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Dec. 10th, 2021 07:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petzipellepingoSpielberg's 'West Side Story' brings deeper focus on the Puerto Rican experience
“It’s not a political movie. It’s still ‘West Side Story,’” legendary actor Rita Moreno said. “But it has more awareness about what that actually means.”
By Nicole Acevedo
As any fan of "West Side Story" would expect, Steven Spielberg's remake of the classic 1957 Broadway musical starts off with the distinctive three-note whistle from the Jets gang as they make their way around New York City's San Juan Hill while it's being demolished to make way for a wealthier neighborhood.
Images of the rubble in the once predominantly Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood stand next to a sign saying “Property Purchased by New York City for Slum Clearance” — placing audiences in New York City's 1950s urban renewal period, when an array of low-income communities were being displaced.
The tensions that come with displacement and the urge to protect their homes from the nearing wrecking ball fuel the rivalry between two teenage street gangs — the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. Their rivalry intensifies when Tony, a Jet, falls in love with Maria, the younger sister of Sharks leader Bernardo.
( Read more... )
“It’s not a political movie. It’s still ‘West Side Story,’” legendary actor Rita Moreno said. “But it has more awareness about what that actually means.”
By Nicole Acevedo
As any fan of "West Side Story" would expect, Steven Spielberg's remake of the classic 1957 Broadway musical starts off with the distinctive three-note whistle from the Jets gang as they make their way around New York City's San Juan Hill while it's being demolished to make way for a wealthier neighborhood.
Images of the rubble in the once predominantly Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood stand next to a sign saying “Property Purchased by New York City for Slum Clearance” — placing audiences in New York City's 1950s urban renewal period, when an array of low-income communities were being displaced.
The tensions that come with displacement and the urge to protect their homes from the nearing wrecking ball fuel the rivalry between two teenage street gangs — the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. Their rivalry intensifies when Tony, a Jet, falls in love with Maria, the younger sister of Sharks leader Bernardo.
( Read more... )
