The stereotypes didn’t stay on the screen
Still from the documentary Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype
The Political Power of Anti-Latino Stereotypes
Screen MEF’s Bestselling Documentary Latinos Beyond Reel
During National Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 – October 15
For generations, U.S. news and entertainment media have helped teach audiences to associate Latinos with violence, criminality, illegality, gangs, drugs, and danger.
Today, those stereotypes are having consequences far beyond movie screens and television programs. We saw this last month when newly released bodycam footage captured federal immigration agents using racist slurs during immigration raids that were already under legal challenge for unconstitutional racial profiling.¹ We’ve also seen it in reports revealing anti-Latino hate crimes reaching record levels over the past year.²
In this environment, Miguel Picker and Chyng Sun’s acclaimed documentary Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype has taken on new urgency, giving students a powerful tool for distinguishing media mythology from lived reality.
As National Hispanic Heritage Month approaches (September 15–October 15), the film offers an especially compelling way to explore the richness and diversity of Latino cultures while understanding where anti-Latino narratives come from, how they’ve evolved over time, and why they continue to matter.
Between now and October 15, we’re offering 15% off Latinos Beyond Reel with the coupon code HERITAGE26.
Featuring Latino scholars, journalists, Hollywood actors, artists, and community leaders, Latinos Beyond Reel examines how U.S. news and entertainment media have reduced one of the nation’s largest and most diverse populations to a narrow set of dehumanizing stereotypes that have helped shape public attitudes, political debate, and regressive government policies.
In direct rebuttal to these distortions and myths, the film offers a counter-vision that celebrates the richness, diversity, and humanity of Latino communities while challenging viewers to imagine media capable of telling fuller, more truthful stories.
Whether you teach media studies, cultural studies, journalism, sociology, ethnic studies, political science, communications, or U.S. history, Latinos Beyond Reel is a powerful resource for examining one of the most enduring—and consequential—patterns of representation in American media.
Latinos Beyond Reel is now available on our streaming platform in multiple formats. It’s also available as part of MEF’s Premium Collection, which offers flexible subscription and permanent-access licensing options. To learn more about the Premium Collection, contact Stephen Belcourt at [email protected].
1. “Bodycams record agents using slurs in LA raids. ACLU says it proves racial profiling,” by Adrian Florido, NPR, July 29, 2026.
2. “Anti-Latino hate crimes reached a record high in 2025,” by Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2026.
Praise for Latinos Beyond Reel
“Reveals a relentless, stereotypical, and narrow vision of Latinidad produced by the culture industries.”
— Esteban del Rio | Associate Professor of Communication Studies, University of San Diego
“Illuminates the historical and contemporary invisibility and misrepresentation of Latinos in news and entertainment media and helps viewers understand how and why this distorted picture has come about. Given that 1 in 4 American children is now Latino, this is a vitally important educational documentary.”
— Mary Beltrán, Ph.D. | Author of Latina/o Stars in U.S. Eyes: The Making and Meanings of Film
“Comprehensive and powerful. Shows how stereotypes go beyond the symbolic realm and can harm the minds and bodies of Latinos, particularly children.”
— Debra Merskin, Ph.D. | Author of Media, Minorities, and Meaning: A Critical Introduction
“Convincingly illustrates the gaps between our national rhetoric of a diverse and multiethnic democracy and the paucity of diverse ethnic media representations.”
— Vicki Mayer, Ph.D. | Author of Producing Dreams, Consuming Youth: Mexican Americans and Mass Media
“A must-see documentary. As a black Puerto Rican sociologist who suffers ‘en carne propia’ many of the things highlighted in this documentary, I endorse it wholeheartedly and will use it in my classes.”
— Eduardo Bonilla Silva, Ph.D. | Professor of Sociology, Duke University
“An indispensable resource for scholars and students of mediated Latino identities.”
— Guillermo Avila-Saavedra, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor of Communications at Salem State University
“Through children’s eyes, viewers experience the devastating impact of Latino invisibility and the proliferation of negative images in news and entertainment media.”
— Lourdes Torres, Ph.D. | Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University
“Latinos Beyond Reel is more than a compelling documentary: it is a timely indictment of an industry that consistently maligns and misrepresents America’s largest ethnic group.
— Myra Mendible, Ph.D. | Editor of From Bananas to Buttocks: The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture
