Of all the sections we went through this semester I enjoyed the Immigrants section unit the best. It contained my favorite play and one of my favorite films, Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang, and In America. Yellow Face portrayed a New York full of political corruption, and toyed with the notion of race. The play was both hilarious and well written. In America was a film that portrayed New York as a place to start over, a place to move past the hardship and suffering you endured in the past.
A documentary we watched this semester was Fahrenheit 9/11, like Yellow Face its aim was to show the political corruption in our country. It was incredibly comedic, but obviously biased. Maria Full of Grace is another film that can be thought as controversial, as it tells the story of a young girl who becomes a drug mule. It’s a powerful film that portrays America as a place of opportunity, though are hardships are bound to happen. Do the Right Thing was a movie that I’d always heard about but never thought to watch. Though the comedy didn’t reach out the entire class, the themes of racism and social supremacy in New York was obviously present through out the entire film. Taxi Driver portrayed a New York full of prostitutes, dealers, and drug addicts; a New York full of corruption. And while all of these movies concentrated on immigrants and middle class New Yorkers, Manhattan was a film about the upper class of Manhattan, and how fickle, superficial, and self-absorbed the wealthy could be.
The plays we saw for the seminar were for the most part enjoyable. And the works I did not find entertaining still left some sort of impression on me. I actually thoroughly enjoyed all the plays except Don Giovonni, with Supernatural Wife being my absolute favorite. Intringulus, written and starred by Carlo Alban (sup Carlos?), contained themes like immigration, sacrifice, and alienation. Asuncion (Jesse Eisenberg!!!) was a play that showed the quick assumptions that we as humans make. The Bald Soprano portrayed a New York filled with citizens who heard, but never listened, a New York full of people who spoke dribble, and excelled in drabble.
Now onto the plays we read. The Matchmaker was definitely a good runner up to Yellow Face. It was just a funny (when read aloud), and portrayed the sunny upper-class side of New York. Like the characters of Manhattan, these people have essentially got it all, and their biggest problems involved the matters of love. A View From the Bridge was actually another favorite of mine. Though the patriarch, Eddie had me seething it showed the hard-knock life of New York. Starting in a new life in another country is not easy. And in New York not everyone is always no happy to lend a hand, this play demonstrates how selfish and stubborn New Yorkers can be. God of Carnage involves characters just as single minded and stubborn, while In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, is a tale of lower class individuals who wish for lives they cannot make themselves work towards. In Mercy Seat and Kindness, again we are shown the selfish side of New York. As shown in these works of art, at times bad situations can bring out the worst in individuals.
Out of all of these plays the most truthful have got to be Do The Right Thing, Intringulus, and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings were definitely the most effective in describing the true New York. Though these pieces are full of color and laughs, underneath the comedy of Do the Right Thing we see the racism that happens in the streets everyday. We see what separates the different racial classes, and plays with the ties of society. Intringulus lays out first hand experience of Carlo Alban, and through his acting and rhyme, we witness firsthand the insecurities, responsibilities, and worries of a teenage illegal immigrant. And In Arabia We’d All Be Kings reveals the depressing truth about human nature, sometimes instead of reaching for better lives, we sit back and wish for them, we talk about them. And while everything else is improving and evolving we stay the same, as our very environment outgrows us.
