Through this week’s two films, Brother From Another Planet and West Side Story, immigration, assimilation and cultural identity was explored. These two films gave a picture of the difficulties immigrants have to face once in the country. Some immigrant groups are unfairly treated. The immigrant definition of “American” differs from nationality to nationality. Assimilation is an important subject that both films touched upon. With these two films, along with the readings, we are given a glimpse of how our society perceives immigrants, and how immigrants perceive themselves.

West Side Story shows a love story on the surface, with racial, cultural undertones. While most of the film focused on the romance between Maria and Tony, the key conflict involved a group of White, Anglo-Saxon Americans (Jets), and Puerto Ricans (Sharks.) Using musical lyrics, the difficulties in being an immigrant are described. A double standard is shown. Leading up to the song “America,” Anita brings up factual and interesting points on the perception of immigrants, either speaking from her opinion, or mocking Bernardo.

“Your mother’s a Pole, your father’s a Swede, but you were born here, and that’s all that you need. You are an American. But us? Foreigners.”
“Once an immigrant, always an immigrant.”

This characterizes the difficulty that the Puerto Ricans in this movie, and the immigrants in our life, face. While the whites were born to immigrant parents, they are seen as American, assimilated, and dominant in culture. On the other hand, the Puerto Ricans were viewed as foreigners. They were stereotyped in the film, seen as criminal, aggressive, and dark-skinned. Sanchez critiques this view of Puerto Rican immigrants, and Latinos in general, in his article on West Side Story. The scene in the dancehall shows the difference in cultures, a microcosm of the vastly different worlds of Jet and Shark. The Jets were vanilla, in both a literal and a dance sense, standard and expected. The Sharks danced with “flavor” (sorry), with an attitude and unorthodox-ness not expected from the Jets.

The conflict between White and Puerto Rican, American and Immigrant, can be seen with the relationship of Maria and Tony. They were not allowed to love, with each receiving significant criticism. The interracial love between them seemed to be impossible, ultimately coming to a tragic end. No matter how much they tried to have their relationship work, the cultures they were part of prevented them from loving each other. Assimilation for the Puerto Ricans seemed impossible as well, always brought down by the stereotypes mentioned by the Jets and the screen portrayal itself. Sanchez claims that the stereotypes brought upon by the film further create the perception of the difficulty to assimilate. The portrayal shown by West Side Story makes it hard to believe that one can successfully assimilate, through its songs and action.

While West Side Story directly showed the difficulties of immigrant life and assimilation, the 1984 film The Brother From Another Planet detailed the struggle in allegorical terms. The allegorical and symbolic devices used in the film are present everywhere. After reading Guerrero’s passage “Slaves, Monsters and Others,” I realized that the film critiqued not only immigration, but slavery, and life as an African American as well. The “Brother” was the immigrant, in a new world, unable to communicate. While he encountered many other immigrants/minorities throughout the film, he was still seen as different. One key image the film used was at the beginning. The Brother was standing in Harlem, with the Apollo Theatre in the background. While he was in an African-American community, he was still at the receiving end of bewildered looks. Though he visually looked like and resembled the other people (except the foot,) he was seen as an outsider, an immigrant. The odd view of the outsider was again shown when the Brother walks into the bar.

One important aspect of The Brother From Another Planet I noticed was the willingness of the community to help the Brother assimilate, and become part of the community. This is similar to the immigrant identity and sense of community detailed by Flores in “Citizens vs. Citizenry.” Although the brother couldn’t speak or communicate, the people of Harlem helped him find work, and a place to stay. This sense of community was further seen at the film’s conclusion. When the brother was cornered by the men in black, (who were white) a group of people, supposedly other aliens, came to his aid. The togetherness, and resistance to dominant forces is an aspect of immigrant life that was not seen in West Side Story.

I completely thought that The Brother From Another Planet was about immigration only. But “Slaves, Monsters, and Others” described the film as an allegory for slavery. The Brother was a runaway slave, and the Men in Black were the slave catchers. The article also mentioned how the ghettoes blacks live in create a new slavery, which is interesting to note. Furthermore, Guerrero calls the Brother an example of “The Model Minority.” These views are really interesting to me, as I originally saw it just as a film about immigration. The undertones and symbolism about the film shows careful planning and great attention to detail.

In some cases, assimilation into American culture can be difficult. As shown in West Side Story, stereotypes can prevent others from seeing some immigrants as assimilated, and part of the American culture. In The Brother From Another Planet, the difficulty in living as an immigrant, even in a city full of them, was shown. Assimilation is the next step for immigrants living in America. Immigration is a step in becoming part of the American way of life, not the destination.

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.

Once an immigrant’s arduous journey to arrive in America is accomplished, the new issue that arises is how well that immigrant adjusts to a totally new environment. Either the immigrant retains his or her identity and religion as Gitl did or entirely leaves behind his or her old life to adapt to a new way of living like Jack did in Hester Street. America may be a place abounding with opportunities and spectacular sights for many. However, not every immigrant that comes here will experience the glorious life he or she originally imagined. Economic hardships and racist attitudes are inevitable for these newly arrived immigrants. These immigrants must cope with the difficult times they confront and work hard to achieve what we call the “American Dream.” The films The Brother from Another Planet and The West Side Story (1961) are quintessential examples of an immigrant’s struggle to adjust to the new lifestyle in America.

What I found very interesting was how the bounty hunters in the movie The Brother from Another Planet were white, whereas the Brother was African American. We already witness the racial tensions between the two cultural groups here. I mean why did the director choose to make the bounty hunters in pursuit of the “black” brother white? Why couldn’t the director have made the bounty hunters Hispanic or African American, as well? The fact that the bounty hunters were white and the Brother (alien) was black is a good example of how the blacks and whites perceived one another. In addition, in the movie there was this specific scene in which the Brother and a cop were sitting on the porch. When the cop was trying to commence a conversation with the Brother, the Brother seemed like he was uninterested in what the “white” cop had to say. I understand that the Brother lacked the ability to speak, but he could have at least made a gesture to the cop indicating so. Instead of even trying to make an effort to communicate with the cop, the Brother simply walks away from him.

Moreover, I did not understand the significance of why the Brother took out his eye and placed it into the soil of the plant after he walked away from the cop. Essentially, the moment where the cop attempts to speak to the Brother illustrates to us the difficulty the Brother had talking with someone who was white. It’s like he wasn’t comfortable speaking to him and this indicates the racial tensions between the Africans and Americans. I may be digressing, but how amusing was it when the two bounty hunters meowed like cats? I almost fell to the floor laughing. Two strong men screaming like cats definitely emasculates them. I also observed how the Brother was comfortable to associate with his own kind, especially with that singer he admired and the people situated in the bar. Overall, this movie revealed to me how the Brother was able to assimilate with his own group rather easily, instead of the whites and the racial overtones between the African Americans and Whites.

The film The West Side Story (1961) demonstrated the obvious hatred the Jets (Whites) and Sharks (Puerto Ricans) had for one another. Alberto Sanchez’s commentary on the movie The West Side Story further exemplifies this manifest abhorrence the “PRs” and Whites possessed for each other. For example, Sanchez explains how the image of the shark drawn on the wall in the beginning of the film “emphasizes the criminal and barbaric potential of all Puerto Ricans.” From here we can see the Jets contempt for the Sharks because one of the Jets says “The Sharks bite hard and…we must stop them now.” In simplest terms, the Jets are referring to the Sharks (PR’s) as uncivilized like barbarians are. Furthermore, the acrimony between the two groups is witnessed when they keep throwing pejoratives at one another. For instance, the Jets call the Puerto Ricans “Spics,” a derisive and contemptuous term for Spanish-speaking people from Central America and the Caribbean. Also, the intense will each group has to overpower the other show the opposing group “who’s boss” exposes to us the racist attitudes between the groups.

While we can observe that Maria has finally fully assimilated into the American culture, Anita undergoes a drastic change and decides to stick to her culture. Initially, Anita felt that America was wonderful and that she considers herself to be American. However, the specific scene at the Soda/Candy shop with Anita and the Jets causes Anita to have an epiphany. For example, in this particular scene Anita tried to help the Jets and was simply fulfilling a request made to her by Maria. In return, Anita was greatly disrespected and derided by the Jets. The Jets toyed around with her and insulted her by saying “Por favor.” The Jets barely gave Anita a chance to speak and they just misbehaved with her and made her cry. This scene showed the Jets aversion to the Puerto Ricans. But this scene was also an important one in the film because Anita finally realized she wasn’t like “these” Americans and that Benardo was right about them. In fact, she even said if one of the Jets was lying on the ground in pain, she would literally walk by them and spit on them. Hence, Anita knew she was a Puerto Rican and not an American.

In my opinion, both of these films showed the rough experiences immigrants had to suffer while they remained in America and the troubles of assimilating into a new cultural background. While some immigrants were able to achieve that American dream, the others lacked the chance to improve the quality of their lives. The predominantly racial attitudes many Americans had toward the immigrants just made the lives of immigrants even harder. Going back to the reading of “Slaves, Monsters, and Others,” we can see some harsh racism when the African Americans were being compared to creatures, like the Gremlins. Unfortunately, even today racism of some form still exists in certain areas today and some individuals are so entrenched in their racist attitudes it’s impossible to remove them from it. America may emblematize opportunity and glamor, but for some people it serves as a symbol of economic hardships and suffering racial remarks.

On the surface, the musical West Side Story is a tragic love story that parallels that in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. All the elements are there – feuding, illicit love, a tragic end in death. The discerning viewer, though, will realize that the movie is about so much more than a conflict over who can control the basketball court and the tragic romantic consequences that result from this conflict. It is about the struggle between “whiteness” and “otherness” – between what Americans typically view as desirable, normal, and… well, American, and what they view as undesirable, foreign, and un-American.

The working class Jets are clearly unhappy with the presence of the Puerto Ricans – or the “PR’s,” as they choose to call them – on their turf, and it is not simply because they are a rival gang. It is because they are clearly not American – or the “American” that the Jets find acceptable. In the eyes of Riff and his followers, these “others” with darker skin tones and noticeable accents do not belong on the West Side of New York City or even in the United States of America. They do not belong because they are different – separate from the homogenized “white” nucleus. This difference between “white” and “other” is magnified by the writer’s decision to depict a conflict between two rival gangs – two groups of people who share a common identity with those who are also within those groups (but not with those outside of the groups) – and specifically between innocuous “Jets” and dangerous “Sharks”.

This difference is further magnified in scenes such as the one in the dance hall. At the beginning of the scene, the Jets are already in the dance hall enjoying themselves when Bernardo and the other Sharks walk in. The camera shoots across from a wide shot of the glaring Jets to the equally surly looking Sharks and back again. Immediately, the viewer notices that a clear distinction is made between the “white” and the “other” – the Jets are mostly dressed in bright yellows and oranges – happy and friendly colors – while the Sharks are mainly dressed in passionate reds (again, suggesting how “dangerous” and “aggressive” these foreigners are). The distinction is furthered by the two groups’ refusal to mingle, and during the “dance-off,” the clearly “American” and “Latino” styles of dancing that each respective group performs – a refusal to accept and a reluctance to be accepted.

The scene on the roof, which follows immediately after the dance hall scene, is only further proof that – although one can dream about an equal “America” – there really does not seem to be any hope for these marginalized people, who will always be viewed as different.

Though Brother from Another Planet is set in a later decade and one would assume that there is more equality between black people and white people, it is clear that there is still a separation between the two – a separation between who and what is above 110^th Street (“black” and “other”) and who and what is below it (“white”). This is clear in the subway, when the boy tells Brother he “can make all the white people disappear.” As the P.A. announces the final stop before Harlem, the camera pans to the opening doors of the subway car, and the audience is left to watch the backs of white people as they pour out into the station. Another scene – the one depicting the two men who are on their way to a convention but get a little lost – shows that this “discrimination” is two-sided. The camera starts with a close shot of the two identically dressed white men and slowly zooms out to show their surroundings. As the two men discuss being lost, several black men and women are seen staring at them as they pass, as if they are foreign objects – clearly they do not belong.

The fact that this white couple is identically dressed is interesting to note, given that the only other white couple – the two bounty hunters searching for Brother – is also dressed in matching attire. Just as making such a distinction in clothing in West Side Story served to create and emphasize a separation between one group of people and another, the choice to have the two white couples dressed similarly serves to homogenize this group and exclude the “other” – the black. (I also believe Brother’s apparent muteness to be symbolic of vocal exclusion by the “white” group.)

And even though even more time has passed between now and the decades in which West Side Story and Brother from Another Planet are set, immigrant and minority populations continue to be marginalized in our society. As William V. Flores writes in “Citizens vs. Citizenry,” even American-born men and women of Mexican ancestry find themselves struggling daily to “belong.” My fear is that those Americans who continue to balk at the idea of sharing their America with others may make “belonging” an impossibility for these individuals.

Often times the immigrants to a new nation are never completely accepted as members of that nation.  They are seen by the natives are aliens that are completely different than themselves.  They are from a different planet with strange customs, whether they’ve been in the country for years or only a few days.  The films Brother from Another Planet and West Side Story give accurate portrayals of this attitude towards immigrants.

In Brother From Another Planet, one scene that just jumps out as being a perfect example of this attitude towards the foreigner is the scene in the bar when the two white men from Indiana walk in.  They are subsequently met with stares from the bar regulars.  These tourists are the outsiders and obviously just don’t belong.  Even though they are Americans by virtue of birth, in Harlem they are the “aliens.” Now, arguably, Indiana is a completely different world than New York City, but that’s beside the point. These men obviously did not fit into the scene and did not “belong” in that bar.  Ironically, “the brother” who actually was an alien, is treated as more of an “insider” and belonging member, seemingly just because he looks like he belongs.  When he first walks in to the bar after crashing to Earth the regulars call him “brother” and offer him a drink.  He is largely treated like one of them, and not an outsider.

West Side Story tells a similar tale and expresses the same attitude towards the “foreigner” as being an outsider and not belonging to the group.  Though the Puerto Ricans and the “Sharks” are not new immigrants to the United States and have been in America for years, they are treated as strange aliens, not to be intermixed with the white community, the “Jets.”  One moment that I feel illustrates this division very clearly is at the dance.  The whites and the Puerto Ricans stay on extreme opposite sides of the room with what seems like an invisible, but very real wall between them.  It’s like they are in two different worlds.  The languages spoken are different, as is evident when Maria is introduced to those already at the dance, as well as the style of dance.  When they are forced together in an attempt to get them to mingle, they give each other looks of disgust and scurry away from their chance partners in order to dance with one of their own kind.  As Alberto Sanchez mentions, even their appearances are radically different.  All of the Sharks look similar and all of the Jets look similar.  There are no darker skinned or dark haired Jets—to be darker would lead to being closer to being part of the rival gang, which can’t happen.  During the “America” scene, it is remarked by various members of the Sharks that they aren’t any worse off than any of the Jets.  They work hard and have assimilated, while some of the parents of the Jets haven’t—yet they are the ones that are the “immigrants” and discriminated against.  Like in Brother From Another Planet, the fact that they look different is the reason why they are treated as second class citizens, if citizens at all.  While they may be further down the road to complete assimilation culture wise than the families of the Jets, they will never be seen as fully assimilated and will have to continue to prove themselves by the stereotypical, golden-boy “Americans.”

Immigration is a continual struggle, a process that, with enough progressive sentiment and resilience, culminates in assimilation. We all are guilty of prolonging the immigrant’s journey towards social acceptance through our tendency to reject the foreign and stick to our own ground that ultimately constructs the invisible barriers of prejudice that immigrants must overcome to reach social equilibrium. The Brother from Another Planet (1984) and West Side Story (1961) both shed light on the experience of immigrants who are faced with the struggles of the marginal citizen.

West Side Story (1961) illuminates the experience of Puerto Rican immigrants through gang-rivalry, a wonderful approach at displaying the struggle for space. William V. Flores argues the importance of the creation of cultural communal space, a natural step in establishing the immigrant’s place in society. The gang rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks is fueled by mutual hate due to race and culture; however, these ill sentiments are brought into view because of the space issues. Both the police and the Jets are discontented with the “PR” invasion that they must deal with, and show their discontent through insults geared at language (“Buenas Noches” is constantly used throughout the film to reaffirm the Sharks’ status as foreigners), race (“PRs”) and culture. The Sharks have to deal not only with the issue of maintaining their space in society, but also with the countless social boundaries they are faced with throughout their struggle.

The scenes that most vividly distinguish these socio-cultural boundaries all take place within the soda pop bar. Anita, bearing news for Tony, steps into the bar and is confronted by a chiding group of Jets members. Immediately, a Latin-infused song begins playing while the Jets continue to evade answering Anita’s questions. Soon, they begin surrounding her, calling out every common Spanish phrase that comes to mind, the camera zooming in and out, fluctuating between the face-to-face confrontation and shots of the gang gradually enclosing around her. Soon, the music picks up and the camera follows the crowd as they humiliate Anita, tossing her back and forth in some cruel take on a Latino dance. Early on in the scene, a calendar can be spotted on the wall near the entrance, sporting the American flag, symbolizing the freedom of our country. However, in this bar, no such freedom exists to the culturally prosecuted; Anita, despite her willingness to help, cannot get a word out before she is publicly humiliated, simply because of her race and affiliation with the Puerto Rican Sharks.

The Brother from Another Planet (1984) approaches assimilation from a different perspective. To reference Flores’ concept of space, African Americans during this time period have already acquired their own physical space, Harlem, the community into which our alien friend is dropped into, however, they have not quite fully assimilated into existing society (if that is even possible), rather, created their own, based on shared racial and cultural identity. The movie portrays the stark differences between Harlem and the non-minority world around it through the adventures of two lost middle-American men that stubble in Harlem. A long shot reveals the foreign world they find themselves in as soon as the realization dawns upon them. Later on, the two find themselves at the same bar all other migrants, other worldly or not, find themselves in. At first, their awkwardness is apparent, not at all in their comfort zone, however, after a few too many beers, they admit that African American’s aren’t what they thought previously, and leave the bar shortly after. The close shots squeezing together black and white increase the racial tension of the bar scene, and even after they become inebriated, the bartender’s firm statement of train directions indicate that the two groups aren’t completely comfortable, nor happy with each other’s presence. In this interesting take on migration, the minority becomes the native and the white man invasive of the cultural space of Harlem.

Happy Wednesday Everybody!

One would think the physical aspect of immigrating to America was the most difficult aspect of the process, I mean once you’re in America, you’re set, right? WRONG. 🙁

Unfortunately, there are several more obstacles that these individuals face. As these films and readings illustrate, being in America doesn’t mean you’re American. At one point in West Side Story, Bernardo says, “…we came in like children, believing, trusting…” this exemplifies how Bernardo and the rest of his friends and family, entered in America thinking they would be welcomed, accepted, assimilated, treated as an American. Similarly, Caryl Phillips repeats the line, “sinking hopeful roots into difficult soil” often throughout her work, Crossing the River. Here, Phillips is trying to say that many immigrants come to America with such high hopes and expectations (hopeful roots). These hopeful roots ‘sink’ into the “difficult soil” of America, full of all these prejudices and forces that prevent them from fully being assimilated and accepted.

Brother from Another Planet is very interesting because to me, it seemed the science-fiction aspect of the film, the fact that Brother was an alien actually allowed the character to be assimilated and become what Guerero describes as a “model minority.” His alien nature and psychic abilities allowed him to interact with various individuals of all different races and backgrounds. This feat is even more impressive when one considers the fact that Brother could not speak, an ingenious choice by the director.

Naturally, he was accepted by his fellow African-Americans but he was also accepted by the Latin-American who worked in that arcade, the owner of the arcade (this was only due to the fact that Brother could fix his games, something that appealed to the capitalist owner), the girl who was playing at the arcade, the two men who ended up in Harlem by accident, etc. I think the director wanted to show that sometimes having the ability to talk and communicate with one another is what actually creates the divisions of racism and prejudices that prevent assimilation.

Brother made all these connections with so many different people and he couldn’t utter a single word. In West Side Story all the characters could talk, better yet, they could spontaneously break out into song! Yet the racial barriers were evident from the first few minutes of the film. With communication comes connection, but also disconnection as racism, hate, etc. creep in and corrupt what could be a positive and unifying force.

In West Side Story, one pivotal scene that portrays these boundaries is when the Puerto Ricans sing and dance the song “America.” Anita and the women represent immigrants who embrace America and the opportunities one can find here. Bernardo and the men however, represent the immigrants who see the boundaries that prevent them from being assimilated and consequently, hate America.

This scene was great because each side would defend their views by bringing up different points and each of these points were complimented by the dance that accompanied the song. For instance, one point Bernardo and the guys brought up was the notion that you can have some things in America that is if you can fight in America. As they sung these words they pretended to kick and punch one another.

Anita and Maria are the two most interesting characters for me because they start the film with their heads in the clouds and not practical, like Bernardo. They don’t see the boundaries or the hate that is at the heart of the feud between the Jets and the Sharks. But after the rumble, everything changes. When Anita goes to find Tony and tell him that Maria is coming, the rest of the Jets harass her in such a disgusting, vulgar manner that it pushes her over the edge. The Anita that loved America was gone at this point, she was angry and full of hate, so much so that she told the Jets that Chino killed Maria. Similarly, when Chino murders Tony and she takes the gun she says “I can kill now, because I hate now!”

On a more whimsical note, there are two big things I took from these films. First, in Brother from Another Planet, I loved the old man in the bar so much that I’m going to start randomly saying “Diagnosis!” Second, when I was watching West Side Story I paused the movie and ran around my house because I couldn’t believe that the songs “America” and “Pretty” were from this movie. It was mind blowing.

Diagnosis!

I warned you.