Faith in Film Spanglish
11/17/14 
김에스더
프린스턴 신학교 목회학 석사
예일대학교 신학부 신학 석사
드루대학교 신학부 목회학 박사
미국장로교 (PCUSA) Palisades 노회 소속목사
개신교수도원수도회 제2대 수도원장
DIRECTOR : James L. Brooks WRITER : James L. Brooks
CAST : Adam Sandler (John Clasky), Tea Leoni (Deborah Clasky), Paz Vega (Flor Moreno), Cloris Leachman (Evelyn), Bernie (Sarah Steele), Christina (Shelbie Bruce).
GENRE : Comedy / Romance / Drama
DATE OF RELEASE : 2004
COUNTRY : USA
LANGUAGE : English
PRODUCTION COMPANY : Columbia Pictures
RUNTIME : 130 minutes
COLOR : Color
CERTIFICATION : USA: PG-13 - Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language.
Context
James L. Brooks is the award-winning director/writer of Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets. He also succeeded in television, producing "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Taxi," and, "The Simpsons." Even the cartoon series Simpsons has proved capable of addressing serious social issues with wit and compassion. In Spanglish, Brooks is addressing one of the most divisive issues in American culture: treatment of immigrants. The film tries to portray the values and conflicts of an immigrant family living in a place and time of vast anti-immigrant feeling. To avoid preaching and caricature, Brooks focuses on individuals.
Plot & Character Development
A gorgeous Mexican woman, Flor (Paz Vega) has crossed the border illegally to find a better life for her daughter. John Clasky (Sandler), who is acclaimed as "the best chef in America" lives with a difficult wife (Tea Leoni), and a drunken mother-in-law Evelyn (Cloris Leachman) and boring children in a mansion in Bel Air. Although she speaks no English, Flor is hired as housekeeper for the Claskys, a dysfunctional family living in L.A. Almost immediately, she is pulled into their insane family system, until her life becomes so enmeshed with the Claskys that she either must leave or risk losing her identity completely. The film is told from the point of view of FlorЎs daughter, who idolizes her (at least for the purposes of her college essay). When Flor goes to live with the family in their summer home, she brings her daughter Christina (Shelbie Bruce). Flor faces a choice between her compassion for the Claskys and her desire to preserve her daughterЎs identity and integrity.
Spanglish was a critical and box-office failure, perhaps because viewers lost track of this point of view. Having been abandoned by her father, Christina idealizes the saintly and paternal John Clasky. She paints Deborah Clasky as an evil monster, the embodiment of all that is racist and oppressive about wealthy, white Los Angeles. And these are the issues that form the moral challenge in the story. Immigrant values are represented by Flor's insistence on preserving her language and culture even though she lives in another country. Different views of parenting, infidelity, and success form the conflicts on which the story depends. In the end, despite conflicts with her mother, Christina asserts that it all worked out in the end-her mother knew best.
Existential Faith Claims
As suggested by the filmЎs title, James L. Brooks has created a film to express his liberal multiculturalism. It affirms the rights and dignity of each human being, It invites us to identify with "strangers" as our brothers and sisters, and welcome them because they are an image of God (Mt. 25:35). Part of Brooks' plan to promote the undocumented immigrant is to cast the unbelievably beautiful Vega as the star of the film. (What Hispanic male would abandon such a trophy? What housewife with eyes would allow such competition into her home?)
Symbols
The evil Deborah tries to motivate her overweight young daughter, Bernie (Sarah Steele), to lose weight by buying her new clothes that are too small. Flor becomes a rescuer to Bernie, tailoring the clothes to fit her. When Flor pulls Christina out of the private school, where the Claskys had arranged a scholarship, to preserve her daughterЎs identity, she is equally serving as savior. Not only does Christina object that this is not a salvation she wants, but most immigrants' experience would have a hard time believing this story. Parents are usually motivated to come to this country to secure a better future for their children. Again, when Deborah reveals a sexual infidelity to John, he comes with his wounded ego and delicate feelings to Flor, who expresses compassionate love for him, but saves him from overstepping the bounds of morality. The portrait of Flor is simply too good to be true, or else she is a candidate for sainthood.
The Christian Faith
Flor and Christina are the embodiment of Christian (Catholic) faith. Although they are never seen in church, they live their lives by the traditional Mexican faith and family values. At one point, John says, "I don't know if you know guilt, butЎ" to which Christina replies, "We knowЎ We're Catholics." It's an easy laugh, but it reminds the viewers of the context.
The Christian faith teaches that God created the world as a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-racial whole and accepting this truth is the great challenge of our day. Migrants are a model of the church (a pilgrim church) and of the human condition (a pilgrim people). They remind us of our ancient tradition of exodus and exile, of Mary, Joseph & Jesus' flight to Egypt and our evangelical history beginning with St. Paul. To be anti-immigrant is in fact to be anti-human. This is a message underlined by Spanglish.
Communicating the Gospel
This film is not explicit enough in its faith values to serve as a resource for use in the church, except as a motive for multiculturalism. And even in this area, its values have been questioned. Many Hispanics have criticized Brooks for his unreal and unbelievable picture of the Mexican family. They have faulted his casting of a Spanish actress. They mock the $200 blouses that Flor wears on a maidЎs wages.
Some critics attribute Brooks' harsh portrait of Deborah Clasky to the fact that he was going through a divorce during the years that this film was in the works. They accuse him of misogyny. One commented that Brooks' writing "is crude, obvious, decidedly unsubtle, and even angry, which gives the film a shrill, mean-spirited, and shallow sitcom-style tone."
Conclusion
This is a well-meaning film that is too flawed to speak authoritatively to the issues of race and class and anti-immigrant prejudice that it raises. It is, on the other hand, an enjoyable story about relationships. Chloris Leachman is a funny, aging alcoholic mother, and Paz Vega is a beautiful actress who should be seen in more films made in Hollywood. Adam Sandler provided his own review in a comment on the Dave Letterman Show: "It's a great film, I can't believe I'm in it." Faith, hope and charity compel us to believe that James L. Brooks has more and better movies in his future.