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# At UC Riverside Conference, Latino Storytellers Challenge Hollywood to go Beyond Representation
- URL: https://www.raincrossgazette.com/at-uc-riverside-conference-latino-storytellers-challenge-hollywood-to-go-beyond-representation/
- Published: 2026-10-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: At the 38th annual Tomás Rivera Conference, panelists cited studies showing Latinx people hold under 6 percent of lead film roles.
- Author: Anthony Solorzano
- Tags: culture, education, higher-education, #herald-3f0ef165-d2ee-8039-96fc-e2a5826f6d4c

After a screening of the 1994’s “...y no se lo trago la tierra,” a movie about a migrant family and their struggles as farmworkers through the eyes of a child, I was left wondering when the Latinx community will stop being fruit pickers on the big screen.

These types of films capture the struggle of the first generation of the Latinx experience in the States. But, who is the voice of the second generation? What’s the best film or television series that captures the Latinx experience of the children of those farmworkers, or even the generation after that?

Before the film, Severo Perez, the film’s director and screenwriter, had a conversation with Luis Valdez, a playwright and screenwriter, about being a Latinx creator within the limits of Hollywood. It was the 38th annual Tomás Rivera Conference, a public forum that reflects on the contributions of the Latinx community across the arts at the University of California, Riverside.

I don’t think anyone has truly captured the angst, the struggle and the emotional distress that have come from being the children of immigrants, and it is not a representation problem, Valdez said.

“\[Latinx people\] need to develop their ability to produce,” Valdez said. “For lack of a better word, you have to throw chingasos (punches, in Spanish) in Hollywood in a different way without getting fired. You have to stand your ground, and that takes courage that, again, I'm trying to encourage in Latinx people.”

His words reverberated throughout a screening of Perez’s film, an adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Tomás Rivera. The author was the first Mexican American to serve as the chancellor at the University of California, Riverside.

The film is about migrant farmworkers during the late 1940s and 1950s, and it’s told through a set of short stories and vignettes. Its melodrama reaches the heights of a telenovela being transmitted during the ’90s on the Spanish-language network Univision.

The narration undermines the emotional stakes of the film. Instead of letting moments breathe, the narration sucked the feeling out of the scenes. Yet, the story of first-generation immigrants living in Texas and migrating with the seasonal crops captivated me.

Its abstract story structure and its relatable themes landed with me in a way that made me wonder when it would be the turn of second-generation Latinx people to tell their own stories. 

When will Latinx representation take center stage of a film or television series and be told through a regular occupation? I can assure you I’ve never picked a fruit in my entire life, and I have lemon trees in my yard.

A[ recent study](https://latinodonorcollaborative.org/reports/2022-ldc-latinos-in-media-report-full-year-update/?ref=raincrossgazette.com) showed that the Latinx community makes up only 5.2% of lead roles, 5.1% of co-lead roles, 3.5% of screenwriter roles and 2.6% of director roles. 

The numbers are even lower for TV series. Meanwhile, there are zero Latinx CEOs or chairs in show and film production, with Latinx people making up 6% of senior executives in show production.

But representation isn’t the problem, Latinx actors, screenwriters and directors are making themselves be seen, just not their stories, Valdez said.

“There's nothing wrong with being any of any race, any culture in the world. It's all beautiful,” he said. “It's all part of the cornucopia of humanity, and we have to have a new standard in America that allows all those cultures to enrich our lives instead of saying only this particular group from Europe is acceptable.”

The problem in Hollywood is far more complex than representation. It is about who is in control of the entertainment that is consumed by the masses, Perez said.

“\[Hollywood doesn’t\] have enough wealthy millionaires; they're wealthy, all right, but they're not interested in helping the culture or helping advance things,” he said. “We need people that are willing to be entrepreneurs, that are willing to be champions.”

There need to be executives willing to take on stories from the Latinx community, even if they are not “Latinx enough.” There need to be people in charge willing to take a chance on going beyond representation through casting. It is a needed source of expression that everyone in the community needs, Valdez said.

“Every culture, every community, every generation needs good storytellers,” he said.

Especially stories that capture their own experience.