Mi familia
My Family/Mi familia Please answer the questions below in succinct yet complete. Try too avoid use of first person (I think, I feel, I believe, It appears to me, etc) Also, please try to use active voice (The film shows…) as opposed to passive voice voice (It was shown in the film that …)
1. In what way does the film represent and empower the non-lettered citizen?
2. By portraying Mexican-Americans as the new American family, how does Mi familiaat once challenge and accept traditional notions of so-called American values?
3. Some immigrant groups have also equated education with “leaving the family behind, being ashamed of the family,” etc. How does this view affect the attainment of the American Dream.
4. What are some examples of institutional racism in this movie? What are some examples of cultural racism in this movie? How do these examples impact the Sanchez family?
5. Compare and contrast the sense of “community” that Mario Suárez presents in his short story “El Hoyo” with that of Mi familia.
6. What do you think are the defining characteristics of Anglo American culture? What part of the Sanchez’s family’s culture does not fit with American Anglo culture?
7. What makes it difficult for the Sanchez family to assimilate into American Anglo culture? Why do some of the children resist assimilating? What is the experience like for those who do assimilate?
8. What is your cultural heritage? What does that mean to you? Have you, or any of your family members, faced institutional oppression to your culture here in the United States? How did your family deal with that oppression? What was their means of survival? What did you gain and what did you lose through that means of survival?
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Mi Familia
Question One
The film My Family presents an account of different generations of immigrant families’ attempt, success, and challenges settling in the United States. Difficulties such as assimilation make it difficult for the non-lettered citizens, some of whom extensively deny their ties to the United States, instead looking for ties to their native cultures. Ultimately, the film makes it clear that although there could be difficulties in the country such as issues associated with deportation, some of the immigrants could still successfully make a life for themselves to the extent of raising different generations of families in the country.
(897 words)