Notes on Spanglish
One of my favorite movies is Spanglish- Beth and I probably watch it at least twice a year. We saw it again last night, and it was just as good as always. Here's five of reasons to check it out:
First, there's a range of believable characters who are all fully developed and distinctly human. The writing and acting makes them feel like real people, all with good intentions and a permeating selfishness that lets us know that they're just like us.
Second, it's funny and heartbreaking at the same time. The language barrier is a perfect set-up for comedic and tragic misunderstanding. The motives and intentions of each character are quickly revealed by attempts (and lack of attempts) to communicate and adapt to each other.
Third, there are some really great social statements. One that I heard last night for the first time was a voice-over comment by the girl narrating the movie. Check it out:
American women, I believe actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight; they both have a desire for the comfort of fullness.
And when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation is allowed to rule- dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food...
Motherhood.
All that is best in life.
Fourth, Adam Sandler ACTS! Seriously, this isn't Little Nicky, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, or any of those other crazy roles. He's a believable guy who's practically emasculated by his dominant wife. He's awkward and sensitive in a way that's humorous and dreadful at the same time. He probably could have gotten an Oscar for his response to his wife's affair. He says just one word: Really? In that one word he voices disbelief, anger, cowardice, jealousy, despair, grief, frustration, betrayal, and every other emotion one could ever feel in that moment. It was a scene acted to perfection.
Fifth, there's some really great one-liners- especially from the drunken grandmother. Like this one: "Honey, lately your low self-esteem is just good common sense."
It's a really honest look at cultures and family conflict. I get a little teary-eyed near the end when I think about how our identity is not wrapped up in what we do or what school we get into or what kind of car we drive: The narrator finds her identity in knowing that she is her mother's daughter... it makes me think about how my own identity isn't wrapped up in what I do as much as whose I am. I am my father's son. And even more importantly, I am my Heavenly Father's son.
First, there's a range of believable characters who are all fully developed and distinctly human. The writing and acting makes them feel like real people, all with good intentions and a permeating selfishness that lets us know that they're just like us.
Second, it's funny and heartbreaking at the same time. The language barrier is a perfect set-up for comedic and tragic misunderstanding. The motives and intentions of each character are quickly revealed by attempts (and lack of attempts) to communicate and adapt to each other.
Third, there are some really great social statements. One that I heard last night for the first time was a voice-over comment by the girl narrating the movie. Check it out:
American women, I believe actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight; they both have a desire for the comfort of fullness.
And when that desire is suppressed for style and deprivation is allowed to rule- dieting, exercising American women become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous such as wantonness, lustfulness, sex, food...
Motherhood.
All that is best in life.
Fourth, Adam Sandler ACTS! Seriously, this isn't Little Nicky, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, or any of those other crazy roles. He's a believable guy who's practically emasculated by his dominant wife. He's awkward and sensitive in a way that's humorous and dreadful at the same time. He probably could have gotten an Oscar for his response to his wife's affair. He says just one word: Really? In that one word he voices disbelief, anger, cowardice, jealousy, despair, grief, frustration, betrayal, and every other emotion one could ever feel in that moment. It was a scene acted to perfection.
Fifth, there's some really great one-liners- especially from the drunken grandmother. Like this one: "Honey, lately your low self-esteem is just good common sense."
It's a really honest look at cultures and family conflict. I get a little teary-eyed near the end when I think about how our identity is not wrapped up in what we do or what school we get into or what kind of car we drive: The narrator finds her identity in knowing that she is her mother's daughter... it makes me think about how my own identity isn't wrapped up in what I do as much as whose I am. I am my father's son. And even more importantly, I am my Heavenly Father's son.