The Three Amigos Get Their Deal

Not to get off on a rant here but...

By: Andre Rivas
Published: Friday, May 18th 2007 at 4:40 AM

It's ironic Brad forwarded this story to me to post because I spent some of my morning trading barbs on an issue this Variety article sprung. Bear with me because I'm going to go into a bit of a rant here.

You might remember we reported a couple of weeks ago that Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu were seeking a 5-picture production deal with a major studio that would total $100 million. It looked as if Universal Pictures might have been interested and now it turns out there were and a deal has been set. From today's Variety:

Universal Pictures and its specialty arm Focus Features have struck a deal to finance and sell a package of five movies to be made by the new independent production banner that's a partnership among the three Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu.

Once again, this is great news for these guys. The first film in this deal will be writer-director Carlos Cuaron's (brother to Alfonso) Rudo y Cursi which is currently in pre-production and will reunite Y Tu Mama Tambien actors Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal.

So what was the issue raised that I was going back-and-forth on this morning? Well, it was the fact that these directors are being paraded as significant Latino directors but – someone argued to me – they do not, in fact, represent Latino culture because they "look European" and most Latinos don't know who they are. This person argued to me that George Lopez, for all his unfunny, artless and intellectually defunct routines is a more real representation than these guys because most Hispanics know who he is and most Hispanics don't know an Inarritu from a hole in the wall. He also stated that their films are enjoyed by mostly upper-class whites.

Ahem …

I don't know how many Hispanics know who these guys are or not. I know my mother knows them. I know my grandmother knows them. I know my aunt and uncle know them. I know my sister knows them. But my family is filled with movie buffs. We're probably not a fair representation.

I'm going to summarize some of the response I gave this clown: There is a great scene in the movie Clockers where Keith David is beating the crap out of Mekhi Phifer (David's character is a cop and is pissed Phifer, a drug dealer, got a younger kid involved in some nasty business). During the beating, David blurts out the name "Rosa Parks". Phifer responds something to the affect of "Who the fuck is Rosa Parks?" This only enrages David's character even more. I don't mean to compare the contributions of Rosa Parks to the likes of Cuarón, but he has made contributions in his field and he is Hispanic and, call me crazy, it's okay to point that out every so often, whether or not people in el barrio are aware of him.

George Lopez is a real Hispanic representation because more Hispanics know who he is? So we should only point out who is Latino if most Latinos know them? We shouldn't make other Latinos aware of these guys? That's crap.

The fact that George Lopez or Jenny from the Block are more renown is not the point. The point is that these guys are Latino too. If they are not a strong part of the Latino culture right now, well, that's just the way it is. Maybe that will change one day, maybe not. It's very possible that more African-Americans will probably remember P Diddy longer than they will Charlie Parker. Many more Hispanics will probably remember Ricky Martin than they will Inarritu. That doesn't make Mr. Martin a stronger Hispanic representation. I know more white people who know Girls Gone Wild producer Jeff Francis than they do Gore Vidal. So what?

The culture, be it Hispanic, white or black is what we make of it. Why shouldn't these great artists be representations of their ethnic groups? And the fact that only upper-middle class whites enjoy their films is:

1. A ridiculous, unproven assertion and…
2. Irrelevant

You'd think from that stance that these guys are busy making movies like Gosford Park. Meanwhile, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Babel, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth and Amores Perros … are they not true Hispanic representations or conditions? And lest we forget the impetus of this entire discussion: that these three guys arranged a $100 million deal to promote films made by five Hispanic directors. But they aren't real representatives of their ethnic group?

Now I'm not saying that every time you mention these guys' names you need to point out their ethnic background. That's just ridiculous can eventually be a little insulting. But that issue is pretty relevant here and to come out and insinuate that they shouldn't ever be hailed as such because they "look European" is preposterous. Perhaps they should be wearing sombreros and ponchos. Maybe get some more raggedy clothes, some thrift-shop clothes. And I guess since Barack Obama isn't Manute Bol-black, he shouldn't represent black people.

Aye, caramba!