Can in the heights change the Hollywood landscape?
Listen to the podcast episode Dans les Hauteurs opened last week. It serves up a rare commodity: a big budget Hollywood musical created by a Puerto Rican American, directed by an Asian American and starring  Read More Issued: June 16, 2021 | Transcription + Subscribe to this podcast    In the Heights, which opened last week, serves up a hot commodity: a big-budget Hollywood musical created by a Puerto Rican American, directed by an Asian American, and featuring a diverse racial cast. Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. The content can be viewed on the current source page: https://youtu.be/4K_-8OT5Uqk> Reported by Beth Accomando  Carry a heavy burden  Calixto Chinchilla runs the New York Latino Film Festival and follows the evolution of In the Heights since it began to percolate in Lin-Manuel Mirandas mind over a decade ago. It truly is a love letter for this neighborhood, Chinchilla said. I was in Washington Heights, I grew up there. So this whole feeling is real, the displacement is real because I no longer live there. The pity is that the Heights are changing, gentrification is real, a lot of us cant afford to be there anymore. Its a different neighborhood, so even this movie becomes the time capsule, if you will.   Usnavis main character asks the kids to say the name of Washington Heights so that it doesnt disappear, because even when Miranda was writing the play, he knew the community was changing. In the Heights tells a particular story about a community, but Latin playwright Herbert Siguenza said that was not the way Hollywood saw him: They put us all in this cohesive group and thats right. very unhappy.   Unhappy and problematic. Were putting too much pressure on these films because its the only film of the whole year, said Ethan van Thillo, founder of the San Diego Latino Film Festival. Ive seen that over the years. All this pressure has been put on that one movie. And if its not a success, then they say, okay, thats why their audience doesnt want to see it. their films.   This is because movies about Latino and Latin stories are just too rare. We put a lot of pressure on them because we want them to represent all of our feelings, all of our history, all of our nuances. And its just impossible. Its just impossible, said Siguenza. Cinematic background  Over the decades, Siguenza and Van Thillo have grown bored with the idea of Hollywood telling their stories. Ive heard a lot of people celebrate, Oh my God, in the Heights , thats going to be a big change. Were going to see more Latinos in front of the screen, behind the screen. ' Van said Thillo. . But unfortunately, Ive heard that before. Weve seen it a few times with other films.  Movies like Zoot Suit, which shattered stereotypes 40 years ago. Its always important to remember those who came before us and movies like Zoot Suit paved the way for someone like Miranda to even do what theyre currently doing, and in Hollywood to even distribute this. thats done, Van Thillo said. But Zoot Suit was politically provocative in a way that In the Heights isnt. So Im very happy with films that try to push the boundaries a bit and promote social justice issues and promote community education, Van Thillo said. I would say In the Heights is more of a fantasy. Its kind of like glossing over the realities of whats going on right now.  The movie even begins with Usnavi telling a story that begins with, Once upon a time, in a far country known as Washington Heights  The Washington Heights from the film are about as realistic as New Yorks West Side Story, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Siguenza sees a similarity in the way the two films avoid politics. They really dont go deep. Its really about dancing and dancing and love stories that really carry these movies, he said. For a young Latino filmmaker like Luis Martinez of 2AM Burrito Productions, the film was a mixed bag. I would have liked to have seen a director of Latinx have the reins of this even if it was Lin-Manuel, Martinez said. But it felt good to see him on screen and it felt good to have a studio invest their money in a project like this, but if I had to say, they succeeded in 75 %, 75 to 80% on site.   In the Heights, which opened in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, underperformed in Hollywood eyes. But Martinez said its an easy story to present to an editor. But I think the people who are going to do the next project are going to get the real streaming numbers from HBO When you have access to two releases online, you know that every HBO Max password is used by three or four different Latin American families. Thats almost 80 people who theoretically could have watched the movie over the weekend, Martinez said. Regardless of the performance of the film, the Latin American community is excited about the film. You can feel the excitement among the Latino film community, other film festivals across the country, and then locally, just by seeing how families are already responding through social media with a sense of pride and to see each other on. big screen, said Van Thillo. People love it, cry, added Siguenza. But I think people just react emotionally because we just dont see each other. We just dont see ourselves in a movie. We have tons of stories but we just arent represented in Hollywood.  Be both supportive and critical of the film  Martinez offers to celebrate the film while taking the time to criticize it if necessary. I think as long as we have this conversation while supporting it, so that more artists like me and other artists who create content and tell stories and many of us have the chance to do more. movies, thats what I would love to see come out of that, Martinez said. But Siguenza has felt that old cynicism take hold because he doesnt see In the Heights opening doors. There isnt a lot of follow-up. I dont know of any big upcoming Latino projects that would like to follow him next year. I dont hear anything following that, Siguenza said. When Van Thillo launched the San Diego Latino Film Festival almost three decades ago, a film like In the Heights was just a dream. At the time, he was pushing Hollywood to just do Latin stories and not whitewash Latino characters like West Side Story did. I think were at a point now where we need to have Latinos portraying Latinos on screen and this musical obviously hasnt. And so In the Heights brings us to the level. superior, said Van Thillo. I mean, we still dont have the Latino director directing the movie.  But Chinchilla defended Jon M. Chus choice as a director: Being Asian, you know, isnt a majority either. And he knows how to direct musicals after doing a few Step Up movies.   Siguenza sees it as a manpower problem: Because you wont get the second job if you dont get the first job. Martinez said that a Latinx director might have been more sensitive to the diversity within the Latino community than an Asian American who grew up in California. And I think maybe thats why there is so much negative feedback about the cast and in particular not enough Afro Latinos shown in the movie other than the dancing in the background, he said. said Martinez. Weve got to have an internal conversation about, you know, Latino and Latino racism, colourism, you know, colonialism, all these things that happen, that get important.  Latinos make up a quarter of movie audiences and Hollywood needs to reflect that on screen. This is why Martinez insists on the importance of supporting In the Heights even if it is not perfect. We can celebrate the fact that this is happening, we can also kind of just center ourselves and say that not every movie can be everything for every person, he said. One movie cannot represent the whole community, Van Thillo added. So its important that In the Heights be the first of many new films.  Chinchilla urges people to not only support the film, but to see it in theaters and not streamed on HBO Max. But the way he (Chu) opens it and uses his imagination. There are big explosive numbers. Its shot in anamorphic, and to hear it at the Dolby Theater. Weve gone too far as a people. to get over this pandemic so get out there and go to the theater, celebrate it, celebrate culture, celebrate life, see this movie the way it should be. And so I urge everyone to do the same, because it doesnt happen not often. It doesnt happen often at all, Chinchilla said. Theres a line in the play that says, Little things that tell the world were not invisible.  I like it a lot, Siguenza said. Its a theme that we really have to stick to. As we have to have more films with specific details that really show us as human beings, as three-dimensional characters and not just cartoonish dancers, I want to see something more substantial.   In the Heights may be a long way from West Side Story, but Hollywood still has a long way to go to represent the diverse Latino and Latinx communities. Hear this story from Beth Accomando  Beth accomando    Arts & Culture Journalist I cover arts and culture, from Comic-Con to opera, from pop entertainment to fine art, from zombies to Shakespeare. I am interested in going behind the scenes to explore the creative process; see how pop culture reflects social issues; and provide a context for art and entertainment. To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader.