Emmy Nominations Snub Latino Actors Again Despite Great Roles This Year
Once again, the Emmy nominations have overlooked the Latino roles that made the years memorable. From Rita Moreno to Mj Rodriguez, there were roles the covered a lot of Latino culture, and yet there was no mention from the Emmys.
The Emmy nominations are out and it is another slap in the face to the Latino community.
Latino representation in Hollywood has been a major issue for decades. Recently, there has been more and more pressure to equalize the representation of media to better reflect society. However, the Emmys still don’t get it. Instead, the only Latino recognized by the Emmys is Alexis Bledel as a Guest Actress in a Drama for “A Handmaid’s Tale.”
However, the J.Lo/Shakira halftime show was nominated for four awards.
The halftime show made history with at least 1,300 calls to the FCC complaining of the perceived overly sexualized nature of the show. Now, the performance is nominated for outstanding variety special (live), outstanding directing for a variety special, outstanding lighting design/direction for a variety special and outstanding music direction.
Yet, in the time of “One Day at a Time,” “Vida,” “Gentefied,” and “Pose” how did this happen?
There are so many shows highlighting the evergrowing representation of the complete Latino experience. There are obviously so much more to cover and bring to light, yet with the massive successes of the Latino-led shows right now, many are disappointed in the Emmys clear lack of representation.
“But not Rita Moreno, who has been killing it on One Day at a Time for four seasons. Not Laura Gómez, whose performance in Orange Is the New Black’s excellent final season was alternatively haunting and inspiring — and as timely as it gets,” Laura Bradley wrote for the Daily Beast about Bledel being the lone Latino acting nomination. “Not Melissa Barrera or Mishel Prada of Vida, a series that pushed past stereotypical Latinx stories to discuss deeper, more nuanced issues that pervade our community before it was canceled too soon.”
It is a frustrating reminder to the Latino community that so much work still needs to be done.
Latinos today have shows that they can point to as showing their experience. We have characters and actors we cling to because of their representation. The shows are also successful. “One Day at a Time,” for example, was removed for Netflix and a global effort started to save the show. Twitter was buzzing with people across the globe trying to get Netflix to reverse course on the sudden and devastating cancelation. Fortunately, Pop TV come through and saved the beloved show to keep bring us stories from the Alvarez family.
The Latino community deserves better and we need to keep making noise.
Latinos are a diverse and growing community in the U.S. We have stories that still need to be told and we have stories that are being told. They are being told with authenticity and passion. The lack of Latino representation at the Emmys is something that we are all very aware of. It is necessary to make sure that we all have a seat at the table.
Basically, it is time for the Emmys to do better.
Latino roles are out there and thriving. It is long past time for them to get the recognition they deserve.
