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In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ode to a Dominican neighborhood in New York City, hit the big screen, but is criticized for its lack of Afro-Latinx portrayal.
Tony’s award-winning musical first aired on Broadway in 2008, but is now hitting theaters after being adapted for theaters.
Racism, immigration poverty and gentrification are the main themes of the feature film, with Hamilton star Anthony Ramos leading the cast as a bodega employee in Washington Heights who dreams of returning to the Caribbean.
Despite positive reviews, the film’s release was somewhat overshadowed by criticism surrounding the demographics of the cast, most notably the lack of Afro-Latinx actors and characters.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quira Alegria Hudes on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures In The Heights Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
“I lived in Washington Heights for 5 years. You can’t step into Washington Heights without seeing dark-skinned Latin blacks,” one tweet read. “#InTheHeights is wiping them out of the neighborhood. This ‘light skinned Latinx only’ story is very disappointing.”
While another noted, “In the Heights is DRAGGED all over the TL, as it should be. The fading of dark-skinned Afro-Latinxes in a musical film set in Washington Heights, NYC, a neighborhood Dominican BLACK, is colourist and racist. “
I lived in Washington Heights for 5 years. You can’t step into Washington Heights without seeing dark-skinned Latin Blacks. #InTheHeights wipes them out of the neighborhood. This fair-skinned Latinx story is very disappointing. https://t.co/bm6Yzlhpn3
– Amara # Democracy (@Amara_deMachado) June 13, 2021
In The Heights was directed by Jon M. Chu, who solved this casting gap.
In an interview with Felice Leó of The Root on June 9, he said, “When we were watching the casting, we tried to get people who were the best for these roles.
“But I can hear you trying to fill these actors with darker skin. I think that’s a really good conversation to have, something we should all be talking about.”
Leó explained, “We want to see Blacks in the heights. We want to see Afro-Panamanians, Black Cubans, Black Dominicans. This is what we want to see. This is what we longed for and hoped for.”
To which the director replied: “I hope that encourages more people to tell more stories, to come out and do it right away.”
Meanwhile, Melissa Barrera, who plays Vanessa in the film, said that during the audition process, “there were a lot of Afro-Latinos there. A lot of darker skinned people. And I think ‘they were looking for the right people for the roles. “
Of the final casting decisions, she said, “For the person who embodied each character to their fullest extent… I think we all look a lot like our characters, so much so that a lot of times it didn’t even seem like we played.”
She added, “And because the cast ended up being us, and Washington Heights is a melting pot of Blacks and Latinxes, Jon and Lin wanted the dancers and the big numbers to feel very loyal to what the dance looks like. community.”
The Roots interview went viral over the weekend, with many criticizing comments made about the audition process.
As one person put it: “To say that there were a lot of darker skinned Latinxes at the auditions, and none were chosen for lead roles because they chose actors who” embodied what they were looking for, “that’s great.”
To say that there were a lot of darker-skinned Latinxes at the auditions, and none were cast for lead roles because they picked actors who embodied what they were looking for is very good. https://t.co/MIjsPX7J39
– Jah (@Jahleese_) June 13, 2021
Speaking to Vox on June 10, Miranda said it was “unfair” to “put any sort of undue representational load on In the Heights,” adding: “There are so many millions of stories – there are has a song in Heights called “Hundreds of Stories,” but there are millions of stories – cultural specifics of the Puerto Rican American experience, the Dominican American experience, the Cuban American experience, and we couldn’t control it all. “
Newsweek has reached out to representatives for Miranda for comment.
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