The Careers of Two Ritas: Latinas, Hollywood, and the Dilemmas of Anglicization
The Careers of Two Ritas: Latinas, Hollywood, and the Dilemmas of Anglicization
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Date
2014
Authors
Sabin, Jessica
Advisor
Paoletti, Jo
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Abstract
This project is focused on the career of two Latina actresses, Rita Hayworth and Rita Moreno, and how
their roles and success in film were contingent upon their race and identity. What this work will explore is how
Hayworth’s transformation from “Latina” to “Anglo” and Moreno’s refusal to conform to the whitening of her
image tells us about American cinematic expectations during this time period and how they shaped overlapping
ideas about race, gender, and sexuality. I used film analyses of Gilda (1946) and West Side Story (1961), combined
with American Studies theories of racial formation, tropicalizations, and Latino labeling in the U.S., to explain how
a Latina’s success in film was intimately linked to the whiteness of her image in Hollywood. My original
contribution is to frame the project in this comparative way and introduce the concept of Anglicization and how it
has a positive influence on the success of a Latina actress. In regard to cinema, there is a pronounced lack of
diversity in central roles, and it suggests that in order to achieve greater success, one needs to embody a whiter
identity.
Notes
Senior capstone project for AMST 450.