Piñero:
A movie that tells a tale about the
Latino icon, poet and playwright
Miguel Piñero
Miguel Piñero: (December 19, 1946 –
June 18, 1988)
Who was Miguel Piñero?
• Piñero was a Puerto Rican playwright, actor,
and co- founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café.
He was one of the leading members of the
Nuyorican literary movement.
Main Characters in Movie:
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Miguel Piñero-Benjamin Pratt
Sugar- Talisa Soto
Miguel Algarin aka Profe- Giancarlo Esposito
Tito Goya-Nelson Vasquez
Edgar- Michael Wright
Reinaldo Povad aka “Ray”-Michael Wright
Characters (Continued):
• Sugar- Sugar was a prostitute that was the “girlfriend” or main lover of
Pinero. She seemed to be obsessed with Pinero, and was willing to do
anything to please him (both sexually and physically), and stuck by Pinero
even at his worst.
• “ You like me so much it makes me nervous.” –Miguel Piñero
*This was a quote said by Piñero when Sugar tells him how much she likes
him, and how she has been infatuated with him since she was young
*It is obvious to the audience that Piñero does not share the same feelings for
Sugar as she does for him. In my opinion Sugar actually loved Piñero, but
Piñero’s love for Sugar is questionable.
*I think that Pinero had Sugar around for the companionship and the sex, but
at the end of the day he was unsure about his sexuality (ex. interaction
with Reinaldo at the strip club)
Characters (Continued):
• Miguel Algarin- Miguel Algarin is Pinero’s closest friend in the
movie. He is there for Pinero no matter what, through thick and thin.
Algarin comes up with the idea to open the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which is
still open today on the Lower East Side.
• Miguel Algarin is quite opposite of Miguel Pinero from his lifestyle to his
personality. He is an accomplished professor at Rutgers University and has
his life together. Even though he is stable in his life all throughout the
movie, and Pinero is not, Miguel Algarin is still willing to help Pinero in any
way that he can. In the movie he says to Pinero “I am your memory”.
*When he says this he is referring to all the nights when Pinero does crazy
things that he cannot remember while intoxicated, like the night of one of
his play premieres.
Characters (Continued):
• Tito Goya- Tito is one of Piñero’s best friends.
He plays
“Cupcakes” in the play “Short Eyes.”
• *Pinero is hesitant to talk about Tito and gets angry whenever
somebody mentions him. He is supposedly dead while the
movie takes place and Pinero tells everyone the cause of his
death was a ice box that fell on him. In reality Tito Goya died
from liver ailment.
Main Characters (Continued):
• Edgar- Edgar is Pinero's friend from prison. He is the first
person that tells Pinero that his skills as a poet can get him
out of prison and that he can do great things with his talent.
• Edgar is Pinero's only companion once his fame wears off and
he is back to his “junkie” ways. Pinero and Edgar live in Edgar's
old van towards the final days of their lives, and Edgar
becomes ill and dies in the van as well.
• They have a true friendship, and when Piñero finds Edgar
dead in the van, it is one of the first times that he shows true
emotion in the movie
Characters (Continued):
• Reinaldo Povad aka “Ray”- Piñero is introduced to
Reinaldo because he comes to one of his acting classes. He stands out
from the rest of the students because he acts in a fresh tone towards
Piñero in a way that Piñero is not familiar with, and Piñero likes this about
him.
• After their first meeting, Reinaldo and Piñero go to a strip club, where
their behavior is questionable and can be classified as “homosexual” or
“bisexual” in Piñero's case since he still sees Sugar.
• Reinaldo is Piñero’s protégé and writes a popular play called ''Cuba and
His Teddy Bear.” This play became poplar when Piñero's fame had faded
so Piñero is jealous of his success because in a way Reinaldo had become
everything that Piñero once was.
• Piñero shows up to the opening night of Reinaldo’s play drunk and
belligerent which was sad to watch during the film.
Plot of Film is mostly Based on Events
in Piñero’s Life:
• Piñero was a film based on the true life of Miguel Piñero.
• The film portrayed Piñero as a criminal, junkie, famous poet, and a good
friend all tied together in one.
• Piñero started stealing at a young age and ends up in jail, and when in jail
he writes his first poem which was called Black Woman with a Blonde Wig
On. He also develops a play called “Short Eyes” which was by far his most
famous play. Joseph Papp notices the play and he brings it to the attention
of Broadway where it becomes a hit!
• After the success of Short Eyes, Piñero’s life slowly goes downhill. He turns
to drugs, mainly heroin, and basically needs this substance to survive.
• The doctor tells him that his liver is failing, so Piñero knows that he
doesn’t have much time left but continues to drink which will lead to his
ultimate downfall.
Short Eyes: One of Piñero’s Most
Famous Plays
• Pinero’s most famous play was Short Eyes .
• The play is a drama based on Piñero’s experience in prison and with his
inmates.
• Play was first debuted in the 1974 at the Riverside Church in Manhattan
• Joseph Papp saw the play and was so impressed that he moved the
production to Broadway
• From Broadway, the play went on for production in the Public Theatre, and
then eventually to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
• Play nominated for six Tony awards
• Won the “New York Drama Critics Circle Award” and “Obie Award” for
best play of the year
• First play written by a Puerto-Rican to be put on Broadway
Piñero&Puerto Rico:
• Piñero visits Puerto Rico in the film, and while giving a speech to some
well educated people he becomes upset and says, “ Be Puerto Rican and
don’t fake what you are!”
• Piñero becomes angry at the scholars when they claim that he is
misrepresenting the Puerto Rican people and heritage because he
associates the Puerto Rican people with his Nuyorican viewpoint
• It seems that Piñero is mad that the Puerto Rican scholars are putting on
an “Americanized” act of what they are, and he does not think that they
are being loyal to their true Puerto Rican heritage
• Piñero associates being Puerto Rican with being poor and living on the
streets like he did, and he doesn’t understand that it is ok to be educated
and use proper language so he looks down on these people to whom is is
giving his speech and thinks that they are misrepresenting Puerto Rico
Piñero&Puerto Rico (Continued):
• Piñero identified himself more with the streets of the Lower East Side
where he grew up, and the street culture that was associated with this
environment and lifestyle more than his Puerto Rican heritage
• The fact that he created the term “Nuyorican” shows that he did not
completely consider himself to relate to the Puerto Rican culture back
home or in Puerto Rico
• Pinero's love for the Lower East Side is clearly seen when he asks for his
ashes to be scattered on the streets of the Lower East Side
Piñero and Emotion:
• All throughout the film, Piñero is constantly under the influence of
hard drugs (mostly heroin and coke), dope, or alcohol
• He refers to himself as a “junkie”
• He continues to drink even though the doctor sternly tells him that
his drinking is killing him
• Might be using these substance to numb himself of the emotion he
feels because he doesn’t know how to express his emotions to
other people or he might not want to feel emotion at all
• His plays were an outlet for him to release his emotion, but once his
fame floats away, it seems that he does not know what to do and
turns to drugs more than he ever had before
Piñero and Emotion (Continued):
• Piñero hides his emotion when people ask him about his
friend Tito Goya
• Piñero hides emotion when it comes to Sugar. He asks her to
marry him but cannot give a reason other than physical as to
why she should do this. (property, etc.)
• Shows no emotion toward his mother when she comes to
visit, until she says that she implies that she might not have
much time left “I’ll make you proud mama”
The End:
• 