Lupe vs. Lopez
So I was thinking about the class discussion yesterday about Lupe Velez and the clips we watched from Maid in Manhattan, and it seems like there are some very stark contrasts between Lupe and J. Lo, not just in terms of the roles that they played but also in the public persona that they maintain(ed). What I noticed watching Marisa is that her character seems to have her opinions swayed back and forth by other characters in the movie (Stephanie, her boss, Chris) and she is pushed into acting different ways based on what other people think. Lupe's character however, or at least what I could tell from the montage we watched, did not wait for other people to tell her what to do or say, and was very quick to tell other people her honest opinion and to act as she saw fit, not caring what they thought. Her character also did not prize marriage to be the ultimate goal in life, repeating over and over in one scene "I want to leave my husband!" This seemed to be true in her personal life as well, as she said "I've always been afraid of marriage, it seems to me like being imprisoned in an iron cage...I do not tolerate anyone telling me what I can and cannot do." Lopez on the other hand has been married (or close to it) on more than one occasion. And this last spring/summer she gave People magazine the first glimpses of her newborn twins, and the happy, wealthy, heterosexual home that she and Marc have built together. I don't know that I would consider either Lupe or Lopez to be outstanding role models per se, however I do think that as a feminist and progressive figure that Lupe has a definite edge over J. Lo.