Do your research, Hollywood...

Consider the ramifications of a British pub decorated with cut-outs of leprechauns... Or, better yet, if Outback Steak House used the confederate flag as authentic Australian paraphernalia to adorn its walls. I mean, they speak English, right? They're both basically former English colonies...

Or a Thai restaurant with paintings of ninjas. I mean, Asia's Asia, right?

Think how dissimilar people in different states are - compare a white dude from Biloxi with a white dude from Rhode Island, or Brooklyn, or Chicago, or Dallas. Now take that a step further and compare any one of those guys with someone from Toronto or Sydney. Or even Belize.

We're talking different food, music, accents/dialects, styles, appearances, skin tones, cultures. Despite the fact they speak the same language, they are completely different peoples.

So if a movie or TV show had a southerner from Auburn play a DJ from the Bronx, it would immediately feel wrong to its viewers. Or if an Australian played a Bostonian.

What if Fargo still took place in Northern Minnesota but was played by Jamaicans.

Wouldn't quite work, huh?

So what's the point of all this? Simple. Because Hollywood's in LA, Hispanics in TV and movies are constantly being portrayed by Mexicans. And just like natives of Chicago aren't representations of every English-speaking person on the planet, so are Mexican not representations of every Hispanic on Earth.

(And by the way, it's Hispanic. Not Latino or Latin or Spanish or...)

And when I say Hispanics are primarily being portrayed by Mexicans, I'm not talking about the actors, I'm talking about the writing. If you have an actor who looks the part and can play the part but happens to not be that specific ethnicity, that's OK. I mean, that's acting. Plenty of successful actors do this. From Al Pacino playing a Puerto Rican to Antonio Banderas playing a Mexican, to Armand Assante playing a Cuban, to Colin Farrell playing an American, to Brad Pitt playing a Scott.

What I'm talking about is characterization, speech patterns, behavior, skin tones, facial features, neighborhoods, wardrobe, props, food, references, etc. You can have a Honduran play a Puerto Rican, as long as he looks, and acts, and talks like a 'Rican.

In a recent episode of Nip/Tuck (which is supposed to take place in Miami), a former gang-banger wanted a new life away from the street and he wanted to start by removing the tattoos of tears he had on his face. Each 'tear' tattoo (as in 'cry a tear', not 'tear a page') are supposed to represent a kill. This is not a Cuban gang practice. I don't even think it's an East Coast gang practice. This is a West Coast thing. (As a matter of fact, gangs in general, in the way they are depicted in TV and movies, are more a West Coast thing. I lived in Miami all my life and moved to LA about a year and a half ago. The gangs in Miami are more about tagging than about drive-by's.)

Also, the person playing the Cuban in this Nip/Tuck episode (along with his other buddies) all looked Central-American. I say this because he looked indian (as in native, or Aztec). Cubans either look European, black, or somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, the Spaniards pretty much wiped out all native life on the island back when they 'conquered' it. So the fact that this Cuban looked the way he did was wrong for the part. But I can look past that. What I can't look past is that on top of his looks, he was dressed wrong, his history was wrong, his actions were wrong. He spoke about drinking tequila as part of a gang ritual. Tequila is Mexican. Cubans drink rum. I mean the name tequila comes from where it's made in Mexico! Also, he and his fellow gang-bangers dressed in long-sleeve plaid shirts (it's too hot and humid to wear that in Miami), like what you you'd expect to see a Mexican gang in LA wear. And when they were chasing him in the streets, they spoke in thick Mexican accents and called him "Cubano," as if to say that the fact he was Cuban made him different. Let me explain something: Miami is basically Northern Cuba. There are more Cubans in Miami than any other ethnicity. They represent a huge chunk of the population. So even if he were to fall in with a gang of mixed ethnicity, he shouldn't be unique enough in Miami to be known as "Cubano." That's like someone in Connecticut known as "Whitey."

CSI: Miami does this crap all the time. Too many shows and movies do this too often.

Note to screen writers: write what you know. You've heard this in every writing book you've read and every writing class you've taken. Don't think that because you know LA and Mexicans you know Miami and Cubans, or New York and Puerto Ricans - the same way as if you've never left the South, you can't write a story on Canadians. So do your damn research. I know these errors and incorrect stereotypes aren't limited to Hollywood, but Hollywood should hold itself more responsible to their audience. Hispanics represent the largest minority in the United States - and the population is growing. More Spanish is spoken around the world than any other language. Writers (along with the execs that approve this nonsense) will soon be made to look like fools when the audience starts realizing how wrong the material is.

For those of you still confused, here's a quick little guide I put together. Maybe I'll actually make another more detailed post some time:

Caribbean Hispanics (Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans) eat lots of pork, plantains, and drink rum. They have the music you usually associate with "Spanish Music" (Salsa, Merengue, Cha Cha Cha, Danzon, Guaguanco, Son). Mariachis are Mexican. So are tacos and burritos and tequila. Cubans eat black beans, Puerto Ricans eat red beans, Mexicans eat pinto beans. Cubans have guarapo (sugar cane juice) while Mexicans have horchata (rice drink). Mexicans say vato and orale and ese. Puerto Ricans say nene. Argentineans say vosotros. Panamanians say chucha. Cubans say Que bola, acere and ñooo.

I mean, I can go on and on. While deep down, we Hispanics are brothers, still our differences are vast. Do your research, Hollywood.

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Here's an interesting article from the L.A. Times on the subject of the differences within the Hispanic 'community,' Hispanic Heritage Month, and how they (we) "don't need a made-up identity."