To combat the recent #OscarsSoWhite fallout, Gina Rodriguez on Monday created a social-media campaign aimed at celebrating Latino actors and actresses. She initiated by posting a still of her absolute fave (Oscar Isaac from Ex Machina) via Instagram, accompanied by an essay that explained her #MovementMonday idea, as well as the goal to generate more onscreen opportunities for her community. “With all this Oscar Talk and lack of diversity I decided to start a movement and speak from the perspective of a Latina American who desires to see more Latinos on screen,” the Jane the Virgin star wrote. “Right now there isn’t one Latino that can Greenlight a movie … If you want to see us represented on film and TV, if you want to see Latinos nominated for Oscars, we NEED to support one another.” Read her full message below:
Movement Monday’s. This is Oscar Isaac. He is a Guatemalan American actor. This is a picture from Ex Machina directed by Alex Garland and was released this past year. With all this Oscar Talk and lack of diversity I decided to start a movement and speak from the perspective of a Latina American who desires to see more Latinos on screen. There are 55 million Latinos in this country and although we all come from various backgrounds our unity can make a movie explode at the box office or a tv show sore to the highest viewers possible. The better these projects do financially, the more money they will spend on putting Latinos In blockbuster films, as leads in tv shows Etc. My solution is this, support is needed. Right now there isn’t one Latino that can Greenlight a movie. That means no studio will put their money behind a Latino face as a lead of a movie because they don’t believe we can make their money back. I am told time and time again “Latinos dont watch Latino Movies. Latinos don’t support each other” and sadly that is true. I’m not saying go and see a movie you don’t like to blind support, im saying if you want to see us represented on film and tv, if you want to see Latinos nominated for Oscars, we NEED to support one another. The industry sees money, the excuse can’t be racism. We can make a difference in a very powerful way if we unite our support as one Latino community. Oscar Isaac, in my opinion had an Oscar worthy performance in this film. Let’s start making noise with where it matters most, where we put our dollars. Go support these films, watch these shows (mine is on tonight by the way, shameless promotion feel free to watch on the CW) and we can take making a change into our own hands. Each Monday I will highlight a latino actor we can support. Let us use our numbers and powerful voices to prove we support one another, to prove we can make a box office hit, to prove they need to support all the various Latino cultures in the media. That can be one part of the solution, so next year we have many movies that are worthy of Oscar contention! #MovementMondays Pick any Latino currently working we can support!
Rodriguez continued pushing the hashtag across her social-media accounts throughout the day, encouraging her followers to nominate their own #MovementMonday selects:
Other actors and actresses heard her call soon after:
Some readers misinterpreted her intent, but Rodriguez cleared things up with another note:
To see other #MovementMonday choices, scope out the hashtag here. And for the latest #OscarsSoWhite coverage, head here.
