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John Leguizamo's Open Letter to Hollywood
Yahoo News ^ | Tue, November 1, 2022 | John Leguizamo

Posted on 11/01/2022 7:02:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway

You can be as talented as Marlon Brando or Ingrid Bergman, you can write like William Shakespeare or Arthur Miller, you can have the screen presence of Ryan Gosling or Jennifer Lawrence. But if you look Latino, or if you have a Latino last name, the odds are against you in Hollywood.

And by Latino, I mean born in Latin America. Not Spain, nor anywhere else in Europe. Those are white peoples. We Latinos are 19% of the population and the largest ethnic group in America, and we’ve been here long before the conquests of the 1500s. How are we not more visible onscreen and onstage? If much of the United States was Mexico until the 1840s or later, how are we not more visible?

Mexicans in East L.A. would sign up to be extras in westerns at the "casting tree" from 1910 until the 1930s. They were put in the background of a genre of film that was an appropriation of Mexican culture. The words were all Spanish: “Cowboy” comes from the Spanish word vaquero. Lassos, rodeos, broncos, corrals, ranches, the chaps, the hats are all parts of Mexican culture. The 10-gallon hat comes from the Spanish phrase tan galan. No cowboy hats were being worn in England, Ireland, Germany or the 13 colonies. But they were worn in Mexico. And yet, who were the leads in the westerns?

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: hollywood; leguizamo
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To: nickcarraway

Stupid & ugly...not a good combo.


21 posted on 11/01/2022 8:21:02 PM PDT by LongWayHome
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

If that’s true then how come he has more credits than almost any other actor in that time period?


22 posted on 11/01/2022 8:27:08 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

I think he’s whining because he hardly ever was the main star.


23 posted on 11/01/2022 8:35:51 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (This is not a tagline.)
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To: nickcarraway

Benny Blanco from the Bronx who shot and killed Pacino’s character in the movie was a pretty big character that Leguizamo played in Carlito’s Way.

Pacino had to beat out Dustin Hoffman to pay an Italian in the Godfather, when he is Italian.

Brando was also in The Godfather playing an Italian.

Separating the Spanish from the Latin American seems a little strange as where does he think the Latin Americans came from, if not at least partially from the Spanish Conquistadores and settlements?

Everyone from Europe is white including Spaniards, but Latinos are suddenly not white in North America?

This said, he may have an overall point.


24 posted on 11/01/2022 8:41:04 PM PDT by Freedom of Speech Wins (A)
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To: Freedom of Speech Wins

Desi Arnaz created one of the biggest shoes in the history of television.


25 posted on 11/01/2022 8:50:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Want some cheese to go with you wine John?

P.S. “John” is a Hebrew name. That’s cultural appropriation.

CC


26 posted on 11/01/2022 9:00:31 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
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To: nickcarraway

Hey, this idiot gets more work than I do. What is he complaining about? Oh, that’s right. He’s Lah THEE noh!

Don’t fret John, soon you’ll be passed over for the Chiney-man.


27 posted on 11/01/2022 9:39:19 PM PDT by TheElectionWasStolen
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To: nickcarraway
Johnny Boy needs a lesson in history. It was Spain that destroyed Latin America from the time of the conquistadors.

Take your truck up with them Johnny Boy.
Mexico is not a friend of The Unites States and has been violating our sovereignty for decades.

28 posted on 11/01/2022 11:18:46 PM PDT by jmacusa (Liberals. Too stupid to be idiots. )
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To: nickcarraway
[...] the largest ethnic group in America, and we’ve been here long before the conquests of the 1500s.

I thought that White Europeans were still the largest ethnic group in America!

They were here before the arrival of the White Europeans in 1492?!

Nonsense!

Regards,

29 posted on 11/02/2022 12:24:44 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: nickcarraway
Desi Arnaz created one of the biggest shoes in the history of television.

Say you and Ed Sullivan!

Regards,

30 posted on 11/02/2022 12:27:11 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: jmacusa

Currently reading Iberia..James Michenor. Pretty much covers the history of the conwuistadors…who they were and where they came from in Spain…. Very interesting.


31 posted on 11/02/2022 1:05:17 AM PDT by antceecee
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To: antceecee

Sorry for misspellings…Conquistadors


32 posted on 11/02/2022 1:05:55 AM PDT by antceecee
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To: PghBaldy

More “Latin” (but not European) performers:

Chita Rivera
Rita Moreno
Jimmy Smits
All the Latino actors in “Breaking Bad,” like Raymond Cruz
Desi Arnaz
Rita Hayworth (Margarita Cansino)
Trini Lopez
Gina Torres
Michelle Rodriguez


33 posted on 11/02/2022 4:18:22 AM PDT by Cecily ( )
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To: PghBaldy

He means OTHER than those people. LOL!

The problem with these idiots is they always use statistics like we are 19% of the population...that doesn’t mean that 19% of Latinos want to be movie stars, or more importantly, that 19% of Latinos are CAPABLE of being movie stars!!

I was not assigned my job based on my race or ethnicity...in America, we get to decide what we want to be. I wanted to be a Marine, I did that. I wanted to be a computer programmer, I did that. I wanted to run my own construction business, I did that. I wanted to be a Safety and Health professional, I am currently doing that. My race had nothing to do with my decisions...my wants and desires did.

For example, when I was outperformed by my coworkers at one of those jobs (computer programming), I had to get better in order to stay in that job...not because of my race or ethnicity, but because others were showing my failings (FYI, two were white, one was black and one was Latino). I was originally a self-taught, amateur programmer; wanting to stay in my chosen career (at the time) and seeing my deficiencies, I went to classes to improve my skills!! THAT’S HOW IT WORKS IN AMERICA...not assigned opportunities based on race, but personal decisions and effort to make opportunities arise.

Does this idiot think 19% of all Latinos MUST BE IN PRISON?!? If they have more, they will be over-represented...should we cut some of them loose to make prison “more equitable”?!? The prison population is much like celebrity stardom...it has a whole lot more to do with personal abilities and efforts than race or ethnicity!


34 posted on 11/02/2022 4:55:40 AM PDT by ExTxMarine (Diversity is necessary; diverse points of views will not be tolerated.)
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To: nickcarraway

Andy Garcia, Desi Arnez?

No mention if course. Blows up the narrative.


35 posted on 11/02/2022 5:29:59 AM PDT by Titus-Maximus (The trouble with socialism is that you soon run out of other people's zoo animals to eat.)
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To: moovova

Yes. Eli Wallach did a great job as Tuco in “The G, B and U”.


36 posted on 11/02/2022 6:08:44 AM PDT by octex
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To: antceecee

“Currently reading Iberia..James Michenor.”

That’s a THICK book (the paperback version, at least)! Of course, all of his books in that vein are thick. He goes back to the very first rock created in that particular area of the world...and brings history forward.

Loved those books!


37 posted on 11/02/2022 7:50:23 AM PDT by moovova
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To: octex

“When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”

Great actor!


38 posted on 11/02/2022 7:54:40 AM PDT by moovova
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To: moovova

My first was Hawaii….Loving this one. I had to stop and look up the Toledo Cathedral descriptions… been a long time since I studied Medieval Art history.


39 posted on 11/03/2022 9:44:11 PM PDT by antceecee
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To: antceecee

And Centennial...here’s a description of Chapter 2:

“”The Land”: The formation of the Earth, specifically the Rockies and the land directly around Centennial.”

3rd chapter was about the dinosaurs that occupied the territory!

Book came out in 1976. Amazon prices tell you the value of his books...paperback is $10 to $20....hardback is $54. This book has been out for almost 50 years!

Along another track...”The Drifters” was my “handbook” as a young guy wanting to see the world!


40 posted on 11/04/2022 8:18:10 AM PDT by moovova
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