Latino Hispanic Culture, Art and Film at Bullfighter’s Cafe

[repost] In May 2006, 35,000 videos a day were being added to the video broadcasting site Youtube.com, and an estimated 30 million clips were being viewed daily. One day Little Loca, a chola from East Los topped the charts with her video blogs and the fun loving character became the center of some serious racial comments. You know we had to find out what this was all about. We found, met and loved Little Loca but shortly thereafter, more controversy arose. It became known that the fats talking big mouth Chola was actually a character created by actress Stevie Ryan. As Little Loca’s views continued to rise, fans and critics went to war. Was she an artist or perpetrator? Are you a lover or hater? Here at the Cafe, we’ve always embraced artistic expression and were intrigued and enjoyed participating in the Loca/Stevie phenom. We continue to stand behind Stevie’s decision to continue producing her shorts and here’s why…
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BFC: Who are you?

My name is Stevie Ryan, and yes its my real name! I’m named after my dad. I grew up in Victorville, CA, its a pretty small place but its also pretty ghetto. I’ve been acting my whole life but only decided to try to make a career out of it about 3 yrs ago. I’ve been training professionally here in LA for about 2 years. Growing up I was always using my parent’s camcorder to make little commercials and movies. I always had some crazy little production going on. I was the entertainment for my friends and family, that was my first training.

BFC: What inspired you to create the LittleLoca character and what is the main premise of this work?

Loca is made from my childhood and my imagination. I had a lot of friends growing up who rode the back of the bus every day and would always have their makeup done perfectly. They had crisp white tee shirts and I would watch them line their lips with a dark brown pencil everyday. They had attitude and were a force to be reckoned with. They loved me because I would always have them laughing by goofing off. They taught me how to fight and to stick up for myself. They called me a “punk rocker” and called themselves “cholas”. I earned the nickname “sleepy girl” due to the fact that I would always fall asleep in the car when we would go out (which is kind of how I came up with “silent girl”). I always admired the powerful presence they carried. That’s the basics of Loca, but the rest is imagination.

Loca represents a strong mind, a big beautiful heart and a fun loving person, but she doesn’t take any crap. She’s not a bully, not a stereotype, not a loser; she represents a big period in my life. Loca’s just about having fun and being real, but she will stand her ground when its called for. She’s a good student and she comes from a good environment. People have this belief that if you’re from the ghetto, you’re this uneducated dirty person with 20 kids, no purpose in life and from a broken family. That’s not true. Some of the smartest people have come up from ghettos and I think you can learn a lot from the streets.

BFC: Why do you think YouTube viewers are so into LittleLoca?

She’s smarter then the average bimbo. Loca says what you wish you could say. She doesn’t let things get her down. She’s always having fun on camera and I think she’s contagious.

BFC: You leave up the good, bad and ugly comments why?

Why not? Its reality. Loca has nothing to hide, so she doesn’t hide anything. Although, most of the time I can’t even read all of them because they’re upsetting, I deal with every emotion known to mankind when I go through the comments. Happy from the positive feedback, pissed off from the racism, hurt from the bashing and laughing from the little witty jokes. Sometimes I don’t know if to be happy from all the love Loca’s fans give or cry from all the hate, Loca gets from the haters. But that’s life, you deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly. Stand back up when its over, dust yourself off and deal with the next set of bullets that the world unloads on you.

BFC: How has producing Loca enlightened you more to the racial climate?

Well, I was the minority growing up and even then it didn’t hit me as hard as this did. I’ve realized what a problem this actually is in our world and as much as its opened up my eyes, it also breaks my heart. I see that the real “Locas” out there are dealing with real problems like this [racism] day-to-day and the comments that people write to me are the real words people think and say to them. As hard as I try to make Loca be seen as a good person, people make her out to be bad. This has really taken me to a whole new level of understanding, I feel like I’m dealing with every angle of racism. From being a disgrace to the white race, to being the illegal immigrant hopping borders, you name it, I’ve heard it. I don’t believe in racism, so it can’t survive in my world. It’s sad that it does exist though, because if you think about it, we were all created, we were all born, we all bleed and we all die. So what does the color of your skin or the accent that you talk with really matter in the long run?

BFC: When it’s all said and done, how do you want others to perceive your work?

SR: I just want this to be seen as fun and real. Loca is a character I’ve had in me my whole life, so to have her out there now, is really scary but really fun. She’s not something I just threw out there, she’s a piece of me and my world.

BFC: Would you rather be in front of a camera acting or behind the scenes?

My number one is acting, of course! However, I would love to write or direct one day.

BFC: Have you accomplished your dreams? If not yet, where else do your dreams take you – a few years from now?

I never stop dreaming, so I doubt I’ll ever accomplish all of them! I have accomplished a lot so far though. Hopefully I’ll be in the entertainment business for a while, but I do want to travel the world and see different cultures.

BFC: What is one mistake that you do not want anyone to recreate?

Fear. Don’t ever be afraid to follow your heart and let your intuition guide you. Being scared can hold you back from making the most important decisions of your life.

BFC: Do you have any words of inspiration for Actors that want to follow in your footsteps?

Go confidently in the directions of your dreams.
“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” -Les Brown

www.myspace.com/littleloca

www.facebook.com/stevieryan

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