Did the Golden Globes Confuse America Ferrera and Gina Rodriguez Because They're Latina?
The Golden Globes made a pretty embarrassing hiccup during their nomination announcements this morning. Past Globe winner America Ferrara had the honor of presenting at Thursday's ceremony; however, when she came up to the podium, the Globes tweeted it was Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez, not America. And what's worse, the Globes social media people posted the same mistake twice in different tweets. C'mon, Hollywood Foreign Press Association. You hired America to present, and y'all confuse her?! Major face-palm. Both blunders have since been deleted but not before slick social media users captured them. Check out one of the cringe-worthy tweets below.
It wasn't long before Twitterers caught wind of the oops moment and let the Golden Globes peeps have it--and rightfully so. Most users expressed outrage about how coordinators could be so careless, but a few hit on a sentiment we can't stop thinking about. These are two Latina actresses--two of the few Latina actresses in popular media right now. We have to wonder if the Globes confused Gina and America because of their similar heritage--a racially-charged error in judgment, if you will. Check out a few of the people who agree with us.
This could have been just an honest mistake without racial pretense--but we don't think so. How come the Globes didn't mistake Chloë Grace Moretz--another presenter--with Abigail Breslin? Or Dennis Quaid with Harrison Ford? Why is it the Globes only couldn't properly identify the Latina presenter?
Television has made great strides in diversity this year, but a gaffe like this only proves how far we have to go. Not many Latina actresses have prodigious mainstream success, and yet the Hollywood Foreign Press--a group of international journalists--couldn't differentiate two of them. This is the same frustration African Americans face when their friends tell them they look exactly like [insert any black actor].
It's baffling I even have to write this, but minority actors are not interchangeable. They each have their own singular identities. They deserve just as much shine as their white peers. Even more important, they deserve not getting their damn names mixed up! A simple act of basic human decency.
If anything, this proves we need more Latina visibility in Hollywood. We need more Jane the Virgins and Telenovelas and maybe even an Ugly Betty reboot. Latina actresses are here to stay, and we need to effing know their names.
But what do you think? Was this a racially-based misstep or slip of the hand? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
Watch Latina actresses shut down common stereotypes in the VH1 original video below.
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