Wednesday Wisdom West Side Story: A 1957 Parable For 2021?
I have always loved the classic musicals. Of them all,?West Side Story?is my #1. [Disclaimer: I played Chino in a local San Francisco Bay Area production decades ago.]
I’ve long considered?West Side Story?the perfect musical. It has everything: the Romeo & Juliet-inspired love story, amazing choreography, immigrant groups fighting for turf (the Jets are composed of immigrants, just not as recently as the Sharks), stunning, memorable and singable songs (“somewhere, a place for us…”), moments of comic relief that actually aren’t funny at all.
The real film critics will be dissecting and comparing the Broadway show (1957), the original movie (1961) and this new movie (2021). I’ll leave that work to the experts.
I want to simply give a few of my own reflections.
One, and most importantly, see the movie.?If possible, watch it with a person of another ethnicity.
Enter into the Upper West Side of New York City of 1957, the 18-block world of the Jets and the Sharks. Enter into Spielberg’s “re-imagining” of the 1957 Broadway show put to film. Get some popcorn. Sit back and take in, in critic Katie Walsh’s words, “The result is nothing less than an incredibly thrilling piece of work that links the old and the new in fascinating ways.”
West Side Story?begs for an after-viewing conversation. Perhaps consider these questions:
Two, practice empathy. [Tap this link for an excellent article on how 98% of us are capable of growing in empathy.]
If you are a regular Wednesday Wisdom reader, you know we’ve devoted several recent WWs to the importance of empathy in these times of I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong-and-stupid. The only way to get us un-entrenched in our own positions is to practice the discipline of asking, “What’s their world like?”
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At the memorial service for the five police officers who lost their lives in Dallas in 2016, former President George W. Bush said, "At our best, we practice empathy, imagining ourselves in the lives and circumstances of others. This is the bridge across our nation's deepest divisions."
If you’re white, become a Shark. Experience?what being a first-generation Puerto Rican in NYC in 1957 is like. What Puerto Rican values to cling to, which American values to adapt to and adopt. The frustration of finding the English words to express Puerto Rican feelings. The challenges of being in an interracial romantic relationship.
If you’re a person of color, become a Jet.?Experience?what a threat you might be to a group that was “here first.” Experience when your long-held businesses are replaced by Puerto Rican entrepreneurs.??Feel?Riff’s loss as he watches his best friend and Jets co-founder Tony fall for “one of them.”
Former President Barack Obama has said, "The biggest deficit that we have in our society and in the world right now is an empathy deficit. We are in great need of people being able to stand in somebody else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes."
Albert Einstein said, "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding."?West Side Story?serves as a sobering parable of force having the last word over understanding.
Watching the gang members in?West Side Story?refuse to see life from another's perspective, it doesn't surprise us as viewers when Bernardo kills Riff, Tony kills Bernardo and Chino kills Tony.
After such a violent and tumultuous 2021 in America, understanding and empathy have never been needed more. Lord, have mercy on us in 2022.
Paul Tokunaga
Founder/President
MELD, LLC
Wednesday Wisdom is brought to you each week by MELD. We are a firm that specializes in?Executive Coaching, Strategic Planning and Impactful Training in Diversity.?Why do we produce “WW”??It’s our way of serving you, albeit in bite-sized morsels of tips to help you navigate in our increasingly diverse--and unfortunately--polarized culture. It also gives you a taste of what we offer for-profits and non-profits who wrestle with these issues day-in, day-out.
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