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  • Essay / Review of the documentary “My American Daughters: A Dominican Story”

    Film Review – My American Daughters: A Dominican Story The documentary takes place in the 1970s in Brooklyn, New York. It is a Dominican house and tells the story of 1st generation Dominican immigrants and the acculturation process that children experience in the United States. Sandra and her husband Bautista work crazy hours to support their three daughters Mayra, Aida and Monica. have a hard-working mentality and try to pass this ideology on to their children. However, this is not the case because even though Monica graduated from Columbia, it is a completely different story for her sisters, since both parents work to support the household, the two youngest. the sisters are left to their own devices. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The aim of this documentary is to show the different degrees of assimilation and how it varies in the family. For example, Sandra has a very laid-back personality when it comes to paying her utility bill on time. She is very calm, it reminds her of life in the Dominican Republic when they relied a lot on honey candles. It was electricity on the island, we could see on this scene that Sandra loves the simplicity and the afterglow of returning to the Dominican Republic. However, it is a completely different case for Monica, Aida and Mayra because they were born in the United States, they received their education and Sandra knows that they have a better future. This documentary does a great job of highlighting the differences between the 1st and 2nd generation of the nuclear family. Before watching this documentary, I had prior knowledge from my own experiences. I am a generation-and-a-half immigrant myself and was fortunate to have grown up in the United States because of the opportunities afforded to me. However, my path has also been paved with constant challenges and tribulations due to the fact that my family is not American, but Russian Jewish. I identified with the film because these girls were already used to having everything at their disposal and appreciated the lifestyle, such as running water, electricity and access to education. Another aspect of the film that I identified with is that the young sisters are completely left unsupervised while their parents work. Monica could have taken a more active role in her sister's education and helped them apply to college. From my personal experience, it is much better for the elder to take a position in the education and development of the younger generation. In short, the documentary is an in-depth look at how the Dominican family lives in a three-story house in Brooklyn. However, all these floors are occupied by Sandra's family who they brought from the Dominican Republic. Despite Sandra's lack of education, she fully supported Monica's graduation from college and tries to impose the same on Aida and Mayra. Sandra tries to impose higher standards on her two youngest daughters so that they can succeed, especially after visiting Mayra's school and discovering the severity of the situation. Sandra even plans to return to the Dominican Republic once Mayra finishes high school. When the family plans to return to the Dominican Republic for Christmas, Sandra buys a lot of gifts, food and household products. While Aida and Mayra go on a trip, Monica didn't want to go because she had a lot of work to do. That's when Sandra declared that "Monica is the real American girl" because.