Nuyorican Dream

Released 1999
Features The Torres family (Marta, Robert, Betty, Tati, Danny, Millie)
Directed by Laurie Collyer

Nuyorican -- n. A Puerto Rican living in New York or one who has lived in New York and returned to Puerto Rico.

This film follows a Puerto Rican family living in New York City. It takes a fly on the wall approach with little narration and shows us the family's lives. The family consists of Marta, who left Puerto Rico for NYC in 1968, her five children, and several grandchildren. Robert is the oldest of Marta's children, and he provides what little narration there is.

One of the film's goals is to show the cycle of poverty, and it's very successful. Anyone who believes the poor have the American Dream at their fingertips needs to see this movie. Poverty is a cycle of drugs, teenage pregnancy, lack of education, and crime, and it's very difficult to break out. Fortunately, Robert was able to get out. Not only is he the only member of his family to ever graduate from high school, but he also graduated from college. Three of his siblings, however, dropped out of school and got heavily involved in drugs. Their drug use continued into their late 20's and beyond. Two of his sisters also had several children as unwed teenagers; the other sister, Millie, is only 13 at the time of filming. She says she's going to learn from her sisters' mistakes, and I hope she does. Those things can turn in an instant, though.

Summary by Bill Alward

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