The problem of immigration can be discussed as one of the most problematic issues for the US society because the vision of the Latinos’ immigration is based on great prejudice and a lot of stereotypes developed within the society. In the movie Harvest of Empire (2012) directed by Peter Getzels and Eduardo Lopez, the discussion of the problem of the Latinos’ immigration to the USA depends on Juan Gonzalez’s idea which was earlier presented in his book Harvest of Empire (2001).
Juan Gonzalez is the professional journalist, working for the New York Daily News. Being born in Puerto Rico, Gonzalez pays much attention to the discussion of the problem of the Latinos’ immigration in the USA with references to the issues of economy, foreign and regional politics, and social stereotypes.
Thus, the active immigration processes and the ‘invasion’ of the Latinos in the USA are the logical consequences of the prolonged territorial expansion of the USA and its economic influence in the region that is why the immigration of the Latinos is the direct result of the US government’s actions.
The plot of the movie is based on the consequential presentation of the reasons and evidences for supporting the main idea. Therefore, the movie starts with accentuating the thought that the causes of the immigration of people from the Latin America are closely connected with the actions of the USA in the economic and political spheres, and another vision of the issue is based on stereotypes and prejudice, but not on the logical reasoning.
This opinion is clearly presented in Gonzalez’s statement, “the huge Latino presence here is a direct result of our own government’s actions in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America over many decades – actions that forced millions from that region to leave their homeland and journey north” (Harvest of Empire, 2012).
To examine the issue in detail, the movie’s authors refer to the situation of the people’s emigrating from such countries as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and some other ones. Discovering the people’s causes for their immigration to the USA, the authors focus on the historical and social processes and provide the support for the movie’s main idea.
The discussion of the roots of the US ‘Latinization’ is closely associated with such aspects as the development of the majority’s stereotypes in relation to the Latinos and their real contribution to the US economic, social, and cultural progress.
The movie’s authors connect the history of the US expansion of the Latin America’s countries with presenting the stories of well-known Maria Guardado, Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, Luis Enrique, and other persons to emphasize the role of the personality in the process and break the stereotypes that the presence of the Latinos in the USA is illegal and dangerous for the economic processes.
Each individual’s story states the idea that the negative role of the demographic diversity accentuated by the majority is the prejudice, but not the fact. Moreover, this diversity is a result of the US intensive policy in the region when a lot of people were forced to find the better life in the USA.
As a result, the authors of the movie concentrate on the real situation in relation to the issue of the Latinos’ immigration to the USA and consequentially break the stereotypes with references to discussing the aspects and goals of the US foreign policy and the real contributions of the immigrants to the country’s development and growth.
Reference
Harvest of Empire. (2012). Web.