The Three Caballeros: The Representation Of Immigrants In Film

Representations of immigrants on screen has been problematic since the early days of the motion picture medium. Hollywood cinema, particularly, is referential to the various lifestyles that encompass the American experience, visual representations of cultural characteristics and traditions that are the very fabric of an ethnic background. Through an American lens, a certain perception arises, which, more often than not, translate as either underrepresented or greatly exaggerated, the repercussions of which are still being dealt with today. Here, the main focus will be Latinos on film, as discussed in lecture on February 2nd, 2018. What follows are responses to some of the topics mentioned in the lecture that are of specific interest.
The topic of immigration is unavoidable when discussing immigrant

The United States government, as a preemptive move, commissioned goodwill trips to South America, believing these Latin American countries could side with the Axis powers. Fear, due to their proximity, was the main driving force. Therefore, a conscious effort was made to show, and by the very nature represent, Hispanic culture for American audiences. José Carioca, Panchito Pistoles, and Donald Duck represent South, Central, and North America, respectively, although borderline caricature, these cartoons characters could be seen as a more romanticized representation. Even though made out of a misplaced fear, The Three Caballeros was still an attempt to approach Hispanic traditions in a manner that would be of interest to American audiences-hence why Donald Duck is the main protagonist. Animated or not, films of Hispanic representation still seem to stem from the same mindset, overtly characteristics that either is romanticized or archetypical portrayals of misunderstood