My Family (1995)
Critique the testimonial quality of the film. What aspects of it do you find effective and/or ineffective. Is this film as effective as the written testimonials that were assigned earlier in the semester?
Diversity, Intersectionality, Otherness
First-Year Seminar in Critical Inquiry
The film “My Family, Mi Familia” is a warmhearted movie about the Sanchez family, a Mexican-American family living in East Los Angeles. The movie explores the dynamics of Mexican-American families and culture, while examining the issues familiar to Latino immigrants and their families. In some ways the story of the Sanchez family can relate to the stories of many Latino families in the United States. Although the movie relies too heavily on stereotypes and clichés (the fight scene at the dance party resembles the movie “West Side Story” so well that one may even expect them to start singing). The movie additionally lacks social significance, in particular the depiction of racism in that time period. Moreover, the scene where Maria and her baby Chucho were trying to cross the river was in a way both effective and ineffective. Besides that specific scene being wildly dramatic and unrealistic because in no way could a baby have overcame going through the river and practically drowning, the scene did portray the risks and dangers immigrants were willing to take in order to cross over to the United States. Several scenes in the movie stereotyped Mexicans (the scene where Memo brought over his wife’s family to meet his) which made the testimonial ineffective. Although, the concept of a hardworking Latino family making ends meet and assimilating to life in the United States was effective. Overall, I found the film not as effective as the written testimonials that were assigned earlier in the semester because in some aspects this movie seems harshly impractical and the message it tried to present wasn’t 100% clear.
The film My Family was one-sided in that it was told from one family in particular. It only told the troubles of one family which went through a lot with politics, religion, and family values. There were parts in the film where the narrator himself said how some things didn’t happen. In my opinion, the film is credible in that most of it was based on real events from the 1900’s. The dramatizations were necessary to carry out the film in the way that it did. Like all the other testimonials, dramatic events were added to push the ideas of the story further. There’s nothing ineffective or effective about the execution of how the testimonial was told.
The film “My Family” was very interesting. It was unclear if it was trying to portray a particular message to the audience and what that message was, but it was very real with the events even with the heavy exaggeration. It showed the values of Latinos with family and how it is the most important thing to them. The narrator talked about how even after all the kids in the family were gone from the house and moving on with their lives, all of their spirits were still sitting at the table with each other. It showed, I think, a believable portrayal of the hardships that Latinos coming and living in the United States face, but made them stereotypical by showing a good number of the men getting involved with gang life and being violent, which may lead to further stereotypes. That being said though, some events could be accurate, some could not be, it was hard to tell with the exaggeration so I feel like the testimonials we read were much more informative and accurate in terms of real-life events, especially because they weren’t victims of Hollywood influence.
The film “My Family, Mi Familia” is a touching story about the hard circumstances a Latino family has to face living in the United States. Many of the characters can relate to people from different races. For example, the plight of the mother, Maria, when she is forced to deport to Mexico and leave her family behind. She shows the sheer determination many mothers share in reuniting with her family. The film does an exceptional job of showcasing the emotion Maria is feeling when she’s crossing the river. It was a tense seen seeing Maria and Chucho falling into the river. It was very unrealistic that they both made it out alive, but the film does a good job capturing emotion and showing the dangerous task of trying to make it to America. Once Maria and Paco are reunited, they then face events similar to that of a common family. Like having a son who is a rebel, or having a child who is facing the challenges of preparing for a wedding, or one who wants to become a nun. Yet, they face other challenges that is different for more privileged families, like discrimination and stereotypes. Chucho was stereotyped in the movie by belonging to the gang group called the Pachucos. When there is the fight between Chucho and another member of Pachucos, the directors showcase Latinos as violent; especially when Chucho’s date pulls a knife out of her hair for Chucho to fight with. The movie shows the fears immigrants live with by having Chucho being shot at without having a solid reason why. The police fear minorities and the predisposed danger the race may have. This effectively shows the discrimination immigrants may face in the U.S. The scene when Maria is deported shows the emotion of a mother leaving her new home. Yet, it seems a bit dramatized for film, even though this was a common occurrence in the past. The film is effective in getting people to care about immigrants throughout the U.S., yet it isn’t accurate. Also, it is a fiction movie, not a documentary, so everything in the film isn’t supposed to be taken literally. I think the movie is as effective as the testimonials in getting people to have more empathy towards minorities, even if the facts are not as clear.
The film “My Family” had very few factors that made the testimonial aspect of the film effective. The majority of the film was very dramatic and unrealistic making the whole film seem as though it was almost mocking latino culture. One of the few effective parts of the film was the way police treated latinos. Throughout the entire film it was obvious that there was a vivid depiction of the police thinking latinos were the enemy instead of citizens. This is evident when the officers literally celebrate over Chucho’s dead body. Where this scene was very dramatic, I think this was a specific choice the director made to make it undeniably clear to the audience the conflict between the police and latinos. The testimonials from earlier in the semester were much more effective in portraying the hardships of latinos in America because they lacked the dramatization throughout the way the film was.