The Latinx Media Observatory Working Group provides a glance of the state of Latinx representation in U.S. Film, Television and SVOD platforms. This working group will initially conduct an inventory of content produced across different media modalities in the last two decades foregrounding content with a main Latinx ensemble, and the participation of Latinx talent in key leading roles, while initiating conversations about the media industrial strategies of representation and their results on specific narratives, stereotypes, diversity and inclusion, and the contemporary positioning of Latinx people in the screen.

In the context of both the systematic erasure of Latinx stories and the history of misrepresentations with the creations of longstanding stereotypes, we reflect on the status of these two phenomena, while questioning to what extent the digital landscape has changed any of these dynamics.

Despite assumptions regarding the potential of new audiovisual production tools, the new digital landscape, and the rising number of new platforms, the absence of Latinx talent, characters, their stories and narratives are still largely absent of nuance and complexity.

At the same time, the logic of algorithmic fragmentation and the digital “personalization” of taste, has made possible the surge of few titles with culturally specific Latinx characters, stories, and narratives. This new development would have been impossible in the context of the broadcasting and cable television multichoice options.

Formulas of success in storytelling based on nonthreatening Latinx narratives, multicultural strategies based on ahistorical and sanitized diverse ensemble are still highly present, mostly targeting mainstream and global audiences. These new strategies need to be examined to understand the kind of imaginaries that they provide for the recognition or the lack of Latinx cultural citizenship, and the way specific modalities in which Latinx populations are accommodated to fit a mold for national and global markets.

If you are interested in learning more about this working group, please email latinxproject@nyu.edu.