When Will Casting Reflect Real World?

Dana Calvo’s article, “When Casting for Diversity, Is a Little Bit Better Than Nada?” (Jan. 31), really resonated with me. As a Latina actress who’s over 35, I find that 99% of the roles available to me are either maids or long-suffering, illegal gang mothers.

Beyond my personal frustration at the profound lack of opportunities for greater artistic expression lies a deeper, societal problem: Are these the only kinds of cinematic images our kids should be exposed to?

In real life, there are numerous Latina lawyers, doctors and entrepreneurs. Why not portray them as well, and inspire our children? A little balance is sorely needed.

MARCIA DEL MAR

Calabasas

The issue is not whether a little minority casting is better than nothing but whether diverse casting can successfully be realized without the substantive creative support and input of minority writers, directors and producers. Attaining diversity in the entertainment industry is more complex than just staging a multicultural cattle call or creating an “ethnic” story line.

If minorities are to be cast in dignified and realistic roles, more minority writers, directors and producers must be employed. Non-minority writers, directors and producers (well-intentioned though they may be) are not sufficiently educated in, or sensitive to, the experiences of other groups to do justice to them in developing characters and story lines. Every television episode that has as its central theme a minority story does not have to have at its core something controversial or negative.

And likewise, the purpose of expanding opportunities for minorities in the entertainment industry is to broaden the entertainment experience to include all members of our society whose stories, lives and experiences are just as valid and worthy of recognition as those of any non-minority group.

Diverse casting is just one means of achieving a more inclusive entertainment industry and thereby, a richer entertainment experience. It should not be viewed as the exclusive remedy.

KIRK C. RASCOE

Director, Equal Opportunity, Los Angeles Unified School District

Shame on you! That’s all I can think to say to Latino actors who say they are worried about lack of inclusion.

What they don’t say is that for the last 20 years they have successfully pressured Hollywood into using only Latino actors for Latino roles, effectively stealing jobs from their fellow Screen Actors Guild members by being sure the doors to auditions are closed to everyone but them. Worse than that, the Screen Actors Guild refuses to even acknowledge this incredible betrayal.

Are there exceptions to this rule? Of course there are; otherwise production companies would be getting sued left and right. But it’s still the rule, and everybody knows it.

So, when Latino actors cry foul at negative stereotyping, I’m afraid they don’t get my sympathy.

BART BRAVERMAN

Los Angeles

Has Calvo watched “ER”? She erred in saying that Peter Benton (played by Eriq La Salle) is the only black doctor on the show. Then who is that lovely black woman who replaced George Clooney as the ER’s pediatrician? Michael Michele also plays Dr. Benton’s love interest on the show.

I guess you fell into that stereotyping trap--that only men are doctors.

CAROL RICHARDSON

Los Angeles

“Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf had every right to be upset with NBC for its decision to, as he put it, “cave in to the demands of a special-interest group” (Morning Report, Jan. 27).

I saw the Jan. 24 episode that the National Puerto Rican Coalition claimed portrayed its people in a disparaging light. What these people seemed to have overlooked in their outrage was that the riot at the beginning of the show was based on an actual event. The show’s writer didn’t dream up the riot in which women were sexually assaulted after a Puerto Rican Day parade. In other words, any damage to the image of Puerto Ricans had already been done . . . by their own people. The truth hurts, doesn’t it?

“Law & Order” often shows minorities involved in criminal activities. But, hey, Caucasians are also shown committing crimes. Why? Gee, because that’s just the way things happen in this big, mean world. I applaud Wolf for standing up and speaking his mind. I only wish more people had his backbone.

JOHN McELLIGOTT JR.

Fullerton