Hello Meltingpot Readers,
Around these parts we’re always lamenting the lack of quality pop culture products with diverse characters, particularly films for younger audiences. So, imagine my complete and total surprise when I found out (thanks teenage sons) that Nickelodeon is making a live-action, Dora the Explorer movie. Just in case you slept through the 90s and early 2000s, Dora is a bilingual, Latina cartoon character who went on adventures with her pet monkey who wore red rubber boots. She also had a backpack and a talking map. While I wanted to love Dora because of her Hispanic heritage, I found her large head and aggressive positivity to be too much to bear. All three of my kids went through a brief Dora and Diego phase, but thankfully, it was brief.
But now, Dora is coming to the big screen and she looks nothing like her cartoon origins and, bonus, she doesn’t shout through the whole film. In fact, this Dora seems to be quite the badass! The movie is scheduled for release in early August, and despite their lack of interest in the Dora cartoon, my kids are all hype to see this film. And for reasons I’m chalking up to nostalgia, coupled with my undying support for mainstream films that feature actors and actresses of color, it’s going to be on my summer must-see list as well.
Check out the trailer and let me know if you think you’d go to see this film?
Peace!
