External and Internal Factors in 'A Better Life': A Study

“You are the most important thing in this world to me, Mijo” (IMDb, 2016). In writing this paper I aim to connect what I have learned from course readings and class discussions to the film, “A Better Life.” To do this I will first begin by identifying and discussing two external factors from course reading that have made a great impact on the functioning of the Galindo family in the film. The two external factors that I have decided to focus on are environmental circumstances and the effects of poverty, and through relation, the ability to provide for basic needs. Next, just like the discussion about internal factors will be the discussion of internal factors, specifically the factors of parenting styles and the assignment of roles. Last,

To explain, in the film one can see Carlos regularly coming home late as a result of long work hours, which one can conclude to be one of the effects of poverty. Then because of this, especially in the earlier parts of the film we do not get to see a significant amount of time being spent between the two, in Luis and Carlos and thus, in relation, there is less bonding. Then, if one is to reflect back on the “breakfast scene,” where Luis is having breakfast and asks his father for money, while his father is nearly ready to step-out the door. This, in addition to the scene where Carlos goes in to wake Luis up, just prior to receiving knowledge of the suspension, are both examples of communicating in ways that do not facilitate bonding but instead, in the first scene, communicate a need and in the second scene to communicate authority (Sciberas, 2016, p.1). In conclusion, the film “A Better Life” helped to bring together much of what has been learned in community studies, in terms of the internal and external impacting the functioning of families. In addition, it also illustrated how healthy characteristics such as healthy boundaries, and unhealthy traits such as warmth, joy, and humor, with regards to my paper, result in for families. "A haunting movie that gets under your skin," which was able to be used to conclude on one’s learning over the semester Wikipedia, 2016, pg.