Eva Longoria’s new movie Low Rider is perpetrating Latino stereotypes, according to Eastside Café, a community activists group in El Sereno, a neighborhood in East Los Angeles.
The organization, which is committed to creating equality for all, criticized the film stating on their Facebook, “We are tired of racist Hollywood portraying our gente, appropriating our culture and continuing to create narratives that stereotype violence in our neighborhood. The Eastside Cafe family and community will not tolerate the exploitation and disrespect of any culture especially our own!”
The comments came after reading the description of the film, a story about a teen caught up in the world of street racing and gang violence. Eastside Café deemed the story of Low Rider to be, “disrespectful and exploiting a deep wound that runs in our streets. We would appreciate communication and respect.” Adding that El Sereno is a community that has a “very recent and vivid history with gang violence. We do not appreciate the perpetuation of this stereotype in our community.”
Longoria’s representative tolds NBC News regarding the story that, “Eva would never do anything that insulted the Latino community. She fights for the Latino community in her longtime advocacy.”
The situation got heated after Eastside Café complained about the production crew filming in front of their beloved mural of the Virgin Mary — where they hold ceremonies — and noticed that they had painted over a memorial mural that mourned the death of a young boy in their community. According to the Facebook post, when they expressed their concerns about invading their neighborhood, the crew replied by calling them “greedy.”
As of June 18, the group has yet to make any more comments on the situation regarding the filming of the movie directed by Ricardo de Montreuil and starring Longoria, Demian Bichir and Tony Revolori. According to LA Times, the wall that had the memorial mural belonged to auto shop owner Socorro Arredondo. He was compensated by the film crew to pay the artist who created it, so they could restore the art.
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