‘Hands of Stone’ knocks out Latino stereotypes
Donald Trump is everybody’s favorite piñata.
Perhaps that will change with his “pivot” — or was that a complete comb-over? — on his toughguy immigration policy. He’s gone from building a wall to practically screaming “si se puede!” and offering every unauthorized immigrant a free Trump steak after they cross the border.
Cue outrage: “It’s not ‘amnesty.’ It’s ‘comprehensive immigration reform’ !!!! ,” Ann Coulter tweeted. #sarcasm.
But it would be discriminatory to cherry-pick Trump’s take on Latinos. All you need to do is take a sneak peek at “Hands of Stone,” the boxing biopic starring Edgar Ramirez, a Venezuelan-born actor.
The movie opened in theaters across the United States this weekend, casting Ramirez as legendary boxer Roberto Durán. Robert De Niro — perhaps you’ve heard of him — plays Ray Arcel, Durán’s legendary trainer.
Spoiler alert: Ramirez gets top billing in the marketing blitz, deservedly so.
Hollywood’s inclusiveness comes with a few disclaimers. Much like Trump, Hollywood has built its own stereotypical walls.
Hispanic actors rarely get the lead role, unless it features the exaggerated goofiness of the late Desi Arnaz, or a machine gun firing at a coke dealer nicknamed “Scarface” … who happens to be played by Al Pacino, an East Harlem guy with a potty mouth and a bad Spanish accent.
“…[E]ever since I moved to Los Angeles, nearly every script I’ve been sent has featured Latin drug dealers, rapists, or criminals of some other kind,” Jonathan Jakubowicz, “Hands of Stone” director, wrote for Vulture.com. “It’s true my filmmaking style fits the genre, but this pattern is not limited to me.
“Everywhere I look in American movies and TV shows, I see few, if any, positive Latino characters. Even when the filmmakers are Latino, most Hispanics I see on-screen are criminals.”
He goes on to mention Trump’s “damaging stereotypes,” but doesn’t spare his brothers and sisters in liberal-leaning Hollywood a few haymakers. Durán — nicknamed Manos de Piedra (“Hands of Stone”) — would be proud.
Mainstream Hollywood didn’t want this movie, despite De Niro’s heavyweight clout in trying to make it happen. He’s known Durán for decades, ever since meeting him by chance at Central Park, where Bobby’s boys played Roberto’s boys in a pickup softball game. De Niro’s team lost, and De Niro honored a gentlemen’s bet to treat everybody to dinner at Victor’s Café.
Full disclosure: I know such details because I am the ghostwriter for Durán’s authorized autobiography, “I Am Duran,” set for release next month. The book is not affiliated with the movie, but the common theme is compelling: A rags-to-riches narrative about a street kid from Panama who quit school in the third grade and went on to become a world champion and to this day, the most revered person in that country.
But Hollywood didn’t seem to care. A sampling of the responses that Jakubowicz received:
“Can Durán be played by Leo DiCaprio or Colin Farrell?”
“What about Durán’s wife — she’s blonde, anyway. Can we get Scarlett?”
Jakubowicz had to go to Panama to make the movie, which was partly bankrolled by the government, and then secured by The Weinstein Company for U.S. distribution rights.
Hollywood’s walls are more subtle, but they exist nonetheless. But if Trump is evolving, then we should also give credit for Hollywood finally shredding some of its stereotypical silliness.
“Cinema can play an important role in building bridges,” Ramirez told Variety. “Through films we can understand our neighbors.”
Second spoiler alert: Not all of them are drug dealers, petty criminals or goofy caricatures playing bongos.
Durán, now 65, remains a complex hero, a perfect villainous foil to pretty boy Sugar Ray Leonard. They made history with two signature fights in 1980, including Durán’s infamous “No Mas” moment, when he turned away and quit fighting.
Now their alter egos — with Usher, cast as Sugar Ray — go mano-a-mano breaking down Hollywood’s little lie. A Latino and a black man, sandwiched by a Hollywood icon. Forget Trump. This might be the quintessential flip-flop.
Durán jokingly challenged Trump to a fight a few weeks ago, ripping Trump’s immigration rhetoric via Twitter.
“Hands of Stone” should have challenged a few more folks via cyberspace. Like the castingsuggestion people. Leo DiCaprio? Colin Farrell? I’m tempted to scream, “No Mas.”