Streaming platforms boost diversity in Hollywood movies

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1. The topic to be highlighted:

Talking about religion and politics

The number of Catholics who identify as Hispanic in the United States grew in 2022 to become the majority among those who identify with a religious faith in the Southwest (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas), according to a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

Thus, they surpass non-Hispanic white evangelicals as the majority religious group in that region of the country.

Big picture:

Catholic Latinos also outnumber non-Hispanic whites of Protestant faiths.

But the increase in the population of Latinos - whether or not they are Catholic - has not strengthened their political weight in the Southwest, where for decades the majority of elected positions have been held by white evangelicals.

• The rise of Hispanic Catholics comes despite the drop in the past decade in the number of people with a religious affiliation, as many Latinos have become evangelicals.

Between the lines

: Many Hispanic Catholics are minors or do not have citizenship, so they do not have the right to vote;

This may contribute to the lesser political weight of this group despite its strength.

• Another barrier is the way in which the division of electoral districts has been manipulated, the so-called

  gerrymandering

  in English, which the researcher Andrew Chesnut of Virginia Commonwealth University assures has favored white evangelicals.

• New Mexico is an exception: 23% of the population identifies as Catholic Latino, and nearly all elected political officials are Hispanic, including a majority in the state assembly.

In numbers:

More than 20% of people professing a faith in California, New Mexico and Texas in 2022 are Hispanics who identify as Catholic, according to PRRI's American Values ​​Atlas.

• In Arizona, this group also grew, reaching 12% and exceeding non-Hispanic white evangelicals (10%), although still below non-Hispanic white Protestants (13%).

• Evangelicals tend to be somewhat more conservative than Protestants, according to surveys of sociopolitical preferences.

• Evangelical Latinos tend to be more conservative than Catholic Hispanics on issues like LGBTQ+ inclusion but more progressive than white evangelicals on immigration-related issues, according to Chesnut.

2. Diversity = profitability

Latinos, blacks or Asians who work in the Hollywood film industry are more likely to write, direct or star in movies made for broadcast or streaming services than those

theatrically, according to the latest diversity analysis from the University of California at Los Angeles.

General picture

: Hispanics in the US and Latin America go to the movies frequently, and research suggests that they helped sustain the box office of films released at the beginning of the pandemic.

• But Latinos only represent 2.3% of the leading roles in films released in theaters in the United States, where the Hispanic population accounts for 19%.

  In

  streaming

  they are 6.1%.

Between the lines

: The Hollywood Diversity Report, published this Thursday, indicates that films with a diverse cast fared better than more homogeneous ones, both in theaters and on

.

[Horror and fantasy films from Latin America seduce the world]

• Films like

  Turning Red

  and

  Encanto (whose protagonists are of Asian and Latin American descent, respectively) were the most viewed on

  streaming

  platforms

  last year.

• And movies in which at least a third of the cast were not white also did well, like

  Top Gun: Maverick.

In figures:

83% of filmmakers of films released in theaters in 2022 are non-Hispanic white people;

only 1.1% are Latinas.

• In

  streaming

  , 5% of directors and 4% of scriptwriters are Latino.

In her own words:

According to Ana-Christina Ramón, the director of entertainment and media research at UCLA, it's clear that audiences are interested in demographically diverse offerings no matter where they premiere.

• "If there is someone in the industry who believes that they do not need to improve the presence of other types of people in terms of protagonists, directors or scriptwriters, know that they are clueless and that with that they will not get the profits they want," he told Axios Latino. .

3. Furor over the fire in Ciudad Juárez

Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that they will arrest eight people over the fire at a migration center in Ciudad Juárez, after security video showed guards locking migrants in despite the flames.

News momentum

: The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, said that two federal agents, one state and five from a private security company (she did not give the name of the company) have already given testimony.

• The criminal charges were not specified, but Icela Rodríguez commented that "obviously there is a serious crime" when it was observed that the detainees were not allowed to leave.

[Migrants who were saved from dying in the fire in Ciudad Juárez recount the hours before the tragedy]

More details:

The tragedy caused a furor in Mexico and beyond, as the victims were from Central and South American countries.

• A group of 210 human rights and migrant defense organizations criticized the Mexican authorities, denouncing that the 39 deaths "are the result of a series of omissions" by those responsible for these types of centers, as well as failures in "the routes of evacuation".

  They criticized the use of immigration "stays," which people who have been incarcerated describe as "worse than jail."

• Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attributed the Monday night fire to the detained migrants, who he said set fire to mats to protest against their deportation.

  But activists say the deaths could have been prevented if people had been let out.

The agglomeration of migrants in Mexico is accelerating and points to incidents such as the one in Ciudad Juárez

March 30, 202301:51

In addition to the 39 deaths

, there are 28 injured migrants, according to a list from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior;

most are in serious or delicate condition.

• The victims were between the ages of 20 and 51 and were from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.

4. In her words: Aisha Cort

Axios Latino is sharing first-hand the voice of influential Latinas on the occasion of Women's History Month in the US. In this edition, an entrepreneur recounts her love for languages.

Who I am

: Aisha Zakiya Cort, PhD.

I am 39 years old and I live in Washington DC after growing up in Boston from a Cuban and Guyanese family.

What I do

: I am an entrepreneur, I founded the companies Drapersouth, Hey Dr. Cort and VELA NEGRA.

I also teach Spanish at Howard University.

What motivates me

: Telling stories authentically in as many ways and in as many media as possible.

How is my day

: I divide it into three parts to be able to deal with everything and to make it easier for me to overcome a possible stumbling block in one of those parts.

Courtesy of Aisha Cort.

Background graphic illustration by Natalie Peeples/Axios

• First fraction

  : I wake up at 5/5:30 in the morning and I like to start the day in silence, either with half an hour of reading, meditating or waking up.

  Then I check the emails from my different accounts and the notifications on my social networks.

  If I don't have class that day, I take the opportunity to move;

  I've recently been riding my bike, but sometimes I go to the gym or stretch or jump on my trampoline.

• Second fraction

  : From 9am to 6pm I fully immerse myself in the earrings.

  Writing, researching, content creation, invoicing, qualifying students, sending emails and messages, meetings, Zooms, preparing orders and shipping.

  Every day is something different.

• Third fraction

  : In the afternoon I like to relax after dinner by checking my schedule and drinking tea while listening to my favorite music playlists or playing

  Golden Girls

  episodes as background noise.

  If it's been a particularly hectic week then I work (either in VELA NEGRA or in my class) until 10 or 11 pm.

  I try to log out no later than midnight those weeks.

My overall goal is

: Share the joy of learning languages ​​and cultures with as many people as possible.

• I want to have as many experiences as possible and live a fulfilling life where I connect with people, connect with people and build bridges.

6. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean

1. Former President Jair Bolsonaro

returned to Brazil on Thursday after spending three months in Florida.

• He has yet to admit that he lost the October election, and is facing several investigations in Brazil, including a recently opened one for alleged public embezzlement related to luxury watches he may have received before leaving office.

Bolsonaro returns to Brazil after spending three months in the US after controversy over riots

March 30, 202300:23

2. At least 24 Nicaraguan NGOs had to close

their operations this week due to a law from the Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo regime that dictates that any organization that receives international funds is an agent of foreign governments.

• The rule has already shut down more than 3,300 civil society groups, including an order of nuns established by Mother Teresa.

Pachanga Thursday

Today we celebrate Valeria Alarcón, the executive director of the New Mexico Alliance of Health Councils, a group that advocates for better funding for state health councils.

• She is Ecuadorian, grew up in Boston, and has lived in New Mexico since 2004.

• "My experiences as a woman, a Latina woman, and the daughter of immigrants, and a four-time cancer survivor, have shaped me in very profound ways. As a result, I have dedicated myself to promoting equity above all in terms of social and environmental justice," Alarcón tells us.

  Thank you for this very important work!

Thanks for reading us!

We return on Tuesday.

Do you want to read any of the previous editions?

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