Fools Rush In

When you think of cultures collide what does that mean exactly? According to the dictionary cultures means “a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.” and collide means “to crash together or to crash into something.”  So in essence, cultures colliding for the sake of this movie are about a White-American family intermixing with a Mexican-American family.

In this romantic comedy, cultures collide after a casual night of passion between an architect, Alex Whitman a New Yorker, and a photographer, Isabel Fuentes, a Mexican-American living in Las Vegas are brought together for one night. Three months have gone by and Isabel shows up at Alex’s house with the news she’s pregnant and it’s his baby. Isabel being concerned that her family will be upset because she is pregnant, asks Alex to meet her family for their weekly family dinner, in hopes that she can break the news to them and they will know who the dad is. Alex is surprised by this big family dinner, which show cases the Mexican side of Isabel’s culture and the warmth this big family has for each other. Coming from a more prominent white family, he tells Isabel that they only see each other for special occasions and holidays. Feeling moved by meeting Isabel’s family and on a whim, he proposes and they get married in a Vegas chapel with an Elvis impersonator who walks Isabel down the aisle. Isabel starts to wonder why Alex hasn’t told his parents about their marriage and he tells her that his parents are in Europe. When Alex’s parents come into town to visit him, they think that Isabel is the maid and Alex doesn’t correct them. After finally admitting that Isabel is his wife and not the maid to his parents, both sets of parents get together and Alex and Isabel feel that they have made a mistake. Things escalate with their parents when religion is brought up, along with their growing careers, and they both start to wonder if doing the right thing was just that, especially since Alex lives in New York and Isabel is from Nevada. As the movie progresses and Isabel is fearful that Alex has made a mistake in marrying her, she ends up in the hospital leading Alex to believe that she has lost their baby. Alex finishes his job in Las Vegas and moves back to New York while Isabel goes to Mexico to be with her grandmother to hide her growing belly. Filing for divorce, Isabel leaves her grandmothers and drives back to Las Vegas to have her baby. Alex having gotten the divorce papers starts to see signs everywhere that Isabel is the one and he needs to get back to her before the divorce is final at midnight. Waiting on the Hoover Dam Bridge, Alex waits for Isabel to drive by as she always does on her way back into town. Isabel shows up on the bridge and goes into labor and delivers a baby girl. On the night of their daughter’s birth, they become divorced, but soon remarry with both of their families together.

When cultures collide, it can be a beautiful pairing, showing you the richness that can come from peoples love for one another and the support from their family. Not everyone can be so lucky to have this kind of support and it’s sad because the world is changing and you need to embrace the change and not the ugly.

Fools Rush In Movie Trailer

Quotes from Fools Rush in –

Richard Whitman: In case you haven’t noticed, the white people are melting out here!

Alex Whitman: They’re great. I had no idea that families talked at dinner.

What Constitutes a Better Life?

For some people a better life means living somewhere that has opportunities. In Latin American countries people are starving, are afraid of the violence taking place in the streets and the political instability. Having to Flee to the US for a chance at a better life inspired by the “American Dream” is worth the struggle.

In the movie “A Better Life” you see a Dad named “Carlos” struggling with his teenage son named “Luis” who is a high school student. Carlos is a gardener who works hard to provide for his son by living in a small shack house in Los Angeles where the surrounding neighborhood is known for gang activity. Luis is embarrassed by his father and, although he does not wish to follow in his footsteps, he has a hard time committing himself to his education. He happens to be in a relationship with Ruthie who is the niece of a local gang leader and Luis’s friend Facundo pushes him toward becoming a gang member. Carlos asks his sister Anita for a loan to purchase Blasco’s gardening truck and tools because Blasco wants to return to Mexico. Anita lends Carlos $12,000, which comes from her family’s emergency fund. Carlos takes over the gardening business and, returns to the corner where he used to look for work hiring Santiago, who shared his lunch with him one day when he had none. On the first day working with Santiago he steals Carlos’s truck. Telling Luis about Santiago stealing the truck, they find out where he is working to get the truck back. Santiago, moonlights as a dishwasher at a nightclub and it is closed, so they head to a nearby rodeo to wait. At the rodeo, Carlos and Luis talk about Luis’s feelings toward his culture and his family. Luis is bitter about his mother abandoning them and tells his Dad, that he hates Mexican music and the traditions. Going back to the nightclub to look for Santiago, he tries to run away but Luis, is waiting outside and tackles him to the ground where he beats him to a pulp. They discover that Santiago has sold the truck and sent the money back to his family in El Salvador. Luis feeling betrayed by his father for defending the man who stole their opportunity for improving their lives, runs away. The next day Carlos goes looking for Luis and finds him at Facundo’s house where the two friends argue and, Luis decides to stand by his father. Finding the garage where Santiago sold the truck, they steal it back but on their way home, they are pulled over by the police. Carlos is arrested and incarcerated as an illegal immigrant and is quickly processed to be deported back to Mexico. Luis gets to the prison just before Carlos is about to board the bus and the guards allow him to visit with Luis. Carlos apologizes to Luis for not being there for him and Luis tells him he should not be sorry. Carlos makes Luis promise him that he will continue with his studies and Luis makes Carlos promise him that he will return. At the end of the movie Luis is playing soccer while his Aunt and two cousin watch on and Carlos is in the desert with other immigrants including a coyote getting ready to head to the other side when Carlos says, “Vamos a casa” “Let’s go home”.

What does that mean? What is home? Home too many of us is where you live or what is familiar to you or where your family is. Home to me is where your heart is, it doesn’t matter where you are. This movie painted a picture of an undocumented Dad living in the US with a child that was a US citizen. Being Hispanic American can be hard on a kid growing up and not knowing where you fit in. A memorable quote “Carlos Galindo: This country is a land of dreams. It can be a hard place. A cruel place.” Hollywood glamorizes lives and makes the youth generation think that life is easy and acting a certain way can mislead you down the wrong path. I’m glad that at the end of this movie it shows the son keeping his promise to his Dad while playing soccer, something they loved to do together. “Carlos Galindo: Each day I work. I dream of a better place for my son.” Spoken like many parents.

Better Life

Better Life Movie Quotes

Better Life IMDB

Better Life Wikipedia

Hello class,

It’s Cynthia Dorman and I’m a junior Interdisciplinary Studies student. I’m hoping that after this semester I will be a senior and will be graduating like some of the rest of you. It’s great that some of you are already planning to begin a masters program, you inspire me. I’m just hoping to pass my current classes and graduate with my bachelors. I’m a working full time mom and have 2 teenagers at home along with a toy fox terrier named Koda. I have blogged in the past, but it’s been along while since I’ve posted anything. Enjoying the class so far follow me on twitter @Cdorman19

I’m a hopless romantic and I love all kinds of movies, but some of my all time favorites are, Gone With The Wind, The Note Book, Sweet Home Alabama, etc. Love Meryl Streep in most anything 🙂