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Michelle Rodriguez Stands Up for White Superhero Roles


“Instead of trying to turn a White character into a Black character or Latin character I think that people should stop being lazy”Michelle Rodriguez

By Bel Hernandez

Michelle Rodriguez is used to being in hot water, she may even thrives on it.  Her latest controversy happened over the weekend while leaving a restaurant when a TMZ reporter asked her if she was “going to be the Green Lantern”.  Her answer ” I think its so stupid…because of this whole, you know ‘minorities in Hollywood thing’ (while she stumbles and does air quotes)…stop stealing all the White people’s superhero roles.”

While never being very vocal on the lack of roles for minorities or Latinos for that matter (seeing as her cultural background is Latino with a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father), she nevertheless felt she needed to defend “White” people’s superhero roles.

To say that the Latino social media blogosphere blew up is an understatement.

In response to the social media reaction Rodriguez  tries to apologize the following morning.  In a Facebook video  “apology” Michelle admits “I stuck my foot in my mouth once again” adding “I have a tendency to speak without a filter, sorry about that”.  The apology seemed more about sticking her foot in her mouth than about what she said because she then proceeded to try to explain her original comment by clarifying, “instead of trying to turn a White character into a Black character or Latin character I think that people should stop being lazy”.


The outrage has mostly come from the Latino community, opening up a fierce debate.  While Rodriguez had many outspoken critics, she also had many supporters.  Conservative websites have come to her defense, the Hollywood trades have treaded lightly on the topic, mainstream websites CNN.com, Time.com have glazed over the controversy, but the real discussion has been on Facebook and on sites like Fox News Latino written by Cesar Vargas and Latino Rebels.

One has to wonder if this isn’t just Rodriguez bringing attention to herself in anticipation of the pending theatrical release of Fast and Furious 7?  If so, to throw minorities under the bus just to grab attention for the film’s release is pretty low.  Or is this just Michelle Rodriguez being herself.  Either way, Michelle should remember she owes her career to someone who believed in diversity and took a chance and cast her in the role of a Latina boxer in the indie film Girlfight.

Rodriguez has been fortunate to have landed some nice paying gigs, most notably the Fast and Furious franchise which has given her a worldwide profile.  And we know she has worked very hard to get where she is, but to pass judgement on others and to call them “lazy” for not creating their own superheroes (of which there are plenty, Hollywood just doesn’t want to fund them) is just plain being out of touch with reality.

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