Saturday, February 21, 2015

McFarland, U.S.A.

I just watched McFarland last night (trailer).  I left the theater feeling so proud of my students, the same kind of students whom Coach White helped.  It was a great movie to show how engagement with school activities or staff can turn a child's life around.

Then today, I realized that it was another White Savior movie.  :(  The white guy comes in, and changes the lives of all of those poor people of color. 
I also realized that the movie probably failed the Bechdel Test.  There were several women and girl characters, but they mostly were background for Coach White (his family or colleagues).  I guess this is not unexpected for a movie about a (men's) running team. 

Still, I really liked the movie.  I loved the representation of Hispanic culture.  Although the movie definitely exaggerated the friendliness and inclusiveness of small towns or Hispanic families, the "fish out of water" experience of the White family going to a small, Hispanic town in the central valley of California in 1987 was pretty funny. 

I look forward to hearing the responses of Hispanic people, especially migrant workers and their kids.  So much of the movie seems realistic to me, but that's no my background.  I've lived near migrant communities for much of my life, but "near" and "in" is a vast difference.