New York City is divided into five boroughs and each borough is divided into different neighborhoods. People choose dwell in these neighborhoods according to their race, language and culture. Because of social and economical inequality, people living in neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side are much wealthier than people living in the underprivileged neighborhoods such as Harlem. For years, social activists put plenty of efforts in solving the problems in the poor neighborhoods. To further increase people’s awareness of the problems of the lower class, different works were produced about these neighborhoods to portray these marginal citizens’ problems. “West Side Story” and “The Brother From Another Planet” were films that portrayed marginal citizens’ struggles in the underprivileged neighborhoods in New York City.
“West Side Story” showed the conflicts between white and Puerto Rican immigrants living in the West Side. The story centered on the cruel conflicts between the white and Puerto Rican gang members and the romantic love story between Tony and Maria. While I believe that this film is mainly about the struggles and the lack of resources of the underprivileged groups, according to Alberto Sanchez, “West Side Story” was highly discriminated against Puerto Ricans. In his article, he provided many examples about how the white gang members discriminated against the Puerto Ricans in this film. He also pointed out the ending of “West Side Story” implied that Puerto Ricans couldn’t assimilate with the whites because Tony’s death symbolized the total separation between the people of these two cultural groups. In my opinion, Sanchez’s view was a little pessimistic. In the 1960s, most of the minority groups were being discriminated against, not just Puerto Ricans. The conflicts depicted in the film could occur between any racial groups. Furthermore, the gang members’ actions shouldn’t be taken seriously since they were immature and almost laughable. Because they could hardly assimilate into the mainstream society, they wanted to be recognized in the society by “taking over” public spaces. “West Side Story” was not totally about racial discrimination. In the last scene, after Tony died, a white gang member put Maria’s headscarf back on her head, and they exited the basketball court not as members of two different gangs, but as individuals, which has greatly soften the racial conflicts in the film.
“The Brother From Another Planet” showed African Americans’ injustice and inequality, which have been the themes of many books and films. This film developed these themes by presenting different stereotypes against African Americans. For example, when two white men were walking on the street and saw many African Americans, they immediately thought they were in Harlem without asking and became very afraid. This represented the stereotype that African American populated neighborhoods must be very dangerous. Another stereotypical scene was when Brother went to an appliance store, he turned on every fan because of curiosity, but the storeowner, who was a white man, thought he was going to rob the store, so he gave Brother several dollars reluctantly. Brother didn’t know what that mean, so he took the money and walk away. This scene exemplified the stereotype that when an African American entered a store, he or she would be suspected of crime. Guerrero’s excerpt gave more symbols from the film that represented the discrimination African Americans have experienced. African Americans’ struggles have been a long concern in American history. The chapter of “In the Shadow of Slavery” described how African Americans have united together to form organizations to lessen the burdens of their fellows.
Both films have vividly portrayed marginal citizens’ struggles in assimilating into the mainstream society. In “West Side Story,” because the gang members lacked resources to better themselves, they had to establish their identities through fighting and “gaining territories.” In “The Brother From Another Planet,” African Americans’ difficulties are carried out through various presentations of the stereotypes people have toward African Americans. These films are great representations of the underprivileged people’s problems in New York City. They should be aware to all residents in the city in order to solve them and better the society.
