In his ongoing mission to champion Latino representation in Hollywood, U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) has put forth a significant recommendation: he proposes that the crime dramas “Blood In Blood Out” and “American Me” be inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for 2024. Castro emphasizes that these films, despite portraying gang members—a stereotype long perpetuated in media—successfully depict the complex humanity within the Latino community. “It was an exploration of a certain life,” he noted. “I’ve always thought at least one of those deserves to go in there.”

This marks the third consecutive year that Congressman Castro has penned a letter to the National Film Preservation Board advocating for “Latino-driven” narratives to be included in the registry. This initiative is part of his broader campaign to highlight the significant contributions of Latinos to the media landscape and to advocate for sustained representation in American culture. He argues that the entertainment industry, as one of the most influential “narrative-creating” institutions, can cause harm by consistently depicting negative stereotypes.

Each year, the National Film Preservation Board selects 25 titles for the registry. Up to now, three of Castro’s more than 50 nominations have been accepted, including the critically acclaimed biopic “Selena,” which stars Jennifer Lopez and tells the story of iconic Tejana singer Selena Quintanilla. For Castro, this number is still insufficient given the extensive artistic contributions by Latinos to cinema.

The mission of the National Film Registry is to ensure that selected films are preserved for increased public awareness and educational purposes. According to Brenda Victoria Castillo, President of the National Hispanic Media Coalition and a new member of the National Film Preservation Board, less than 5% of the 875 films preserved so far are Latino-themed. “The Latine community, along with its films and unique stories, has a significant impact on the cultural history of the U.S., making it essential that we preserve them for future generations,” Castillo asserted.

Latinos are one of the largest consumers of media, according to a recent McKinsey & Co. report, which highlights that this demographic has the highest per capita theater attendance rate at an average of 3.3 times per year. The report also discovered that films involving a Latino producer, director, or lead earned 58% more revenue from 2013 to 2022.

However, reports from USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism indicate a troubling underrepresentation of Latinos in Hollywood. Between 2007 and 2019, only 3.5% of film leads were Latino. Similarly, from 2007 to 2022, just 3.7% of directors were of Latin descent.

Felix Sanchez, co-founder of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, believes that adding more films from Castro’s list to the registry will help families discover stories told through unique cultural lenses. “It’s very hard to have big numbers when you have small content,” Sanchez said. “We can only nominate what we have and the numbers are small in terms of what’s possible for the registry.”

Sanchez further noted that this list of nominees could serve as a tool to demonstrate the success and appeal of Latino narratives to Hollywood executives who might be hesitant to invest in such projects. Castro has been vocal about Hollywood’s “pervasive lack” of positive Latino representation, as cited in a 2020 Variety article. He praised “Blue Beetle” for being the first live-action Latin superhero featured in a major film and looks forward to an increasing number of nomination options from the public as these films reach their 10-year eligibility mark.

Castro anticipates that these contributions will eventually receive greater recognition. The official list of films added to the registry will be announced in December. While public submissions for this year have closed, nominations for the registry’s 2025 list are open until August 15.