Stereotypes in Movies

    There is a common belief that Mexicans in Los Angeles are either gardeners or clean houses for the rich. The rich being white people who live in fancy houses and the poor people, being people of color, working for them. This stereotype can be seen in films based in Los Angeles where they only show the luxurious parts of LA, were the rich live, and the not so luxurious parts of LA, where minorities live. One example of a movie that highlights these stereotypes of the rich and the poor is a Disney film named Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua represents these stereotypes because it involves a Hispanic male gardener who owns a Chihuahua named Papi and a white Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe. This movie depicted these two different lifestyles by making Chloe’s life luxurious in a rich Beverly Hills neighborhood and Papi’s lifestyle into a poor gardener who constantly takes commands by his boss.

    When these dogs were in Mexico, there was a scene where they showed dog fights between dogs owned and trained by Mexican people. There is a stereotype that Mexicans raise dogs and train them for dog fights. Another stereotype is that most Mexicans own Chihuahuas and you can clearly see that when majority of the dogs are Chihuahuas. The Chihuahuas who lived in Mexico had brown fur and looked like how a Chihuahua looks like and although Chloe was a Chihuahua as well, she looked nothing like one. Chloe had white fluffy fur and even walked sophisticatedly because she lived in Beverly Hills. Also, because Chloe is a Chihuahua, one of the dogs asked why she doesn’t speak Spanish if she’s a Chihuahua, implying that if you’re Mexican, you’re supposed to know Spanish. This film exaggerated on the accent the Mexican dogs have and the slang they use, almost making them sound unintelligent, which is another stereotype. Some people are prejudice when they hear someone have a different accent. They assume that because of their accent, they aren’t very smart.

              This Disney film illustrates the different social classes that exist in Los Angeles. Although it’s based on dogs, it’s still a true representation of the stereotypes people have of LA and its residents. The idea that every Mexican in Los Angeles works for the rich is false and some people who actually live here are the ones to know that that stereotype isn’t true and rather offensive.