Recently, it was announced that Amazon studios will be producing a movie based on the lives of groundbreaking Old Hollywood power couple Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. According to reports, Nicole Kidman is set to play Ball while Spanish actor Javier Bardem will be playing Arnaz.

Seeing as Arnaz is widely viewed as one of the first Latino actors to achieve mainstream success in the United States, this news was positive for many. But for others, the news was less than ideal.

Some critics are lambasting the decision to cast Bardem as Arnaz, seeing that Bardem was born and raised in Spain, and is therefore not Latino.

The Lucy/Desi biopic, IF DONE WELL, would have cast Raul Esparza and would have been written by the funny, creative and fierce Cuban-American @everythingloria.

Aaron Sorkin? Javier Bardem? Hollywood- Hire LATINOS.

— Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) January 11, 2021

One disgruntled Twitter user wrote: “I guess it’s really hard to find a Cuban actor so you have to hire a Spaniard…Whitewashing can happen to Latinos too.”

The criticism around Hollywood relying on Spanish actors and actresses to play Latino roles is not a new one. For years, Spanish actors like Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, and Paz Vega have played Latino characters in American movies. The preponderance of this phenomenon have led some people to accuse Hollywood of “white washing” Latino characters by casting Spanish actors.

Antonio Banderas is one of the most famous examples of a Spanish actor who built his career off of playing Latinos.

The Oscars are so white this year, Reuters has decided Antonio Banderas is a person of color.#Oscars2020 #OscarsSoWhite2020 pic.twitter.com/Faay5Bu1pU

— Richard Steigmann-Gall (@Notorious_RSG) January 14, 2020

He has played Latinos for so long that many people think he is, in fact, Latino. But when he was erroneously called a “person of color” by American publications when he was nominated for an Oscar in 2020, there was quiet the outcry in Spain.

Spanish publications condemned American media for having an “absurd obsession” with race, and not understanding that Spaniards are, in fact, white.

Publications wrote arguments like: “Banderas might pass as a Latino ‘person of color,’ to an Arkansas farmer, great-grandson of Germans, but never to a California delivery man born to Guatemalan immigrants.”

To some observers, it seems that Hollywood prefers casting Europeans as Latinos because Hollywood sees Europe as more “sophisticated” than Latinidad.

25-year-old Spaniard Juan Pedro Sánchez, summed up the problem on Twitter, saying: “A lot of people in Spain are bothered if others confuse them for Latin American because Spaniards see Latinos as people of color, and they don’t want to be associated with that.”

He went on to say: “What bothers me is not being considered a person of color, but that people ignore that Spain was a colonizer country. It erases that history.”

The bottom line is, fans are frustrated that Hollywood keeps looking to European actors to cast Latin American characters.

Hi – I'm just here to remind Hollywood… that Desi Arnaz was Cuban-American… so Latino…. and Javier Bardem.. is Hispanic…with no Latino roots. And as much as I adore Javier Bardem… stop casting Spaniards in Latino roles. https://t.co/vkvN7d8VDp

— Leanna Lakeram (@leannalakeram) January 12, 2021

Study after study shows that there is still a stubborn lack of representation for Latinos onscreen. And when there is finally a role that puts a Latino character front and center, Hollywood prefers to hire a European actor over a Latino one.

Javier Bardem is an exceptionally talented actor and there’s no doubt that he will tackle the role of Desi Arnaz with creativity and dedication–but fans’ frustrations at the casting choice doesn’t have to do with Bardem’s acting capabilities. It has to do with the all of the ways that Latinos are discounted–including professionally.

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Bad Bunny has long known how to toy with our emotions. From his powerful lyrics that contain all sorts of important messages to his gender-bending rapping and vocal support for the LGBTQ community, Bad Bunny seems to check off all the boxes that make him a total stud.

And when the 26-year-old reggaetonero isn’t slaying the music game with yet another history-making album, he’s on Instagram flexing his best assets and quenching his loyal stans’ perpetual thirstiness.

Sure, it may not be as overt as say the thirst traps that Maluma is putting out there – I mean he is the face of a major Calvin Klein campaign – but it’s no less hot.

To help keep your mind off of the current hellscape that is the news cycle (and because, there’s never a wrong moment to thirst after El Conejo) here’s all the proof that Bad Bunny has long been one of the internet’s greatest thirst traps.

After posting a very hot shirtless selfie, Bad Bunny says that he’s “at his peak.”

Bad Bunny looks buff in a hot new selfie https://t.co/6Ii89573pS

— JustJared.com (@JustJared) January 7, 2021

Bad Bunny is once again getting his followers all worked up! San Benito took to Instagram to celebrate his muscled up and very sexy toned physique. “I’m at my peak,” he captioned the photo with. And yes, he definitely looks buffed up.

The “Estamos Bien” singer nearly broke the Internet with the photo, which has already racked up more than 4.7 million likes. Apparently, he’s not had any trouble keeping up with his workouts during the pandemic.

But this is just the latest sexy photo to pop up on the reggaetonero’s Instagram as of late.

Oh to be Bad Bunny sunbathing naked during quarantine 🥺😔 pic.twitter.com/pgYc03EAd5

— greasy sewer rat (@huevitovegano) March 20, 2020

This is not the first time the 26-year-old has treated his fans to provocative photos. In March 2020, he shared photos of himself sunbathing in the nude at his home in Puerto Rico, getting a line-free tan during the coronavirus lockdown. And these photos went everywhere as people DM’d the photo to friends to share in the thirst.

Then there was the video of him dancing in red undies…

El Conejo Malo also posted a video of himself in red boxers doing a sexy dance in March. “Today is Friday, today we drink, today we spend,” he captioned the video, quoting his song “Hoy Se Bebe, Hoy Se Gasta.”

But what makes him even hotter is his no BS, genuine, sense of himself.

Bad Bunny is the modern day icon that the community needs. By being himself, he is helping shift attitudes away from machismo culture and helping people feel comfortable being who they are.

In an interview with Paper magazine, he outlined this viewpoint perfectly.

“I’m not telling people, ‘Hey, paint your nails or color your hair, do this or do that,’” the 25-year-old said in his interview with Paper. “I’m simply saying… do what makes you happy, and to never limit yourself… Just be yourself, and be happy in that. And also not to criticize or judge, because maybe for you something’s bad or not bad — if you like or dislike something, that doesn’t mean everyone has to share your opinion. It’s about that: respect. It’s so basic.”

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