“Now it’s her turn.She has to work.” #CHST302
— Joseph Canchola (@CancholaJoseph) September 30, 2012
She does have many coming of age choices in this film. Choosing to apply to as well as go to college against her parents’ will. Working in the clothing factory was a big coming of age experience or her. She got to witness the hard work and little pay her family received. She also had a coming of a moment when she had to ask her father if she could borrow money for her sister’s business. Ana’s situation definitely resembles “House On Mango St.” because she is growing up in an environment with other low-income individuals all sharing a specific mindset about life. Ana also relates to Moraga in the sense that they both go against the excepted sexual norms. Ana has been told she has to save her virginity for marriage and look good just to get a man, but she believes there is more to her than that like her personality and mind. The experiences in this movie caused ana to have new eye opening experiences and see the possibilities of her life in a whole new light.
One of my favorite coming of age moments in the movie was Ana telling her mom “I don’t give a F**K!” about what people think 🙂 #chst302
— Christina (@cmferrada) September 28, 2012
In the film, Ana’s mother both embodies and enforces “traditional” Chicana gender roles. She emphasizes the importance of women to take care of their husband and children, and to devote themselves to family alone. There is no room for individual identity or making your own path, which she refers to as “selfishness.” She does the “traditional” Chicana motherly duties of cooking, cleaning, criticizing, gossiping and fussing over superstitions. She wants nothing more than for her daughters to lose weight, catch a husband, and get married so they can follow in her role.
Interesting that the novella her mom watches is called Los Pobres Lloran Mas. Clearly Ana wants out that kind of lifestyle. #CHST302
— Astrid Arellano(@astrid_aarellan) September 29, 2012
Throughout the film we are reminded that they are in the heart of Los Angeles. The Mexican music and people, the culture, and the diversity are all very present. Ana lives in the East side where she is the odd one out for seeming “white”, thinking too much, and not accepting the traditional ways of life. However, she attends Beverly Hills High School where she lies to her classmates about traveling to Europe after graduation just to fit in with their middle upper class ideals. Los Angeles is so diverse that it really helped capture the moments conveyed in the film.
Ana struggles between her two cultures: the American and the traditional Mexican.
Ana is fighting with American values that she lives, and the values of her traditional mother. Two generations at odds in values. #CHST302
— Andy Zavals (@imhighonfire) October 1, 2012
It’s interesting how Ana deals with losing her virginity much better than how Carmen deals with going through menopause #CHST302
— Alejandra Alarcon (@alealarconxx) October 1, 2012
Jessica:
Ana’s sister and Carmen’s other daughter Estela is to me the one that kind of deviates from the traditional gender roles. Her mother Carmen points out that she is also too “fat” to get married so she’s given up hope on Estela, but I think there is a line in the movie when Estela says something about how she doesn’t need a man to make her happy, she’s got her job. But then her job is one that has historically been female. She may be the boss, but she’s still making dresses. Estela is stuck in this in-between place between her mother’s traditional (read: rigid) expectations and the mentalities of her young sister.
Yarida:
The movie shows the dysfunctions in a family with different cultural views. A daughter is expected to be like her mother and tend to men (which encourages machismo) and look a certain way to attract them. Ana, an American, views life in a different way. She knows that she is worth more, because she is intelligent, she is a high school graduate and she has been accepted to a University. The example Ana gives us is that of a role model. We are worth more than what is in between our legs.