Immigrants come to America with the hope of a better life, one that’s full of freedom, happiness, financial prosperity and opportunities. Even though this land offers a lot to immigrants, it also requires absorbing its unique culture. Sometimes, as hard as people may try to become an “American,” stereotypes and racism make it harder. It can be scary to become part of a different culture but it’s scarier when you’re faced with discrimination, which can block access to many of the opportunities America offers.
In West Side Story, the experience of the Puerto Rican immigrants is molded by the discrimination they face from the white American gang, the Jets. This discrimination becomes a huge part of the way these gangs interact with each other, or the only reason for their interactions. There is a lot of hatred and tension between these groups because of the differences in their cultures. The discrimination the Puerto Ricans face becomes obvious in the beginning of the movie as the lieutenant remarks “as if the neighborhood wasn’t crummy enough,” after he breaks up the fight between the two gangs, referring to the Sharks. This scene takes place on the streets where the Jets and Sharks have marked their territories by writing their gang name on the ground, buildings, and walls. It becomes obvious that the Jets are in charge of their area while the Sharks have their area, and there is no crossing over into the other gang’s territory unless someone wants trouble. This scene marks the tension between the two gangs as they snap their fingers and perform their choreographed fight-scene. The Jets share an ethnocentric attitude throughout the movie as they are constantly making fun of the accents of the Sharks and their language. Flores makes a really good argument in Citizens vs. Citizenry that race, language and culture are what denies someone equal rights, because those same things are what makes them different. The stereotypes and racism become very apparent to me when the Puerto Ricans were singing about America on the roof. The girls are praising America for how much better it is than Puerto Rico while the guys are mentioning the racism that exists in America. Anita and Bernardo go back and forth: “buying on credit is so nice/one look at us and they charge twice,” “life is all right in America/if you’re a white in America,” “free to be anything you choose/free to wait tables and shine shoes.” These lyrics in the song really stood out to me because it goes to show that even though America is about equal opportunities to success, the color of your skin changes the way people look at you and treat you. As a result, the two gangs prefer to stay amongst their own kind.
Brother From Another Planet, was an interesting movie because it highlighted the troubles faced by immigrants once they arrive to a new country in a different way. Unfortunately, stereotypes engulf Brother wherever he goes. In the beginning of the movie, he does not know that in order to eat some fruit he has to pay for it with his own money. This scene takes place on Brother’s first day since he landed, and he’s wearing clothes that are basically rags. He does not realize he has to pay for the fruit he wants and is chased by a police officer because he’s thought of as attempting to rob the store. This scene clearly depicts the racism associated with blacks and how the cop thinks he’s going to rob the store because he’s black and is dressed in rags. Brother can’t find a decent job because he can’t speak to anybody and he is forced to do menial tasks to pay for things that he really wants. After Brother finishes washing the car, he only receives a few coins whereas he expected a little bit more. The one scene that stood out to me was when Bobby’s old lady is talking to the two white Men in Black, and she says how it’s really sad that there’s a kid who overdosed downstairs and may die but the only thing that matters is if someone has a paper saying they’re a citizen or not. Even though illegal immigration is a huge issue in America, there are some things that may be a little more important like a kid dying because of drugs. Throughout the film, Brother does try to assimilate to the culture he’s being exposed to and tries to help the people he meets by fixing video games and healing those around him.
Assimilation becomes hard when people are discriminated against as they’re trying to learn the ways of a new culture. It becomes necessary to absorb the culture in order to have access to the many opportunities America offers, but it’s important to balance the two cultures because you can’t forget where you came from as it’s apart of your identity.
