I found Heather’s description of “West Side Story” to be very thorough and well written. It was interesting to me how the film producers and directors were able to make this more modern film tie into the timeless story of Romeo and Juliet. The way in which Maria and Tony have that forbidden love which is so characteristic of Romeo and Juliet’s story, gave me something to compare it to in modern day Hollywood. I agreed with Heather’s connection of the movie to the course theme of immigration as the main conflict is born from an immigrant gang and an apparent all white American gang. Although I have never seen this film, I am very interested in seeing it in the near future, especially after hearing some of the songs that Heather played for us from the film. It appears to be very lively and therefore entertaining to watch. I think Heather did a very good job in describing the film and connecting it to our own course themes.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Heather’s analysis of “West Side Story.” The film takes place in the Upper West Side and is centered around two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Heather provides interesting insight into several events of the film’s plot. Maria and Tony are at a conflict in between their strong love for each other and their alliance to the aforementioned gangs. Heather connects the film with our course theme of immigration by addressing the Jet’s animosity towards the Sharks as one fueled by the discrimination of Puerto Rican immigrant groups. I thought that Heather’s connection to our course theme of morals and norms was an interesting point to make. Despite the build up of tension and hatred between the rival gangs, some characters remain adherent to morals. I liked that Heather included a detail of the film that she was not fond of, because in doing so she points out the film’s flaws and allows the reader to judge accordingly. The film’s plot, being an obvious adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, is quite overdone. However, I believe that this was done intentionally to give the film a socially aware, kitschy quality.
It’s interesting to see how “West Side Story” is able to take a classic Romeo and Juliet kind of tragedy and fit it into the times during which the movie takes place. Instead of two rival families, we have two rival gangs of different ethnicities. This seems to be the ideal version because of a large influx of Puerto Ricans and other immigrants into New York City. I do agree with Heather that this type of story with star-crossed lovers is a bit trite, however I did find this movie to be appealing and I’d probably enjoy it just as much. To be honest, I wouldn’t really expect the ending to end badly for the lovers although it was clear that their love was forbidden. Anything could’ve really happened, but understandably, the ending was realistic for the love that they had. I also liked the comment that Heather made on gender roles in the movie, even though it wasn’t explicitly stated. She brought to attention these gender roles that might not have seemed like a big deal when the movie aired. But examining the movie today with a lot of emphasis on such themes, we can see that this movie does imply these gender roles.
I actually saw “West Side Story” being performed in my elementary school play about more than eight years ago. At the time, I was only in 4th grade and it was a play by mostly the 5th graders in school. Though it was so long ago, I remember really liking the play because of the musical touch to it. However, I also remember that I had no clue what the storyline of the play was because I had recently moved to the United States and my english was not there. After reading your film review and listening to your presentation about the film in class, all of it sort of came back to me. I found it really interesting that the story is based on the Romeo and Juliet storyline but also liked your comment that stories similar are becoming cliche. Despite this, I look forward to rewatching this again when I have time.
I found Heather’s description of “West Side Story” to be very thorough and well written. It was interesting to me how the film producers and directors were able to make this more modern film tie into the timeless story of Romeo and Juliet. The way in which Maria and Tony have that forbidden love which is so characteristic of Romeo and Juliet’s story, gave me something to compare it to in modern day Hollywood. I agreed with Heather’s connection of the movie to the course theme of immigration as the main conflict is born from an immigrant gang and an apparent all white American gang. Although I have never seen this film, I am very interested in seeing it in the near future, especially after hearing some of the songs that Heather played for us from the film. It appears to be very lively and therefore entertaining to watch. I think Heather did a very good job in describing the film and connecting it to our own course themes.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Heather’s analysis of “West Side Story.” The film takes place in the Upper West Side and is centered around two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Heather provides interesting insight into several events of the film’s plot. Maria and Tony are at a conflict in between their strong love for each other and their alliance to the aforementioned gangs. Heather connects the film with our course theme of immigration by addressing the Jet’s animosity towards the Sharks as one fueled by the discrimination of Puerto Rican immigrant groups. I thought that Heather’s connection to our course theme of morals and norms was an interesting point to make. Despite the build up of tension and hatred between the rival gangs, some characters remain adherent to morals. I liked that Heather included a detail of the film that she was not fond of, because in doing so she points out the film’s flaws and allows the reader to judge accordingly. The film’s plot, being an obvious adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, is quite overdone. However, I believe that this was done intentionally to give the film a socially aware, kitschy quality.
It’s interesting to see how “West Side Story” is able to take a classic Romeo and Juliet kind of tragedy and fit it into the times during which the movie takes place. Instead of two rival families, we have two rival gangs of different ethnicities. This seems to be the ideal version because of a large influx of Puerto Ricans and other immigrants into New York City. I do agree with Heather that this type of story with star-crossed lovers is a bit trite, however I did find this movie to be appealing and I’d probably enjoy it just as much. To be honest, I wouldn’t really expect the ending to end badly for the lovers although it was clear that their love was forbidden. Anything could’ve really happened, but understandably, the ending was realistic for the love that they had. I also liked the comment that Heather made on gender roles in the movie, even though it wasn’t explicitly stated. She brought to attention these gender roles that might not have seemed like a big deal when the movie aired. But examining the movie today with a lot of emphasis on such themes, we can see that this movie does imply these gender roles.
I actually saw “West Side Story” being performed in my elementary school play about more than eight years ago. At the time, I was only in 4th grade and it was a play by mostly the 5th graders in school. Though it was so long ago, I remember really liking the play because of the musical touch to it. However, I also remember that I had no clue what the storyline of the play was because I had recently moved to the United States and my english was not there. After reading your film review and listening to your presentation about the film in class, all of it sort of came back to me. I found it really interesting that the story is based on the Romeo and Juliet storyline but also liked your comment that stories similar are becoming cliche. Despite this, I look forward to rewatching this again when I have time.