From east to west, from south to north, “Hester Street,” “West Side Story,” “The Brother From Another Planet” and “The Pawnbroker” have depicted the major underprivileged neighborhoods in New York City: the Lower East Side, West Side, and Harlem. All three neighborhoods have their unique ethnic compositions and problems, which would be presented in various ways in these films.
“Hester Street” presented a European immigrants populated Lower East Side. From the dirty and crowded tenement houses and street scenes, viewers could “feel” the neighborhood was overpopulated. Yet, it was more prosperous than other “ghettoes” in New York City because of its numerous small stalls along the street and the bars and dance halls. For many immigrants, the Lower East Side was the first destination of the “American dream.” The sweatshops represented immigrants’ diligence in gaining wealth and the dance halls represented their aspiration toward assimilation. All of these have depicted the joyful but difficult beginning of the adventure of fulfilling the “American dream” the immigrants have longed for.
“West Side Story” depicted the struggles of the underprivileged people living in the West Side, as shown by the aerial shots at the beginning of the film. The scene first showed the skyscrapers in the affluent part of New York City, then gradually changed to the old and torn houses in the ghettos, and finally landed on the basketball court in West Side. These shots set a great contrast between the privileged and the underprivileged parts of the city. Rather than showing how the immigrants worked hard to gain wealth, “West Side Story” emphasized on depicting the difficulties of assimilating between the European and Puerto Rican immigrants. The conflicts between two gangs demonstrated the gang members’ desire to be recognized in the mainstream society. They wanted to prove their worthiness, so they fight with each other. These conflicts revealed the difficulties that different underprivileged groups have in assimilating into the mainstream society of New York City.
“The Brother From Another Planet” and “The Pawnbroker” depicted one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City—Harlem. Because Harlem mainly populated with African Americans, many people had various stereotypes about this neighborhood. Both films presented the problems and the humanities of Harlem in attempt to eliminate these stereotypes. “The Brother From Another Planet” disclosed the problems of poverty and drug abuse in Harlem. As the film proceed, it indicated that African Americans could unite together to help and protect each other. That was the reason Brother could escape from the slave catchers. “The Pawnbroker” showed a more humane Harlem. Compare to Mr. Nazerman’s flashbacks of his experiences at the concentration camp, Harlem was much safer and more peaceful. Yet, Harlem could also awake reminiscences of his past experiences. For example, the pregnant woman pawning her ring made him recollect how the Nazis took away the victims’ rings; the prostitute evoked his memory about his wife sitting on the bed, naked, and ready to be raped by the Nazi soldier; the crowded subway train forced him to recall how his son had died on the floor of the extremely overcrowded cart. To Mr. Nazerman, Harlem was a place where he could have peace, but could also bring up his unpleasant memories. At the end of the film, Jesus was shot in order to protect Mr. Nazerman showed the humane aspect of Harlem. After all, Jesus saved Mr. Nazerman without hesitation even though Mr. Nazerman has hurt so many people, including Jesus. “The Pawnbroker” showed New York City from a traumatized man’s views. Mr. Nazerman has represented the traumatized people living in the city; all of them have their bitter stories and no one could understand their sufferings.
“Hester Street,” “West Side Story,” “Brother From Another Planet” and “The Pawnbroker” presented the characteristics of various neighborhoods in New York City. The residents of theses underprivileged neighborhoods make up a large proportion of the city population. Through these films, people can have better understandings about the problems exist in these neighborhoods, and to lessen their misunderstanding they have toward the residents in these neighborhoods.
