ABSTRACT
The Latinx body has been subject to commodification for the vast majority of the history of the United States. The Latinx body in the United States can be thought of as a visual product for consumption and also an “invisible” entity that is a tremendous force in the nation’s agribusiness. Embedded within the exploration of Latinx men in Hollywood is the racialization that often dictates the sorts of roles such actors are allowed to play. Comedic roles of substance, not the clownish caricatures that dominated portrayals of Latinxs in the past, have steadily become a force at the box office—thanks in large measure to the work of Michael Pena, George Lopez, John Leguizamo, Eugenio Derbez, and others. Latina actresses have endured the sexualization of their bodies in visual storytelling in ways that differ from Latinx actors. As with many “Hollywood bombshells,” there is a long history of Latinas’ bodies being objectified on the screen.
