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Eva Longoria: “Equality in Hollywood is a myth”

Eva Longoria: “Equality in Hollywood is a myth”

In a panel discussion at the Cannes Film Festival, Eva Longoria complained about the lack of equality for women and Latinas in Hollywood.

In March 2023, Eva Longorias (48) premiered at the “South by Southwest” film festival in Texas. In a panel discussion at the Cannes Film Festival, the actress with a Mexican-American family background loudly vented her anger at the lack of equality in Hollywood.

On the one hand, the “Desperate Housewives” star complained about the inequality in dealing with directors. Another point of their criticism related to the fact that filmmakers with Latin American roots are absolutely underrepresented in the American film business.

The great fear of the flop

When working on “Flamin’ Hot,” she said, she was always aware that, as a Latina, she couldn’t afford to flop compared to white male directors without jeopardizing her career. Speaking on the talk, she said: “The problem is that if this film fails, people are like, ‘Oh, Latino stories don’t work…female directors really don’t have it. We don’t get a lot of tries. A white male can direct a $200 million movie, fail and get another movie. That’s the problem. I’ve got one try, one chance, work twice as hard, twice as fast, twice as cheap.”

“We can’t get a movie every 20 years.”

Compared to the Latino proportion of the population and the cinema audience, Latina female directors “do not get much of the cake”. Outraged, she asked, “When was the last studio film directed by a Latina? That was about 20 years ago. We can’t get a film every 20 years.”

Hollywood equality myths

Nevertheless, Hollywood likes to give each other a pat on the back when things go differently. Then it would mean, for example, that the number of women behind the camera had been doubled. However, this understanding of equality is based on a myth. “They went from one to two. And you’re like, ‘Okay, technically you did it, but you still only hired two women. So how you measure success is really important. And inclusion as a metric is like that great because you can applaud the people who are doing it right.”

Longoria’s conclusion on the state of the film world: “The illusion is that Hollywood is progressive. The reality is that we are still far behind in terms of equal representation.”

Source: Stern

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