Stand and Deliver describes the story of Jaime Escalante, who comes to teach in the school that is located in the poor Latino neighborhood with the motivation to increase the students’ level of education significantly. Due to the hard work, he and his students are able to successfully pass Advanced Placement calculus two times which makes this movie quite inspirational. Nevertheless, although Latino students are portrayed as very laborious and clever, Goldman maintains that overall the story still recreates and enforces the conservative views concerning Chicanos (92). Such opinion is based on the fact that Stand and Deliver reproduces the negative and one-sided depictions of Hispanic people that are common for Hollywood movies.
Despite the seemingly positive portrayal of Latino students who are highly determined to pass the final math exam and enter college, the movie, in reality, reaffirms the most popular prejudices about this minority group. For instance, the movie shows Chicanos as those who are poor, uninterested in studies, and gang members. Evidently, the scenes that describe the life of the students outside the school are no different from the common representations of Latinos in mainstream media (Glick and Dean 65). Probably, the most picturesque example of the movie’s conservative message is the dialogue that happens between Ana’s father and Jaime. The parent of Escalante’s student asserts that his daughter does not need to finish school as she would most surely “get pregnant and drop out” from college later (Goldman 89). Therefore, it can be questioned whether Stand and Deliver can really reduce the racist and prejudiced views towards Latinos.
Yet, despite the affirmation of the popular image concerning ‘barrio’ and its inhabitants, the movie challenges the existing institutional racism or, in other words, the system that only serves the interests of the dominant group. Thus, Stand and Deliver shows that in this particular case, Chicanos are not naturally violent or not intelligent. Instead, the blame for poverty, low education, and high criminality levels is placed on institutions that cannot adequately integrate this group and provide its members with good opportunities.
Works Cited
Goldman, Ilene, ” Crossing Invisible Borders: Ramon Menendez’s Stand and Deliver.” Ethnic Eye : Latino Media Arts, edited by Chon A. Noriega and Ana M. López, University of Minnesota Press, 1996, pp. 81-94.
Glick, Stephanie, and Allyson Dean. “Learning To Be “Good Enough”: Hollywood’s Role In Standardizing Knowledge And The Myth Of Meritocracy.” Postcolonial Directions in Education, vol. 9, no. 1, 2020, pp. 43-87.