Lara Machado was an actress who played the lead role in the famous movie called The Mask. The movie was released in 1990 and starred Bill Murray as the cynical mystic who digs deep into his past to find the mythical artifacts held sacred by the locals of the Amazon jungle. The movie depicts a fantasy world in which the tall, slim, dark-skinned hero has to overcome the prejudice of his community when he finally decides to go on a long journey deep into the Amazon to find the artifacts his community is looking for. The character is played by Murray’s real-life partner, Sidney Poitier, who also played the part of Liza Minelli in the movie.
Although Lara Machado had the facial features and height of an excellent actor, she chose to play a character that had little depth. In one scene, the tall, slim, dark-skinned partner of the tall, dark-skinned hero tries to size up the nubile young star whose body is only slightly smaller than his own. This subplot did not detract from the movie, but it certainly did not help the movie achieve its theme of racial prejudice, as the movie writer thoughtfully included a brief mention of the Nationality in the year 1996. The Nationality was mentioned to give some context to the character of Lola, the protagonist’s beautiful, innocent girlfriend, played by Dabney Coleman. It is interesting to note that Nationality has no bearing on Lola’s love for her indigenous, African American boyfriend, nor does it have any relevance to the plot of the movie.
The height difference between Lola and her indigenous boyfriend, however, had a larger significance in the history of the African American women’s movement. In many instances, American women of color were denied the right to date white men. This was a reason that their height difference gave them the power to assert their ability to become equal with white men. Today, twenty-five years after the passage of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and twenty-five years after Nationality Act amendments, Lola and her Caucasian lover are finally able to be together.