Nuyorican Dream

Released 1999
Features The Torres family (Marta, Robert, Betty, Tati, Danny, Millie)
Directed by Laurie Collyer
Reviewed November 7, 2000

"Nuyorican Dream" opens with the following definition: "Nuyorican -- n. A Puerto Rican living in New York or one who has lived in New York and returned to Puerto Rico."

I love documentaries, because you get to see people from parts of the world that you never knew existed. 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.

What stood out most for me most in this film was the drug use. The drugs were everywhere. At one point, Marta laments how they've destroyed her community, and she's absolutely right. They are part of their culture. If you're not using them, you're selling them. More than likely, you're doing both. From what this film shows, crack, heroin and marijuana are the drugs of choice. Regardless of how you may feel about marijuana, I don't believe it's possible to be a casual user of crack or heroin. Those drugs grab you and don't let go. I don't know how government could address this problem, but I do know locking up the users isn't working.

It's depressing to see how drugs have ravaged Robert's sisters, Betty and Tati. At one point Robert visits Tati in Florida, because she has told him she has her life together. He has high hopes for her, but things aren't going as well as he had hoped. She's proud of herself that she has kicked crack, but she's still using heroin. In fact, we hear her shoot up in the bathroom of Dunkin' Donuts while she's working there. At other times we see or hear of Betty and Tati going in and out of drug rehab programs. At the end we're told Tati has cleaned up, but you have to wonder for how long. Betty doesn't fare as well.

The brightest spot in the film is Robert, who avoided the pitfalls of dropping out of school, drugs, and crime. He works for the education system in the inner city, and he looks like he can make a difference. At one point, one of the students' mother cries and thanks him from the bottom of her heart for what he's doing for her daughter and the school. I felt that was genuine. He has great insight into the problems of the schools and the problems the kids are facing, and I believe he found his calling. After all, he lived the experience and understands how it could have been better for him and his siblings, and I think he's intelligent and driven enough to translate that experience into positive results. When people are able to overcome their obstacles, it's important that they remain in their community. If they simply leave, their community has not benefitted in any way. If there are enough people willing to make personal sacrifices as Robert has, they can improve their community. If they don't do it, no one will.

Robert made the comment that because he succeeded, people not living there will think it's easy for anyone to succeed. I agree with him that people like myself don't understand what they're up against, and it's very difficult for me to understand why they can't break out. Seeing something like "Nuyorican Dream" gives me some insight into their barriers, and these insights can lead to understanding. From understanding we can make changes. If we don't understand the problems, we treat the symptoms and perpetuate the cycle.

If you were a legislator, I have no idea how you'd address this poverty cycle. Clearly, it begins with education. Robert refers to statistics that show the number of latino high school graduates falling during a time when the percentage of latinos in America is drastically increasing. Without education these kids have no chance. They will end up like Robert's brother, Danny, who chose armed robbery as an occupation and will spend most of his life in prison.

It seems politicians largely ignore the problems of the inner city, and one of the reasons may be that the problems are so complex. There certainly aren't any easy answers, but it's also true that it's much cheaper (and more humane) to educate kids than to imprison them later as adults. I find it ironic that we have a labor crunch in the year 2000 in America, and we have over two million adults in prison. Some percentage of those could have been productive citizens had they been properly educated as kids or taught a trade in prison before being released. Instead, we're loosening our immigration laws to bring in more workers. One thing I found shocking was Robert's statement that Danny received no education while in prison as a teenager. Danny certainly needed to be incarcerated for his armed robbery charge at 14, but if he's simply locked up and given no education, what chance does he have to be something other than a criminal when he's released?

Marta is the heart and soul of her family. She works herself to near exhaustion every day cooking, cleaning, caring for her grandchildren (because their mothers cannot), selling used clothing on the street, etc. It's very difficult, but through it all she's able to provide a loving environment for her family. It's because of her that Robert cares so much about his siblings as well as the kids in his school. The film ends with a beautiful birthday poem from Robert to his mother, that starts the entire family (and I'm sure most viewers) crying. In a few words he sums up the sacrifices Marta has made for her children, and the suffering they've caused her. It's deeply moving for everyone.

Reviewed by Bill Alward  Home

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