Latina women in US made movies, and how Pedro Almodovar in his film 'All About My Mother' reverses stereotypes

I will describe the Images of Latina women in U.S. made movies and how these images have affected their self-esteem, which in turn affects their motivation to succeed. By analyzing the Latina characters placed in American movies I will examine how such uni-dimensional characters are damaging. For example in the classic movie West Side Story (1961) the stereotypes of Puerto Rican men and women are reinforced through the characters. As noted by Clara E. Rodriguez in her book Latina Images "West Side Story perpetuated the stereotypes of the Puerto Rican males as knife carrying gang members who could only solve their problems through violence." For the Puerto Rican women it portrayed them "as either innocent, passive or hotblooded and fiery." Similarly I will show how the women in All About My Mother reverse such damage and place Latina women characters in their proper and respected roles. Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar who presents Latina women characters in tremendous amount of emotion that ranges from hysterical to humorous to tragic.