One can trace the trope of the child genius back to stories of Mozart composing his first concertos at four, or perhaps even earlier, to the young Alexander the Great absorbing philosophy at Aristotles knee. Film and television have long had a fascination with prodigiesDoogie Howser, Sheldon Cooper, and Jimmy Neutron to name a fewbut with rare exception (notably, The WBs Smart Guy from the late-90s) the child geniuses brought to the screen have been male and white. This is beginning to change, however, as a new type of genius has emerged in 2020: the Latina.
The beginning of the year saw the release of two new family sitcoms centered around highly intelligent and highly ambitious young Latinas: Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love from Netflix, and Diary of a Future President from Disney+.
NetflixAshley Garcia is about a fifteen-year-old Mexican-American with PhDs in applied mathematics and robotics whos just been hired to build robots for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In a somewhat predictable if necessary sitcom complication, Garcia is not as capable in love as she is in her work. Still, anyone who spent their teen years feeling like a complete dork will find much of the show relatable. Ashleys ethnicity, while not a major focus of the show, grounds the story in cultural references that range from Ashley sprinkling her potato chips with lime and Tajín, to a surprise quinceañera and a moving rendition of the classic bolero, Si Nos Dejan by José Alfredo Jiménez at the end of season two.
Diary of a Future President opens with civil rights attorney turned president, Elena Cañero-Reed, beginning her first term in office. On her first day she receives a package from her mother containing her childhood diary, which launches us into her beginnings as a nerdy but socially adept pre-teen navigating another political minefield: middle school. Diary is a compassionate and nuanced portrait of a modern Cuban-American family and a young girl learning who she is and what drives her.
There was a time when someone like me wouldnt even dream of sitting in this office, Cañero-Reed says in her first national address. We can imagine these words spoken not only by her character but by Gina Rodriguez, the shows star and executive producer, as well as the shows creator, Ilana Peña. And the time she speaks of is not so far in the past. Latinas have long been a rarity in American film and television, either in front of the camera or behind. Desi Arnaz, Freddie Prinze, Gabriel Iglesias, and George Lopez have all enjoyed massive television success, but Latinas have had a harder time securing their place in Hollywood. Cristela Alonzo was the first Latina to create, produce, write, and star in her own primetime sitcom, but her show Cristela was canceled after only one season, apparently due to low ratings. America Ferrara and Eva Longoria rocketed to stardom with their primetime soaps Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives respectively, but their success did not influence networks to add more Latina-helmed shows to their schedules.
ABCRepresentation matters has been the rallying cry for increasing the visibility of people of color in films and on television. And the slogan is borne out by data. According to a study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, across 1,200 top grossing films from 2007 to 2018, less than 1% were produced by Latinas, out of 1,335 directors only one was Latina, and only 3% of casting directors from the sampled films were Latinx. But the study also noted that when a film had a Latinx person in the role of producer, director, or casting director, the percentage of Latinx characters on-screen increased significantly.
As the number of original shows from streaming platforms has increased over the last few years, so too have the number of shows produced, directed, and written by Latinx people, as well as shows focused on a multiplicity of Latinx experiences. Gentefied, Jane the Virgin, One Day at a Time, Los Espookys, Alternatino, and Undone are some of the shows that have debuted over the last six years featuring a predominantly Latinx cast, with characters who are smart, funny, well-read, ambitious, bizarre, tortured, madly in love, and just as profound and fascinating as Tony Soprano, Walter White, or Don Draper. Furthermore, when shows have people of Latinx descent writing, producing, or directing, they are less likely to rely on tired stereotypes that restrict Latinx characters to criminals, immigrants, long-suffering mothers and grandmothers, maids, and sex objects. In the Annenberg study, the authors note, For Latino teen viewers, greater exposure to films was negatively associated with self-esteem in areas related to school performance and social abilities…There may be personal consequences for Latino individuals who see their culture erased or minimized in film.
It is for this reason and many more that it is incumbent upon networks and studios to put people of color in leadership roles, and prioritize programming that celebrates and elevates the diversity of American lives. How many little girls see Ashley Garcia and Elena Cañero-Reed and begin to plot their own paths to NASA, the White House, and beyond?
Disney+At a time when the Latinx community in the United States often find themselves terrorized, the scapegoat the government, and when non-POC novelists believe they have a mission to speak for faceless brown masses,” it is vital that new voices are able to speak. Not only for equity and representation, but so that American audiences may vicariously feel the joy of celebrating a quinceañera, learn the complicated history of predominantly Latinx neighborhoods like Los Angeles Boyle Heights, and hopefully dive into the delightful camp of Mexican horror films. There is nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
As we move forward I continue to be invigorated by the strength of our diversity, the spirit of our ingenuity, and the unstoppable power of our optimism, says President Cañero-Reed in the final episode of Diary of a Future President. She espouses an Obama-esque rhetoric of hope that seeks to unite rather than divide. It’s a grounded ethos for her charater, growing up in a world populated by strong, accomplished Latinas who ensured her talents were recognized and nurtured. And we are just getting started, she concludes. Again we get the feeling that many women are speaking through the character, announcing their intention to kick wide the door now that it has opened a crack, ready to remake the world with their copious gifts. Because they know Latinas have always been geniuses. Hollywood is just starting to catch up.
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The Necessary Rise of the Latina Genius
