Art by Stephany Torres
2024 was a great year for entertainment, particularly for our communities. Sure, we still have a long way to go when it comes to representation, but as the year comes to a close, we want to celebrate our wins. And there were a lot of them—from literal wins (Pedro Pascal! Liza Colón-Zayas!)—to more metaphorical wins like Nava Mau’s breakout role in one of the biggest shows of the year, Baby Reindeer and Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal stepping on the Emmys stage to present an Award and doing it entirely in Spanish, without subtitles.
Because our communities are moving forward. We’re making waves. And in the spirit of John Leguizamo’s speech, we’re doing it while asserting who we are and what it means to be part of our communities. So here are 10 unforgettable TV and film moments from 2024 that made us feel proud of our heritage.
One of the most anticipated moments in one of the biggest shows of the year played out to Pitbull. Yes, to Pitbull. Not only was it one of those things no one saw coming, it actually kinda fit. And now, we just can’t separate the two. Bridgerton and Pitbull go together, what can we say?
Liza Colón-Zayas’s Tina has been an integral part of The Bear from the start, but Season 2 saw Tina go to culinary school, get a pivotal singing moment and captive viewers even more—which earned her the Emmy. And the shocking part is, Colón-Zayas was even better in the show’s Season 3, which released in 2024.
There’s something indescribable about seeing two big Latinos like Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal stand up at the Emmys to present an Award and do the it entirely in Spanish. And for those of us watching at home, there weren’t even subtitles. It showed we belonged. And even Hollywood is starting to see it.
Liza Colón-Zayas wasn’t the only person from our communities winning big this year. Pedro Pascal won the SAG Award for Male Actor in a Drama Series for his role of Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us, his first major award ever in his career and he was surprised. Delighted, but surprised. We, however, weren’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfIheR1mlVY
If there was one movie that was everywhere this year, it was J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow. The retelling of the Miracle of the Andes was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and though it didn’t win, it became one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English movies of all time. Pretty amazing for a survival movie about a plane crash. It also gave us an opportunity to get to know amazing Uruguayan and Argentine actors, which included Enzo Vogrincic and Matias Recalt.
Baby Reindeer was one of the biggest shows of the year. And Nava Mau was one of the breakout stars of the show, getting not just critical acclaim and awards recognition, but a lot of love. Mau night not see herself as an activist, but trans kids everywhere still have her a role model to look up to nonetheless.
The reality TV dating show already had a Latin American version, in Brazil, but 2024 gave us two Spanish language versions of Love is Blind, first in Mexico and later in Argentina. Because Latin America deserves its chance at figuring out if love is truly blind, too.
Yes, it’s 2024. And yes, Colman Domingo was truly the first Afro-Latino to be nominated for an Oscar. When we say it was a long time coming, we mean it. But with his performance in Rustin, Doming finally made sure Afro-Latinos got recognized in the way they have always deserved.
During the Emmy Awards John Leguizamo took the time to call out not just the lack of representation, no, but the actors who have made a career out of “playing us.” Because they are part of the problem. And if we want to change the industry, Leguizamo made it clear, we have to start there.
America Ferrera might not have won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but when Rita Moreno introduced Ferrera as the Award was being presented, we still teared up. Because Rita Moreno, our Maria, was the first from our communities to win that Award. Still so few of us, that’s why the wins mean so much.
