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Who Wants to be a Maid?
Hollywood stereotypes continue
By
Lisa Zion
Published on LatinoLA:
February 1, 2010
I was very excited when I received a message from my Agent that I was to audition for a new pilot. That is, until I received the one-page script. The part was of a Mexican maid who works for a wealthy American family. They loved her so much that she was brought from Mexico to the U.S. to be the Nanny and the Maid. Go figure. Can we say stereotype? And as if that wasn't bad enough, part of the dialogue had this character say "Meester" not Mister and "yob" instead of job. Wow, is this 1948 or 2010?
We all grew up going to the movies, watching movies and for some of us, had dreams of actually being in the movies. I wonder if my parents shuddered when they saw a stereotypical Mexican male muttering "We don't need no stinking badges" from the film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
I drove in the pouring rain excited to audition for a pilot. I was not thrilled about delivering those lines. I was not thrilled about acting like I was excited to be considered for that pilot while delivering those lines. I am a college educated woman. I am a wife and mother.
Did you ever feel sick to your stomach as bile rises up your throat and you have to swallow it? Well, that is how I felt as I delivered those lines to the young Caucasian director who looked like he was young enough to be my son. And the young Caucasian woman who ran the camera, and the young African American male who ran his lines with me.
I know my audition did not go well. How could it when I was sick inside? My spirit was sad. My soul was sad that someone actually wrote those words and someone is trying to get this crap on television right now in 2010. Shame on you, whoever you are who wrote this crap. I hope this pilot doesn't get picked up. I hope whoever the decision makers are in Hollywood that they rethink this pilot. I hope that they have a soul and think with their head, and listen with their ears. I hope so because if this pilot gets on the air, I will lead a boycott to get it off the air as soon as possible.
I recall sitting in the darkened theater watching the great Charlie Chaplin and the great Cantinflas. As an actress, muttering lines in broken English and catering to a wealthy Caucasian family was not what I had in mind. We deserved better in 1948 and we certainly should demand more in 2010.
About
Lisa Zion :
Writer, actor, activist Lisa Zion continues the fight to dispel stereotypes in Hollywood and beyond.
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