Analysis Of The Film Fernando Nation

1266 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Race, ethnicity and diversity in sports

Riley Crandall
1 April 2014
IHUM – 260
Dr. Esplin
Fernandomania: The Mexican-American Dream
The film Fernando Nation is a documentary highlighting the Major League baseball Career of Fernando Valenzuela. This movie illustrates a new type of American dream through the eyes of Mexican Americans by showing their historical struggle to be accepted in society, portraying the humble beginnings of Fernando, and highlighting the national fame which he acquired throughout his Major League career. In so doing, Fernando Nation helps viewers to understand the Mexican people’s desire for social equality with others in the United States, as well as what their version of the American dream looked like.
In 1979, the Los Angeles Dodgers were on a mission to find a new type of baseball player. Due to a conflict which developed as a result of the construction of the new Dodger stadium, Dodger management was having a difficult time marketing to the ever growing Mexican population in Los Angeles. In an attempt to start a baseball following within the Latino community, Dodger scouts were sent to Mexico to find a player who could garner the attention of Mexican Americans in southern California.
Major league scouts had come to watch a shortstop whom they had heard was an excellent fielder and consistent batter. They were quickly distracted from this responsibility however by the performance of the man on the pitcher’s mound. Fernando Valenzuela was a pudgy teenage boy who had grown up on the dusty baseball fields of northwestern Mexico. From a young age, he had dreamed of playing professional baseball and he was about to get his chance. Less than two years later, he became the only player to win the Cy Young award as well as the Rookie of the Year award...

... middle of paper ...

...d States in a very short amount of time. The film gives the impression that Mexican Americans began to embrace him as an example of what their people could do, given the opportunity and resources. Though different, Mexicans were capable of doing everything other Americans could do. When his Mexican heritage was combined with American stardom, a new dream was born; the Mexican-American dream.
By showing the historical struggle of Mexican immigrants to be equal members of American society, portraying the humble and unique characteristics of Fernando Valenzuela, and by emphasizing his incredible rise to fame, the film Fernando Nation introduces a new type of American dream. Fernando Valenzuela became the embodiment of the Mexican-American dream to many people. By understanding his story we can understand the hopes and dreams of many Mexican immigrants in America today.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of A Fabricated Mexican by Ricky Rivera

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘A Fabricated Mexican’ is a novel by Ricky Rivera in which he chronicles his life as he grows from a child farm worker to a Ph.D. candidate. He takes us through his journey in his search for his personal identity. In the book we find that his journey has not been an easy one. This difficult journey is due to many factors, most importantly the people who have surrounded him during this journey.

    Read More

  • La Plaza De Cultura Artes

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, in Los Angeles and throughout the southwest, the Mexican population had shifted from heavily immigrants into United States-born citizens. These new English speaking, young generation no longer thought of themselves as “Mexico de afuera” but, started to embrace the American clean-cut style at the time. Resulting in new Deal youth programs...

    Read More

  • Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...rest became a nightmare. Enrique’s time apart from his mother made them more like “strangers” than family. Filled with anger stemming from the years apart from one another, he refused to obey his mother’s wishes to live healthier. While lost in family chaos, he turned back to his addiction of drugs crashing his dream of a perfect family dynamic. Though his dream became a nightmare, he was able to achieve it through one core trait where his inner strength help drive him to not give up his dream of seeing his mother. This signifies that if a person is willing to work hard to achieve their dream through diligence, it can be met. Though the outcome may not be what one hoped for, being able to say you accomplished something is soul-pleasing. His success in making it to the U.S. regardless of many downfalls satisfies one missing piece in his broken puzzle of a life.

    Read More

  • How Baseball was changed by Jackie Robinson

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Albert Pujols said, “Baseball was an outlet for him to be able to do that, and he had some special talent to go through what he did and still set an example for others. You cannot replace it.”

    Read More

  • Best Baseball Player from 1910-1920

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    1910 to 1920 was the one of the greatest decades for Major League Baseball. Many amazing events occurred during this decade; although, some devastating and extremely sad events also occurred. Half of these years were taken up by war, even many Hall of Fame players served. This decade still ended up being a great one for Major League Baseball. From Hall of Fame greats to Negro League pitchers, this decade produced greats. The 1910’s also set up the 1920’s for amazing players too.

    Read More

  • Documentary: Which Way Home

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.

    Read More

  • Commentary on Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    In closing, Francisco faced many hardships throughout his life. He had to adapt to his life here in the United States, deal with being a male in his family, as well as face discrimination. Through all the hard times, family and getting a good education were always his top priorities. With the help of his teachers and counselors, he was able to succeed in school, unlike the majority of the students. Francisco is a true hero in the eyes of many Hispanic immigrants who come to the United States and strive to be the best they can be.

    Read More

  • The Chicano Movement: Film Analysis

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although it is desirable to incorporate personal experiences of others to get a feel of the encounters that occurred to the typical or atypical individual within the Chicano movement, this does not entirely mean that the filmmakers left out those who studied the history of it. Historian Mario T. Garcia was a prominent addition in contributing to the historical experiences within the movement and brings in credibility. The concept of utilizing Chicanos who endured the reign of oppression and discussed their involvements to the impartiality efforts was a thrilling and clever one, there was still a need of a backbone in the factual side of it. By introducing an essence of experience, it generates a personal and emotional aspect in the documentary that can be unfavorable and stray from the informative attitude of a documentary. Having Garcia apart of the documentary grounds this enlightening dimension that insights as preventative measure which is an adept move on behalf of directors Luis Ortiz and Antonio

    Read More

  • Film Analysis: Julio Cesar Chavez

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...he ‘Cesar Chavez’ film will, with any luck, influence Hollywood to create more movies that reflect our diverse American stories. Filipino Americans are California’s biggest Asian American group, California’s third largest minority group, and the second biggest Asian ethnicity group in the United States of America. Chicanos/as and Filipinos are the two of the fastest rising ethnic collections in the nation. With more documentaries like ‘Delano Manongs, literature, and more ethnic studies discourse set on the promotion of accurate representation of history that bring the experiences of Filipinos in California’s labor movement to light, an opportunity to erase the history of erasure is presenting itself. In sum, it is imperative that a substantial place for Filipino descendants in US history is not buried or elapsed, especially within a popular form of media like film.

    Read More

  • Luis Valdez's Los Vendidos

    1683 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Los Vendidos," directed by Luis Valdez, is a remarkable play that looks into the historical struggles, stereotypes and challenges of Mexican Americans in a unique fashion. Rather than tell the history of Mexican Americans through documentaries and actual footage, the play conveys its message about the true history of Mexican Americans in the United States through both subtle and blatant techniques.

    Read More

  • Hard Lives in South Bronx depicted in The Boy Without a Flag

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    (Rodriguez 18). All of this starts when he begins reading books about his culture and important figures like, Pedro Albizu Campos, this makes his culture feeling increased, not wanting to follow the American standards. He is also discriminated against by his teachers and others at school due to his feelings of not participating in the national anthem “Some smart-ass”. I stuck him in the corner. Thinks he can pull that shit.

    Read More

  • Latino Threat Narrative Paper

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Latino Threat Narrative has excluded Latinx from the sense of national belonging of the United States. Nation is a product of nationalism, which is “an imagined political community– and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign. It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson, 6). In other words, nationalism is a socially, psychologically, and politically constructed community created and imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of that community. It is social and psychological process that makes people believe they are connected to one another and share ties. However, nationalism is limited and exclusive, not everyone has the privilege of being part of that community. For instance, “the nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them, encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic, boundaries beyond which lie other nations”(Anderson, 7). In other words, nationalism divides communities and creates restrictions and prohibitions that are similar to immigration laws. The hegemony of American nationalism include people who are only of European descent, born in the United States and speaks only English. Particularly, Gonzalez due to her illegal status she was not welcome to be part of the American nationalism. Therefore, she was forced out and excluded from the American narrative. In this case, nationalism is a form of oppression against marginalized groups. Nationalism divides those who do not fit in the status quo. As a result, the idea of nationalism divides vulnerable communities from entering the narrative. Thus, the American patriarchal form of nationalism transforms into American Exceptionalism in which the United States brands

    Read More

  • Mexican American Culture: The Film Selena

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.

    Read More

  • My Life As An Undocumented Immigrant Summary

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jose Antonio Vargas’s article on My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant is a writing about his childhood journey from the Philippines to the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant. Vargas writes this article to emphasize the topic of immigrant and undocumented immigrant in the United States. He uses all three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logic in his writing, in specific, he mostly uses pathos throughout of his entire article with a purpose for the reader to sympathize and to feel compassion for him. The use of these appeals attract many readers, they can feel and understand his purpose is to ask for others to join and support other people who undocumented immigrant like himself. In addition, it gives other undocumented immigrant people courage

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination In The Movie 42 By Jackie Robinson

    1638 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before the Dodger manager scouted Jackie, he had to ask Jackie to endure racism during the game and in his team. And he decided to just ignore the insult. And last, he became the players for the Dodgers. He was the only African American baseball player in Major League. Because he was black, most of the teammates were not supportive. After the spring training, Jackie advances to the Dodgers. Because of the racism, most of the team member signs that refuse to play baseball with Jackie, but Leo Durocher, manager, insist Jackie will play in the main team. But when manager suspended, New manager(Burt Shotton) came. During the game of Philadelphia phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, Ben Chapman jeered Jackie, caused him to break his bat(because of anger). But with Rickey’s encouragement, he played well during that game. When the game was ended, the action of Chapman created the bad press to the team, causing him to pose with him (for newspaper and magazine). After his teammates Pee Wee Reese, understood the pressure that Jackie’s facing, they had match with Pittsburgh pirates. Rickey hit a homerun against the pitcher(Fritz Ostermueller), who hit him in the head. This Home run boost their team to the world series. However, they lost to New

    Read More

More about Analysis Of The Film Fernando Nation

Open Document