Illuminating, Heartfelt Look at Latino Life : ‘My Family/Mi Familia’ should be viewed by anyone interested in the immigrant experience, so central to the culture of our state.

“My Family/Mi Familia,” a film by Gregory Nava currently in movie theaters, is breaking new ground by telling the Latino immigrant story accurately, fairly and with heart. Everyone who is interested in understanding the experiences of the Latino community (which should be everyone in California) should see it.

The picture not only casts off Latino stereotypes, but its success also flies in the face of conventional wisdom about Latino audiences.

Latinos do not just have large numbers, they have economic clout, and they go to the movies in droves. When they can relate to a well-made picture, they support it. Unfortunately, if they want to hear their own language and see their own people, they often must make do with low-budget films ground out in two weeks in Mexico. Movie executives did not quite believe the success of “La Bamba” among Latinos and rationalized it away as a movie about a crossover singer. But “My Family” could make them at last recognize the economic opportunity the Latino market presents.

I worked on the marketing of “My Family/Mi Familia” in a small way. My Burbank-based firm conducted some of the consumer research, including focus groups, surveys and screenings, one in North Hollywood.

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Latinos fit perfectly into Hollywood’s image of their target movie-goers. They tend to be young--an average of 10 years younger than their non-Latino counterparts--and to live in urban centers. And they spend heavily on entertainment. To Hollywood, this translates into a perfect target for standard fare.

The Hollywood take on Latinos is that they like only action and children’s movies. So the common wisdom was that a serious and intelligent film like “My Family” could not do well. All of the people involved in the making of the movie were very nervous about the younger members of the recruited audience of the screening. Would they hoot and scream and mock the movie? No--they laughed, they cried, they gasped and they sighed, and at the end they applauded.

The film was released widely, but only in markets with high Latino penetration. This was used as a strategy to get the film out there, first with its “natural” audience, with hopes to go wider as its reputation spread. So far it has worked, with the film achieving high per-screening averages, and grossing more in two weeks than the film’s entire budget.

The name of the film presented an interesting problem. Should it be only in English, only in Spanish, or both? We, among others, recommended that the title be left bilingual, because English-only made it sound like a sappy family movie or a Mafia picture, and Spanish-only made it sound like a Mexican movie and suggested that it would be all in Spanish, which it is not.

The bilingual title conveys that the film is in two languages. It has subtitles for the Spanish or English dialogue, depending on the neighborhood. The English part of the title also signals to the Spanish-speaking audience that it is a full-blown Hollywood movie about a bicultural world.

The film explores tough issues from both sides: the unfairness of the INS, both today and historically, and the ways immigrant-rights groups use the laws to get around the spirit of the law; the realities of gangs and drug dealing, and the police brutality that leads to tragedies; how one young man can get the American Dream all wrong, and another from the same family get it all right.

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This film has been a long time coming. Looking at TV and movies in the past year, you would never guess that Latinos compose 10% of the total U.S. population, and 40% of the population of the entertainment capital of the world. You would have seen maids, gang bangers, drug dealers and bus boys, but that’s pretty much it.

Every officeholder in California ought to see this film. Those who find it politically convenient to be obtuse, such as our governor, should see “My Family” once for every week they’ve hired an illegal housekeeper, and another for every vote they’ve gained by bashing immigrants. Perhaps some real “My Family” values might actually sink in. Perhaps we should start a new state program of affirmative entertainment.

“My Family/Mi Familia” is an important cultural milestone. It says to Latinos: “Yes, believe in yourself, because your love and your families are a great treasure.” To others it says, “This is who we are, the good and the bad--learn about us and learn from us.”