Essay 2 - Grade: A- PDF

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Comparative movie essay 2...

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Gabrielle Gonzalez Dr. John Cole HUM 3321-03 Second Essay The American Dream: Fact or Fiction?

In both Coco and Winter’s Bone, there is a clear theme of discrimination. The families that have nothing are given even less than their counterparts or threatened to lose it all. Today, we see this same treatment towards the lower class of society. Specifically, with immigrants that are risking it all to achieve this idea of the “American Dream” that the United States has been portraying for decades. Is the American Dream a hoax? Are all people given the same opportunities to build a life on? Hollywood has shed a light on this unfair treatment by creating and producing the films that will be discussed in this essay. In this essay, I will draw forward the idea of discrimination towards social groups, and the stereotypes that are causing a clear divide in society.

The Meritocracy Myth, as described by McNamee and Miller, suggests that there are non-merit factors that can suppress, negate, neutralize and create barriers for individual mobility (216). In Coco, the small shanty town of the forgotten where Hector lived could easily be seen as a lower-income neighborhood in real life. Similarly, in Winter’s Bone, the town where Ree lives in the Ozark Mountains is not an up and coming, high class, neighborhood. Looking more into the plot lines associated with the two aforementioned areas, neither characters that lived in these towns were given the opportunity to leave. Ree was threatened to lose it all. She debated the option of joining the military, but that meant leaving her family behind with close to nothing and nobody to take care of them. In Coco, if Hector was forgotten completely then he would have just disappeared like the rest of the forgotten had before him. Hector had no way of contacting

the living to help his daughter remember him. All of this information points to the Meritocracy Myth and the idea that entire groups of people could be suppressed and trapped within these barriers. Ree and Hector are both forced out of their comfort zones and willing to put themselves in danger if that meant moving forward and fighting for the life they both needed to simply survive.

This idea of non-merit, factor-induced, barriers could be said to play off of stereotypes. Fuller mentions that “Stereotypes are not just ideas” (278). This thought could be supported by the fact that even from a young age, American’s have a mental image of who belongs in what category. Looking deeper into that, it is not always innocent categorizing. Fuller goes on to say that stereotypes have a purpose towards the economic mistreatment of people from specific social groups (278). In Coco, the stereotype being mistreated would be the forgotten. In Winter’s Bone, some would argue that the stereotype would be the families of those that “cause problems” because they are then pushed out and given minimal opportunities to make it out of the inhumane circumstances out against them due to their family’s mistakes. The stereotypes presented in both movies make the character’s outcasts in their communities. They are treated poorly and not given the time of day by anyone else outside of their social group.

However, both Hector and Ree were able to change their status based on “luck”. Miguel came to the realization that Hector is his actual grandfather and returned his image to the ofrenda. This allowed Hector to become a normal citizen in the Land of the Dead again. The three Milton women were able to take Ree to her father’s body to prove to Thump that he is dead. Therefore, she was able to keep her family home as well as receive a large amount of cash.

In conclusion, Hollywood has accurately portrayed stereotyped social groups and how they are discriminated against. They have shown their audience that even though the American Dream has the possibility to be real, it can be extremely difficult to attain. In both Coco and Winter’s Bone the characters, Hector and Ree, were given a change of fate at the end of the films. This luck does not always come to everyone in pursuit of the dream. With that being said, whether or not the American Dream is fact or fiction relies entirely on the actions surrounding it and the chance of getting that “lucky break”.

Works Cited Coco. Dir. Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina. Perf. Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt. Walt Disney Pictures, 2017. DVD. Fuller, Abigail. “What Difference Does Difference Make? Women, Race, Ethnicity, Social Class, and Social Change.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Fall 2016Spring/Summer 2017. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren Martilli. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2016. McNamee, Stephen J. and Robert K. Miller. “The Meritocracy Myth.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Fall 2016 – Spring/Summer 2017. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren Martilli. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2016. Winter’s Bone. Dir. Debra Granik. Perf. Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt. Anonymous Content, 2010. DVD....