He just didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos - others at Frito-Lay did.īut the details of history don’t matter to Longoria Mexican pride does. A key point Montañez tells in one of his two memoirs - how he plugged into Tupperware parties in Southern California to spread the gospel of Hot Cheetos - is retold as a lowrider escapade that plays like a hidden level of “Grand Theft Auto.”ĭean’s story didn’t discount the arc of Montañez’s life - he really was a high school dropout from Ontario who rose through the ranks of Frito-Lay and now travels the country to speak about his unlikely rise. The film states that Montañez came up with the idea for Hot Cheetos in 1992, even though Dean’s article showed that was the year the snack made its debut nationwide after successful test runs in Texas and the Midwest. The frustration over Sam Dean’s article isn’t so much about Richard Montañez rather than a microcosm of two big issues that continue to plague Mexicans in the U.S.: historical erasure, and the continued yearning for heroes that white America can also embrace.Īctual history, of course, is an afterthought. After all, we’re still outsiders in the United States despite our numbers, our centuries of living here.”Ĭalifornia Column: What the anger over Flamin’ Hot Cheetos origin story is really about As I wrote in a column defending Dean’s findings, “ invested in those who do rise up to levels we can only hope to achieve. There aren’t enough Hollywood projects with Latinos in starring roles in front of and behind the camera, so we should at least think about showing up for the few that bubble up. I get the widespread call to support the film, which was released Friday on Hulu and Disney+. Friends of mine who believed Dean’s findings nevertheless posted on social media that they saw “Flamin’ Hot” and enjoyed it. The National Hispanic Media Coalition, which has righteously called out anti-Latino bias in Hollywood and the national media for decades, sent out a news release urging people to see “Flamin’ Hot.” LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown hosted a packed outdoor screening earlier this month attended by Longoria, Montañez and Dolores Huerta. Movies Review: ‘Flamin’ Hot’ entertainingly prints the legendĮva Longoria’s feature directing debut has a talented cast in an enjoyable crowd-pleaser based on Richard Montañez’s claims of creating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Times would have better resources dedicated to more important things.” In an interview the superstar did with the paper earlier this spring, she dismissed Dean’s reporting by snickering, “ feels like L.A. Two years later, Longoria - who was already planning “Flamin’ Hot” when Dean’s article appeared - is still sore about the whole affair. When my colleague Sam Dean published an article in 2021 proving that Montañez was a fibber at best and a fabulist at worst, Hot Cheetos lovers accused the Los Angeles Times of trying to take down their guy - about the only time you’ll see leftists defend a Fortune 500 bigwig. He repeated this origin story to the point that the media - myself included - cited it without question. The self-proclaimed “godfather of Latino marketing” taught corporate America that it could make billions of dollars off his community - and Latinos willingly forked over that cash because they finally felt seen. I initially had no plans to see “Flamin’ Hot,” the film directed by Eva Longoria that tells the story of real-life-janitor-turned-Frito-Lay-executive Richard Montañez.įor at least 20 years, the Mexican American has told anyone within hearing distance that he invented the wildly popular Cheetos variety of the same name.
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