George Lopez can draw a crowd — even when he’s not there. This time, the crowd showed up to learn something rather than to laugh.
Students and community members gathered in the Student Union Ballroom on Monday to watch a screening of director Phillip Rodriguez’s documentary about the Latino comedian.
“This could have been a film about any group of people impacted by marketing,” Rodriguez said. “But Latinos are offered very little in the way of cultural sustenance and are vulnerable to negative impact from the media.”
After the film screening, Rodriguez took part in a panel discussion concerning the portrayal of Mexican-Americans in the media. The screening and the discussion were part of an event co-hosted by the UT Mexican American Culture Committee and the Center for Mexican-American Studies to celebrate Dia de la Raza, or Day of the Race. Day of the Race is a national holiday meant to give people across the country an opportunity to take pride in their native cultures.
“I’ve been in [the committee] for four years, and this is something new that we’ve never done before,” said English junior Sheila Lopez. “I wanted to come out here and support this.”
Rodriguez’s film, “Brown is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream,” was the final film shown in a series of three. The first two screenings, “Born in East L.A.” and “Spanglish” took place in the afternoon and were lightly attended. The evening event, featuring a speech from Rodriguez and a free traditional Mexican dinner, yielded a much bigger turnout.
The University’s reputation as a school that encourages celebrating Latino culture influenced his decision to speak here, Rodriguez said.
“UT is a very important place,” he said. “The writings of professors here have been very influential to me as a Latino person.”
Originally, the celebration was supposed to feature a poetry workshop and art exhibits, but the guest speakers canceled at the last minute.
Despite the setbacks, committee webmaster and Latin American Studies senior Ludwig Barragan still considered the day a success.
“This event helped the campus community get a good view about Mexican-American culture,” Barragan said.
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