VIVA NOLA FEB-MARCH 2022

Out and about
West Side
Story
(2021)
Matters
By Cody Downey
@codyalexdowney
Below: Ariana DeBose as Anita on West Side
Story (2021).
After being delayed for a year because
of COVID-19, the recent adaptation of
West Side Story premiered for broad
audiences on December 10, 2021. Directed by
Steven Spielberg, the movie has been critically
acclaimed by many and considered at the top
of several lists for potentially being nominated
for an Academy Award. However, the film
was a box office bomb, making $60 million
worldwide against a $100 million budget in its
first weeks in theaters. I can attest to the lack of
attendance since I was one of about six people
in the theater. But, I challenge us and others
to look beyond critics’ reviews and box office
grossing to see the film for its importance for
Latinos in the United States.
West Side Story is a fantastic film in many
ways. Everything from the performances to
the coolness of the singing and dancing to
the social commentary presented is excellent.
But, on a representation level, it shows a
tremendous sense of importance and care.
Spielberg is no stranger to directing a film
based on stories he has not personally
experienced. For example, he directed The
Color Purple in 1985, which focused on the
experience of black women in the deep south.
With West Side Story, Spielberg’s changes
made a story originally written by white
men to have a more Latin perspective for a
predominantly white audience.
The first meaningful change was casting
actual Latino and Latina performers in
the Puerto Rican roles. Despite being a
story featuring Puerto Ricans, many of the
adaptations of West Side Story on both stage
and screen haven’t featured them in the parts.
The stage version of the story didn’t have
Latino performers like Maria and Bernardo
until the 1980 revival. The 1961 film version
infamously cast Russian-American Natalie
Wood as Maria and Greek-American George
Chakiris as Bernardo, who had played Riff in
the 1958 West End production of the musical.
Across both the stage and film versions, the
role of Anita was the only one that consistently
had a Latina actress, with Chita Rivera
originating the role on Broadway and Rita
Moreno playing the role on film, which won her
an Academy Award. However, Spielberg made
it a point to cast actual Latinos in the Puerto
Rican roles for his movie: Polish/Colombian-
American actress Rachel Zegler as Maria, Afro-
Puerto Rican actress Ariana DeBose as Anita,
and Cuban-Canadian actor David Alvarez as
Bernardo.
Another significant change in the film
was the use of unsubtitled Spanish. In
many films featuring non-English speaking
characters, their dialogue gets subtitles for the
predominantly English audience to understand.
Spielberg wanted to respect the Spanish
language to keep it in line with the authenticity
of having Latino actors and actresses in the
roles. Speaking to an interviewer from IGN,
Spielberg said, “If I subtitled the Spanish, I’d
simply be doubling down on the English and
giving English the power over the Spanish.”
The choice to do so works well within the
film, and nothing gets lost on the scenes with
Spanish dialogue because there are enough
context clues.
The last meaningful change or addition to
the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story was
the inclusion of Rita Moreno as the character
of Valentina. Moreno serving as executive
producer and actress adds a lot to the film.
Valentina, the widow of the character Doc from
the movie and the musical, takes over many of
his responsibilities. Valentina becomes Tony’s
mentor and gives him a job after his release
VIVANOLAMAG.COM ~ 20