Intention

America Ferrera’s intention with the talk “My identity is a superpower – not an obstacle” is to raise awareness of the lack of minority representation and diversity in the film industry. She is hereby saying that the film industry needs to change. Ferrera relies on her personal experience and the audience’s emotions to achieve her intention.

Informing about the lack of diversity in the film industry

An anecdote suggests that the Latino identity in the film industry “was an obstacle” (l. 35) which Ferrera felt she had to overcome. Ferrera tried to reject her culture and racial identity because she thought it was the only way to get offered a serious role, free of stereotypes. To illustrate the lack of minority representation, Ferrera uses pathos to appeal to the feeling of injustice:

I stayed out of the sun so that my skin wouldn’t get too brown, I straightened my curls into submission. I constantly tried to lose weight, I bought fancier and more expensive clothes. All so that when people looked at me, they wouldn’t see a too fat, too brown, too poor Latina. They would see what I was capable of. And maybe they...