associated with each. Utilizing a feminist, cultural studies approach to the subject, this study mobilizes oral histories, discourse analysis, and to a lesser extent, textual analysis to show Latinas are creative authors who are gaining power to change the way feature films are made while diversifying who it is that gains opportunities to make them.