Advertisement

Actors in Latino Roles

Share

Not once in Howard Rosenberg’s recent reviews of “Don Quixote” and “Noriega: God’s Favorite” was it mentioned that the main actors in these Latino-themed projects are not Latino!

I know The Times has no control over this practice; at least a mention of it in a critique would show that it is a complete review. Especially from a critic who wrote the article “The Invisible Man Is Alive and Kicking in Hollywood.”

NANCY LOPEZ

Los Angeles

*

If the character Huck Finn were played by an African American or Latino actor, or Kunta Kinte of “Roots” by an Asian or a Caucasian, most people would find that rather odd casting. Yet, time and again, we find Hispanic literary icons such as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza played by Anglos (sporting, in the case of Panza, a curious Cockney accent), while the Spanish wench, Dulcinea, is portrayed by an African American.

Advertisement

My 13-year-old got a good laugh over these casting incongruities. I, however, felt highly insulted. Will Hollywood’s “brown facing” of Latino characters on the screen never end?

MARCIA GONZALEZ

Woodland Hills

Advertisement