Starring: John Leguizamo
Presented by :
Carlos A. Restrepo & Emily M. Van Buren
THE MAN HIMSELF!
•
Born July 22, 1964 in Bogotá, Colombia
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Colombian and Puerto Rican descent
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At age 4 migrated with family to Queens, NYC (Jackson
Heights)
•
Started out as a stand-up comic within the New York
nightclub circuit
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Received the Rita Moreno Award for Excellence from the
Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) in 2008
•
He was a recipient of the 2011 Made in NY award from the
City of New York
THE HARD KNOCK LIFE
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Jackson Heights was a rough neighborhood he grew
up in
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Parents spent much of their time either working or
bickering, and they eventually divorced when he was
14
•
His turbulent home life is the basis of Leguizamo’s
most popular creative work (FREAK)
•
Due to rough childhood, he began experimenting with
the milder forms of delinquency and had a penchant
for mischief.
•
He was arrested twice, once for hopping a subway
turnstyle and another time for truancy.
•
One time he and his friend commandeered a subway
public address system and performed an impromptu
comedy routine.
A COMMON STRUGGLE
•
Like Leguizamo, many Latin immigrants overcame and endure many struggles throughout
their journey and residency in the United States
•
This holds especially true for immigrants within huge metropolises such as New York City
•
Most common difficulty that immigrants face is their assimilation within the American
culture and atmosphere that they are inhabiting
•
Language barriers and ethnocentric ideologies tend to have an effect upon one’s
assimilation to the American culture
•
Family is important within this struggle, as the struggles of assimilation tend to affect the
household as a whole rather than just a single individual
A COMMON STRUGGLE (CONT.)
•
One tactic many Latin immigrants implement in their assimilation to the American
culture is conformity
• A conformist is one who follows the majority's desires or standards
•
Conformity tends to involve compliance, in which the member outwardly agrees with
the norms, but inwardly rejects them.
•
Many Latin immigrants feel that my conforming to the majority groups norms that
they will receive positive feedback and acceptance from the group
•
Conformity also involves internalization, in which the member adopts the norms of
the group both overtly and internally.
•
Internalization of the majority group’s norms means that they embrace these norms,
but unconsciously ignore or dismiss their own personal norms and beliefs
Connecting Themes
Discussed In Class with
“Freak”
1) Origins of Masculinity: According to Clifton Evers the origins of masculinity cannot
be defined....however our ideas about masculinity have to blossom from some
where. Based on our class discussions we believe these impressions of
masculinity begin to develop in the home.
John explains in his performance that Latin mothers worship their sons. He says sons
of Latin mothers are treated as “Kings”. John says, “This is how this macho shit
begins” because his mother always told him he was the center of her universe.
John acknowledges to the audience that Latin boys grow up expecting to be
worshiped and spoiled by the women around them.
Do you think this is good example of how our ideas of masculinity begin to take shape
in the home??
2) How Femininity Plays Into Masculinity: In class we discussed how masculinity is
defined by what femininity is not.
Here are two instances which we want to discuss which may represent how men
view women in the Latin culture:
1) When John’s mother decides to enroll herself in college classes to get her
degree, John’s father gets very angry when his wife comes home and
discusses what she is learning in class. He puts her down for wanting to
attend college and makes her feel bad for using her new vocabulary.
2) John is explaining a time when he saw a woman on the street, and says,
“She didn’t have a gun in her hand, or a hypodermic needle, and she wasn’t a
hooker or a maid, so it was kind of hard to tell if she was Latino.”
What do each of these situations convey about how Latin men view Latin women?
3) Latin Ideology: In class we discussed that masculinity as ideology “functions as a series of
beliefs that people buy into and perform” (Todd W. Reeser).These different forms included
discourse, practices, myths and images.
Here are two instances we want to share and then discuss in terms of how ideology is
something we buy into and then perform:
1) John explains how one day when he was sneaking into a theatre he accidently ended up
auditioning for a play in Time Square. He put on a magnificent impromptu performance
and when he was finished he was told that the writers were looking for someone who
wasn’t Latin to play the Latin part, they said he needed to act more Latin and more
pathetic...
2) John explains a time he was in an Irish Bar and got into a confrontation with a few Irish
men. When they started to confront him, he got nervous and explained to the audience,
“I would do what any Latin kid raised in the Ghetto would do... I acted like a retard!”
Based on each of these experiences John explained, how do you think other cultures view
Latin culture?
References:
http://www.biography.com/people/john-leguizamo-9542489?page=2
http://leguizamo.ning.com/page/john-leguizamo-biography
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_hispanicaffairs/2009/10/immigrantsfacing-multiple-barriers-to-assimilation.html
http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe70s/life_16.html
Thanks for listening!!
Carlos A. Restrepo & Emily M. Van Buren