I’ve always wondered why certain
celebrities say that Latinos, especially younger generations such as
Millennials, aren’t united and don’t support each other. Especially when it
comes to Hollywood. This is a wrong statement; it’s false and unfounded.
You can’t blend entertainment with charity or support. It’s unfair to blame the community for our flopped ventures. The bottom line is that Latinos (focusing and defending millennials here) consume the same content everybody else does. It has nothing to do with who is in front or behind the camera. To Millennial Latinos, just like everybody else, content is king. If the content you create and present doesn’t pick up legs, it’s no one’s fault but yours. It’s extreme narcissism to think otherwise.
Don’t get me wrong, your work might be brilliant, but just like any product out there, if people don’t want it, it shouldn’t push you to condemn them for it. Millennials are not shy about sharing opinions. If they don’t like your product they will tell you that your job sucks. Oh, and they don’t care if you are a sensitive person, or you spent one thousand hours on the project, and your whole heart is there as well. If they don’t like what they see, they won’t support it.
Latino Millennials and Millennials in general (that’s why I love millennials) will watch a movie or a show with any ethnicity or race leading it, as long as it is what they like. Did Chicanos stop watching the Fast and Furious films because Michelle Rodriguez is Dominican and Puerto Rican? Did Cubans stop watching Ugly Betty because America Ferrera is Honduran? Did it stop people from watching San Andreas because the Rock is Black and Samoan? Did Mexicans or Dominicans stop attending Broadway’s Hamilton just because the main character is Puerto Rican? Absolutely not!
If our publications, networks, movies, and shows are tanking it is because people aren’t interested. It’s unfair to say that it’s because “we fight too much with each other.” That internal disagreement when it comes to entertainment is a myth. Especially since no one has shown any significant material effect from it except for anecdotal experiences—not even one study. Things will never change about it because it’s grasping at straws. You can’t make something happen or change that doesn’t exist. The problem with some Latinos in leadership roles is that they think everybody in US should speak Spanish and that Spanish should be the official language. Some people produce a movie or a TV show with Latino content thinking that 50 million Latinos will support it just because is a “Latino production.” They are ignorant and it’s absurd to think it will ever happen.
You can’t blend entertainment with charity or support. It’s unfair to blame the community for our flopped ventures. The bottom line is that Latinos (focusing and defending millennials here) consume the same content everybody else does. It has nothing to do with who is in front or behind the camera. To Millennial Latinos, just like everybody else, content is king. If the content you create and present doesn’t pick up legs, it’s no one’s fault but yours. It’s extreme narcissism to think otherwise.
Don’t get me wrong, your work might be brilliant, but just like any product out there, if people don’t want it, it shouldn’t push you to condemn them for it. Millennials are not shy about sharing opinions. If they don’t like your product they will tell you that your job sucks. Oh, and they don’t care if you are a sensitive person, or you spent one thousand hours on the project, and your whole heart is there as well. If they don’t like what they see, they won’t support it.
Latino Millennials and Millennials in general (that’s why I love millennials) will watch a movie or a show with any ethnicity or race leading it, as long as it is what they like. Did Chicanos stop watching the Fast and Furious films because Michelle Rodriguez is Dominican and Puerto Rican? Did Cubans stop watching Ugly Betty because America Ferrera is Honduran? Did it stop people from watching San Andreas because the Rock is Black and Samoan? Did Mexicans or Dominicans stop attending Broadway’s Hamilton just because the main character is Puerto Rican? Absolutely not!
If our publications, networks, movies, and shows are tanking it is because people aren’t interested. It’s unfair to say that it’s because “we fight too much with each other.” That internal disagreement when it comes to entertainment is a myth. Especially since no one has shown any significant material effect from it except for anecdotal experiences—not even one study. Things will never change about it because it’s grasping at straws. You can’t make something happen or change that doesn’t exist. The problem with some Latinos in leadership roles is that they think everybody in US should speak Spanish and that Spanish should be the official language. Some people produce a movie or a TV show with Latino content thinking that 50 million Latinos will support it just because is a “Latino production.” They are ignorant and it’s absurd to think it will ever happen.
What happened to NBC’s “Telenovela”?
One season and it’s gone. Latino community loved Eva Longoria on “Desperate
Housewifes,”but they hated a soap opera featuring Longoria. It’s not about Eva;
it’s about the show. The whole concept was stupid, flat, and absolutely not
funny.
We are different people from different cultures and different tastes. One thing that unites us is the same taste for pop culture. It transcends nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, and sex. Nothing else. Nothing more. Yes, we are united in the struggle to be validated, but that’s as far as it goes when it comes to business and entertainment. Give people what they really want. You can’t force or guilt them into action.
Muhammad Ali is also an amazing example. Latinos in general were as devastated with the news, just as the African American Community was. We don’t isolate news and follow the ones that directly affect Latinos. We follow the news that directly affects our neighborhood, city, and country.
Go back to the drawing board, learn from your mistakes, erase them and start anew. We’ve been down this road before. Why do we keep harping at it? Stop it. Latino Millennials are smarter than this. Millennials chose Bernie Sanders over Marco Rubio, not because they hate a Latino, or because that Latino is a Republican. They just didn’t have any connection with Rubio. It’s very simple. They were not willing to support a Latino, just for the simple fact that he is Latino. We all as Latinos see the big picture and for Latino Millennials, Rubio was not a good fit.
Another thing: Whenever you feel the need to blame anyone for your failures, always punch up. Never punch down. The people above are the ones making decisions without being conscious of what will or will not work. Sometimes they are conscious and create these failures before they launch just so they can continue to leave us out. It’s not the community’s fault. There’s nothing honorable, respectable, admirable, or even Christian-like about blaming them for it.
Punch up. Not down. The pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps angle is wrong–even when it comes to entertainment. Latinos are better than this. Let’s act like it. Do your homework. Approach Latino Millennials the right way. They’re not stupid. Oh, and the “Latino flag” will not work. If your work sucks it sucks. Period. Next!
We are different people from different cultures and different tastes. One thing that unites us is the same taste for pop culture. It transcends nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, and sex. Nothing else. Nothing more. Yes, we are united in the struggle to be validated, but that’s as far as it goes when it comes to business and entertainment. Give people what they really want. You can’t force or guilt them into action.
Muhammad Ali is also an amazing example. Latinos in general were as devastated with the news, just as the African American Community was. We don’t isolate news and follow the ones that directly affect Latinos. We follow the news that directly affects our neighborhood, city, and country.
Go back to the drawing board, learn from your mistakes, erase them and start anew. We’ve been down this road before. Why do we keep harping at it? Stop it. Latino Millennials are smarter than this. Millennials chose Bernie Sanders over Marco Rubio, not because they hate a Latino, or because that Latino is a Republican. They just didn’t have any connection with Rubio. It’s very simple. They were not willing to support a Latino, just for the simple fact that he is Latino. We all as Latinos see the big picture and for Latino Millennials, Rubio was not a good fit.
Another thing: Whenever you feel the need to blame anyone for your failures, always punch up. Never punch down. The people above are the ones making decisions without being conscious of what will or will not work. Sometimes they are conscious and create these failures before they launch just so they can continue to leave us out. It’s not the community’s fault. There’s nothing honorable, respectable, admirable, or even Christian-like about blaming them for it.
Punch up. Not down. The pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps angle is wrong–even when it comes to entertainment. Latinos are better than this. Let’s act like it. Do your homework. Approach Latino Millennials the right way. They’re not stupid. Oh, and the “Latino flag” will not work. If your work sucks it sucks. Period. Next!
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