Stereotype of Puerto Rican American's through west side story
Introduction
New York, has always been one of the most muticultural cities in the world, including the 27th most extensive, the third most populous and the seventh most densely populated of all 50 United States of America.(1) In 2013, New York City was estimated with a population over 8.4 million, leaving the state to become the most populous city of all United States. New York is mostly known for its status as the core center of cultural and financial status differences and the largest gateway for immigration to the United States, and therefore is considered to have more foreign visitors than any other American State.
Considering New York as a democratic country it is also known
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Thematically, West Side Story addresses the modern issues of immigration and gang activity in America through the power of arts, in this case with a lot of music and dance. The movie utilized the concept of integration as Bernstein's music and Robbin's dance choreography contributed to create a better vision and understanding the story, in order for their message to be understood fully. For better or worse, the film industry transformed the stage production of West Side Story into a Hollywood musical movie, and thereby adopting its own particular …show more content…
However, how does this attract and pisition ideologically the perciever spectator – whose social construction of reality and racial differences belong to the United States - by dividing the Puerto Rican from the Anglo-American, the poor and the rich, West Side from the East Side etc. These completeley oppositions produce a political discourse, causing the ”American Dream” to still not be fullfilled. By this situation Puerto Ricans confront that the Anglo-American power as rulers and invaders of their territory; the United States.
West Side Story, is a story that illustrates a fight for urban space, which is already been personalized by the Anglo-American's as the american way of life by cultural symbols and political significations for the relations, interactions, and social actions.** By that, the chosen musical represents the Puerto Rican migration to New York in the 50's, and what Anglo-American's expect by the immigrants to act the way they seem to be socially acceptable, ad by that trying to assimilate them into their own identity.
This paper will be focusing on the Puerto Rican immigration, from the streets of the ghetto, threatning to disarticulate their socio-political system, by the means of
The transition, however, was not so smooth. Men and women were attracted to the new cities because of the culture and conveniences that were unavailable to rural communities. Immigrants in particular were eager to get to cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston for these reasons, and to look for better jobs than the ones they had found at home. In fact, without the increase in immigration from 1850 to 1920 (where around 38 million came to America), cities would have expanded at lethargic rates – if at all – due to a decreasing fertility rate and a high rate of infant mortality. Death due to disease was also common. Yet the influx of immigrants managed to make up for these losses, and cities grew exponentially for nearly a century1.
Some are born in New York, some move there for work or school and most
Depiction of Latinos in 20th Century Film Graphs Not Included Over the course of this past century, the depictions of assimilated Latino characters has improved a great deal. Early portrayals of Latino assimilation generally proved to be a montage of unrealistic caricatures which seemed to convey the filmmaker's creativity more so than true representations. This formed the manner in which the American people at large viewed not just Latino characters attempting to assimilate, but also those who were not. As Cine-Aztlan puts it, film "manipulates the human psychology, sociology, religion, and morality of the people, in a word the ideological super-structure of modern capitalist society" (pg.275, Chicanos and Film).
The features of the formation of the Puerto Rican people under Spanish rule are therefore critical in addressing questions on Puerto Rican identity. The migration of thousands of Spaniards both from the mainland and its islands to Puerto Rico, the development of subsequent Creole populations, the formation of the agricultural sectors and their labor needs are some of the contributing features that will hopefully lead toward a better understanding of the complexities that surround the concept of Puertoricaness.
Their experience is different from that of anyone else. When Puerto Ricans migrated to the United States, they did it in two major waves. The first wave of emigration occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The second wave occurred from the 1940s to the present. The workings of Bernando Vega and Jose Cruz deal with the different generations of Puerto Ricans that these two waves brought to the United States.
In this story, the reader can see exactly how, many Puerto Ricans feel when living on other grounds. Throughout this time, the boy that Rodriguez presents us realizes he has his culture and that he wants to preserve it as much as he can. “Because I’m Puerto Rican”. I ain’t no American. And I’m not a Yankee flag-waver”
In order to fully understand the plot of West Side Story, one must have an understanding of the nature of gangs in the 1950’s and know the reasons for their actions. Between 1941 and 1956, more than 500,000 Puerto Ricans moved to major cities in the U.S. such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cleveland. The majority of them lived in poor areas of their city. Puerto Rican gangs formed so that they could protect themselves from prejudiced Americans. Many people took advantage of the immigrants’ poor social status. For example, Bernardo says, "And Chino makes half what the Polack makes - the Polack is American!" (Laurents 165) Youth agencies and youth boards concluded that most gangs formed because of the poverty, disease, and racism present in the ghetto. Gangs, which were usually made up of teenagers, fought over girls, territory (otherwise known as "turf"), and racial matters. Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangs were worried that the Puerto Ricans were taking over their "turf". "Turf" could range...
Whether they were on Broadway or in Hollywood, being a Hispanic actor meant you were put into this stereotyped box that was and is hard to break through. How many times has there been a Hispanic or Latino in the role of a hero, wealthy man/woman, or doctor in film or television? The following quote from Lin Manuel Miranda is to explain the struggles of a male Hispanic actor aspiring to be on Broadway. “I couldn’t see a way for me [a Latino man] to have a career in musical theater based on the musicals that already existed. I don’t dance well enough to play Bernardo [of ‘West Side Story’], or Paul in ‘A Chorus Line.’ And I don’t have an operatic voice enough to play the ‘Man of La Mancha.’ And if you’re a Latino man, that’s all you get… I
Imagine being at risk of being pulled over at any given time, the only reason? The color of your skin. “2010, the state of Arizona passed a law authorizing local police to check the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect of being in the United States illegally.” (11 Facts...). The ability to pull people over for the sole reason of looking illegal. This seems aimed at Latinos because they are the ones that are easily recognizable, and often stereotyped as not being legal residents of the United States. For example, if two people were lined up and one had a light complexion and light features, and one had tan skin and darker skin, when asked who looked like an immigrant, a large majority would choose the individual with the tan
The characters of the West Side Story were not good people. The two gangs focused their lives on fighting with each other rather than attempting to get along and accept the differences between them. The gangs did not have any hopes or aspirations for their futures and cared about nothing more than being in a gang. Each gang made one mistake after another and never learned from any of them nor did they try to. Doc, an old and wise man, informed the boys with his knowledge and tried to open the eyes of both gangs to the hatred that engulfed them. Everything Doc had to say went through one ear and out the other, because the boys refused to see past their differences. The Jets, one of the gangs, accept what society believes of them and never make any effort to erase their bad history. They listen to what others tell them, agreeing to the excuses for their bad behavior. This is just one example of how the boys do not attempt to make a better life for themselves, or try t...
La autora Puertoriqueña Rosario Ferré sin duda pertence a ese grupo the escritores que critícan la sociedad en la que les tocó vivír en sus creaciónes literárias. Ferré nació en Ponce, Puerto Rico la ciudad mas grande y poderosa del sur de la isla. Su familia es una de las mas importante economicamente y politicamente poderosa. Su padre fue gobernador de la isla durante los años del 1968 al 1972. Como todas las mujeres en esa época se casó y comenzó una familia, destinada a una vida como dama elegante y ociosa. Pero se dió cuenta que su vida pertenecía a la literatura. Ella rompió un taboo y molde cultural, que convertía a las mujeres de clase media alta, en muñecas. Esa generación de mujeres exigiendo cambios en la sociedad se encontraban en el medio de la revolución femenina. Cualquier mujer que quisiera cambiar su vida o trabajar era considerada extraña o loca. Esta opreción se convirtió en su inspiración. Ferré nos comunica a travez de esta novela, la realidad de la mujer puertoriqueña a mediados de siglo. En La Bella Durmiente, Rosario Ferré muestra la mujer como sujeto y objeto. Esta obra es un manisfiesto de los derechos de la mujer y del inconformismo femenino que eventualmente lleva a la mujer a rechazar la realidad. Analizare y demonstrare por medio de este ensayo, los papeles que le toca jugar (a la mujer) en esta sociedad, la corrupcion moral y social que le rodea y su reacción ante todo esto resultando en un trágico final.
In order to understand the current situation of Puerto Ricans one must look at their history and retrace the sequence of events that led to the current formation of the Puerto Rican people. An important component of this history is the time Puerto Rico spent under Spanish rule. Studying this portion of Puerto Rican history forces us to acknowledge the contribution the Spaniards, European immigrants, and African slaves had on Puerto Rican identity as we consider it today. This also addresses contemporary debates on Puerto Rican identity. An example of this is evident in an essay written by Jose Luis Gonzales entitled "Puerto Rico : Th Four Storied Country". In the article Gonzales points out what he feels is a disregard toward the African contribution to the Puerto Rican identity. He argues that the first Puerto Ricans were black , based on his interpretation that Africans were the first group to come to Puerto Rico and reproduce who did not have ties to a "motherland" because they were slaves. This is unlike the Spaniard elites and Criolles that demonstrated their commitment and loyalty to Spain. Since they had no other place to go, Puerto Rico was their motherland. Gonzalez also points out that the culture of a region is always the culture of the elite, not the popular culture.
In West Side Story, the premise is quite similar. The two rival gangs are the Jets- the Americans, and the Sharks- the Puerto Ricans. The Jets hate the sharks because they feel as if they are encroaching on their territory when they walk the streets of New York as easily as the Jets. The Jets and the Sharks have been in a constant state of uproar since the Puerto Ricans first started moving to America and the gangs were formed.... ...
New York circa 1950 to 1960, when the film would take place, was full of gang violence and juvenile delinquents. Arthur Laurents, and Leonard Bernstein had been meeting up, trying to collaborate on a work which would end up falling through. Spying a Los Angeles Times headline on gang violence in 1955 be...
To conclude, New York City is one of the most densely inhabited metropolitan collection of cultural diversity in the world in which structures our temperament. New York City applies an imperative influence upon trade, economics, mass communication, skill, style, and education. Frequently it is known that New York City is a crucial core for global politics and has been depicted as the ethnic headquarters of the globe. New York City has been known as a melting pot of culture and as this prolong throughout towards the current day, the city has become ornate with distinct cultures. You can easily experience many aspects of different cultures by going to the different ethnic neighborhoods that exist throughout the city.