The Long, Long Trailer
Hey pod and welcome back! Welcome to the first spoiler special in the ¡Presente! Latin Cinematic Heritage Series discussing the film, The Long, Long Trailer.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, newlyweds Daisy and Nicky decide to travel along with their new home: a long, long trailer that makes living extremely difficult and puts them on the verge of divorce. Part National Lampoon’s Vacation and part Lost in America, Minnelli’s style emphasizes physical humor over situation comedy.
Back on the podcast tonight is Jason Barber, Cuban American educator and artist with over a decade of experience in Rochester’s arts and non-for-profit sectors. As an active public artist in Rochester, he has served in many roles for a variety of Rochester’s art institutions– Rochester Brainery, Oxford Gallery, Memorial Art Gallery, Wall\Therapy, and the Yards Art Collective. He currently sits on the development and outreach boards for AC3 arts council, Latinx Art Council, and Catholic Charities of Rochester. Currently, he is the site manager for the international Plaza, which is part of the Public Market. He is also a massive film lover with an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge in cinema.
Come watch the films for free AND support the Latin-owned businesses and events at the International Plaza during Latin Heritage Month!
Wherever you’re listening from, hit that subscribe button, give us a 5-star rating, share this episode and leave a comment to let us know what you thought of tonight’s episode. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, & Threads.
Visit ourvoicesproject.com and sign up for our newsletter for more information about what we do. We’ll be back with more spoiler specials from the ¡Presente! Latin Film Fest with Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ next week, which will be screening at The George Eastman Museum on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30pm. It’s free and open to the public.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Representation in Cinema
00:53 Exploring 'The Long Long Trailer'
01:12 Character Dynamics and Gender Roles
06:25 Cinematic Techniques and Historical Context
11:32 Cultural Representation and Identity
16:05 Behind the Scenes: Fun Facts and Legacy
20:44 Challenges for Representation in Today's Industry
33:54 Hollywood's Binary Perspectives
37:03 Cultural Narratives and Representation
40:57 The Impact of Historical Figures in Cinema
44:17 The Evolution of Latino Representation
49:47 The Future of Cinema and Independent Films
Mentioned in this episode:
Our Voices Project - Land Acknowledgement
Behind the Glass
Podcast and gallery focusing on underrepresented artists utilize the space to amplify their work. Curated by @Richardbcolon @qua.jay. Check out the podcast or join them in person first Fridays at 240 E Main St, Rochester, NY! https://behind-the-glass-gallery.captivate.fm
Transcript
Hey Pod.
Speaker A:And welcome back.
Speaker A:If this is your first time listening and or watching, welcome to Representation in Cinema.
Speaker A:We talk about the films that senator Black, Brown, Indigenous Voices as well as on the film industry itself.
Speaker A:I'm Jackie McGriff, your host and the founder, director and co producer of our Voices project, a production company that shares the stories and lived experiences of Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples through visual storytelling and truth telling.
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Speaker A:And if you enjoyed tonight's episode, please rate us five stars and leave a comment letting us know your thoughts.
Speaker A:So welcome to the first spoiler special in the Presente Latin Cinematic Heritage series.
Speaker A:The long, Long Trailer is about newlyweds Daisy and Nikki who decide to travel along with their.
Speaker A:Their new home.
Speaker A:A long, long trailer that makes living extremely difficult and puts them on the verge of divorce.
Speaker A:Part National Lampoon's vacation and part Lost in America, Vanilli's style emphasizes physical humor over situation comedy.
Speaker A:Back on the podcast tonight, of course, to talk about it is Jason Barber.
Speaker A:Welcome back to the podcast, Jason.
Speaker B:Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker A:Always a pleasure.
Speaker A:Okay, so let's get into the discussion about this film.
Speaker A:Can you remind folks, of course, we had an overview into the previous episode about all the films in the, in the film fest.
Speaker A:But explain to the audience why you enjoy this film so much.
Speaker B:I mean, for me, it's classic screwball.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:As many people thought about it when it first came out, they thought it was an I Love Lucy movie, but it wasn't.
Speaker B:You know, it was, they played separate characters, but it was just, it kept that energy that came from the TV show between Desi and Lucy and the screwballness of it.
Speaker B:And it just was so much joy.
Speaker B:And to me, as a Cuban American, it means a lot because you have Desi Arnez as literally, it's the pair, it's Desi and Lucy, you know, that's the stars of the movie.
Speaker A:Yeah, I, so while watching this film, so I had never seen this film.
Speaker A:I hadn't even heard of it.
Speaker A:And I mean, I guess like I watched, I watched I Love Lucy and, and you know, the.
Speaker A:But I, I didn't know about the, the, the films and everything.
Speaker A:That they were in.
Speaker A:So watching this was definitely a pleasure seeing them.
Speaker A:And some of like, that.
Speaker A:That same sort of physical humor.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker A:I'm watching this and I am like, it is so.
Speaker A:First of all, it's adorable.
Speaker A:Second of all, they are.
Speaker A:It's so funny.
Speaker A:And also, I'm sorry I had anxiety, like, the.
Speaker A:When they're like, going to.
Speaker A:Well, first of all, it's, you know, she.
Speaker A:She knows what she wants.
Speaker A:I love a woman who knows what she wants.
Speaker A:She's like, listen, I want that this will be helpful for when you are on the road and.
Speaker A:And I could just travel alongside you.
Speaker A:Makes sense, right?
Speaker A:And then you see that big trailer and then I hear the price and I'm like, girl, what are we doing?
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And, you know, and it's, you know, she's super excited about it.
Speaker A:He's super stressed.
Speaker A:It's like, like, I mean, it's.
Speaker A:It's some of the things that you would expect, of course, like, given that situation.
Speaker A:But, you know, they.
Speaker A:It really is like their own story.
Speaker A:And it's so, so funny.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh, like, when they're in traffic and folks are having to go around them because it's so flipping huge.
Speaker A:I'm like, girl, you had to get the biggest.
Speaker A:You had to get the biggest one.
Speaker A:And I think seeing the dynamic between them, because throughout the film, I was.
Speaker A:I was worried, like, okay, this.
Speaker A:This was made in the 50s.
Speaker A:There's obvious, like, gender roles going on.
Speaker A:But at the same time, because I also, I almost, at parts, I felt like, oh, God, they're gonna make it seem like, you know, she's making these irrational decisions and stuff like that, right?
Speaker A:You know, it's like the typical housewife stuff.
Speaker A:But it.
Speaker A:It really wasn't like, it started to lean there, and I'm like, oh, God, here we go.
Speaker A:But then.
Speaker A:But then she's like, no, like, I just.
Speaker A:She just knows what she wants.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:This is what makes sense.
Speaker A:And then when he starts, like, doubting her about, like, her being able to drive the thing, like, it's like, nah.
Speaker A:Like, it's bending those gender roles.
Speaker A:Even though, like, yes, there are a lot of, like the traditional kind of.
Speaker A:She's the one in the trailer cooking, right?
Speaker A:She has her, you know, lady friends and family members, like, coming in and, like, decorating and putting all the things in and definitely, like, over packing the trailer, you know, to make it a home.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:That's what you do.
Speaker A:You, you, you.
Speaker A:This is going to be your home on the road.
Speaker A:So you're bringing in all this stuff, it makes sense.
Speaker A:But then, like, at the moments where I thought, oh, God, they're gonna lean hard into, like, the.
Speaker A:You know, her being, like, this typical.
Speaker A:I'm using air quotes here for those who are listening.
Speaker A:Like, the typical housewife stuff.
Speaker A:But then it's not.
Speaker A:She's her own woman.
Speaker A:She is just someone who, like, wants to make the most, you know, out of every situation.
Speaker A:And you see, he's stressed as hell and, like, with all of this stuff.
Speaker A:And I'm like, no, this is what you do when you make a home.
Speaker A:You make it your own.
Speaker A:And, you know, there's things that she does that I'm just like, girl.
Speaker A:Especially, like, towards the end when they're trying to get up the.
Speaker A:The mountain, and it's so both of them are, like, freaking out.
Speaker A:It's not just him.
Speaker A:It's both of them.
Speaker A:Because she's like, I definitely made a mistake, but I hope my mistake, you know, or me.
Speaker A:Or at least it's like she's trying to think through, okay, maybe.
Speaker A:Maybe there's some compromise here.
Speaker A:Maybe I can keep all my stuff and then, you know, we'll get up to the mountain just fine.
Speaker A:But I'm sitting there like, God, like, girl, what.
Speaker A:What did you do?
Speaker A:But, like, it ends up working out in the end.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker A:It's just.
Speaker A:There's all these, like, situations throughout the film that are so funny.
Speaker A:And, you know, with them having this, of course, long, long trailer.
Speaker A:It's just like a nice.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's like a nice, feelgood, hilarious movie.
Speaker A:I. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I can see, like, you growing up with, you know, and having this film and it being something that you're constantly watching, like, to the point where I'm sure you have the entire film memorized at this.
Speaker A:Wait, what you say?
Speaker B:I have so many films in my head, so I don't have every film.
Speaker A:Memorized, but, yeah, it's.
Speaker A:No, it's just like, one of those.
Speaker A:It's one of those classics, and it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's just really, really funny.
Speaker A:And I don't know if you wanted to say anything about any specific moments maybe, that I mentioned or didn't mention.
Speaker B:You know, I just think, like, the drive in scenes, I always think it's hilarious.
Speaker B:You know, like, when I.
Speaker B:You know, Desi did all his own driving and that, like, to move that.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That giant real.
Speaker B:It was a real rv, Like a real mobile home that they had on that back.
Speaker B:So he.
Speaker B:He drove it.
Speaker B:He learned how to drive.
Speaker B:So Did Lucy, you know, so I think it says a lot about just even like dedication to performance.
Speaker B:I'm gonna try to drive this dip through real sites.
Speaker B:They were in Yosemite, they were in other places.
Speaker B:You know, they went up to Palm Springs, they filmed all this and like a lot of disease in real locations, Summer backdrops and sets.
Speaker B:Like the mountain.
Speaker B:Like I think you could really bring up that.
Speaker B:That's a mountain.
Speaker B:But like, you know, like the rocks.
Speaker B:Like the idea that she wanted to create home with the place, you know, like, so that she was.
Speaker B:She wanted all these rocks to put up in the garden, you know, like in a future garden.
Speaker B:So it's just like these elements of personality that.
Speaker B:And actually I come from the actual book that it's based on.
Speaker B:So it's kind of crazy that like the rocks where it's like a real story.
Speaker B:It comes from a true story of the person that wrote this.
Speaker B:Like it was a best selling book.
Speaker B:I 52.
Speaker B:So yeah.
Speaker B:So I think it's.
Speaker B:It's interesting just to see that.
Speaker B:And I think like again the chemistry.
Speaker B:This is like pretty much, I think, I think the first or second season of Lucy has like, I Love Lucy has just come out.
Speaker B:So this is the middle of Lucy Mania.
Speaker B:I Love Lucy Mania.
Speaker B:Across the country, you know, like they are the most famous married couple.
Speaker B:Like more famous than Dwight Eisenhower and the President.
Speaker B:Mimi Eisenhower.
Speaker B:Like, like that's how big they are.
Speaker B:Like they, they just.
Speaker B:Everyone knows them as like the married couple on television.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And then like having this movie come out in the middle of it, having Vincent Minnelli, who was, you know, Judy Garland's husband, I mean he was openly gay, but you know, and eventually Liza Minnelli's father, you know, directed, you know, he directed some, you know, Mimi and St. Louis, the original father of the bride.
Speaker B:He did so many amazing movies.
Speaker B:And to have him as a director to be at mgm, I mean this is like their second movie together too.
Speaker B:Like they, they met on a movie Too Many Girls, which.
Speaker B:That's a whole separate story of a whole different time.
Speaker B:But amazing movie as well.
Speaker B:Rogers and Hart movie.
Speaker B:Like Rogers, eventually Rogers and Hammerstein.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And Desi played the role that he originated on Broadway and you know, created the conga line in celebration.
Speaker B:Literally the movie was.
Speaker B:They made his character a conga.
Speaker B:A Latino who brought a football player that brought conga line.
Speaker B:And that's what Desi did.
Speaker B:He brought conga.
Speaker B:The conga line, the famous that he brought that to America.
Speaker B:He popularized that.
Speaker B:So like to have that and that's where Lucy and him met in that movie.
Speaker B:And then to have this in the midst of their height of their popularity, you know, like, just to me, it was like.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:It was like a perfect movie.
Speaker B:And it's brilliant.
Speaker B:Technicolor, so beautifully shot.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I was.
Speaker A:I was noticing that, too, as I'm watching.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's a beautifully made film.
Speaker A:Like, the colors are, like, fantastic.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It's a wonderful film.
Speaker A:And just like the.
Speaker A:Just, again, the both of them, like, having that.
Speaker A:Their comedic timing.
Speaker A:I mean, of course, like, we know.
Speaker A:We know I Love Lucy, right?
Speaker A:We know what they're capable of.
Speaker A:But to see this, like, translated onto, like, you know, into a film, onto the big screen, I think.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:Like, imagine, like.
Speaker A:Just imagine, like, watching that, like, from back then.
Speaker A:But it's also like, something that.
Speaker A:And again, because we're talking about representation, you know, it's something where we're seeing this man, someone like Desi Arnaz, right on screen, like, for all to see.
Speaker A:And so, like, you had kind of mentioned it before, but, like, I want to, like, give you space to expand on this, but, like, for you, you know, as a Cuban American, like, seeing that kind of representation, like, what does that.
Speaker A:I guess, what does that mean to you?
Speaker A:Or what is it?
Speaker A:What does it feel like for you?
Speaker B:It's just pride.
Speaker B:I mean, it's pride in our identity and our placement in American history.
Speaker B:It's our placement in television movie history.
Speaker B:It's the idea that, like, you know, an actor, we can be like, well, it's stereotypical.
Speaker B:It's like, no, it's not.
Speaker B:He's not dressed as an.
Speaker B:In stereotypical clothes.
Speaker B:He's not in, like, a darker skin.
Speaker B:They didn't make his skin darker, like a West side Story, you know, like, he is jet black hair, a little bit of gray at that time.
Speaker B:You know, like his skin color, you know, his.
Speaker B:You know, like, he speaks with his accent.
Speaker B:He speak, you know, like he.
Speaker B:You know, and his name is Desianes.
Speaker B:You know, like, he has his name, you know, and it's just like, it just says right there, like, it's Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the Long, Long Traveler.
Speaker B:And the idea that he even put his name first sometimes.
Speaker B:And sometimes they're a switch, you know, like, it's just sezzle.
Speaker B:Like, you know, just in the trailer, it's like Lucille Ball and Desi Aranez.
Speaker B:Like, he.
Speaker B:He doesn't have to he alphabetically.
Speaker B:He technically could have his name first, but it's like, no, it's Lucy.
Speaker B:We're gonna see Lucy.
Speaker B:And that's in all the posters.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, I. Yeah.
Speaker A:So I thank you for sharing that.
Speaker A:Do you think a film like this, I mean, throughout, I want to say, because I normally.
Speaker A:As far as like, our modern.
Speaker A:I mean, would you call this.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a comedy?
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:And, you know, I guess me trying to, like, phrase this question because I. I was watching this and I'm thinking about, like, the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The comedies, the romance comedies we see coming out today.
Speaker A:And like, a lot of them do have that sort of physical humor, but I guess, like, heaven forbid someone come up with a.
Speaker A:A remake.
Speaker A:But I'm.
Speaker A:Because I'm sick of remakes.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:But if this film, like, if this film were made today, do you think it would have the same.
Speaker A:Folks would have the same appreciation for it or would people have appreciation?
Speaker B:I think with like, a movie like this, it was a hit at the time.
Speaker B:It came out because of the.
Speaker B:Where everything that was happening for the television show and the kind of.
Speaker B:The new aspect of television, the idea that, you know, people didn't think this movie was even going to make money because, well, they can watch it for free on tv.
Speaker B:Lucy and Desi.
Speaker B:Why are they gonna spend, you know, money to go see them on the big screen?
Speaker B:But it's in color, so you get to see them in color the first time.
Speaker B:And also it's like, this is different.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But I don't know.
Speaker B:I. I think.
Speaker B:I think it's harder today to do that because of streaming, because of many other factors, but I don't think it would have the same impact.
Speaker B:I think, like, a comedy like this perfectly fit its time in the 50s.
Speaker B:The optimism of the 50s, you know, people buying the trailers, buying the homes, traveling the United States, hitting the roads, you know, having this great exploration.
Speaker B:The rise of the niche motels that popped up all across Route 66 and other places across the country.
Speaker B:You know, the travel lodge, the hotel culture, all this stuff, you know, and the motorlops.
Speaker B:Like, the idea, like, we can't have a trailer.
Speaker B:I mean, you can, but it has to be subversive.
Speaker B:Like Lost in America, you know, or like, you know, like Lost America is kind of like the remake of this, but it's more messed up.
Speaker B:Like they're trying to capture this American dream from.
Speaker B: From, like, that's the: Speaker B:It just fit the time that it needed.
Speaker B:You know, it was an optimistic time after the war.
Speaker B:And I think you have Lucy and Desi being this optimistic couple, you know, and this hilarious couple on television.
Speaker B:And everyone's home and they felt connected to them and everyone's home.
Speaker B:So it just worked as a movie because of that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So you being this.
Speaker A:I mean, in your bio, your stuff's described as a.
Speaker A:As an encyclopedia when it comes to film.
Speaker A:Are there any, like random, you know, facts about this film about Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball that you would like to share?
Speaker B:I mean, I think you have to realize that one of the core things I do love about Desi is that he wasn't Torres gambler, but he actually gambled on this movie.
Speaker B:He told the head of the studio, I love this fact.
Speaker B:Robert Armstrong pointed out that like people, the studio thoughts.
Speaker B:Well, audiences are not going to pay to go see Lucy and Desi in the theater.
Speaker B:They get them free on television.
Speaker B:So desi made a $25,000 bet with.
Speaker B:With the studio, which let me do that.
Speaker B:1953.
Speaker B:That's what is inflation calculator calculate roughly $314,000 bet.
Speaker A:Oh my God.
Speaker B:With the studio.
Speaker A:A gambler for sure.
Speaker A:Because what.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And he says we're gonna be.
Speaker B:He says we're gonna.
Speaker B:This is gonna be the highest grossing comedy at that time.
Speaker B:And they said it's not.
Speaker B:It's going to be Follow the Bride, which had come out the year before with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.
Speaker B:He won the bet that it was going to be the highest prize movie.
Speaker B:It earned 3.98 million.
Speaker B:So let's do that.
Speaker B:Results in $37 million, probably over $40 million.
Speaker B:It calculated and this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's just.
Speaker B:It's crazy to think about.
Speaker B:Like that's.
Speaker B:That was a big.
Speaker B:It was one of the biggest hits of that year.
Speaker B:You know, like the idea that they made that much and it's the reason that their studio, they have the extra money to start Desilu studios and productions, you know, like, it's where they created the largest.
Speaker B:Eventually will become the largest TV studio privately owned TV studio.
Speaker B:Not like, you know, CBS or ABC television production studio.
Speaker B:They would go on to buy the rights for the Danny Thomas and Carl Reiner shows like the Dick Van Dyke show, you know, the It Girl with, you know, with Marlo Thomas, Danny Thomas's daughter.
Speaker B:They would go on to greenlight a show called Star Trek and the Untouchables with Robert Flapp, Robert Stack and you know, eventually Mission Impossible after Star Trek went under after three seasons, you know, so they had the money to develop all these shows under Desilu Studios.
Speaker B:So it's insane.
Speaker A:Hmm.
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:So you think that this is the movie that like started on that like.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, let's see.
Speaker B:I'm looking at all this right now.
Speaker B:I'm actually looking this up right now to see, see what shows they produce, television produce.
Speaker B:I Love Lucy, I love L, Disney, I, the Texan, tons of Westerns.
Speaker B:This is Alice, the Untouchables, Lucy show, don't say hi.
Speaker B:The Greatest show on Earth, Star Trek, Mission Impossible and the Dick.
Speaker A:My gosh.
Speaker B:And that was because of this movie.
Speaker B:Like this movie kind of helped secure them to create that studio.
Speaker B:And Desi became the president and Lucy the vp.
Speaker B:You know, the idea is only Hispanic owned television studio and the only woman to run a TV studio.
Speaker A:Hmm.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Well, that actually boggles my mind because when you think about again the, the impact that both of these people had, but especially Desi Arnaz, right?
Speaker A:Like start jump starting like all of that, right.
Speaker A:I think about to today and how hard it is for, for people of color to not only just like get their, get their movies out there, get their movies seen, get their television shows, like getting a pilot and having it picked up, you know, by somebody to continue going on.
Speaker A:I mean we're seeing so many shows that are being canceled and I don't even know how many of those two are ones that are like predominantly.
Speaker A:I mean, I think, I just think about like the, the shows that are predominantly black that are getting canceled.
Speaker A:I don't even know how many shows that are out there that are either owned by studios or Latin owned or anyone's with predominant, predominantly Latin cast.
Speaker A:Like, I don't, I can't think there's a few.
Speaker B:There's a Cuban Anacaba.
Speaker B:I butcher her name Anika.
Speaker B:She produced under Nor, she was tutored under Norman Lear and she did the remake of the Facts.
Speaker B:All in the Family now.
Speaker B:Family.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:But I had like Rita Moreno had a full line cast.
Speaker B:I loved it.
Speaker B:It was about a Cuban family in Echo Park.
Speaker B:Now she did a show called like One Love or Love on Love on Amazon that ran for like three or four seasons.
Speaker B:But she's been a TV show runner.
Speaker B:I think she was also one of the writers for Ugly Betty back in the day.
Speaker B:So there has been.
Speaker B:But not as much.
Speaker B:And a lot of it is really trying to get stuff greenlit in this current climate.
Speaker B:A lot of them have organized Studio John Samoan have all created production studios, but again, green laden the shows in a time where Latinos are often, you know, fear mongered on the news and everything, you know, like, and with the Trump administration just using it, it's been a little more difficult.
Speaker B:But, you know, like, I do think you do see cast.
Speaker B:I believe, you know, you see young Latin actors in everything.
Speaker B:I believe there's one in that show on campus, you know, dressed like JLo.
Speaker B:And so there are a lot of actors everywhere and black actors popping up and everything.
Speaker B:But I think it is like, to see that like a Latin show get win the Emmys, you're not seeing that.
Speaker B:You're not seeing a black run show, like, as much black run show winning the Emmys.
Speaker B:You know, like, you're seeing those actors in them winning Emmys individually, but, you know, like, but you're not seeing it that much happen.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, I'm just seeing, like, I saw an article yesterday about the Emmys and how it was all white actors who were awarded at the Emmys this year.
Speaker B:Oscar Isaac was nominated.
Speaker B:He didn't win.
Speaker B:And for Beef, you know, like, all right, I'm not gonna be against Matthew Reese because I'd love that Welsh man with all my heart.
Speaker A:I love.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, anything he does, I love him.
Speaker A:He's fantastic.
Speaker B:And Gene Smart from Hacks, I love both of them.
Speaker B:But yeah, you're right.
Speaker B:There wasn't a single.
Speaker B:There wasn't a single person of color that won last yesterday.
Speaker B:And there were Hispanic.
Speaker B:There were Hispanics had people of color in all those casts.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, but none of them won.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And I think it's.
Speaker B:It's interesting to.
Speaker B:To see that, you know, there is Hispanic and black and Indian actors in.
Speaker B:And Filipino actors in the pit.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, the two people that win are white.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm not getting.
Speaker B:I love Noah Wy, but like, you know, he's going to.
Speaker A:Yeah, though.
Speaker A:And also to like.
Speaker A:Because I.
Speaker A:And I bring that up too, because again, it's just a fact of the, you know, the industry.
Speaker A:This is, this is what the industry does at the same time.
Speaker A:And then not to say that again, like you were saying, there are also.
Speaker A:There are black and Latino, like, people in these films.
Speaker A:I remember, like, or.
Speaker A:And in the television shows, because we're talking about the Emmys.
Speaker A:But then even after they win.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Even after, like, folks win, I wonder, the opportunities are still not as prevalent for them.
Speaker A:Like, the opportunities, like, I think it definitely, of course, depends on the actor.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But at the same time, like so many others who are looking for those wins to then be able to go on and get more jobs.
Speaker A:I think it's, it's more difficult.
Speaker A:It's definitely difficult.
Speaker A:It's, it's, it has to be like people creating their own things, which I.
Speaker A:Is what I'm constantly seeing something.
Speaker A:Also just a random thought that just popped into my head.
Speaker A:There was.
Speaker A:Oh, it was like a few years ago, I think, but.
Speaker A:And I think it was Entertainment Weekly.
Speaker A:We can fact check that later, but I think it was Entertainment Weekly.
Speaker A:There was this whole spread about like people were joking.
Speaker A:It was like, it was like a, it was in honor of Latin actors and actresses.
Speaker A:But there was like, let.
Speaker A:I don't, I don't think this was the, the exact quote, but it just looked like it was someone did something about like Latinos in space.
Speaker A:Because it was, it was all.
Speaker A:It was about Star wars.
Speaker A:And so they were talking about Pedro Pascal and Isaac.
Speaker A:Oh my God.
Speaker A:And what's his name?
Speaker B:Oscar Isaac.
Speaker A:Yeah, Oscar Isaac.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:But then there's also Diego Luna and you have.
Speaker A:What's her name?
Speaker A:She's in Ahsoka.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So like they're.
Speaker A:I just thought it was interesting.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker A:Okay, cool.
Speaker A:And like folks like Oscar Isaac, you know, they're in Pedro Pascal, they're getting, they're getting opportunities all the time.
Speaker A:But I'm like, I don't know if we can say that for so many others.
Speaker B:Well, I would say Diego Luna is a great example.
Speaker A:Diego Luna, Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, the only other previous show he was doing before that was.
Speaker B:Was Narcos.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Other shows that he had produced for Mexican, but now he's his next show, he's doing the Boys World in Boys Mexico.
Speaker B:So like, you know, like, I think, I do think there's aspects like Diego is a great example of that.
Speaker B:But yeah, I agree.
Speaker B:Like, you are, you're focusing on those, but you're not having Hispanics.
Speaker B:I mean, you know, it's funny, I can't think of a single.
Speaker B:I can't think of like, like a main actor.
Speaker B:I've seen like some side actors from Star Trek.
Speaker B:They're Hispanic.
Speaker B:There's never been like, like an out and out Latino in space, you know, in Star Trek.
Speaker B:And I love Star Trek and it was because of Desi.
Speaker B:There is Star Trek, but there hasn't been a land captain.
Speaker B:There's been a black captain.
Speaker B:There's been a woman captain.
Speaker B:Been a bald captain.
Speaker A:Been a bald captain.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But there hasn't Been.
Speaker B:There's been two black captains.
Speaker B:Because Discovery.
Speaker A:Yeah, listen, I'm rocking.
Speaker B:And women.
Speaker B:Two black and women captain.
Speaker A:Love it.
Speaker A:We celebrate it.
Speaker A:Because I could.
Speaker A:Listen, I can go on a whole other.
Speaker A:Other episode talking about the opportunities for black women.
Speaker A:So that's another conversation for another.
Speaker B:You have a black woman captain.
Speaker B:You don't even have a spat captain.
Speaker A:Which there should be.
Speaker A:Which there should be.
Speaker A:You know, you don't even have Black Panther.
Speaker B:You guys have Black Panther.
Speaker B:We have to have a side character in a Black Panther movie.
Speaker B:We are the side character in Captain America.
Speaker B:Great new world.
Speaker A:Here's what I'll say about that, too, though.
Speaker A:As I've reflected, you know, and thought about this movie a lot, I.
Speaker A:Someone else brought it up.
Speaker A:Someone who is.
Speaker A:Who identifies as Afro Caribbean.
Speaker A:She's Dominican.
Speaker A:And she was like, I don't understand why they had us fighting one another.
Speaker A:Like, this makes no sense.
Speaker A:Why are we fighting each other in a film?
Speaker A:I'm like, you're right.
Speaker A:I don't know either.
Speaker A:But again, we're talking about something that is being.
Speaker A:You know, it's Disney.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:All they're going off on is that was written by Ryan Cooger.
Speaker B:So it was written by.
Speaker A:Oh, no.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:It's made by Ryan Coogler, and there's a lot of research that went into it.
Speaker A:However, we're also talking about, first of all, Ryan Coogler grew up around.
Speaker A:He grew up in Oakland.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, we're talking about.
Speaker A:He's around folks who are the Black Panthers.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:There's a whole history there.
Speaker A:But I.
Speaker A:What I would like to know is how much freedom that someone can have, like, in the writing.
Speaker A:Especially when we were talking about.
Speaker A:We were talking about something that is going to go out to the masses.
Speaker A:So I'm wondering how much say that studio execs are having in those kinds of decisions.
Speaker A:I wonder, what if that was always going to be the story?
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think, you know, I've been listening to Desi's biography a lot, his autobiography, and I think.
Speaker B:And this goes back to.
Speaker B:To who wields power and who can.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker B:Who also has power, like, as people help them on this on the side, you know, like, and I think, like, with Desi, he was always pretty charming and Lucy were always pretty good at, like, having the right people that they knew like to say, okay, no, trust me, we're gonna do good.
Speaker B:Even though nobody said they were.
Speaker B:They, you know, everyone said they were gonna fail.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Who's going to watch a show of a Cuban, like, you know, Cuban man and his, you know, like zany, like, it has to be two white people.
Speaker B:Can't be two, you know, like, who's going to watch this?
Speaker B:Who's going to do that?
Speaker B:And like.
Speaker B:So I think, I do think there's aspects that, you know, like, I'm going to move my location because my phone's about to die.
Speaker A:Sorry about that.
Speaker B:But like, I don't know, it is, it's.
Speaker B:Who is the power players.
Speaker B:And I, I think with Hollywood, it's, it's, it's dependent on the era, you know, like you're looking at it, you know, like in the 80s, it was, it was strong with Latin films, Latin directors, but it was.
Speaker B:Got a lot of people like Sidney Poitier, you had a lot of Latin and a lot of like white and probably Jewish producers that said, no, I want to find this director, I want to find this writer.
Speaker B:You know, I saw this play and I want this guy to do this TV show.
Speaker B:I want that actor, you know, like.
Speaker B:And I think now it's more based on clicks and how fast stuff is.
Speaker B:You can be Hispanic, you can be all this.
Speaker B:But on a studio, production wise, it's based on the algorithm of who's popular, what's popular, what's not popular, you know, and they're also playing in all this data that they have that is useless data because, like, for example, statistically people thought Black Panther or Guardians were gonna fail.
Speaker B:You know, like, Zoe Saldani is technically like, up until recently, Tom Holland passing, it was in the highest grossing movies of all time as an actress.
Speaker B:And she's Latino and black, you know, So I think, well, she doesn't claim,.
Speaker A:She doesn't claim black, which is a whole second thing.
Speaker B:But that's a Latin thing.
Speaker B:That's a lot more complexity of our own culture, you know, like, and it's also like, we forget that in America it's so binary.
Speaker B:And Hispanics, Afro.
Speaker B:Latino culture is so integrated within our culture, you know, and there's.
Speaker B:We also have our own racism within our own culture.
Speaker B:But in America it's like, well, I gotta identify as white, I gotta identify as black, you know, And Latinos are like, well, I'm all of it, you know, like, I'm a lot more of this.
Speaker B:So I'm just, I'm sorry, I'm defending.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, because I know I, she.
Speaker A:Okay me.
Speaker A:This whole me no black thing, I, I'm, I'm sick of it.
Speaker B:But you, you, you can ask any Dominican, Ask any Dominican that question.
Speaker B:And they'll give you this pretty much the same answer that she.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker A:She said.
Speaker B:She said, they're going to say, I'm not American, I'm black, but I'm.
Speaker B:So it's a complicated question.
Speaker A:This is another.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker A:I'm sick of.
Speaker A:No, I'm sick of hearing it.
Speaker B:I know you are.
Speaker B:I don't know, because.
Speaker B:And I'm saying this as a white.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:When she first started, when she first started out, she would be in an interview saying that, no, I, I do.
Speaker A:I identify.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:As a black woman.
Speaker A:I am Afro Latina.
Speaker B:I am black and ripped apart to shreds.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Because of that, I think I. I.
Speaker B:Think as that she's probably going, I'm not going to do it anymore.
Speaker B:Like, I mean, it wasn't even a good movie.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:No, I'm never watching that film.
Speaker A:I saw the photos and I was like, no, I need.
Speaker A:I need someone else to portray Nina Simone.
Speaker B:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker B:But I think, like, I do think like that.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:But again, that's what happens in Hollywood.
Speaker B:Hollywood sees it as in these binary perspectives.
Speaker B:You know, they want us to think in it.
Speaker B:But what ends up being successful is the people that cross those lines.
Speaker B:You know, we talk about Lin Manuel Miranda, we talk about these other people.
Speaker B:We talk about Ryan Kruger and the reason Ryan Krueger.
Speaker B:Black Panther was one of the most popular movies.
Speaker B:I don't think.
Speaker B:I don't think Disney had as much hope as they thought it was going to be like a Captain America Iron man movie.
Speaker A:They still don't.
Speaker B:They still don't.
Speaker B:But that's the question.
Speaker B:They didn't.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Because the director said, hey, no, this is what I want to talk about.
Speaker B:And there was producers that were both black, and they had Kevin Feige who was like, no, I'm on.
Speaker B:I'm on board of 100% on this vision.
Speaker B:You know, like, they had a team that defied, that had that support system very much.
Speaker B:Like, when we talk about, like, with Lucy and Desi, they had a good support system of people who believed in their idea.
Speaker B:And I think, like, but like, you asked Bob Iger, you asked, like, some of the exit Disney.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like, but you ask all these ex at Marvel, they're gonna be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like, you know, like, Kevin Feige was like, I love the script.
Speaker B:It's great.
Speaker B:I like the acting choice.
Speaker B:Go.
Speaker B:So, yeah, if he didn't approve of it, none of that would have happened.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, I still have.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:But I mean, I think.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think it's.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:But they.
Speaker B:Most of the people who are the money, like people in Hollywood, they're gonna.
Speaker B:They.
Speaker B:They think in binary models.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that's how they run it.
Speaker B:But what has always been successful in Hollywood is when the system is flipped, you know, when they don't see the perspective of coming.
Speaker B:You know, like, when they don't realize that, like, Hispanics and blacks are largest group of moviegoers.
Speaker B:They don't realize that there's these narratives that can be told through Hispanic actors or Hispanic experience or through black experience, that it's going to connect to way more people and have a cultural impact.
Speaker B:And I think that's the movies that surprise people.
Speaker B:You know, I just saw the Odyssey, and I thought Nolan made the perfect choice and cast him Leguizamo, you know, because there's nobody who can give that gravitas than he can.
Speaker B:I mean, he's ranged.
Speaker B:In his 20s, he was given that gravitas in freaking Romeo and Juliet Love, you know, like, love him in Romeo poster.
Speaker B:He can do that.
Speaker B:He can do that.
Speaker B:You know, if you do that to Shakespeare, he can do that.
Speaker B:And I think, like, that scene of fragileness, but yet also, like, strength that he had was perfect.
Speaker B:I love seeing him.
Speaker B:Benicio del Toro, seeing contemporary made.
Speaker B:The only reason I liked one battle after another was Benisa del Toro.
Speaker B:I hated everybody else.
Speaker A:His character was the best.
Speaker A:They gave him the best character.
Speaker A:I mean, I love Regina hall, but, like, the way they did her character too.
Speaker A:I. Oh, she was.
Speaker B:She was done bad.
Speaker B:They gave her a character that literally betrayed everybody.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, but that's what I'm saying.
Speaker A:That's not how revolutionaries.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, but I could go on a whole tirade.
Speaker B:I also think.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Again, I think what BT Anderson was really pointing out something.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is look at the group that didn't think in binary, the left and the right, the conservative and the, you know, and the radical.
Speaker B:They had these confusing ideologies that were always opposite each other, but they had to believe it so completely.
Speaker B:And the group that thought in the middle are the ones that got anything done.
Speaker B:And that was Benisa Toller's characters.
Speaker B:You notice that it was all the marginalized community.
Speaker B:It was these communities that did it.
Speaker B:But then you have these white people that are like, I'm super radical and I have a code name and these crazy rich white people on the right side in that movie.
Speaker B:That are completely blind because they are this binary model of society.
Speaker B:And then who got the shit done?
Speaker B:Who got the shit done?
Speaker B:Who moved people outside the border?
Speaker B:Who got everything?
Speaker B:Benisador.
Speaker B:And that's no calm.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker A:That's the problem, though.
Speaker A:That's the problem.
Speaker A:Doj.
Speaker A:I could go on a whole.
Speaker A:Again, another podcast.
Speaker A:That's another podcast.
Speaker B:Me.
Speaker A:Me, just criticizing the hell out of one battle after another.
Speaker A:Because, first of all, I could not stand that.
Speaker B:I do think.
Speaker B:I do think it did the African American character, like, the black character's pretty bad in that movie.
Speaker A:Horrible.
Speaker B:Horrible.
Speaker B:Horribly.
Speaker A:Benicho del Toro's character was my favorite.
Speaker B:Because, again, I think, like, he just said, yeah, he.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:But it.
Speaker B:And I think, like, I was very.
Speaker B:I had a hard time with that movie because it was so, like, it just showed the absurdities of, like, left, the leftist mentality in the right, and, like.
Speaker B:Like a.
Speaker B:And a far right mentality, you know, And I was like, this is annoying, you know, but it's.
Speaker A:It's being.
Speaker A:Again, it's being.
Speaker A:It was written.
Speaker A:It was written by a white man.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And it was based off a book from a hippie white man from the 60s.
Speaker B:So I'm like.
Speaker A:I'm like.
Speaker A:So you tell me you didn't.
Speaker A:You didn't research the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, the, like, everyone who was, like, in the fight.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The Rainbow Coalition like you did?
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think with the.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:Yeah, I. I feel.
Speaker B:I feel like he was just looking at, like, the black community is like, a stereotype of the young.
Speaker B:Of the Black Panthers and like, like a facade of it, but not like, the actual force that they were, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like.
Speaker B:And I think, like, that is what annoyed me is, like, this is this facade of revolution.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And not.
Speaker B:Not, like, the reality of, like, yes, they may have been carrying guns, but they organized free lunches and daycare and really with the Young Lords and other organizations and, like, created what is now the Head Start programs across the country.
Speaker B:You know, like, there's so much that the Black Panthers did.
Speaker B:The Young Lords did.
Speaker B:Yeah, all these organizations did during that time.
Speaker B:And I think, like, it was just showing, like, the facility facade of the.
Speaker B:The 60s, but now even now, the new radicals, the young, you know, like, they.
Speaker B:What do they stand for?
Speaker B:What does this stand for?
Speaker B:Like, you know, like, it is.
Speaker B:It was absurd.
Speaker B:And then, of course, yeah, I. I mind that Benesto Tours Guard was the best, but that was the only.
Speaker B:When I got the movie, I was like, yeah, that's the only reason I wanted to see this movie.
Speaker B:And I like Paul Thomas Anderson.
Speaker B:I love, I love licorice pizza.
Speaker B:I loved his care.
Speaker B:I love Beniso Tourer's character in Inherent Vice.
Speaker A:So I haven't seen, I haven't seen Inherent Vice.
Speaker A:I cannot.
Speaker A:I tried watching the Master.
Speaker B:I haven't watched the Master.
Speaker B:I have it, but I need to watch it.
Speaker A:Can't do it.
Speaker B:Everyone, Everyone loves Punch Drunk Love.
Speaker B:My girlfriend loves Punch Drunk Love.
Speaker B:And I gotta watch that.
Speaker B:But I don't like Boogie Nights.
Speaker B:I've never been a big fan of Boogie Nights.
Speaker A:What was the Paul Tam.
Speaker A:There was a Paul Thomas, There Will Be Blood.
Speaker B:There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread that he did with.
Speaker A:See, I. I didn't like that one either.
Speaker A:But we've gotten way off topic.
Speaker A:I forgot how we got here in the first place.
Speaker A:People are expecting to listen to talk.
Speaker B:About the LA LA trailer and we.
Speaker A:Were like, let's, let's take it a step further and talk about opportunities in Hollywood.
Speaker A:This is, see, this is what happens.
Speaker A:This is what happens, okay.
Speaker A:When you don't give, you don't give so many roles or to, to people of color especially.
Speaker A:We're talking about black and brown people.
Speaker A:We're talking about Latino people like.
Speaker A:Or Latin people like.
Speaker A:Yeah, anyway, me trying to bring her back, but yeah, no, I think, I think it's important, like to, to, to talk about that.
Speaker A:We're looking at, again, looking at the impact of Desi Arnaz and as well, you know, as well as Lucille Ball.
Speaker A:But like to have somebody, you know, especially like Desi taking this gamble, right?
Speaker A:This by today's standards, $300,000 gamble on, you know, putting this movie together and then having it make.
Speaker A:Would you say it was like 37 million?
Speaker B:Yeah, pretty much close to 40 million.
Speaker A:Yeah, closer to $40 million.
Speaker A:I think is just says something about.
Speaker A:Says, says something about him, you know, as a professional, as someone who's a producer, you know, an actor, like all of these different things.
Speaker A:Someone who then went on, you know, it was possible, you know, through him, you know, with all.
Speaker A:You got all of these different television shows and then to see how the industry has, has changed so much, especially in this day and time.
Speaker A:I think it's, it's interesting just the amount of things that he was able to accomplish and then where we are today.
Speaker B:I think, I think, yeah, I think what, what always annoys me is that it has to be these like, you know, there has to be these like peaks in television and film and then it Dissolves and there's a peak and then there's this and this peak and there's this peak and there's this.
Speaker B:And that annoys me.
Speaker B:When it was cinema, when I look at the history of cinema, like, I was just like, why did this, you know, like, like we're show movies.
Speaker B: For the film series from the: Speaker B:But Anthony Quinn changed his name and he would play many different characters, you know, and then to the 60s, you.
Speaker B:You don't see that at all.
Speaker B:You know, Martin Sheen, guys in movies in the 70s and 60s, but he is pretending to be Irish, you know.
Speaker B:And you know, you wouldn't have Hispanic leads all the way up until the 80s, you know, like, so.
Speaker B:And then that goes back down and then it's not until the mid-90s or JLo and you know, and other actors that pop up, you know, like.
Speaker B:Yeah, and I, I don't like that it goes in these flows of like, you know, and I mean, to be honest, like, other than Wes Anderson films, Benisa Del Toro is not the lead in many movies.
Speaker B:He's the supporting character.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like, there's some movies he's been in, but like, you know, Denis via new movies with like Serpatico.
Speaker B:But that was an ensemble movie because you really.
Speaker B:There's a lead in that movie because you got Josh Brolin, Emmy Blunt.
Speaker A:He was the lead in the Wolf Man.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And that was a great hit.
Speaker B:Yeah, but he wasn't.
Speaker B:He was the lead in.
Speaker B:In the Phoenicians game.
Speaker B:He was the main.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And like, you don't see Jamo, you know, as leads that he was when he first started, you know, you had to Wong Fu, you know, with Samba cast.
Speaker B:But then.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, he was everywhere.
Speaker B:You know, like, that's on my list for future film series.
Speaker B:I love that movie.
Speaker B:But you know, like, you don't see him as a lead.
Speaker B:You know, you don't see these latino actors and JLo.
Speaker B:You know, I was listening to her recently.
Speaker B:She is the lead, but, you know, she only likes the movies that she does.
Speaker B:She's like, I like romantic comedies.
Speaker B:If I do a movie, it's a movie I have to be passionate about, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, she's in a lot of bad movies, but those are the movies she, she wants to be in.
Speaker B:And she wants to be in a thriller.
Speaker B:She, she wants to be in a thriller or she wants to be in a rom com.
Speaker B:Those are her favorite types of movies.
Speaker A:I watched enough last night.
Speaker B:Yeah, I have to watch the one of her.
Speaker B:Brett Goldstein.
Speaker B:I heard it's pretty good.
Speaker B:The one that the, the rom com that he wrote for her.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But you know, like, again, like, that's, that's, that's the sadness of the studio.
Speaker B:If you have the power, like JLo, you're going to choose the genres that you're comfortable in.
Speaker B:You know, you're not seeing them really, like, go against the norm and like, because they're not given the freedom to do that.
Speaker B:They're not the Cate Blanchettes or the, or the Meryl Streeps or, you know, like, I don't see them get being thrown the roles and like, in the studios as much.
Speaker B:And I think, like, you can even ask like, like the idea that, like, here's, you know, Jellozamo in one of the biggest movies of the year, but he also has to produce three or four other films that are smaller that no one's gonna see, you know, but he's also gonna be playing the villain in Mike Flanagan's and Scarlett Johansson's new Exorcist TV show.
Speaker A:Ooh, okay.
Speaker B:Very, very cool.
Speaker B:But you know, like, he's.
Speaker B:But that's something you have to look at.
Speaker B:Like, he's still working.
Speaker B:But he also, well, he, you know, he said in interviews, we Latinos are still one of the largest film gone pop books in America.
Speaker B:They still go to the movies at large amounts, but are consistently the least, like, seen in film, you know, far under blacks and even under Asians, you know, like, so that says something about the cinema that like, here's this large public that is not seeing each other, like, and they had to create their own film cultures all across Latin America.
Speaker B:Yeah, Defend that.
Speaker B:You know, but those are even struggling in there because of everything.
Speaker B:The conglomerations of studios and conglomerations of products.
Speaker B:You know, they can't get films out of their countries because, you know, it's too expensive.
Speaker B:It's too hard.
Speaker B:You know, Mexico, it was in many ways still is one of the greatest film capitals of our.
Speaker B:Of Latin America.
Speaker B:You know, it's given us some of the greatest directors of the last 20 years.
Speaker B:Alfonso Coran Alejandro, who's just doing the new Tom Cruise movie, Digger, you know, like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Like, and then, you know, Guillermo del Toro.
Speaker B:So, like, you have this cinema that is, was educated in television and film in Mexico and yet they have to make the, you know, their monies for the big budgets.
Speaker B:You know, same with Argentina and Chile and you know, they consistently win Oscars.
Speaker B:You know, a special agent that came out of Brazil, you know, they can make their movies, they can show their movies and.
Speaker B:But are they coming to the United States?
Speaker B:Are they being dragged to the United States to the major theater outlets?
Speaker B:That's the hard question.
Speaker B:Or is it just an Oscar?
Speaker B:She's a juster.
Speaker B:And you know like, like the season where you can get those movies and that's, that's, that's, that's a big thing.
Speaker B:And you don't see, see those actors off the time being put in those movies, you know, like yes, V. Morena, who's a Brazilian actor who's a special agent was in Civil War, you know, by Alex Garland and you know, like.
Speaker B:Yeah, but you know, you're not seeing a lot of, you know, I haven't seen Michael Pena in a lot of movies.
Speaker B:You know, he's been a guest star.
Speaker A:Oh my God, I miss him.
Speaker B:Michael Pena is an amazing actor, you know, like, and I think like it really is like the studios are not giving the roles to black and Hispanic actors at the moment because you know, after the strikes and after everything and I think with what's happened to Paramount, it's gonna destroy the way we look at cinema.
Speaker B:But not in a bad way.
Speaker B:I think cinema's gonna survive.
Speaker B:I do think there's gonna be a lot of micro studios that try to fight against it.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I do think you're gonna, you know, I think we may be on a, a new independent thin.
Speaker B:You know, if, if the unions, if the unions start paying people to, you know, like if they, if you could, if you're allowed to join a union and get uniform studio benefits like for doing the smaller films like we think on vertical films now that you know, you know.
Speaker B:But like honestly I think those films are going to come back.
Speaker B:I do think people are going to want to shoot stuff and I do think we are witnessing people going back to theaters but still not as large a number since the pre pandemic.
Speaker B:But I still see that we're having huge films on film even more that you know, and you're seeing people, you know, take over films, you know, like their own music theaters.
Speaker B:You're seeing a lot more of a, of a push like community wise for theaters, for the theater experience again.
Speaker B:But I don't know, I think like Unless Paramount, I think the Warner brothers then ends.
Speaker B:I think, you know, there needs to be a breakdown of the studios.
Speaker B:Just this, this massive.
Speaker B:Whatever, this conglomerated studio system.
Speaker B:Because it's not a studio system, you know, like, at least the studio system worked as a factory.
Speaker B:This just works as a conglomeration that creates pretty average content.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like Netflix, Once in a blue moon will create a good movie, you know, but they create a lot of crap.
Speaker B:Disney tries, but they're bigger congregation, you know.
Speaker A:Are they trying, though?
Speaker B:Like, surprisingly, surprisingly.
Speaker B:Apple is the only one that's actually created some good shows.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker A:And I was like, the last.
Speaker A:I think the last.
Speaker A:All I can think about, like.
Speaker A:Because I'm also thinking of like the other streaming services or just even like when you were talking about Marvel and we're talking about Disney, I also thought about D.C. and I'm like, the last one I saw that was like, it's Mexican.
Speaker A:It's a Mexican family, you know, is.
Speaker A:Yeah, Blue Beetle.
Speaker A:I'm like, that's it.
Speaker A:Which I enjoyed.
Speaker A:I really enjoyed it.
Speaker B:And I think James Gunn loves that movie and he wants to.
Speaker B:I've heard James Gunn really wants to.
Speaker B:You know, I think that character is going to be in the new Superman movie, you know, so.
Speaker B:Yeah, so they brought over it.
Speaker B:I've been watching Lanterns and going, this is brilliant.
Speaker A:It's so good.
Speaker B:It's so brilliant.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, and I think, I think the whole Warner Brothers, I think, like, I think I like what James Gunn's done.
Speaker B:I love Superman.
Speaker B:I love the new Superman.
Speaker B:I actually liked it more than the man of Steel.
Speaker B:Like, yeah, I get that.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I think, I think David Corison is like.
Speaker B:Or whatever his name is pretty much the second to Christopher Reeves.
Speaker B:One of the best Superman.
Speaker A:He really, he really is.
Speaker B:You know, he has that.
Speaker B:He has that.
Speaker B:That Christopher Reeves vibe and so natural that.
Speaker B:And I thought, I'm like, oh, he's an emo dork.
Speaker B:This is like the greatest.
Speaker A:He's the real one.
Speaker B:This is the greatest Superman ever.
Speaker B:Because, yes, Superman is a dork.
Speaker B:A horrible dork.
Speaker B:He's the most uncool guy in the world.
Speaker A:We've got off topic.
Speaker A:We've got off topic again.
Speaker A:So before we go.
Speaker A:No, you're fine.
Speaker A:This is what happens, Jason.
Speaker A:You come on the podcast and then we get into discussions and then it goes into tangents because again, we're both huge film nerds.
Speaker A:And so I think, yeah, I, you know, that's.
Speaker A:That's what folks expect from representation in cinema.
Speaker A:Any last shout outs or plugs that you would like our audiences to know and also too.
Speaker A:And I'll also be like announcing our the, the next film that folks can look forward to.
Speaker B:Yes, just come out tomorrow.
Speaker B:So as you know the film we have Lala and trailer and then followed by Ben Hur and then a lot of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Speaker B:So it's going to be a crazy month of just celebrating stuff.
Speaker B:At October 3rd, I'm going to be sitting on the panel for wsxi talking about the movie, the documentary American Pachuco about the life of Luis Valdez who is the creator of Zoot Suit.
Speaker B:So you know, like I'm excited about being on that panel to talk about a movie that I always find very impactful.
Speaker B:Zoot.
Speaker B:Zoot.
Speaker B:So just and talking about Luis Valdez who had a very early impact on me as a, you know, seeing La Bamba and seeing like, like his early films.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And talk about the International Plaza.
Speaker A:The Plaza.
Speaker B:Oh yes.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:You reminding me.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And every weekend until October 11th, come to the International Plaza.
Speaker B:We'll be doing events for Hispanic Heritage Month.
Speaker B:This week we have Euphoria for our Santana band, followed by Bachata Ribele who's doing Bachata.
Speaker B:Whole event for Bachata and then we have just consistently Hispanic heritage events throughout this whole season.
Speaker B:So it's going to be a crazy time for me.
Speaker A:Yes, crazy, but also exciting.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker A:Thank you again, Jason.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yes, of course.
Speaker A:It's always, it's always a good time.
Speaker A:Listeners will have information of course about Jason as well as the International Plaza and the talk that he is going to be moderating.
Speaker A:We'll have all that information in the show notes or in the description below.
Speaker A:Of course, if you're watching on YouTube, wherever you're listening from, hit that subscribe button, give us a five star rating and share this episode and leave a comment to let us know what you thought of tonight's episode.
Speaker A:Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Threads.
Speaker A:You can also visit ourvoicesproject.com and sign up for our newsletter for more information about what we do.
Speaker A:We'll be back with more spoiler specials for from the presente Latin Film Fest with Ben Her A Tale of the Christ next week, which will be screening at the George Eastman museum on Tuesday, September 22nd at 7:30pM and of course it's free and open to the public.
Speaker A:This has been Jackie McGriff, your host for this episode of Representation in Cinema.
Speaker A:As always, thank you for listening.
