Hollywood's Latin Representation Not Enough, Study Finds

Latinos comprise about 20 percent of the U.S. population but their representation in Hollywood does not reach even half of that figure.

A study of 1,200 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2018 conducted by the University of South California (USC) Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative found that only less than five percent of 47,268 characters are Latin characters.

The USC Annenberg's Inclusion Initiative founder Dr. Stacy L. Smith led the study in partnership with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and Wise Entertainment.

Only about three percent of 100 top grossing films from 2007 to 2018 feature a Latino actor for a lead or co-lead, the study found. The most frequently hired protagonist actors were Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Eugenio Derbez and Jessica Alba.

"Despite all of the talk about diversity and inclusion in Hollywood and the popular press, these findings represent no change in depictions of the largest ethnic group in America, who also comprise 39% of the population of the state of California, and 49% of Los Angeles’ population," wrote the authors.

A selected qualitative analysis of 200 top films of the same time period revealed that Latino portrayals in film comes in stereotypes and lack of culture reference. Stereotypes included Latino portrayals as poor, isolated and crime committing characters.

"One of the most frequent portrayals on screen involved stripping Latino characters of their culture or community. A full 36% of all Latino speaking characters and 60% of top billed Latinos were depicted without any cultural artifacts, symbols, or references to the characters’ ethnic group," the study found.

Even worse, more than half of all Latino characters appeared to be engaged in an illegal activity as part of an organized crime group like drug rings and gangs.

"Thirty-eight percent of criminals were depicted committing fraud, thievery, murder, or having previously been in prison for reasons not made clear in the film."

This under-representation in actors is mirrored by lack of Latino representation among content creators behind the camera. With more than three thousand producers, only three percent are Latinos. Moreover, 78 of those positions are held by men and only 19 are held by Latina women.

The study also found that having a Latino casting director leads to a higher chance of having Latino actors on cast.

"When a Latino director was attached to a film, the percentage of Latino characters on screen increased from 4% to 13%.Similar increases were observed when a Latino producer worked on a movie—the percentage of Latino characters on screen climbed from 4% to 9%," the authors wrote.

"Finally, when a Latino casting director was attached, the on screen prevalence of Latino characters improved from 4% to 10%."