Mi Gente Tal Cual Es: Hispanic & Latine Gen Z’s fight for authentic representation

Reading or seeing a character you can relate to in books or on-screen is validating—just look at the Disney movie Encanto, for example, and how it impacted Hispanic and Latine children worldwide. It evokes a sense of belonging, of being seen, and of being worthy when someone who looks and acts like you gets screen time. But it hasn’t always been this way, and Hollywood still has a way to go.

Gen Z is calling on entertainment companies to authentically and respectfully reflect historically underrepresented groups of people. Exploitative cultural stereotypes in media have long been a problem, and this issue is especially prevalent when it comes to the representation of Hispanic and Latine ethnicities in the entertainment industry.

One thing that brings Gen Z together is their deep sense of kinship. Nobody wins if everybody doesn’t, which explains their devotion to fighting for authentic representation of marginalized people.

Moving away from stereotypes

The entertainment industry has a painful past of relying on racial and ethnic stereotypes—and unfortunately, many of these stereotypes can still be seen in film and television today. People in many communities, like the Hispanic and Latine communities, don’t feel represented with complexity and diversity.

Recent data on Latine representation in television and film shows an overwhelming sentiment that there’s not enough Latine actors on-screen—and when they are, their characters and culture are subject to reductive stereotypes. Hispanic and Latine people still see themselves cast in demeaning roles that negatively depict their cultures, like criminals or cartel members who speak English with a heavy accent, restaurant workers, or gang members.

In Wattpad’s 2021 Keep It Real Report, Gen Z respondents said they want more authentic, well-researched representation, too. Potentially harmful representation has gone beyond screens to social media platforms, like the toxica trend on TikTok. The trend (which includes people from various ethnic and racial backgrounds) features a person speaking Spanish and grilling someone on where they’ve been and with whom. Some say it plays into stereotypes of the Latine community being toxic; others are calling for an end to the trend as it glamorizes unhealthy relationships.

Gen Z clearly expresses their want for authentic representation, despite getting swept up in the virality of trends that perhaps don’t reflect what they truly want. So what are brands to do?

Doing it right