For Latinos #OscarsSoWhite Emphasizes the Need to Preserve Net Neutrality

Hollywood for far too long has ignored our country’s vibrant Latino community. To add insult to injury, in the small amount of representation that exists, Latinos appear in subordinate or stereotypically negative roles, as gardeners, maids, dropouts or criminals. These narratives have the power to shape our country’s perceptions and attitudes towards Latinos. And Latinos are under siege as the White House is still more interested in stoking racial fears than improving the lives of the 56 million Latinos in the United States.

Now with Oscars upon us — and with no Latinos nominated in any of the four acting categories — it is an appropriate time to single out how the movie industry has severely failed Latinos. Save for Pixar’s animated film Coco, which brilliantly and beautifully represented Mexican family culture and values, the industry continues to roll out stale and tired roles for Latinos, if any at all.

Yet while the traditional media has taken to dehumanize and criminalize Latinos, the open Internet has empowered Latinos to tell their own stories and bypass traditional gatekeepers.

It has also fostered new opportunities for self-expression, entrepreneurship, education, political participation, and access to healthcare. Net Neutrality — rules that prevent Internet Service Providers like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon from blocking, slowing down, or entering into paid prioritization agreements with certain websites or services are an essential part of preserving the Internet as an accessible platform for the Latino community.

In a recent study of the top 100 films of 2016, Latinos were represented by just 3.1 percent of speaking roles. In the rare occasion that Latinos make it onto the big screen there is a disturbing lack of quality roles that await these actors. In 2013, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC found Latina actors are most likely to be featured in tight, alluring, revealing clothing or no clothing at all. In addition, the absence of Latino screenwriters often means that Latino actors are left playing one-dimensional, stereotypical characters. This all contributes to the lack of identification we experience watching movies.

Net Neutrality provides Latinos who are underrepresented and misrepresented by Hollywood the unfettered ability to express themselves online and to no longer be held hostage by those who historically doled out very few meaningful roles for us to perform. But the open Internet was threatened by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when it released an order repealing Net Neutrality last December. The fight to preserve the open Internet continues today both in Congress and in the courts.

Nonetheless, if the FCC is successful in eradicating Net Neutrality, authentic and meaningful Latino representation on the Internet could cease to exist. The repeal of Net Neutrality provides the powerful Internet gatekeepers the unchecked ability to control what Internet users are able to see and do online. Simply, without Net Neutrality, the Internet will mirror Hollywood’s imbalanced power structure and would have a devastating effect on the authentic content that is representative of our community.

Across the spectrum — from mitύ an online platform that is 100 percent Latino and engages Latino youth — to power players like Gina Rodriguez, Eva Longoria and America Ferrara, Latinos use the Internet to reach new business markets and create content that provides us with strong roles in front and behind the camera. The roadblocks created by ending Net Neutrality would make it difficult for these artists to reach their audience and for word of mouth of to spread freely.

Movies that center on Latinos and with Latinos behind the camera can be both critically acclaimed and global blockbusters. For example, Coco has grossed over $760 million dollars worldwide. Latinos are 18 percent of the U.S. population, and our strength in the box office is clear as Latinos purchase 1 out of 4 movie tickets sold. But the fact remains that Hollywood has contributed to the stereotypical perceptions of Latinos.

Dismantling Net Neutrality protections opens the door for corporations to stifle creativity and innovation.

It will shift the power structures of the Internet and threatens Latino’s authentic stories and our ability to organize for change. Our members of Congress need to hear that an open Internet is critical to the Latino community. And Hollywood needs a wakeup call. Latinos must be included both in front and behind the camera. Stories on the big screen must be authentic and bring justice to the diversity within the Latino community. We no longer want a Hollywood that is complicit in stoking fear of Latinos with negative and stereotypical depictions of our communities.