Reflection Post 9/28

This is a post to reflect on the video clip shown in lecture on Wednesday. I grew up watching and loving West Side Story - the beautiful dresses, the exciting song and dance scenes, and the overall excitement of the love story in the movie. But, seeing a clip of West Side Story in the context of a class on Latino/a culture, I have come away with a different opinion on the stereotypes of Puerto Rican immigrants in America during the latter phases of Puerto Rican immigration. As pointed out by Professor Cotera, the producers/directors of West Side Story did a very poor job in creating a realistic portrait of life for Puerto Rican immigrants in America. During the particular scene that we watched in class ("America"), the Puerto Rican women did a flowery song and dance routine that was not at all representatitve of Puerto Rican dance. The flamenco steps the women in the movie did were, in fact, of Spanish, not Puerto Rican origin. That is just one of the examples of how the movie misrepresents its Puerto Rican characters. The men and women in that scene also continually bring up stereotypes of Puerto Rican culture. The line that stood out to me the most is when the main character sings "always the population growing" and holds her stomach, feigning pregnancy. One of the alarming stereotypes of Puerto Ricans in the mid 1900s was that they were "over-sexed." And this line in West Side Story, although meant to be comical, only furthers that stereotype.

What is important to note though, is the fact that a new revival of West Side Story is set to hit the broadway stage next spring. Famous Broadway director Arthur Laurents is directing the musical and has revealed very little about what the show will be like except he has pledged to make it "more realistic" and "more contemporary." It is the hope of many that the new musical will more accurately portray the life of young Puerto Rican immigrants in New York City without losing its old-time flare.

In conclusion, I think that it is incredibly important to point of the flaws of the original West Side Story movie, but to still enjoy it for what it is worth. I believe that the revival of West Side Story on Broadway in the spring will be a welcomed change to the classic "Romeo and Juliet" story, but will have a much more balanced and contemporary spin.

Chelsea Roth