Blog 14: Draft of ENG 103 Paper

West Side Story, a film set in the late 1950's in New York City is a twist on Romeo and Juliet. It a love story between a caucasian male and a Puerto Rican immigrant. Maintaining a relationship was difficult because of their differences and the people around them. Violence and gang activities were also a main aspect of the film. Tony, one of the Jets, falls in love with Maria who is Bernardo's sister, the leader of the Sharks. Many problems arise because of the gang rivalries. Unfortunately, there were three deaths in the film. Riff, the leader of the Jets, and Bernardo are killed in a rumble. The film does not end on a positive note. Tony is shot and killed by one of the Sharks.

The way New York City was portrayed was very similar to how it actually was. In the 1950s, tons of Puerto Ricans migrated to New York City, which was known as The Great Migration, not to be confused with the African American Great Migration that took place in the early 1900's. This was actually the third wave of this migration, but by far the largest. By 1953, Puerto Rican migration to New York reached it's peak when 75,000 people left the island. Estimates are that more than one million Puerto Ricans migrated during the 1950's. The main areas in New York City that Puerto Ricans fled to were The Bronx, Brooklyn and East Harlem, which would later be known as Spanish Harlem for obvious reasons. By 1964, the Puerto Rican community made up 9.3 percent of the total New York City population. The New York Puerto Ricans, or "Nuyoricans", would borrow words from the english language and speak "spanglish". ("Latino Education Network Service")In other words, they would say english words with spanish pronounciations. It is a very improper way to speak but it showed their adaptation to a new country. In the film, the Puerto Rican characters seem to know good english and their accents aren't too strong. It makes sense to not give them such a strong accent because it is a movie and audiences need to understand what they're saying but the characters didn't even speak "spanglish". (Perez y Gonzalez, and 118-19)

In West Side Story, the Puerto Ricans were not treated with respect. They were treated like a piece of dirt, even by authorities. One of the officers in the film said "Boy, oh boy. As if this neighborhood wasn't crummy enough." He said that in reference to the Puerto Ricans. Just like the film, Puerto Ricans weren't treated respectfully when they arrived to New York City. "...although they were U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans were seen as immigrants who wanted what rightfully belonged to white Americans----jobs, an education, housing and the American dream. This subjected Puerto Ricans to ostracism, prejudice, discrimination, and violence." In the 50's, it was normal to have rumbles between rival gangs just like West Side Story. They would fight over girls, much like what happened in the film. The way these rumbles were set up was also like the film. They would go to neutral locations and set a time and place. In West Side Story, it was Doc's Candy Store.(Kendall)The makers of West Side Story made sure to include this. However, what they failed to show was African Americans. They received discrimination just like Puerto Ricans but that wasn't shown in the film at all. They only types of people the film showed were whites and Puerto Ricans, which isn't realistic.

The film addressed an issue that was very true to what really happened in the 50's. The Puerto Ricans were discussing Tony, the man who Maria fell in love with and they said he had a job as a delivery boy. However, Chino, one of the Puerto Ricans, had a job as a delivery boy but he was paid only half of what Tony made, simply because one is an American and the other is considered an immigrant.