Marisa also happens to be a single mom and minority. This depiction goes beyond simply being the background information that creates the setting. Marisa's racial identity is the essential theme to the "rags to riches" story. Going back to a reading I formerly read, The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media by Stuart Hall, I noticed the racism of pop culture today in this film. Stuart Hall defines ideology as something that doesn't include individual concepts but statements that are made by individuals' subconscious thoughts; also something that works to differentiate and identify groups of people. This concept is extremely visible in Hollywood and society today. Before this reading, I had never taken a moment to truly see the racism that is in media all around society. With this being stated, this film presents ideology and racism in one particular way. Marisa, a Latina woman, works as a hotel maid, servicing the hotel's customers. This portrays the concept that Latinas in today's world are of a working class and inferior to the white dominate culture. Also, one of the female, white and wealthy hotel guests refers to Marisa as "Maria," a common Latina name. This guest automatically assumed that Marisa has a Latina name. In this case, Marisa never corrected the guest because Marisa feels inferior to this lady. .
In this film, a romantic relationship was established between Marisa and Chris, a wealthy, white politician. This relationship ignores the way the class system in the United States divides the upper class and working class in both economic and emotional ways. Likewise, the interactions between Lopez's character, Marisa, and her wealthy, white love interest Chris, seemed disconcerting to me. The first time Chris mistakes Marisa for a hotel guest at the hotel she works at, he insists on her joining him for a walk after Marisa's son joins in. While the two were on their walk, Marisa's body language shows noticeable uneasiness.
