Warner Bros. and DC Films have found the lead for their upcoming Batgirl film. After a series of names were leaked the other day, the studio just announced that one of the breakout stars from In the Heights, Leslie Grace, will be moving from Washington Heights to Burnside to take on the role of Barbara Gordon.
Continue reading “Just Breathe: Leslie Grace is the New Batgirl”
Gina Rodriguez stars as Jill Adams in Awake, which premiered on June 9. The new Netflix film will take you on an intense journey with an incredible performance from Rodriguez, who plays a mother that will do anything to save her children. The actress is best known for playing the title role on Jane The Virgin, which earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy.
Continue reading “NOC Interview: Gina Rodriguez Discusses Netflix’s ‘Awake’”
In the first of two episodes of Hard NOC Life releasing this week, Keith sits down with Broadway superstar and now, children’s book author, Mandy Gonzalez to talk about her new middle grade novel, Fearless. They also talk about her career — from originating the role of Nina for In the Heights to replacing Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica in Hamilton — and why being fearless has helped her cope while Broadway is shut down.
Continue reading “Hard NOC Life 212: Mandy Gonzalez is ‘Fearless’”
Everyone has that one character they relate to or see themselves in; everyone searches to find someone who looks like them on screen. For me, that character is Veronica Lodge on The CW’s Riverdale, which is based on the Archie Comics characters. Despite the fact that she has had one of the most important evolutions on the show and has been there since the pilot, she is often overlooked and over hated, for no real reason besides Archie continuing to choose her.
Continue reading “Veronica Lodge on The CW’s ‘Riverdale’ Deserves Better”
Ghost Squad is a middle grade/young audiences (depending on their tolerance for the spooky) novel that does so many things right: remixes the “kids on bikes” trope, prioritizes adventuring for black and brown girls, and how adventuring doesn’t end when you get older.
Continue reading “Shawn Speaks with Claribel Ortega, Author of ‘Ghost Squad’”
What does it take to become a Latino-icon in Hollywood? We all know that Hollywood is a city/industry that favors Caucasian leads with the occasional Latino thrown in for good measure. For every Evans/Pratt/Hemsworth/Reynolds, you’ll occasionally get a Banderas/Hayek/Del Toro that crosses over into the mainstream American Hollywood spotlight. Thankfully, as of 2013, we can add “Derbez” to that list.
Continue reading “Exploring the ‘Lost City of Gold’ with ‘Dora’ Star Eugenio Derbez”
The ’90s-’00s were some of the best years for Nickelodeon. And while this was a bit after my generation, I wasn’t blind to the magnetic charms and multicultural influence the Nick Jr flagship property, Dora the Explorer, had on kids of its generation.
At long last, the second issue of Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez’s La Borinqueña is finally available. Coming on the heels of the release of Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico, a benefit anthology that I had the pleasure to be a part of1, Miranda-Rodriguez returns to continue the ongoing saga of Marisol Rios De La Luz and her super alter-ego.
Last year Supergirl hit CBS with a splash raking in a whopping 13 million viewers in its pilot episode and while the shows viewership dropped after its premiere, and eventually moved to smaller network The CW to join other DCTV shows, it is still a show that’s proving to be a positive investment for the network.
Two on-going criticisms of the show, however, was the overall lack of women of color in what was supposedly a feminist superhero show, and the usage of coming out metaphors within the show’s narrative. Both criticisms were addressed during the season two promotional tour. The showrunners revealed that there would be an introduction — or rather a coming out — of a major LGBTIQA character on the show, along with the inclusion of Maggie Sawyer (a known lesbian in the DCU) and Sharon Leal as Miss Martian.
Continue reading “The Disappointing Truth About Supergirl’s Maggie Sawyer”
When my oldest daughter was 3, we would sit together in her bean bag chair, turn off the lights, and watch the Justice League animated series. Here she learned about superheros and when she started becoming interested in comics, I wanted to make sure she read something that represented and looked like her so I handed her a copy of Araña. That was five years ago, and now she is 12 and is immersed in finding representation in what she reads.
It’s small stories like this that amplify the importance of diversity in literature and, in this case, comics. It is for that reason that the launching of Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez’s La Borinqueña comes at a much needed time.
Continue reading “La Borinqueña and La La: Heroes Worth Waiting For”
What does it mean to be Latinx in comics?
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now. Growing up snatching up whatever scraps of Latinx representation I could even if it meant settling for stereotypes, whitewashing, secondary character status (if lucky), and their stories ending in death. This is a plight many fans of color and other marginalized peoples can relate to. In comics, Latinx characters are often Latinx in name only, Spanish characters being positioned or promoted as Latinx characters, whitewashed, or having their Latinx identities erased.
Continue reading “Being Latinx in Comics: Ignorance, Erasure, Whitewashing, Oh My!”
Daredevil Season 2 has been up and streaming on Netflix for some time now and if you haven’t watched it, are you okay? Should we call someone? Just kidding. But seriously, go watch it if you still haven’t. It was another successful team-up for Netflix and Marvel after an exceptional Jessica Jones. If you haven’t watched that yet, that’s it, I’m coming over! As I’ve previously written, I recognize my bias and personal history with Daredevil, but in my opinion, especially in terms of tone, the series continues to be the MCU’s masterpiece (ducks).
Before The CW was known as comic book superhero central, the network — when it was still The WB — had the reputation for the place to be for melodramatic teen soaps. Remember shows like One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, and Gilmore Girls? In 2001, the debut of Smallville led to the network’s embrace of comic book-based properties that paved the way for more genre-focused shows like Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The 100, and the current slate of DC Comics heroes. Next fall, The CW is merging the best of both worlds with Riverdale. By adapting the classic comic book Archie, the network will return to its teen soapy roots, this time with a twist. Even better? They’re doing so with one of the most diverse casts on network TV.
Continue reading “The CW’s Riverdale Brings Some Diversity to Archie’s World”
Originally posted at Childish Things
Disney’s next Disney Film Canon Princess isn’t set to arrive until 2019 Edit: 2016! [Sorry!], and she’s a princess of color — Moana, a Pacific Islander. In the meantime, they are introducing a new Latina princess to its cartoon universe. Elena of Avalor will be introduced on the already popular Disney cartoon Sofia the First, before receiving her full spin-off.
It is about time that Disney spread its diversity notches to the Latina community. While it reeks of tokenism, it is still an excellent opportunity for young Latina girls to have someone to look up to other than the aged up Dora the Explorer. I’m actually surprised Disney didn’t jump on a Latina character soon, considering Dora has been so popular for so long. I hope this princess does well and that the Disney TV Cartoon princesses can join their film counterparts in inspiring young girls of color to follow their dreams and work hard and all those other themes. It’s so frustrating that each group must wait their turn basically before they can have some representation on television in a big way like this.
