National Speaker Coming to ACC to Deliver Talk About
The Impact of Latino Stereotypes Projected by Hollywood

(September 12, 2007 - Littleton, Colo.) On September 26 at 6 p.m., Arapahoe Community College will present "The Myth of the Hollywood Latino Stereotype," a free lecture that is open to the public. The talk will be presented by Alma Martinez, a motivational speaker on the national circuit who will infuse her presentation with personal and insightful perspectives garnered from 25-plus years in the entertainment business.

Martinez has co-starred in many movies and TV shows including Zoot Suit, Under Fire, Born in East L.A., Barbarosa, Nash Bridges, Seguin and Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution. She is also a former member of El Teatro Campesino, a theatrical troupe founded as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers, a labor organization that played a pivotal role in the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 70s. Martinez is also a Ph.D. candidate in Drama at Stanford University.

Martinez's presentation will explore: "Who created the Latino stereotype and why?"; "What is the Hispanic-American stereotype?"; "Are there any truths in stereotypes?"; and, "Why are images of bandidos, maids and talking Chihuahuas offensive to the Latino community?" To accomplish this, she will take the audience through her extraordinary life experience from poverty in Mexico to her successful Hollywood acting career.

Martinez will address the fabrication of the Latino stereotype in film and television. She will do this by leading the audience through the evolution of stereotypical images in Hollywood film. She will give this historical tour in such a way that it gives the audience a critical awareness of the role of media in forging the popular but inaccurate image of Latinas and Latinos in the United States.

Additionally, Martinez will explore: "Are bad images better than no images?"; "What are we really learning from media images?"; and "Do audiences have the power to affect changes?"

For more information or accommodations please contact ACC's Student Affairs Office at 303.797.5667.

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