LBC Day 15 - Latinos in Movies

I love movies. I have been a movie buff longer than I have been into music. Most times, I am not caring all that much of the ethnicity of people in films as long as it is good and it makes sense. While, I totally get and understand that there will be films that will exploit certain people and play into stereotypes, it does not make me stop seeing what Hollywood has to offer.

With that said, there are not too many Latinocentric (I think I made a word here) movies that come out of Hollywood. The last move that I saw in the theaters in which the plot was intended toward a Latino audience was Our Family Wedding. Most times, it seems that we are side characters within the plot. Now, unless you are in a Robert Rodriguez fillm like Machete or Desperado, then Latinos are in the fore front.

But, I will not take a negative tone with this one. I think there are many Latino Movie Stars we could focus on because they are making it in a very competitive industry. I have already written two blogs on Zoe Saldana, so I wont go there (even though her career is exploding). We could look at America Ferrera, whom I think is a very good actress, but I am waiting for her BIG movie. I have always been a big fan of Salma Hyek, however, I feel that her movies are hit or miss. Jennifer Lopez just has not been able to catch a break with roles that define her. I personally think she plays too many non Latino characters.

I will say that when I heard Jimmy Smits was going to be Bail Organa in Star Wars a few years back, I was so very happy. Then I saw his screen time was like less than 15 minutes in both Star Wars films combined. Although, it has got to be cool to be immortalized in a movie trilogy like that though. I have talked a little bit Laz Alonzo before, he was in Avatar, but I really liked him in Miracle at St. Anna. I shouldn't really forget John Leguizamo for any of his numerous roles, but like Salmita, it is a hit or miss with him.

I know that I have not named nearly as many people as I want to, but I think that the interest of Latinos in Hollywood is growing. It is an uphill climb from playing something like Mexican Gangster to positive role model like Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver). We will have to wait and see what we get at the movies in the future.

Did I miss anyone you like?

LBC Day 14 - Favorite Latino Musician

I remember the first time I heard of this skinny Puerto Rican who can blow away a crowd with his vocals. My aunt Olga was talking about a guy named Marc Anthony that could sing as if he owned the entire industry. She spoke about his command of a song and even though it seemed like he never danced on stage, he was an amazing performer. This conversation was in the mid 90's.

I think that is a big endorsement from anyone in my family. See, my family has witnessed salsa in the 70's during the height of Fania. So people like Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon were household names. It made me think that I needed to pay attention to this guy.

When I moved back to NYC in 1998, I started getting accustomed to the night life. One thing that can be said about the bars in the Bronx, they love to play Salsa. This is when I really heard Marc Anthony. The first song of his that was stuck in my head was Nadie Como Ella. I absolutely loved that song so much that I had to pick up his album Todo A Su Tiempo. Since then his music has stuck with me.

Marc Anthony was one of the reasons why I went on my mission to go get as many old school salsa songs as I could. I feel that he gets it. The way he sings and the music that is produced reminds me of being in the basement with my dad listening to El Gran Combo.

Right now, I feel he is where it is at in terms of Salsa. Of course there are a numerous amount of artists in this genre, some who have been in the field longer than him (i.e Tito Nieves), but once he starred in El Cantante he began to embody the music. I feel that his portrayal of Hector Lavoe was good and his performance on the soundtrack was just awesome.

I look at my iTunes and Marc Anthony is all over it. Maybe he was an easy choice as my favorite Latino Musician, but I would be hard pressed to find a better one.

LBC Day 13 – Afro Latinos I See Everyday

I am not sure what made me pick this topic because there are certainly not many Afro Latinos I see everyday if any at all. I have been sitting here thinking about this. There have been students who can fit this bill, but most if not all, have graduated. Of course, I am talking about the ones that I know well.

In Syracuse, most Latinos live on the west-side. I am not really in that part of town unless I was to see my Dominican barber (and I have decided to save money and cut my own hair). Although, they do have some good places to eat they may make me want to venture out there

I really cannot count anyone on television either. Sure, I can talk about Jose Reyes of the New York Mets since I do manage to watch baseball just about everyday. However, with work increasing and the amount of sucking that this teams has managed to do, I wont miss much sleep if  I miss a few games.

Unless I look into the mirror. Because it turns out that I am the only Afro Latino that I see everyday. I know that other Afro Latinos exist in my part of Syracuse. Clearly, I do not see them as often as I should because it seems that they are just not as many up here as I would like. Of course I am not know it all for the reason of this. But, from time to time I may see one or two, but just not everyday.

While I thought at one time this would really bother me, I have come to realize that I will always use myself as a source for inspiration. I am not going to say that all Afro Latinos should be like me, but I will say that I think that by keeping myself educated and healthy I can make my mark in this writing game.