Brother from Another Planet and West Side Story are both very obvious examples of the prejudices that come with immigration. Unfortunately, immigration comes with racial barriers that are seemingly impossible to destroy.
West Side Story promotes two kinds of racism: against puerto ricans and also against all whites. There’s one specific scene that genuinely promotes this. Picture it: Both gangs are sitting in the shop Tony works at discussing the possibility of a rumble. Rif and Bernardo are facing each other with their gang members close behind. The camera is zoomed out just enough to fit the gangs and nothing else. The importance of the intimacy of this scene is that the two leaders are central. The breaking point of this scene is when accusations get thrown around and profanities are used. “Mick.” “Spic.” Okay, It’s obvious that the Jets hate the Sharks because they’re “PR’s” who are stealing their town. However, I feel like a common misconception is that the Sharks only hate the Jets because they hated them first. In my opinion, the Sharks hate the Jets for the pure and simple fact that they’re white. Unlike the Puerto Rican’s, the Jets are never split up into a specific type of “white.” This in it self is racism. Not all white people are the same, just like not all spanish people are the same.
Alberto Sanchez’s mentioning of the song “America” as a patriotic song signified that the director was promoting assimilation. This example is the most prominent. Anita and Bernardo (along with the rest of the PR’s) are singing about living in America. From the women’s point of view, America can’t be any better. It is literally a paradise compared to the country they left behind even if they have to work hard for what they do. However, according to the male PR’s life is rough in America and sometimes they’d rather rough it out back home. To me this shows another issue with assimilation: the gender divide. While one dealing with citizens of a country that don’t want them there, these immigrants also have to deal with the gender gap.
Brother From Another Planet had a less obvious racial barrier. Aside from racism, immigration was the huge issue of this movie. My favorite scene from this movie was when the “brother” walked into the bar for the first time. At first no one realized he couldn’t talk, but that didn’t even matter. When the alien sat down, every man in the bar sat there and blatantly analyzed him. They rudely threw out their assumptions, and the crazy old man was even obnoxious enough to pop a bag behind his head. The obnoxiousness of the men represents the same amount of disrespect natives give immigrants. The problem with the “brother” walking into the bar was that he wasn’t even a regular. He was ruining the daily flow of activities in that specific neighborhood. To me, that is what scares natives the most. While the men of Harlem were very gracious to this man, most of this country wants nothing to do with immigrants. My final presumption is this: Had the alien been a white man instead of a black one, he would not have been treated with the same amount of hospitality that most of Harlem provided for him.
