When it comes to the representation of Latinos in Hollywood I must say we are doing much better, we are able to see more representative faces making the run in the film industry. Hollywood haves a very predominant impact of Latino actors facing the camera whether it is Salma Hayek, Sofia Vergara, Ana dela Reguera and Antonio Banderas Latinos are gaining more and more opportunities to show their talent. We are now able to see a diversity of cultures in the film industry, but unfortunately, when we talk about daytime television we are still falling short. It has been known that the Hispanic audience is mostly driven to watch Hispanic channels like Univision and Telemundo as they are the most influential networks among the Hispanic audience. Although I must say that most of the American networks fall short in their attempt to reach out to the Latino audience, sadly we do not have a lot of representation in their shows, I guess they don’t realize that seeing familiar face may in some ways appeal the interest of the Latino audience.
When we talk about daytime television we can’t help but talk about the different emblematic and long-running American soap operas. Last week while I was watching television I noticed that these soap operas do not have many Latino characters or Black characters for that matter, I couldn’t help feeling a little disturbed as I felt they were not being realistic about the society we live in. Although as I was changing channels I came across NBC’S soap Days of Our Lives. I realized that they didn’t just have one Latino character but instead had an entire family being part of this legendary soap. What I really liked about these characters and their portrayals was that they did not really fall into the stereotypical cliché of what a Latino family is supposed to be.
As I was doing my research on the actors who worked in Days, I came across the young actress Camila Banus. Camila Banus is a young actress who began her career at a very young age, she was born in Florida and has Cuban Ancestry. Camila has been one of the few actresses to make a successful transition from Spanish “Telenovelas” to the American daytime industry. When we talk about her performance on Days’ we must say that Camila does a great job in portraying the young and self-driven Gabi Hernandez, opposite to what many other shows portray young Latinas to be, Camila makes sure to represent her character with grace and dignity. Camila, has not only settled to work in the well-known soap opera Days of Our Lives, but she has recently landed a role in the show Mistresses, and was recently nominated for an Emmy, little by little she has been making her way into the daytime television.
Hopefully, other soap operas take the initiative to incorporate more Latino storylines into their dramas!
