From Zorro to Jennifer Lopez: US-Latino History and Film for the EFL-Classroom

The essay introduces some aspects of the history, demography, and culture of Latinos and gives an overview on films particularly suitable for discussing the history of this ethnic minority in the EFL-class. Questions of representation of Mexican-Americans—the biggest group of U.S.-Latinos—in Hollywood film and of self-representation in Chicano film are addressed in the last part of the essay.