Los Angeles (AFP)

When they are not drug traffickers or domestic servants, they are mute and almost non-existent: Latin Americans, who however represent more than 18% of the population of the United States, are clearly under-represented and frequently caricatured in films, denounces a study published Monday.

Entitled "Latinos in the cinema", this study examined the hundred films that made the most revenue each year, from 2007 to 2018, on the American market.

However, in these 1,200 most popular films, only 4.5% of the roles pronouncing at least one word were held by Latin American actors, notes the study conducted by a think tank, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the university from Southern California (USC).

3% of these films (35 in total) featured a leading comedian of Latin American descent, but in women, three actresses shared nearly all of these roles: Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Alba .

And in the case of Cameron Diaz, none of his five roles referred to his Latin American origins.

"Whether it's the main roles or just one word of text, the Latino community is sadly absent from the stories told by mainstream fiction films," note the authors of the study.

The statistics speak for themselves: 47% of the 1,200 films considered are totally devoid of Latin American characters.

And when they are lucky enough to appear on the screen, Latin American comedians are frequently confined to stereotypes: criminals (24% of the cases, mainly drug traffickers or gang members), unskilled jobs (domestic workers) ...) or police officers.

The situation is not more pleasing on the other side of the camera. Only 4% of the directors are of Latin origin (71% of them of foreign nationality) and 3% of the producers. On the sample selected by the study, there is only one director.

To address this under-representation, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative urges the film industry to strengthen the presence of Latin American actors in the auditions for small roles.

A movie has an average of 40 characters, most of which is not directly related to the plot. These roles "could be played by actors from different ethnic backgrounds", which would contribute to "creating a pathway allowing actors to accumulate experience and access to better opportunities during the course of their career", considers the study.

© 2019 AFP