Salt Of The Earth Film Analysis

After watching the movie “A Class Apart: A Mexican American Civil Rights Story”, I realized that I didn’t know much about how Mexico lost part of their land to the United States and about how hard life used to be for Mexican Americans compared to now. I learned about how Mexican Americans were treated in the United States. The movie was mainly about how Mexican Americans were discriminated and they were treated as inferior people. They were not seen as actual “Americans”, but as a second class, calling them names like “shiftless, lazy, dumb, etc.” Another important thing I learned is who was Gus García and what he did for Mexican Americans. His history made a huge difference making people feel stronger. He fought for his people and he didn’t stop until he won. Me being Mexican American makes me

In the 1960s, the Chicano movement started to gain momentum. Chicanos began banding together to protect others while discovering their own self-identity. One source says that, a newfound gratitude for Chicano culture was detected. It goes on to state that, a “cultural rebirth was proclaimed” which had been provoked by “rediscovery” and an acknowledgement of their collective indigenous roots. The author adds that, it was a chance to uncover “a positive self-definition” (Rodriguez, "Building Aztlan: Chicano Movement Springs Back to Life"). Furthermore, in the 1960s, nothing could slow down the Chicano movement once it had sparked. So much so, that Rodriguez claims that it “led to colleges and universities becoming targets of protest” and the

Stereotyping has been a problem for society for many years. People believe that stereotyping does not exist because they might not experience it, but little do they know stereotyping has existed for quite some time. In the book Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez illustrates stereotyping toward the Mechicanos who lived in Los Angeles in the 1940s by utilizing external conflict, imagery, and symbolism to show how the Mechicanos suffered through the discrimination by the media and the court.

The Bronze Screen introduced both positive and negative portrayals of Latinas and Latinos in film. While there are plenty of positive Latino roles in films, Latinos and Latinas should be included in more positive roles because the negative roles Latinos have in films cause negative stereotypes.

Throughout “The Mexican in Fact, Fiction, and Folkore” examines the term “Mexican” as it is applied in Southwest literature and argues the Anglo society has made a conscious effort to misrepresent Mexicans (Rios 60). He states the people of Mexican descent are viewed as un-American because they are perceived as filthy, lazy, and dumb. Ricatelli adds to the conversation of Mexican stereotypes by examining the literary expressions of Chicanas and Mexicanas in the literature of both the United States and Mexico. In “The Sexual Stereotypes of The Chicana in Literature” Ricatelli explains how in Yankee literature, the Chicana is referred to as the “fat breeder, who is a baby factory” meanwhile the Mexican is described as an “amoral, lusty hot tamale” (Ricatelli 51). He makes note of these stereotypes in order to highlight the ethnocentric and nativist points of view that dominated Anglo literature. Furthermore, he describes the multiple forms of control Chicana women face when he states, “The Chicana is first of all oppressed economically, socially, and politically by virtue of her being a woman. Secondly, the Chicana as a member of an oppressed ethnic and/ or racial group is limited to the same extent as the Chicano by the dominant Anglo society” (50). However, he fails to mention the experiences of queer women, which implies how the Chicano

Today, society has become dependent on media, propaganda has risen because of the portrayal of stereotypes of the Hispanic culture. There is a common ground of the concepts of stereotyping and ethnocentrism. The propaganda has enabled stereotypes to arise in the media and has made an impact on the behaviors of those that interact with the Hispanic culture. Any action reflecting stereotypes could have a negative or positive impact on those of other cultures.

The East Los Angeles School walkouts and Chicano Moratorium are two historical examples that emphasize forms of Chicana and Chicano resistance that have been examined in varied ways, particularly through print media such as the Los Angeles Times and La Raza. In 1968 more than 10,000 Chicana and Chicano students walked out of schools in East Los Angeles to protest inferior educational conditions and demand equal access to quality education. Then, in 1970, the Chicano Moratorium, which intended to be a peaceful demonstration to call for social justice and protest the Vietnam war, transformed into a display of police repression and brutality that left several marchers dead. Descriptive material, such as print media, served as instrumental extensions

We are living in an era where media depictions of reality can be far from the truth. This is evident in the portrayals of the Black Lives Matter movement, as major news stations have polarizing views. With these portrayals comes underlying agendas, and with the current state of media, it is crucial to recognize these underlying purposes and portrayals to ensure that social change within the United States continues to progress. While the United states struggles with the depiction of African Americans, it is nothing new as it has been evident in literature for hundreds of years and seen in both “Caloya” and Narrative. These texts draw parallels to the current state of media; both use a common channel to express differing portrayals. Simms’s “Caloya” and Frederick Douglass’s Narrative both utilize the antagonists, Mingo in “Caloya” and slave owners in Narrative, however, “Caloya” focuses on Mingo’s race and supposed natural tendencies to represent black men as sex hungry, while Narrative focuses on slave owners’ abuse of power to gain sexual favors to represent white men as sexually crude. Through these representations, each author creates an underlying portrayal of slavery: Simms portrays slavery as a necessary system

Ballad of a Soldier by Luis Valdez showed us the criteria of what qualifies as a Chicana/o film by showing the struggles a Chicana/o had to go through such as being deployed to war and how much stress it was involved with the their families and their doubt of him coming back to the barrio. We can also see how the life of Chicano/as were such as having parties, the way they dressed and the way they talked. We can also see how gender roles switched, such as Cecilia fixing the car and how she didn't care how society viewed her.

Selena is a movie that expresses the life and career of Selena Quintanilla, a major figure in Tejano music. Selena was not only an adored star in the American Southwest but also in Mexico. The movie focuses on Selena's relationship with her family, her fame, and also dealing with the establishment of her own musical identity. While her heritage is Mexican-American, her primary language is English, and secondary language is Spanish. She still has a dream to be able to express herself in both languages along with both cultures. This movie expresses the struggle of a middle class Mexican-American family and their struggle to find a sense of identity and a place where they belong.

A word that comes to mind when I watch the movie, Blood in Blood Out is “raza.” To me this word symbolizes family, close friends, and brotherhood. For instance, the film has moments of great happiness with family, but also moments of despair with life. The movie Blood in Blood out has made me feel empathy with the Hispanic culture, the experience of gang violence, and the film reminds me of pain.

Considering the arguments discussed throughout the chapters of my analysis, the history and evolution of African Americans will always intertwine with society, since the slavery era. This thesis outlined the African American stereotypes and if they’ve progressed over time. This research also observed how the film industry continued to change negative stereotypes into accurate representations of African American culture and experiences. D. W. Griffith’s film changed the history of films and remains the original foundation of Hollywood cinema, even though, it is the most racist film in history. The Birth of a Nation’s narrative assembles negative black stereotypes to empower white supremacy, always affecting the cinema’s engraving of race. It

Orientalism refers to a social group who is seen as uncivilized, backward, and outcast people by the dominant culture. In Jenn Fang's discussion, she explains the definition of orientalism and on how today’s society still tends to share orientalist views towards the Asian American people. For instance, the American society views the Asian American people’s fashion as edgy or cool because they dress differently and show no interest in conforming to societies norms. However, this is an orientalist view already since their fashion isn’t a mark of not wanting to conform to societies norms but how their culture dresses. Many Asian American artists have challenged the orientalist assumptions through the use of art. For example, Bao Phi’s “reverse

Ever since I can remember, I have been passionate about motion pictures and the film industry. While watching various genres of motion pictures, I took notice of the lack of ethnic diversity tied to many American films. My major in film and video here at Georgia State University this pique my interest to engage and research the evolution of minorities in motion pictures.

Gran Torino is a captivating film which shows a great deal racial prejudice and how one can overcome racism through communication. This film strings together racial and ethnic portraits in many scenes which highlight many important issues in today’s society. There are some movies today that use these racial stereotypes but they do them without reason. This film uses it to bring light to a minority of people living in the U.S. that do not get much attention. The movie is largely about Walt’s relationship with his Hmong neighbors in which he goes from being openly hostile to a more understanding position in the end. There are several issues touched on in the movie that draw attention to race, such as the racial slurs used by Walt, and the way that communication among different racial groups can encourage tolerance, empathy and compassion.