Mediating Frida : Negotiating Discourses of Latina/o Authenticity in Global Media Representations of Ethnic Identity
2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/07393180600800841
ISSN1529-5036
Autores Tópico(s)Social Media and Politics
ResumoAbstract This article analyzes the discourses of Latina/o identity embedded in the movie Frida, the Latino news coverage about the film, and an on-line chat stream about the film. Comparing the identity discourses circulated by the movie's producers, Latina/o journalists, and Latina/o audiences when discussing the film shows how different communities negotiate the meanings of ethnic identity. The study concludes that the discourses of ethnic identity circulated through the movie, news coverage, and chat stream disrupt notions of Latina/o ethnic identity as a stable and commodifiable demographic category. Keywords: CommodificationDiscourseEthnicityLatina/o Frida Latina/o NewsFilm Acknowledgments The author thanks Lisa Cacho, Eileen Diaz McConnell, and Angharad Valdivia as well as the Editor and the reviewers for the critically constructive comments. Notes 1. Louis Valdez's production closed after Chicana/o activists protested the casting of White actors in lead roles. Jennifer Lopez's production closed after Hayek's production began. 2. Hayek earned a 2003 Oscar nomination as best actress. Prior to Frida, Taymor's most successful directorial project was the 1997 Broadway production of The Lion King (Variety, 2005 Variety . ( 2005 ). On-line box office archive . Retrieved September 15, 2005, from http://www.variety.com/boxoffice/archive [Google Scholar]). 3. Latino media are produced in English and Spanish, primarily for consumption by Latina/o audiences. 4. ENW is the most comprehensive full-text database of ethnic newspapers available on-line; it consists of 371 publications ranging from African American to Arab and Middle Eastern newspapers and provides full-text access to 26 Latino newspapers. 5. Although general market media play an essential role in influencing a film's success or failure for both Latina/o and non-Latina/o audiences, I analyzed only news coverage in Latino newspapers. 6. I refer to participants in the chat group by the names used on the IMDb board. The messages are reproduced as posted without editing. Again, verifying the demographic data of the participants is impossible. 7. Although the postings are unedited, the list is managed by an IMDb administrator for overtly racist, sexist, homophobic, or inflammatory comments. IMDb administrators deleted 17 postings and users voluntarily deleted 12. 8. Olmedo, one of Rivera's last lovers, was named by him as the trustee of the Diego Rivera Foundation. The Frida Kahlo Museum is part of the Rivera Foundation. She died in 2005. 9. All of the translations from Spanish to English are the author's. Additional informationNotes on contributorsIsabel Molina GuzmánIsabel Molina Guzmán is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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