Latina/o Stars in U.S. Eyes: The Making and Meanings of Film and TV Stardom, and: Dangerous Curves: Latina Bodies in the Media (review)

In a chronological series of case studies, Mary C. Beltrán examines celebrity production and promotion in Latina/o Stars in U.S. Eyes: The Making and Meanings of Film and TV Stardom. She asserts that film and television stardom is a critical site useful in questioning the racial borders and ethnic notions that track the evolving status of Latina/os. Beginning with the golden age of US silent film, Beltrán focuses on the construction of Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio's public image and the impact of larger social forces on her career. She finds that through Hollywood's positioning of Latinas as erotic others against the rising prominence of sexual puritanism in Depression-era Hollywood's construction of white femininity, the Latina star becomes increasingly coded as seductive with typical roles such as the Dark Lady, so often portrayed by Del Rio, becoming standard fare for Latina actors. Beltrán builds on Gustavo Pérez Firmat's analysis of Desi Arnaz and Cuban American identity by looking to the star's image in the larger context of Hollywood Latinidad and stardom, particularly his construction and promotion as a Cuban, Latino, and American star. She credits Arnaz's success as a television star during a period when Latina/os were usually excluded in part to his portrayal of characters emphasizing dignity and good will, a move she contends allowed him to overcome common obstacles faced by Latina/os in Hollywood. In addition, she argues that Arnaz was promoted as a white Latino star, allowing him greater opportunity through the image of an exceptional foreigner rather than an ethnic other. Rita Moreno's hypersexual spitfire image provides Beltrán an opportunity to explore the way the Puerto Rican actor's creative agency, particular in her role as Googie Gomez, disrupted traditional racial paradigms. Beltrán analyzes the marketing of another Puerto Rican actor, Freddie Prinze, by exploring the negotiations and promotional texts involved in the production and reception of Chico and the Man (1974-1978).

Discussing the first Latino-themed feature films for national audiences in the 1980s, Beltrán analyzes Mexican American actor Edward James Olmos's early career to identify the reasons leading to his intense publicity and singling out for star promotion. She notes the way these promotional texts emphasize Olmos's hard work, determination, sacrifice, and particularly his talent as a method actor, allowing him to break through ideological and industry obstructions. Jennifer Lopez's career and publicity give Beltrán a window into the changing opportunities and status available to Latina/os in increasing global markets. She finds reporters' tendency to focus exclusively on Lopez's body to underscore a "continued process of racialization, demarcating Latina/os as in possession of 'more body,' emotion, and sexual passion than their white counterparts, that can accompany Latina/o star promotion even in the present day" (143). The Nuyorican actor's ability to transform her Latina ethnicity allowed her to rise above her racialized status and manipulate it as an accessory. This unmarking of ethnicity is a trend that continues in present-day Hollywood, and Beltrán examines the increasing influence on mestizaje, defined as racial hybridity, by looking to the public images and careers of Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson. She asserts that deracialized identity and racial ambiguity allow actors more flexibility in casting and challenge the constructions of Latinidad imagined by Hollywood and the United States' denial of ethnic and racial hybridity.

Situating her work in both Latina/o studies and media studies, Isabel Molina-Guzmán maps the symbolic value assigned Latinas in Dangerous Curves: Latina Bodies in the Media. Molina-Guzmán engages a series of case studies...