Author Archives: STEVEN RIVERA

I watched Superman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Green Acres. Based on the 3 clips, displacement was shown through the popular culture. In Superman, the hero felt displaced by being left out of his planet and mission. Superman was forced to hide his identity and was left on a mission because the girl left to do it on her own. It was humorous because of the sound effects and the villain’s approach to succeed was unsuccessful. Superman plays a role by saving people from consequences but has a different identity. Superman isn’t in his normal self but acts like a normal human being to adjust to society. In Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the was a group of womaning hiding from danger from the outside world. Although I don’t really know what danger is happening, it’s similar to the holocausts, when the Jewish families were hiding from the Nazi’s. Displacement is shown as the ladies get help; they experience a whole new life. Things have changed since they were hiding and the girls currently experiencing new york city. It humorous because the girl doesn’t know to act with the new civilization. She does and says things out of the ordinary where people perceive her differently.  The humor is related to displacement because people such as the lady she works for, the owner treats her wrong. It may be in the realistic fiction category but the role the main character plays is for entertainment purposes. She has a personality that’s funny for the audience but that’s just the way she expresses her true self. Finally in Green Acres, displacement is shown because of a couple of different interests. The man hates living a luxurious lifestyle, whereas the wife loves the city. It’s humorous because of the way the actors talk and facial expressions. The humor is related to displacement because the wife feels displaced about living in the country but the husband is excited. Clearly, this couple isn’t meant to be but it’s still funny. Displacement is shown across everything, even in our favorite films or TV shows and it can be displayed through humor.

In the story “Fiesta, 1980” written by Yunot Diaz, the father brought his son’s to his mistress’ house to create a bond by showing the father’s lifestyle. Throughout the story, the relationship between the father and Yunior is filled with tension due to the father’s personality. Despite the father’s intentions to get close to the kids and expressing a way of masculinity, it made Yunior uncomfortable. According to page 46, it states “The two of them went upstairs and I was too scared of what was happening to poke around. I just sat there, ashamed, expecting something big and fiery to crash down on our heads.” Furthermore, the father is implicitly demonstrating that it’s normal to cheat on a wife. This event leads to secrets throughout the family, as both kids do not tell their mom. The brothers do not inform each other about the mistress until the end of the chapter. It’s important to note that Yunior wants to be like his dad due to the way he talks to girls. However, Yunior hates the way the Father treats him in addition to introducing the mistress; the secret Yunior he is holding is affecting him mentally. 

I chose the article, “How NYC’s homeless ‘charities’ cash in — ruthlessly” by Seth Barron because it discusses the corruption of government affecting life chances of homeless people. Money given to homeless services has increased by 1 billion and many citizens are expecting the decline of homeless people sleeping in the streets. However the homeless service providers aren’t fulfilling their expectations, but instead companies are profiting from the distributions. I relate his article to “displacement” because there are people living in New York that are in an unpleasant environment and don’t feel safe. As much as I would love for everyone to live in a home, it’s nearly impossible due to how the constitution is structured. By the rule we follow in society, we all have different life chances. As for a homeless person, it would be much harder for them to overcome the struggles because society hasn’t helped them prosper but instead manage to keep the same pace. By this I think of the quote “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” due to the outcome of society. Thus, displacement for the homeless separates and diminishes humanity because we aren’t valued equally. The role for a homeless person created an stereotype that they are poor because they didn’t apply themselves to do better. This leads to people usually judging the homeless and the people with the higher authority created laws to keep them out of the nice places. People with the higher authority would have this mindset and instead of using the funds in the budget to help them, they rather not contribute. Homeless people struggle everyday deciding on their next meal or places to sleep. The homeless begs to us in trains and public because some really just hit rock bottom and need help. Once again, this is all because of how our constitution is built due to social norms.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/07/how-nycs-homeless-charities-cash-in-ruthlessly/

1. My parents hometown (answers question #3)
2. Transition from speaking Spanish to English (answers question #4)
3. Displaced as I entered school in Pre-K (answers question #1)