Category: Unapologetically Eclectic

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s highly anticipated film In The Heights was released on Friday, June 11th, but what fans expected isn’t what they received.

Fans were quick to point out the lack of Afro-Latinx representation in the film, which is set in Washington Heights.
After being hit with a large amount of criticism, Miranda has broken his silence and issued an apology.

In a statement, Miranda said, “I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles,” Miranda wrote. “I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback.”

He continued, “I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy,” he continued. “In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short. I’m truly sorry.”

See the post below.

In a recent interview with The Root director John Chu spoke on the subject of the lack of Afro-Latinx representation within the film. Chu replied, “it’s a fair conversation to have,” but maintained the position of “the best people who were best for those roles specifically.

Leslie Grace, who played the role of Nina and was the only Afro-Latina in the movie also spoke on the issue in the same interview. “I didn’t realize until making this movie that I didn’t really get to see myself or people that looked like my siblings, that are darker than me, on screen.”

Thoughts on this?