Bertie Sackson
12/8/21
FYSE Presentation
Intro: I chose to research the effects of poverty and why the representation of such is so prevalent in the films we watched. I used Entre Nos and A Better Life as the main focus of my analysis. I wanted to find out the total effects of poverty and just how much it impares one socially. Additionally, I wanted to highlight some of the cliche elements to show what is exaggerated, because the depiction of poverty reflects the general understanding in all art forms, including cinema.
Findings: The entire narrative arc of A Better Life deals with these very issues. When examining the main driving point of the plot, the search for Carlos’s truck, you see how totalitarian poverty is on one's life. That truck is Carlos’s lifeline, without it he can not make money. Something like a truck or car could be taken for granted, yet it was chosen to be the crux of this movie. That is a choice to make viewers understand just how much they have to be thankful for and spread awareness about those who do not. Entre Nos asks a similar question to the viewer. Entre Nos was more about family and supporting your own then general immigrationn struggles. Mariana is tasked with being the patriarch of her family, which is especially rare in Latino cultures. Due to her immigrant status, Mariana can not get employment, which begs a similar question. How is she supposed to provide for her family?
A study done in 2017 on immigrant children concluded that, due to the stress factors of being an immigrant, both socially and economically, led to malnutrition and developmental issues that set back these children from the start. (Mendoza, Marina M et al. “The effects of economic and sociocultural stressors on the well-being of children of Latino immigrants living in poverty.”
Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology vol. 23,1 (2017): 15-26.) Entre Nos shows this problem in practice. Marianna struggles to feed her children because of the monetary requirement. In turn, malnutrition can lead to a whole host of issues in social circumstances and education. Without fulfilling educational requirements it again creates stagnation. This is why food banks and food drives are so important, to try to ease the burden. This issue is very prevalent in immigrant cultures and is why movies like Entre Nos are so important. These movies reflect the struggles of the people that make them, and can bring awareness to a lot of these issues.
Media:
Olcoń, Katarzyna Their needs are higher than what I can do”: Moral distress in providers working with Latino immigrant families, University of Wollongong, South Western Sydney 4/16/20