, Research Paper
Although every family undergoes specific trials and tribulations, the Sanchez family, from the movie, Mi Familia, went through personal experiences that set them apart from any other family. These experiences are what made them the close-knit family unit that we saw in the movie. Families that have immigrated from other countries to the United States, in this case Mexico, face a great deal of pressure to hold on to their ethnic background. This is a very difficult country to live in as a normal citizen, let alone an immigrant who can speak English in limited amounts. The problem, but at the same time, the wonderful thing about the United States is that it is a melting pot of different cultures. So the question at hand is: How does one maintain their ethnicity through every other culture? The Sanchez family was a prime example of a how a family, as a whole, foreign to this country, was able to carry on their Mexican heritage throughout the good times and bad.
Being eighteen years old and living in the Unites States all of my life, I cannot attest from personal experience on what it feels like to be different in this country. I am not foreign to this country and I never will be. That is the truth and I cannot change that. I have always been looked at as the norm of society, just a regular, plain, White male. But, what if the situation were reversed? What if I was an immigrant coming to the United States in search of opportunity and the green that Americans care so much about? What if I had to provide shelter and food for my family? What would I do if I were being discriminated against just because of the color of my skin? Would I conform to the ways of that society or would I keep to the old instilled values that I learned as a boy? Frankly, I would not even know where to start. I do know however that I would use hard work and determination to go out and work whatever job could sustain for my family, just as Mr. (Jose) Sanchez did in the film.
From careful viewing of this movie, I think that the interesting thing about it is that it could have been about any family, from any country, coming into the United States. Every family has a story and this was the Sanchez s story. Mr. Sanchez had his long journey on foot from Mexico to Los Angeles. Mrs. Sanchez went through the struggle of being taken away from her family and then returning. The story keeps on elaborating on each of the children s specific story.
Those who are new to this country face many hardships in their efforts to survive. Especially seen in the movie, was how some of the children felt the need to fit in to the mainstream American culture. They needed that satisfaction of being accepted. We saw this first in the movie with Chucho. Put plain and simple, he dealed drugs to make money. His father found out about this and confronted him on the matter. Chucho stated that all Americans respect is money. Mr. Sanchez began telling his famous story of the journey over to California. Chucho told him that no one here cares about his struggle. It is not what they (Americans) respect. He also replied adamantly to his father that he never wanted to be like him when he got older. A fight ensued and Chucho ended up leaving the house never to return. He felt the need to prove to Americans that he was something not just a Mexican. Later in the movie when he is the warehouse, on the run from the police, he realized that he was being stubborn with his father. This was when Jimmy brought him a drink from home and told him to tell his father I The look in Chucho s eyes was definitely that of remorse, so he knew then that what he did was wrong. I just think that he wished he could have talked with his father one last time. He was Americanized in what he desired but still Mexican in what he believed.