“El Norte”
Gregory Nava’s El Norte is a significant and relevant film illustrating how horribly workers are treated in Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as life struggles for undocumented immigrants in the United States. One of the main themes of this film is the inequality of wealth and how the poor are treated inhumanely by the rich. This film tells the story of the life of brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa who are indigenous Guatemalans. They are first faced with the loss of their father who is killed by their government for standing up against the rich who are taking advantage of the workers. Next, they are stripped of their mother who is taken by, again, their government. Rosa and Enrique, realizing that they are …show more content…
In one specific scene, before Enrique’s father is killed, he tells Enrique, “Para los ricos, los pobres son un par de brazos. Hasta tratan mejor a sus animales. Pero somos hombres, alma y corazón…”. In English he is saying “For the rich, the poor are just a pair of arms. They treat their animals better. But we are men, heart and soul…”. Their father, Arturo was part of a small revolutionary group of farmers that wanted to rise against the rich taking their land and exploiting them for their work. In the end of the movie Enrique has to do the opposite of what his father taught him. He tries to get work in America by telling the man to hire him for his strong arms. This shows just how much illegal immigrants are taken advantage of by the …show more content…
The film shows how there is a large inequality between different social classes. It also shows what workers in Central America and immigrant workers in the United States have to do, how they have to live in order to survive. In the United states many rich, white people, and large company factories, do in fact take advantage of the illegal immigrants and get cheap labor. The undocumented workers can’t speak up. This is what happens to Enrique in the film when he has to work for the man for cheap and is looked at as just “a pair of arms”. If they do speak up against being taken advantage of, they can get deported out of the country and never be able to come back. This is what millions of undocumented workers face every day.
I can not relate to the theme personally because I have never experienced what it is like to live in fear and be treated as if I am not human. This is what undocumented, Mexican and Central American immigrants have to go through every day. I will probably never understand what it is like, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t care. I chose this theme because when Enrique’s father says “For the rich, the poor are just a pair of arms” it really grabbed my attention. I also thought it was very
Gregory Nava’s El Norte is a significant and relevant film illustrating how horribly workers are treated in Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as life struggles for undocumented immigrants in the United States. One of the main themes of this film is the inequality of wealth and how the poor are treated inhumanely by the rich. This film tells the story of the life of brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa who are indigenous Guatemalans. They are first faced with the loss of their father who is killed by their government for standing up against the rich who are taking advantage of the workers. Next, they are stripped of their mother who is taken by, again, their government. Rosa and Enrique, realizing that they are …show more content…
In one specific scene, before Enrique’s father is killed, he tells Enrique, “Para los ricos, los pobres son un par de brazos. Hasta tratan mejor a sus animales. Pero somos hombres, alma y corazón…”. In English he is saying “For the rich, the poor are just a pair of arms. They treat their animals better. But we are men, heart and soul…”. Their father, Arturo was part of a small revolutionary group of farmers that wanted to rise against the rich taking their land and exploiting them for their work. In the end of the movie Enrique has to do the opposite of what his father taught him. He tries to get work in America by telling the man to hire him for his strong arms. This shows just how much illegal immigrants are taken advantage of by the …show more content…
The film shows how there is a large inequality between different social classes. It also shows what workers in Central America and immigrant workers in the United States have to do, how they have to live in order to survive. In the United states many rich, white people, and large company factories, do in fact take advantage of the illegal immigrants and get cheap labor. The undocumented workers can’t speak up. This is what happens to Enrique in the film when he has to work for the man for cheap and is looked at as just “a pair of arms”. If they do speak up against being taken advantage of, they can get deported out of the country and never be able to come back. This is what millions of undocumented workers face every day.
I can not relate to the theme personally because I have never experienced what it is like to live in fear and be treated as if I am not human. This is what undocumented, Mexican and Central American immigrants have to go through every day. I will probably never understand what it is like, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t care. I chose this theme because when Enrique’s father says “For the rich, the poor are just a pair of arms” it really grabbed my attention. I also thought it was very