1

Lecture 11: Lecture 11: Ethnic L.A. on the Ground and in Ethnic L.A. on the Ground and in

the Cinemathe Cinema

Professor Michael Green

Real Women Have Curves (2002) Directed by Patricia Cardoso

This LessonThis Lesson

• “Ethnicity and Opportunity in the Plural City”

• Multicultural L.A. in the Cinema

• Real Women Have Curves

3

““Ethnicity and Opportunity in the Ethnicity and Opportunity in the Plural City”Plural City”

Lesson 11: Part I

El Norte (1983) Directed by Gregory Nava

L.A. DemographicsL.A. Demographics• Los Angeles County:  10,393,185• City of Los Angeles:    4,065,585

– January 1, 2009 estimate

• Since 1965, more immigrants have come to the Los Angeles region than to any other in the United States.

• Historically, L.A. has not been hospitable to non-white, non-Protestant immigrants, who have not enjoyed the “full fruits of the region’s bounteous economy.”

4

Ethnic Make-up in 2000Ethnic Make-up in 2000• Year 2000 Total Population: 9,578,960

– White: 3,045,819– Hispanic: 4,273,914– Asian: 1,165,096– Pacific Islander: 24,489– Black: 910,077– American Indian: 27,187– Multirace: 132,378

5

Projected Ethnic Make-up in Projected Ethnic Make-up in 20502050

• Year 2000 Total Population: 13,061,787– White: 1,587,993– Hispanic: 8,405,036– Asian: 2,109,318– Pacific Islander: 49,101– Black: 583,499– American Indian: 37,316– Multirace: 289,524

6

The Plural CityThe Plural City• “There are now too many ethnic groups for

the old undifferentiated category of minority to make much sense.”

• “Los Angeles is not so much a dual as a plural city, in which the myriad new ethnic groups have created a segmented system, where each group largely lives and works in its own distinctive social world.”– Roger Waldinger

7

Class and LaborClass and Labor• “The demographic transformations . . . have

created a new ethnic division of labor in which ethnicity intersects with class.”– The Chinese and Japanese make up a

professional middle class.– African Americans work in public service jobs.– Immigrants from Mexico and Central America

have been stuffed into the very lowest-level jobs, where they work in isolation from the rest of the region’s ethnic groups.

8

““The American Way”The American Way”• Waldinger: “From a historical perspective,

starting out at the bottom is the American way, as long as the newcomers and their descendants can gradually climb or even claw their way out of the socioeconomic cellar.”

• Some groups, such as Asians, have done a better job than others of climbing into the middle class, while others have not done as well, as the gap widens between rich and poor.

9

Living the Good Life in L.A.Living the Good Life in L.A.• “For now, living the good life in Southern

California has much to do with immigration.• It is not just anecdotal evidence that suggests

there would be no gardeners, no garment workers, no hotel housekeepers, without the Mexican and Central American newcomers.

• The census data tells the same story; the bottom tier of L.A.’s service sectors rests on a labor force that disproportionately comes from Latino ranks.”

10

ChangeChange• Maps of L.A showing the dispersal of Blacks

from former ghettos, and evidence of Central Americans leaving one of the poorest neighborhoods in L.A, make it clear that many residents of poor areas do escape them.”

• “The ethnic diversity and intermarriage dynamics point to the once-maligned and too-often-ignored suburbs as likely places where a more ethnically mixed and perhaps less racist America is evolving.”– James P. Allen

11

12

Multicultural L.A. in the Cinema Multicultural L.A. in the Cinema

Lesson 11: Part II

Stand and Deliver (1988) Directed by Ramón Menéndez

UnderreprentationUnderreprentation• The representation of race and ethnicity in

Hollywood and even independent movies is vastly disproportionate to the demographic breakdown of Los Angeles.

• The same is the case for the moviemakers behind the camera.

• However, it is proportionate to the lack of opportunities faced by non-whites and immigrants over the history of L.A.

Underreprentation (continued)Underreprentation (continued)• Consider just the movies in this lesson,

which, diverse in many other ways despite their shared subject matter, almost invariably feature white, Protestant protagonists. – Sunset Boulevard – The Player

– Singin’ in the Rain – Swingers

– The Bad and the Beautiful – Boogie Nights

– The Day of the Locust –Mulholland Drive

– L.A. Confidential – L.A Story

– Ed Wood – Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The Class FactorThe Class Factor• This underrepresentation is tied to class, as

well, since most Hollywood movies don’t dramatize the lives of poor people, and larger percentages of minorities and immigrants tend to be poor or working poor.

StereotypesStereotypes

• Of course, ethnicities are often represented in mainstream film as stereotypes.

• For example, Charles Ramirez Berg names six basic Latino stereotypes: el bandito, the harlot, the male buffoon, the female clown, the Latin lover and the dark lady.

• Examples of these can be found in such L.A. set movies as Falling Down, Colors, and Training Day.

Subverting StereotypesSubverting Stereotypes• Of course Los Angeles racial and ethnic

stereotypes are sometimes subverted or avoided in Hollywood films.

• Many see Cheech Marin, in films such as Born in East L.A. (1987), as working to comically subvert stereotypes.

• Other films that attempt complex and realistic portraits include Stand and Deliver, Bound by Honor, American Me and Mi Vida Loca.

CrashCrash• Paul Haggis’ Crash – Oscar for Best Picture

of 2005 – deliberately represents a multi-ethnic cross-section of Los Angeles.

• Some find the film progressive in its examination of racism and representations which do not marginalize ethnic characters.

• Others see the film as liberal piety, trafficking in the same old ethnic stereotypes, dressing them up in the guise of social criticism.

• Pause the lecture and watch the Crash clip.

19

A Multi-ethnic CanvassA Multi-ethnic Canvass

Gregory NavaGregory Nava• Director Nava has made a career out of

careful, nuanced representation of Latinos, depicting a wide range of experience.

– El Norte (1983)

– My Family/Mi Familia (1995)

– Selena (1997)

– Bordertown (2002)

• Pause the lecture and watch the clip from El Norte

Blade RunnerBlade Runner• Blade Runner famously depicts a vision of a

predominantly ethnic Los Angeles future, devoid of middle class WASPs, more Asian than Latino – with no black people.

• “Much has been made of the city's ethnic diversity (encompassing Asians, Latinos, Arabs, and various non-ethnically marked whites) and its connections to an increasingly outnumbered and threatened white minority.”– Robert Barringer

Racial Make-up of LA in Racial Make-up of LA in BRBR• “Clearly, the dangerous, dark city dominated

by nonwhites and both crowded (at street level) and desolate (in Sebastian's apartment building) marks a middle/ upper-class white nightmare, from which those who are able have fled to "a better life” in the off-world colonies [which the movie suggests] are safe, clean, sunny, and predominantly white. The colonies seem just the latest suburban location for white flight.”

• Pause the lecture and watch the BR clip.

Better Luck TomorrowBetter Luck Tomorrow• Coming of age/crime film about

Asian/American teenagers directed by Justin Lin.

• “One of the best aspects of this movie is its attempt to break away from the stereotypical, politically correct presentation of Asian Americans as hardworking, well mannered, “model minorities.” Lin is not interested in creating socially acceptable characters, but rather in making real, three dimensional personalities that show Asian Americans as real people.”

At the Center, not the MarginsAt the Center, not the Margins

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Directed by Justin Lin

25

Real Women Have CurvesReal Women Have Curves

Lesson 11: Part III

Real Women Have Curves (2002) Directed by Patricia Cardoso

The MovieThe Movie• Directed by Patricia Cardoso, who was born

in Columbia and earned her MFA from UCLA film school.

• Stars America Ferrera, of Ugly Betty and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

• A coming-of-age story about 18-year-old Ana, that examines family relationships, cultural clashes and the often-grim socio-economic reality of life for Mexican Americans.

• Our only non-self-reflexive Hollywood film.26

Director’s AgendaDirector’s Agenda• Presenting the characters in Real Women

Have Curves in a realistic and fair-minded manner was very important to Cardoso. She says she wanted to give an accurate depiction of working-class Mexican American life in Los Angeles that avoided stereotypes.

• The movie represents sweatshops, working class East L.A. neighborhoods and other spaces normally avoided by Hollywood.

• Pause the lecture and watch the clip.

Avoiding StereotypesAvoiding Stereotypes• Cardoso says that she went out of the way to

make the film as realistic as possible. Her background in anthropology helped her with research in East L.A.

• She and her co-screenwriters took particular care to avoid stereotyping Latin men as violent and insensitive. In the movie, Cardoso portrays Ana's father, grandfather and cousins as gentle and understanding men who love and support Ana.

28

To Assimilate or NotTo Assimilate or Not• The film turns on whether Ana will take a full

scholarship she has earned to Columbia. • She is torn between her mainstream

ambitions and her family/cultural heritage.• In her mind she strikes the compromise

essential to the success of someone in her generation.

• The movie also dramatizes cultural clashes regarding family, career and body image.

29

End of Lecture 11End of Lecture 11