Five of the 25 films that were inducted this year into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry have notable Latino lead performers and plots, setting a new record.
The Library of Congress said Tuesday that they include Spy Kids, Up in Smoke, Mi Familia, American Me, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, who has been trying to raise the number of Latino films selected for preservation, said it’s the most inductions of this type in a single year.
Castro added in a statement that the films depict Latinos as heroes and villains, hard-working immigrants and idiots, space travelers, and much more. They also portray complicated and occasionally challenging stories. When taken as a whole, these movies show off the ability that Latinos bring to the screen and offer a distinctive cross-section of Latino contributions to American cinema.
Castro had listed every movie on his yearly nomination list to the National Film Registry, with the exception of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Castro successfully pushed to add the late singer Selena Quintanilla’s 1997 film Selena to the list in 2021 while serving as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In an attempt to boost and enhance Latino representation in entertainment and culture, he has since nominated hundreds more films.
Over the past few years, despite persistent Latino underrepresentation in the media, Latinos have made up 6–7% of the major cast and starring roles on television and movies.
Castro praised the film’s induction and said he was happy that the 1982 Star Trek sequel was included by the National Film Preservation Board because it stars the late, groundbreaking Latino actor Ricardo Montalb.
‘Spy Kids’
The 2001 film “Spy Kids” was one of the numerous works by renowned director Robert Rodriguez that drew on his Mexican American childhood in Texas.
In a 2020 interview with NBC News, Rodriguez stated that he based Spy Kids on his own experiences as a child growing up in a household of ten. He recalled having childhood fantasies of them all being covert spies.
Young siblings Juni and Carmen Cortez are followed in this entertaining action-fantasy movie as they learn that their parents are hidden spies and end up becoming spies themselves. Actors Daryl Sabara and Alexa Pe aVega, who is Colombian American, play a brother and sister pair that is partly Latino.
This made it possible for Rodriguez to include aspects of Hispanic culture and beliefs into a novel that was both generally enjoyed and accurately represented Latino heritage. But it wasn’t a simple feat to accomplish.
“There weren’t enough writers creating roles like that, so it was really hard to get Spy Kids made with Latin leads,” Rodriguez recounted. To enjoy James Bond, you don’t have to be British. These characters become highly general by being highly specific. That was my contention, and Spy Kids was created as a result.
Antonio Banderas, a Spanish actor, was cast by Rodriguez to portray Gregorio Cortez, the covert agent who is the father of Juni and Carmen.Since the 1982 movie The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez is based on a mythological figure from a well-known Mexican corrido, or ballad, from the early 1900s, the name alludes to the character’s Hispanic ancestry.
Castro’s efforts helped the Ballad of Gregorio Cortez movie get included into the National Film Registry in 2022.
For the second time, one of Rodriguez’s films has been added to the National Film Registry with Spy Kids. The first was El Mariachi, his first feature picture, released in 1992.
Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin are two other well-known Latino celebrities from Spy Kids.
Marin’s first films on the registry are Spy Kids and Up in Smoke.
‘Up in Smoke’
Up in Smoke, which debuted in 1978, was a surprising box office success that helped create the stoner film genre.
A counterculture movie classic that is still viewed today was created by Marin and actor-comedian Tommy Chong, who revamped many of their comedic routines to appeal to audiences with silly and occasionally foolish humor.
In an interview with the Library of Congress, Marin stated that the spontaneity of those films was due to the amount of improvisation we brought to them. People believed they were occurring for the first time because of this. Because it was happening for the first time in many cases.
‘Mi Familia’
Gregory Nava’s third film to be inducted into the registry is this one.
“Selena,” “El Norte,” and “Mi Familia” are all well-known examinations of the Latino experience in the United States.
With a second-generation immigrant narrating the narrative of a multigenerational Mexican-American family in the United States, Nava’s 1995 film “Mi Familia” transports audiences on a profoundly emotional journey.
According to the Library of Congress, film critic Roger Ebert stated at the time, “Their story is told in images of startling beauty and great overflowing energy; it is rare to hear so much laughter from an audience that is also sometimes moved to tears.” “This is the classic American tale, which is repeatedly recounted, about how our families arrived in this country and attempted to improve it for their offspring.
Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, Jennifer Lopez, Constance Marie, Jacob Vargas, Benito Martinez, and Edward James Olmos are among the all-star group of Latino performers in the movie.
Olmos appears as an actor in eight of the films listed in the registry, including “Selena,” “Mi Familia,” and “American Me.”
‘American Me’
Olmos plays a fictional Mexican mafia boss in the 1992 movie, which depicts the harsh and gloomy realities of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles through his several incarcerations.
Olmos also made his directorial debut with American Me.
The film’s portrayal of abuse and violence can occasionally be difficult to watch. However, Olmos’ decision to loosely adapt the film from a true event helps expose realities about the people in charge of drug trafficking on the streets and in prisons.
I sought out tales that would not be shared by others. Olmos told the Library of Congress in an interview, “At first, no one wanted to do American Me, but I knew it had to be told.”
Lou Adler, a Jewish-Mexican producer who previously produced Up in Smoke, also produced the picture.
Rocky Horror Picture Show and Monterey Pop are among the other movies that Adler has previously put to the register.
‘Star Trek II’
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which starred Mexican American actor Ricardo Montalb as the film’s primary adversary Khan Noonien Singh, was one of the choices with significant public nominations this year.
With the epic conflict between Khan and the main character Kirk ingrained in the memories of innumerable science fiction enthusiasts, the film is largely regarded as the best of the six original-cast Star Trek theatrical productions.
In addition to his work as an actor, Montalb n fiercely advocated for more and improved Latino representation on TV and films, even foundingthe advocacy group Nosotrosin 1969 to promote more positive depictions of Latinos in the entertainment industry.
A collective effort to preserve movie heritage
According to the Library of Congress, 30 Latino films—roughly 3.3% of the 900 films protected in the National Film Registry—are now listed on the registry. Nearly 20% of the country’s population is currently Latino.
In a statement, Congress Librarian Carla Hayden emphasized that the film community is working together to preserve our cinematic legacy. Films must be kept in our national library for future generations because they capture the history and culture of our country.
A 2007 picture called “No Country for Old Men” starring Javier Bardem, who is Spanish like Antonio Banderas, was also inducted by the Library of Congress, even though it was not one of the 30 Latino films on the National picture Registry.
People who can trace their ancestry to Spain or Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America or the Caribbean are referred to as Hispanic, a term that first appeared in the 1960s.The word Latinoemerged three decades later to include other Latin American countries where Spanish is not the dominant language, such as Brazil.
The plot of Cormac McCarthy’s book, No Country for Old Men, centers on a hunter who discovers more than $2 million in cash and the remnants of a botched drug deal close to the Rio Grande.
According to the Library of Congress, the public strongly supported this movie’s inclusion in the National Film Registry.
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