Women of color in American film have traditionally been typecast in a narrow range of roles, said Patrick White, an associate professor of English at Saint Mary's, Friday.

White used specific scenes in various films to expand his point.

Historically multicultural women have only seemed to fit in certain roles due to the differences between white actresses and Latina actresses, according to White.

"In the movies from the 1930's until about the 1960's, white women were often portrayed as virginal, frail and pure," White said. "And darker women were portrayed as passionate, sexy, sensual, strong and often hot-tempered."

White pointed to "High Noon," a western film produced in 1952. Typical of this time period, women of color were given certain characteristics. Katy Jurado, the Latina character, was portrayed as more sensual, passionate and strong than the other supporting actress, Grace Kelly. Kelly had the typical traits of white females found in movies — she was virginal and pure.

"Katy Jurado was nominated for best supporting actress and went on to have a very distinguished career," White said. "But she was always asked to basically play roles where she was the contrasting character, or the multicultural character."

During the 1970's and 1980's, movies switched from looking at Chicanas and began to concentrate on the men of color. Examples of these firms include "Yo Soy Chicano" (1972) and "La Bamba" (1987).

White explained that current movies with Chicanas portray them as dealing with realistic problems that face a multicultural society. The example given was "Lone Star" released in 1996, starring Elizabeth Pena. Pena plays a history teacher who, among other things, faces the battle of wanting to teach her class history from a multicultural standpoint, but receives much resistance from opposing white parents.

"This film discusses multiculturalism in education. This is something that many schools must face today in our society," White said. " For someone interested in cultural identity in the United States, one would find it [this film] to be very rich."

Chicana actresses are starting to get into more roles that don't necessarily coincide with what they are used to, according to White. But, still, many are limited to only certain roles.

"Blood only means what you want it to mean," White said. "Identity becomes an active search in character roles."

The lecture marked the close of the celebration of Chicana 2000 at Saint Mary's.

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