Emmy Noms: Latinx Exclusion Feels Personal at This Point
Yesterday, the 72nd annual Emmy Award nominations were announced, and one thing was apparent very quickly: the Latinx community was completely excluded
Photo: Instagram/@vida_starz
Yesterday, the 72nd annual Emmy Award nominations were announced, and one thing was apparent very quickly: the Latinx community was completely excluded. Hollywood has been boasting so much about inclusion and diversity, yet they still can’t recognize a single Latinx actor or show. It is appalling and we’ve had enough.
The outrage on social media regarding the Latinx exclusion at Emmy’s was a firestorm. Film critic Carlos Aguilar tweeted, “Not a single Emmy nomination for Latino actors or Latino shows. In a year where they had ONE DAY AT A TIME, VIDA, and GENTEFIED to celebrate. Not even Rita Moreno, which pundits had highlighted as a strong contender. Shame. #LatinosAreOnTVToo #Emmys.” Author Erika L. Sánchez tweeted, “Wow, Latinxs are invisible once again. Not ONE Emmy nomination. Tired of this shit.”
It’s especially odd that the Emmy’s would completely shut out shows like Orange Is the New Black, which in its final season featured a plotline on immigration that starred the amazing Laura Gómez. Actresses Melissa Barrera and Mishel Prada of Vida were shut out, as were Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, Bernardo Velasco, and Cassandra Ciangherotti from the hilarious and inventive Los Espookys on HBO. The entire cast and show of Netflix’s Gentefied got nothing, despite Netflix garnering 160 nominations, the most out of all streaming platforms and networks. Actor Harvey Guillén on What We Do in the Shadows was also left out.
I mean .. por favor https://t.co/6yyU8qqN2d
— Justina Machado (@JustinaMachado) July 28, 2020
The most infuriating omission from this year’s nomination was the iconic Rita Moreno from One Day at a Time out. Many have argued that both Rita Moreno and Justina Machado have deserved Emmy nominations for years at this point. Though ODAT has struggled to find a huge audience, lots of other shows that are considered “cult” classics have garnered Emmy nods in spite of lacking mass appeal.
“The lack of Latinx nominees might be less frustrating if diversity in Hollywood had not been a central topic of conversation for so many years already,” writer Laura Bradley noted in The Daily Beast. “The entertainment industry loves to pay lip service to taking these issues seriously—but rarely seizes the easiest and most obvious opportunities to improve upon the past. For instance: Remember the time the 2018 Oscars made a big show of celebrating Latinx talent without actually putting any Latinx nominees on the stage?”
We should note that some Latinx did get some recognition but not in the main categories. Actress Alexis Bledel was nominated for Outstanding Guest in a Drama Series. Nadia Hallgren got a nomination for Outstanding Cinematography and Directing for her work in Becoming, and Brian Lazarte and James Lee Hernandez got nominated for MCMILLION$ for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, Writing, Editing.
That’s it. Once again, thanks for nothing, Hollywood.
