Famed Mexican director, Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical story about a year in the life of the maid that helped raise him and his siblings. Cuarón who won the Oscar for Best Director for his 2013 film, Gravity, addresses several timely issues in Roma, including race, class and idiot fathers. Without being too preachy, the film subtly confronts the raw truth of how dark-skinned indigenous people are discriminated and frequently consigned to an existence of servitude in Mexico, the United States and beyond. What I got most from the film was how easy it is to forget that these women, who often dedicate their existence to caring for other people’s families, actually have lives of their own. And those lives are often more difficult and tragic than we can imagine. For Roma, Cuarón is nominated for a record four Oscars and rightfully so. Roma is an unconventional film, but one I believe people will be talking about for years.
We hear frequently how Latinos are not a monolithic community. In other words, we are not all the same. We come from different countries, have a variety of political views, and even eat different foods. I get all of that, but I also think focusing constantly on our differences versus our similarities undermines our political and economic power as a community...
This might be my most provocative blog in a while. Let me first state that I am happily married to a beautiful gringa. My kids are half- White and some of my best friends throughout my life have been White, so don’t let the title of this blog throw you.
A few weeks ago, Twitter was blowing up when John Leguizamo spoke out against the recent casting of James Franco as Fidel Castro in the independent film ‘Alina of Cuba’. Leguizamo took plenty of heat for his stance and was ridiculed by some including Bill Maher.