With Ellen Summerfield
This piece on Real Women Have Curves is soon to be published by the University of Michigan Press in a book on film and culture. Please contact the author Ellen Summerfield for permission to copy it.
Contents |
Take the Look(s)ism Quiz
Read About the Film
| Who’s Who in the Film | |
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Ana Garcia (America Ferrera)
Carmen Garcia (Lupe Ontiveros)
Estela Garcia (Ingrid Oliu)
Raúl Garcia (Jorge Cervera Jr.)
Mr. Guzman (George Lopez)
Jimmy (Brian Sites)
Felipe de Alba (José Gerardo Zamora Jr.)
Patricia Cardoso
Josefina Lopez
George LaVoo
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Real Women Have Curves (2002) is one of the best of a new genre of films that focus on the conflicts between first-generation immigrants and their Americanized children. It is important as a production whose director, co-screenwriter, and main actors are all Latinas. Breaking new ground, they leave behind decades of demeaning Hollywood stereotypes of Mexicans and Mexican Americans (according to which men are greasers, villains, and banditos and women are hot, spicy seductreese and prostitutes) to present the lives of real people with real lives. The plot and setting are taken from the actual experiences of Mexican-born screenwriter Josefina Lopez, who worked illegally in a Los Angeles sweatshop.
The screenplay is brought to life by splendid actors. Talented and appealing newcomer America Ferrara, who plays the lead role of Ana, and veteran actress Lupe Ontiveros, who plays Ana’s mother, jointly won the Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for Acting. The film itself premiered at the Festival in 2002 to wild acclaim, receiving the Dramatic Audience Award. |
Rent and View Real Women Have Curves
Check your local or university library, commercial video store, or online sources to obtain a copy.
Related Readings
Fuentes, Carlos. The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.
Meier, Matt S. and Feliciano Ribera. Mexican Americans/American Mexicans: From Conquistadors to Chicanos. New York: Hill and Wang, 1994.
Novas, Himilce. Everything You Need to Know about Latino History. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.
Shafer, Robert Jones. A History of Latin America. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1978.
Related Websites
League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
National Association for Bilingual Education
Find Examples of Lookism in the Movie
As you view or reflect on Real Women Have Curves, think of a scene, situation, or relationship in which lookism (or fattism, which is a form of lookism) plays a role. You might think about:
- How is lookism expressed?
- How does lookism affect the person being judged? The person doing the judging? Their relationship?
- Are the characters able to reduce, eliminate, or defy this bias? If so, how?
For example, in the sweatshop, all the lovely dresses being made are small sizes. Estela defies this bias by making a dress for Ana. Her words are: Pretty dresses aren’t just for skinny girls.
