I’ve always held a strong belief that immigrants were true Americans, more so than native Americans (Not to be confused with the actual native Americans that have been here since before the 14th century). Immigrants who traveled here to this country for a better life went through many ordeals that would trump most of the worries that consume the minds of say, you and I. Immigrants are the ones achieving “the American dream,” or the “rags to riches” stories. If your parents are immigrants and you are the first generation born in America (like me!), ask them what they went through. Sure enough, they’ll tell you that they came here looking for a better life for themselves and/or their future children (YOU!). And if you’re reading this, and all of the above applies to your family, then congratulations, you made it! Thank your parents for all the sweat, blood, tears, and sacrifices they made in order to achieve the life they’ve made for you and them. There are so many stories of immigrants finding better lives in America, in the past and even in the future. One of those stories is told by a young man named Carlo Alban who decided it would be best to illustrate these struggles via play production. The play “Intringulis” featured his very own story of being an illegal immigrant in America with his families. His solo act which had contained wonderful effects and dynamics, captured the heart and soul of the immigrant’s struggle more so than the other works of art presented in my Arts in New York seminar.
Before the play, I had already been aware of the struggles immigrants faced here in America. I am of the first generation in my family born in America, and I will admit that I do not associate with these struggles first-hand, but many times throughout my life I have been reminded by my parents and other family members that a lot of work was put into allowing me to have the life I have now. So when I saw “Intringulis,” I felt moved. Here was a good-willed, hardworking family of illegal immigrants that lived in constant fear of being discovered. They couldn’t enjoy themselves as regular Americans could, and they had to assimilate to the culture as best they could, hiding any traces of their primary culture. The presentation Carlo put on, his singing, assuming the point of view of other characters, and his direct monologues, had me on edge. Not like, about to cry, on edge, but I just have a soft spot for these kind of things you know?
When Carlo addressed the people that vehemently put down illegal immigrants, I took his side. He is a primary source of living evidence that disproves many of the naive misconceptions people have of illegal immigrants. People generally believe that illegal immigrants take advantage of the American system, benefiting from programs that are supported by tax payers. According to Carlo, illegal immigrants are tax payers, and the sad thing is that they don’t even get anything like tax refunds and the like. Who’s benefiting here? But more importantly, do I believe him? Yes, I believe that Carlo is telling the truth, and if he is, then illegal immigrants are actually helping America.
“Intringulis” is a play that should open peoples’ eyes to the world illegal immigrants live in. I am aware they are illegal hence the label, however I believe that they should do what they have to do in order to live better lives. However, here’s where everything is shaky. With that kind of believe we have to consider it’s legitimacy with other topics concerning illegalities. So even though I’m really taking the side of illegal immigrants, at the same time I’m being wary of other possibilities. The illegal immigrant debate is one of few moral topics that lingers in my head from day to day, and such would be the reason that Carlo’s play really struck the right chord with me. Watch “Intringulis” and then generate your own opinion. Are immigrants, illegal or not, true Americans?
All the pieces in this unit excelled in their duties, and left me in realization that amidst this city of hopes and dreams, lies the hardships and desperations of immigrants. New York City is a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. Unfortunately, along with the appreciations of diversity comes the fear of the unknown. The inability to truly know what another culture entails, gives birth to stereotypes and hurtful misconceived notions that work to only widen the crack that exists between different people. Although each and every American was once an immigrant, the title gets passed on to the newer border-crossing races and allows others to belittle those who fall under it. Falling victim to this painful title, only with the word Illegal stamped ahead of it, was Carlo Albán. His performance Intringulis, was the most affective in this unit on immigrant views of New York.
Perhaps it was the direct transmission of emotions, Intringulis hit me like no other play or novel. My world and views were left questioned and shifted, as this one-man show played ahead of me. Of course I had read books on illegals immigrants, and even heard stories of their hardships. A part of me sympathized with the poor individuals, but the rest of me only ridiculed their choice to live here. Carlo’s family came to America for the same reasons that every illegal immigrant came. It was the dreams of a better life and opportunities, that I was accustomed to hearing about. Then what was it really, that woke me up from my un-empathizing character? I think it was Carlo’s personal and emotional story. His story knocked on my brains and forced me to realize that the dreams of a better life really were hard to reach in other countries. After all, Carlo’s family did chose between coming to American and leaving their older son behind. Carlo’s story unfolded a journey that didn’t lose its pain once it did make its way to America. His family struggled financial issues and made endless efforts to stay invisible. Growing up was excruciating for Carlo because he dealt with the emotional stress of sitting in with his fellow classmates, but never fitting in. Unlike other teenagers, Carlo had to measure his steps and guard his decisions because he could not be caught. He was forced to grow up at a faster pace because he was on guard all the time. Despite coming to America, the hope and dream of a better life was still too far. It was perhaps much more painful now since the American Dream was so close, yet too far away. Its kind of like the idea of staying hungry with no food is less excruciating than having to stay hungry even with food on the table. You can see the food, but don’t you dare feel it or taste it. Carlo’s family could see a better life in America everyday, but they were never able to feel or taste its joy.
The impact of living such a shattered life affected me as well. Sibling rivalry is a common trend in the US. We live in the same house under the same circumstances, but we can’t stand each other because we’re jealous of the other or because we’re different people with different personalities. What self-created conflicts we drown in, don’t we? Carlo’s brother was left behind in Ecuador, while his family moved to America for a better life. Jealously-justified. Carlo and his brother grew up in different worlds, and failed to even connect as siblings once they did meet. True differences among siblings-justified. Carlo’s brother felt belittled and paranoid living with his own family. He held the grudge of being left alone and bloated with anger over the years. His anger-justified. I was left thinking to myself and trying to justify my fights with my brother.
Despite being legal Americans, people face issues with fitting in and mixing with crowds everyday. It’s an annoying discomfort, but luckily, its temporary. Illegal immigrants face this discomfort all their lives. Low self esteem and disparagement pierce the veins of these people everyday. How can we possibly compare our petty issues of feeling awkward at a store, with the awkwardness of feeling like an alien in a nation all the time? Aren’t the non-citizens of this considered “resident aliens”, anyway? Granted that these immigrants are here on their own choice, and agreed that breaking the law raises eyebrows on their morality, I simply beg for humanity in all this. If only your child was dying of hunger would you consider swimming oceans and crossing borders to help your baby survive. If only the thought of a difficult life of your children haunted your mind every day would you eagerly stamp yourself with illegal immigrant just to help your child’s future. Morality and righteousness might still stand against illegal immigration today, but humanity sympathizes with it. After watching Intringulis, my eyes see this humanity standing victor among all.
If only I had been exposed to more stories of illegal immigrants, I wouldn’t have seen things so differently.
I’m not going to wish that more illegal immigrants flood the nation and live in difficult conditions here. I’m just going to wish that every country flourishes as well as the US, so life is legal and easier everywhere.
At first, I had a difficult time choosing between Maria Full of Grace and Intringuilis. But in the end, I decided to go with Maria. Her reason for coming to America was more significant than Carlo’s. Other than being one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen, Maria Full of Grace was able to send out a powerful message to the audience. The movie successfully showed viewers the severity of consequences from making careless decisions, like Maria had.
Maria was my favorite character in the entire unit. I felt that she was very strong and mature for her age. I loved how she stood up for herself and quit her job. It showed that she had strong dignity and courage. Although I do not agree with her way of trying to earn money for her family, I do understand why she chose to be a drug mule. As an impulsive seventeen year old, Maria was focusing more on the immediate reward rather than the consequences of her actions. She wanted to show her family that she was able to earn money and to her, being a mule was the quickest way to do so. I felt terrible for Maria throughout the entire movie. Supporting her family, dealing with pregnancy and avoiding authorities while exporting drugs should not be among her worries as a teenager. I must say, I give her props for remaining so calm, even when she was held up at the airport by Immigration. I DEFINITELY would not have been able to handle the situation the way she had.
This movie expressed the fact that many people, especially immigrants, deal with insane burdens everyday. Maria Full of Grace was very realistic in showing that many teenagers in poorer countries go to extremes in order to survive. It made all my worries seem insignificant. Maria Full of Grace also gave me a new respect for immigrants. It reminded me that they chose to come to America only for more opportunities to better their lives. In order to support their families, they had to drop everything in their country, move somewhere they were completely unfamiliar with, and start a whole new life, while coping with discrimination. This piece affected me the most because it made me more empathetic towards immigrants.
OKAY guys I’m going to try to be different. Everyone is hating on Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing was not the best movie we’ve seen but it did have a very strong clear message that wasn’t a mystery to everyone. The characters in the movie did not have any subtleties in their manner but were very outspoken in expressing the direct message of racism and cultural tensions. “Why are there no brothers on the wall of fame?!” “Those Koreans are geniuses.” “RADIO RAHEEM!!” I will always remember what they did to Radio Raheem.. so sad.
Yes the movie wasn’t a better movie than Maria Full of Grace but I cannot really compare the messages because Maria Full of Grace was about girl Colombian drug mules while this was about the racial tensions in the ghetto neighborhoods of New York. I think both are interesting but after watching Do the Right Thing I really started to feel confused and scared the next day while in class. The youtube videos we watched about the riots that occurred in 1992 Los Angeles showed an actual reality to Spike Lee’s movie. The movie was an over exaggeration of events that happen but it was funny that the movie was made three years before the Los Angeles riots.
Now that I think about it, I think the videos of the Los Angeles riots affected me more than Do the Right thing did although the exaggerated events of the movie prepared me for the videos we saw. The message that Spike Lee wanted to show was not at all a joke even though it sometimes seemed that way for example when the white boy brownstone owning bicyclist (like what I did there?) runs over Buggin Out’s new Jordan’s. This stuff really happened in REAL LIFE except people didn’t fight about little problems like messed up shoes, black people not being accepted on Sal’s wall of fame, or Radio Raheem playing music too loud. They rioted and burned and looted for SIX DAYS because Rodney King was not brought to justice and the cops that beat him to death were acquitted of all charges. The people were angry and they knew no one cared about them in their society. Like the people of Bedford Stuy they lost a member of their community due to police brutality and violence was their answer.
How do these things happen? Why does racial tension occur so often in our nations history and how does it cure itself? I think it is because the world is slowly shrinking and people are unwilling to accept people that are unknown to what they already know about people. Over time this goes away but only for that one group of people. There is always racial tension however and society decides who is on top and who is not and will do so forever until there are differences between people on this planet. Even now I feel like these racial tensions exist and it is more subtle in our society. Its not politically correct to discriminate any more but people still do. We all do consciously or unconsciously. Even when the whole world mixes together and everyone is beige there will still be differences that separate factions on this earth. Do the Right Thing is an important movie because it illustrates a real time of social tension in history and although exaggerated can be very eye opening when you know that the LA riots occurred only a few years later.
Illegal immigration was never an issue that I felt truly deserved so much attention. I do not provide a home for any illegal aliens, sell fake green cards or extended visas, or know any family or friends that are trying to become American citizens; so illegal immigrants never had a large effect in my life. In fact, I was probably one to vote against illegal immigration. New York City is already so crowded and diverse, I thought, why make the city even more congested with those who don’t deserve to be here. Surprisingly, Carlo Alban was able to drastically alter my view on the subject through his one-man performance Intríngulis.
Throughout my life, I have seen films about the hardships of foreigners fighting their way onto American soil to escape the poverty, oppression, or war that made their homeland unbearable, but I never felt a change of heart towards the issue illegal immigration. Yet, Carlo’s performance was different. I never felt so connected to someone who actually went through the events I had only seen in movies or documentaries. Instead of sitting down to watch a man make a fool of himself, I saw a human being revealing the story of his life to those who were willing to listen. Instead of trying to persuade an audience to change their views by pushing the idea that illegal immigrants deserve to be in America, he just told a true story that was down to earth and very relatable.
The approach Carlo chose to present his story creates a connection between him and his audience that can’t be found in any movie. The decision to make a one-man show, hold it in such a small theater, and to present a real story about a boy growing up in America as an illegal immigrant allows the audience to feel sympathy for Carlo. Carlo doesn’t try to put himself on a pedestal to appear to be an individual who is better than everyone else, instead he puts himself on our level, the one that all of us normal humans live on with real lives. Although he played multiple roles, each of his characters were people with regular jobs, listened to similar music (I loved the reference to Nirvana), and had issues that I have even gone through. Building a connection with Carlo was so easy because it felt like I was listening to one of my friends going on one of their extended rants with some intermittent guitar playing, which I have to say was phenomenal.
Carlo Alban is not illegal immigrant. He is an American citizen who deserves to be here just as much as you or me, if not more. I realized that foreigners that come to America are not people who come to leech off the benefits that the rest of us citizens work so hard to achieve, instead they work harder than any American who was born with these rights. They even pay taxes! Strangely, it took Carlo Alban’s story for me to realize that. Hopefully, everyone who is still skeptical about the idea of illegal immigrants will have the chance to listen to Carlo’s story to figure out that those who come here for the American dream deserve to stay as long as they work for it. If Carlo continues to perform, he will slowly change the views on illegal immigration one person at a time.
New Joisey. Home of Six Flags, Jersey Shore and well…nothing else. Except for Carlo Alban. Carlo’s one man show on illegal immigration really hit home. No one ever really gladly admits that they were (or are) illegal, however, Carlo does both. Nonetheless, I was genuinely impressed with Carlo’s performance.
The level of personal that Carlo’s performance was such a crucial part of what made this play important to me. He held nothing back, giving his audience (even if it was only about 15 of us) his entire history. The story of how he came here, what happened when he got here, the story of how he got his citizenship and all of the years in between. The thing that touched me the most was Carlo’s relationship with his brother. I knew from the first time he mentioned his brother staying home that it would come back to bite his family in the we all know what. Having siblings, I can’t imagine ever leaving one of them behind in another country, even if it was for the best.
Carlo’s acting really had us all feeling the same emotions he was. From the first scene to when he was smoking with his “friend” all the way through to where he was fighting with his brother in the living room after 9/11. Every single scene had a different emotion that he forced upon us without us even realizing it was happening. The most passionate scene, I think, was when Carlo shot the paintball gun for real. Not only did it scare the crap out of me but it keep the audience engaged.
I think that Intringulis was a very passionate and personal play that really touched my heart and made me see a whole different side to illegal immigration. It just goes to show that there are two sides to every story.
NYTimes Arts
