Spanglish (2004)

Spanglish

The movie I watched was the 2004 film called Spanglish.  It was a very entertaining movie.  This movie is about an immigrant single mother named Flor Moreno.  She has a young daughter named Cristina.  Flor’s cousin finds her work as a housekeeper for a financially well-off white family named the Clasky’s.  Deb and John Clasky represent the typical white family that live in a nice house with their two children, Bernice and Georgie.  Flor doesn’t speak any English and in the movie you can see that language sometimes does become a barrier.  To try and fit in Flor, eventually does learn English.  Throughout the movie Flor realizes just how different this new life is.

One of the main themes that this movie deals with is the issue of multiculturalism in the United States.  Flor Moreno represents the Hispanic culture that struggles to remain authentic in a multicultural society.  The movie shows the importance of maintaining your culture and not losing one’s identity.  Throughout the movie you see how hard Flor tries to keep her daughter, Cristina, to not forget who she is.

When Flor first moves to Los Angeles she is shocked and surprised by everyone speaking English around her. She doesn’t feel very comfortable.  She wants to raise her daughter in an area where she feels more “at home”.  She wants an area where she can teach her about her Hispanic culture.  She finds a mostly Hispanic area and she instantly feels happier and she finds a place to live there.

Once she gets the housekeeping job with the Clasky’s, Flor sees a lot of differences between the way she is raising Cristina and how they are raising their two children.  There is one scene where Deb Clasky decides to take Cristina out shopping without asking Flor’s permission.  Flor gets very upset when she learns her daughter is gone.  She expresses her unhappiness to Mr. Clasky.  Deb returns with Cristina, who now has pink streaks in her hair.  Flor gets upset at Deb.  First for taking her daughter without asking and second for letting her alter her hair.  In the movie there is one scene where Deb buys her daughter, Bernice, clothes one size too small.  She tells her daughter that she could basically fit into them if she exercises.  This upsets Flor.  No mom should be telling their daughter that they are fat.  Flor starts realizing that she is beginning to get disconnected from her own daughter.  Cristina is the daughter that Deb has always wanted: skinny, beautiful and smart.

Flor starts feeling as though she is losing her daughter.  Once they move to the beach house with the Clasky’s, Flor sees the excitement on Cristina’s face.  Deb even convinces Flor to put Cristina into a private school, much to Flor’s dismay.  Flor feels as though her daughter is being influenced too much by “white culture” and she is not happy.

At the end Flor decides to quit her job in order to keep Cristina in the Hispanic culture.  It is very important to Flor that Cristina never forgets her heritage.  Cristina is very upset at this because she wants to continue going to her private school and be with her friends.  She gets very angry at her mother.  Flor then in Spanish asks her, “Is what you want for yourself…to become someone very different than me?”  Cristina thinks and realizes that she loves her mother too much and doesn’t want to be anything else other than her mother’s daughter – a child raised within the Hispanic culture and tradition.

IMDb Link to Spanglish

11 thoughts on “Spanglish (2004)

  1. Hi Lucy,
    I like the story-line in this movie! I love the way Flor was determined to see that her daughter not lose her Hispanic identity. This type of influence happens within U.S. culture, therefore I believe people should maintain their traditions that is specific to their culture and nationality. The problem exists when some cultures have less acceptance than others; and the stigma and stereotypes that exists in society for non-white cultures can be problematic for the individuals who does not want to identify with their native culture and traditions.

  2. This is another film that I have not yet seen. I feel like there are so many good films that have been swept under the rug or maybe I have just been living in a cave. This film deals with multiculturalism and shows the differences but more importantly the similarities between Mexicans and their Northern counterparts. This film also seems to show the lengths at which people will go to feel at home even in a foreign place. This film puts into question self identity and shows the influences people outside of the family have on the family.

  3. I agree, this film is based on multiculturalism but also the integration of immigrant families into American society. It is interesting to see the American wife being pigeon-holed into the typical stay at home mom who is an exercise fanatic and who loves to belittle her kids all while ignoring her husband. The dynamics of the American family are typecast to seem shallow and lackadaisical. Flor on the other hand is hardworking and devoted to her daughter even without a husband or knowledge of the English language. Spanglish is a fun spin where the roles are reversed to show some concerning cracks in the foundation of a privileged American family.

  4. Lucy,
    I agree, Flor did not let not knowing English be a barrier to move forward and provide the best she can for her daughter…all the while maintaining her roots strong in place. I’ve watched this movie and you said it perfectly, Flor’s persistence of the importance of maintaining their culture and not losing one’s identity worked and paid off. I do not see anything wrong in learning or adapting to new cultures, but it is always good to maintain your own. Thanks for the post.

  5. I’ve seen this movie many times on cable. It depicts the stereotypical Spanish speaking Mexican maid/nanny Flor (Played by Spanish actress Paz Vega) that is great with the white children. How many times can we keep typecasting the mexican maid? Also why not cast a Mexican actress? Paz Vega was good in her role as Flor. However, you can hear her Spanish accent most of the movie.
    According to the Clasky’s, Flor is the best maid ever and they couldn’t bear to lose her, so they invite Flor’s daughter Cristina move-in. I appreciate Flor is portrayed as hard working Mexican woman, of strong family values and her willingness to learn English. Cristina is smart, pretty and ever the translator for her mother. This is common among children of non-English speaking parents. I’m a witness. Cristina changes throughout the movie from a plain Jane to a trendy teen assimilating thanks to Deb Clasky.
    The Clasky family was dysfunctional. Unsatisfied with life Deb was having an affair.John was clueless as his main priority was his new restaurant. Although not blind, he had taken notice of Flor’s beauty. The Deb’s mom also lived in the home and hit the sauce quite frequently. John tried to be a good father and cared for his children but he always gave in to Deb pushiness. Deb took quite a liking to Cristina. It seemed more so than her own daughter. This white culture was pure craziness in Flor’s traditional eyes. Their values were very different from hers.
    The Claskys were kind to both Flor and Cristina and appeared to genuinely care for Cristina’s well being, but in the end Flor made the decision to quit her job. She had enough of Deb’s wordly influence on Cristina,but also feared falling in love with Mr. Clasky. She came to the US in search of a better life but did not intend to leverage Cristina or herself to attain it.
    I agree its a good movie about culture clash, and an immigrants struggle to keep Identity and family together in a foreign land.

  6. This is such a great breakdown of the movie, when I first watched it I felt like I could definitely relate a lot. Specifically that line you mentioned, “Is what you want for yourself…to become someone very different than me?” really hit home. I am second generation born here so my parents were both pretty far from their Latin culture but I grew up in a mostly white city so I went through this sort of disconnect with my culture. I wanted to know more but I was already so far removed from it. I actually remember as a little girl getting embarrassed when my grandparents would do things that “didn’t fit in” and here I am years later trying to get as much about my culture from my grandparents as possible.

  7. Lucy,
    I enjoyed your post and this is a perfect example of trying to hold on to your heritage for yourself and your children. There must be a way to balance our lives so that holding on to our heritage does not mean not exploring other cultures and having new experiences. I think it is a fine line.

  8. I loved this movie and the story that it told. It was so honest in the way it represented this single mom that was Hispanic and the white family that she worked for. Flor loved this white family that she worked for but, didn’t like the way it was changing her own daughter to be white. In the end it shows Flor’s daughter who wrote a beautiful admissions letter as a tribute to her mother and how much she appreciated her mother and being true to her heritage. I own this movie and every time it is on the TV, I have to watch it. Thanks for a great film review.

  9. Rocio,

    I also watched this movie on cable! Its not a movie I would typically go see at the theater. I came across it on tv a few months ago and started watching it because I recognized Paz Vega. I was more interested in seeing what type of role she had landed in Hollywood. To my surprise her character, although a maid, was not your typical oversexualized Latina or simpleminded housekeeper. Her character had depth. Flor was hardworking, intelligent, and orderly. You said it best, she did see the white culture as pure craziness. She was devoted to provide a better life for her daughter but had no desire to lose their identity in the process.

  10. Loved it! Okay so again now after the class I see a lot of things I originally missed. There were a lot of good things I the film she was family first and had different morals and values I think that her character was above that of the other culture. While the daughter narrates there are a lot of negatives from the daughter of a strict mother point of view. I will say it would be hard for any mom not to fall in love with this mother. Also In the end there is a very good message about family and culture

  11. The movie is real life. That is marriage to many men, especially to the religious who will not admit that is their marriage.
    What I don’t like is the moral is to stay in a unhappy marriage? Bullshit, divorce her set up custody how the mom wants it and start a relationship with Flor. At the time, kids want parents together but in the end they would rather avoid the arguing and see the parents happy.

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