Popular Culture Portrayals of Latinos and Mental Health

Research on the portrayals of Latinos and mental health allows for the conceptualization of a long-lasting social issue. This project identifies the different film and television content that erroneously depicts Latinos with mental illnesses. This study takes a qualitative approach to help describe what roles Latino characters play in the media and how mental health is portrayed by such characters. We selected a purposive sample of cases where Latino roles were played by Latino actors, non-Latino actors, or actors with an “ambiguous” ethnic identity. This collaborative project poses the following research questions: We ask how are Latinos with mental health issues portrayed in popular culture