Character 115 – Ana Delgado (Stand and Deliver)

I loved Ana’s character in the film. She was so quiet and seemed to be showing only the tip of the iceberg when it came to her personality. Working in her family’s restaurant and not expected to do anything more than what her parents did before her; she rises to the occasion in Jaime Escalante’s calculus class. Ana is a character from a late 80s a film called “Stand and Deliver” that gave me a gift. As a child watching this film I recognized some of the characters, but didn’t know so many of them.  This is a rare portrait of latinos in East LA at the time. In Hollywood films Latinos were and still are tropes, stereotypes, and tired shells of characters if they are seen at all. Most of the time Raza are invisible in film, but in “Stand and Deliver” we get to see a variety of nuance, layer, and subtlety because the teens in Mr. Jaime Escalante’s class were not one type. They were jocks, nerds, princesses, rockers, thugs, students, and kids who could not be categorized. If you have never seen the film, or if you haven’t seen it since you were a kid I recommend re-watching it. The genius portrayal of a Bolivian math teacher who challenged and inspired a generation. The effects of his work to teach algebra than calculus are still being felt. 

If you like my “fan art” character work please check out some collages of characters I’ve made in the past:  Character collage 2020-2022

Dig this? Did you see my version of Jaime Escalante?