Investigating Latino Stereotypes and Identification in One Day at a Time: A Rhetorical Criticism of Latino Representations in Entertainment Media

Stewart, Hannah

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Investigating Latino Stereotypes and Identification in One Day at a Time: A Rhetorical Criticism of Latino Representations in Entertainment Media Pubblico Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/c821gk20p

Abstract

Since television has had the ability to entertain, it has also had the ability to persuade us about how we ought to perceive the world. To do so, television has long relied on stereotypes, whether they are of gender, race, or class, and research across media and communication disciplines have identified that representations of these marginalized groups reinforce stereotypes’ existence in and out of television. The purposes of this analysis are to examine stereotypical narratives surrounding Latinos and the Latino experience in America, as well as to understand how these stereotypes are challenged. Using a combination of narrative and ideological rhetorical analysis, this thesis investigates the recently cancelled Netflix reboot of One Day at a Time (ODaaT) in order to see how this program serves as a critique of dominant narratives of minorities. ODaaT recognizes stereotypical representations of these communities in order to comment on them and then challenge them. Through the use of identification and analysis of the politics of representation, I explore how ODaaT uses rhetorical devices to subvert previously abundant representations of Latinos in order to give a more authentic representation. Former representations that rely on stereotypes run the risk of affecting Latino viewers’ self-esteem while also reinforcing these negative stereotypes for all audiences. But ODaaT seeks to challenge these narratives by politicizing characters and the narratives within which they exist while also identifying with the audience.

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