Well put, ray. And, as I've said here before, as an immigrant myself, I am very moved by this show. Its seeming simplicity is actually layered with nuances, literary and cultural references, characters that have been plucked from my personal experiences. It's far from perfect, but it's not fluff, either. Puerto Rican and other Latino identities have long been stamped by negative and/or condescending portrayals set forth by shows like West Side Story, which is so offensively inauthentic in its depiction of Puerto Ricans, that to this day, I can't sit through it.
Just as a comparitive note, in WSS, the Puerto Ricans characters praise the wonders of the immigrant experience in "America":
I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!
...Automobile in America,
Chromium steel in America,
Wire-spoke wheel in America,
Very big deal in America!
...Immigrant goes to America,
Many hellos in America... The song stings of irony (particularly in the revised lyrics for the film), particularly in the assumption that either these immigrants really are better off in the US, or are too stupid to realize that, as outsiders, they're not actually partaking in the "American Dream".
In ITH, by contrast, you see Abuela Claudia's own retelling of the way she was greeted when she arrived in NYC:
Learning the ropes in America
En español I remember
Dancing with mayor LaGuardia
All of society welcoming mami and me:
"You better clean this mess"
Paciencia y fe
"You better learn inglés"
Paciencia y fe
"You better not be late
You better pull your weight
You're better off than you were with the birds of La Víbora" While in WSS, the immigrants merrily sing and dance about how "great" they have it, or how much they disdain Puerto Rico , because of its poverty, and tropical climate (both of which are ludicrously exaggerated), Abuela Claudia sings with painful yearning, and recounts the very real struggles many immigrants face. She's not idealizing Cuba, either. This lyric is powerful for its painful yearning: "Ain't no Casiopia in Washington Heights. But ain't no food en La Víbora" She acknowledges Cuba's poverty, yet, unlike Anita in WSS, does not do so in a derogatory light.
The same venue that once showed characters praising the wonders of the immigrant experience or proclaiming disdain for Puerto Rico ("let it sink back in the ocean" ), now brings us a song that so accurately depicts the immigrant experience for many of us (her story could well be my own grandmother's), and "Carnaval del Barrio", in which the characters proudly celebrate their culture in light of adversity:
Arriba esa bandera [Raise that flag]
Álzala dondequiera [Raise it anywhere]
Recuerdo de mi tierra [A memory of my land, or nation]
Recuerdo de mi tierra
Esa bonita bandera [That beautiful flag]
Contiene mi alma entera [contains my entire soul]
Y cuando yo me muera [and when I die]
Entiérrame en mi tierra [bury me in my land, nation]
...Maybe we're powerless, a corner full of foreigners.
Maybe this neighborhood's changing forever.
Maybe tonight is our last night together.
However, How do you want to face it?
Do you wanna waste it when the end is so close you can taste it?
You can cry with your head in the sand.
I'm gonna fly this flag that I got in my hand It's this side of our culture, the way we so desperately and lovingly cling to our heritage, what Lin-Manuel so beautifully pays homage to in this piece.
It's refreshing to see another side of our identity on an American stage. Our music, language, cultural intricacies, no longer homogenized, and proudly displayed. It means a GREAT deal to me to hear a Puerto Rican plena sung by Puerto Rican characters, or a merengue sung by Dominican characters, a Cuban bachata by a Cuban, and to understand that, while these intricacies are likely to go over most viewers' heads, so much careful attention has been given to authenticity.
That, to me, is Lin-Manuel's greatest achievement. And you can't just tell me that this show won't have a lasting impact on my life, and my appreciation for theatre as a whole. It already has.
Sorry for the long post. I don't meant to come off so preachy. Since I clearly can't help myself, I'm just gonna stay away from ITH threads on this board. I can't take the pressure of continually needing to justify my love for this piece.
Updated On: 4/3/08 at 04:49 AM
