“No one chooses to live this way, Carlitos, unless they have a good reason,” said migrant worker Enrique from the award-winning film La Misma Luna . In her film La Misma Luna or Under the Same Moon, director Patricia Riggen successfully captures the common struggles faced by Chicano immigrant families and their desire to obtain a better life in the United States. The film focuses on a young boy named Carlos who enters America illegally in hopes of being reunited with his mother, Rosario. Throughout Carlitos' journey, he witnesses and experiences the unequal and harsh treatment of immigrants and struggles to find his way. On the other hand, Rosario works tirelessly to provide for her family and faces discrimination as an illegal immigrant in America. The strong mother-son bond and the main character's determination and perseverance drive the film's plot. Most importantly, this film reveals a racial controversy and questions the validity of the Latino threat narrative through the use of a counter-narrative. Counter-storytelling is a powerful tool that challenges “entrenched preconceptions that marginalize others or hide their humanity” and gives voice to victims of racial discrimination who often “suffer in silence or blame themselves for their predicament.” . Whether these counter-stories take the form of a motion picture or a book, their primary goal is to raise awareness and promote change in the social construction of race. Through Carlitos and Rosario's journey, it is ultimately evident that La Misma Luna challenges the Latino threat narrative by illustrating how both characters navigate immigrant hardships using their cultural wealth, embodying true morals and ideals Americans and lack motivation to reconquer the United States. no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe Latino Threat Narrative is a post-racial facade posed by white supremacists who claim that these “new” immigrants pose a threat to the overall security of the United States. According to Leo R. Chavez's book, The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation, new immigrants are different from previously integrated immigrants in America. Rather, Latinos are unable to integrate and become part of an invading force aimed at reclaiming stolen land and destroying the American way of life. Furthermore, he claims that immigrants reproduce their own cultural world and prefer to remain linguistically and socially isolated. He also points out that Latina women have infiltrated America with their high fertility rates, producing poster babies for citizenship. Overall, the Latino threat narrative has become a source for white supremacists to seize power and disseminate Latino “virtual life” as a threat to American society. Media spectacles illustrate the “virtual lives” of immigrants as illegal aliens who “become abstractions and representations that replace real life” (Chavez, 47). Additionally, Latinos "are rarely portrayed as agents of positive change, because their refusal to integrate deprives them of the opportunity to influence society at large in any appreciable way, except in negative ways—as a threat to existing institutions” (Chavez, 48 years old). . This negative representation of Chicano immigrants has increased with the election of President Donald Trump. It promotes the ideals ofwhite supremacy by constantly describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals, while urging to “make America great again.” Moreover, "Trump's expression of a 'traditional America' is further reinforced by a white racial identity, when the United States' demographic shift toward a more racially diverse nation...is attributed to distancing of this tradition…[and immigrants] are articulate. as a disagreement with traditional “American” values ​​(hard work, meritocracy)” (Perez, 234). With stricter government immigration policies, Latin American immigrant families are finding it difficult to establish themselves in American society, lacking the necessary resources and social support. In order to transform these policies, the focus must shift from the white majority to the immigrant minority. This is done through counter-narratives in which immigrants communicate their personal stories and reveal undeniable truths. Indeed, it “reduces the alienation of members of excluded groups” (Delgado and Stefancic, 51) and “can name a type of discrimination (microaggressions, unconscious discrimination or structural racism) [and]... once named, it can be fought.” Additionally, “continuing theorizing to provide tools for…communities to name the forms of oppression…[encountered] daily is perhaps one of the most important strategies [used] to connect…studies with…communities ". (Pérez, 243). The power and persuasiveness of legal storytelling and narrative analysis allows for a deeper understanding of the American perspective on race and has significant implications in abolishing the socially constructed hierarchy of race. La Misma Luna is a powerful counter-story where the characters, Carlitos and Rosario, communicate their struggles. as illegal immigrants to America. The character of Carlitos, even when tested by immense difficulties, challenges the narrative of the Latino threat. His experiences show the plight of an average immigrant and child: he was almost trafficked, he washed dishes to earn money, and he even worked as a migrant farmer in the tomato fields. He entered this country without American resources but used the wealth of his cultural community to find his mother. While the Latino Threat Narrative assumes "that people of color 'lack' the social and cultural capital necessary for social mobility," Carlitos challenges these beliefs by using his knowledge and cultural capital to successfully find his mother. According to professor and researcher Tara J. Yosso, community cultural wealth is composed of aspirational, familial, social, linguistic, resistance and navigational capital. Carlitos demonstrates linguistic capital through his bilingualism (English and Spanish) which allowed him to communicate with others and navigate, displays resilient and ambitious capital through his determination which allowed him to find his mother, and reflects familial capital and social which allowed him to find a friend, Enrique. This is important because Carlitos shifts the "deficit view of communities of color as places full of cultural disadvantage in poverty, and instead focuses on the range of knowledge, skills, abilities, and cultural contacts that people possess socially marginalized groups who often remain unknown. and not recognized” (Yosso, 69 years old). Furthermore, Carlitos challenges this deficit view because he embodies the true ideals of good American virtue. For example, Carlitos could have stolen money, lied, or engaged in criminal activity to meet his mother, but instead he would haveworked diligently and honestly. Additionally, Carlitos demonstrated his respectful and moral values ​​when he paid for his father's meal and worked in the fields and in the restaurant. Her journey “empowers people of color to utilize the assets already abundant in their communities” and “challenges white, middle-class communities as the standard by which all others are judged” (Yosso, 82). Finally, Carlitos challenges the Latino threat narrative because he has no ulterior motive for reconquering the lands of America. His main goal was to reunite with his mother and assimilate into American society with his family. Overall, Carlitos' story weakens the credibility of the Latino threat narrative and strengthens the voices of the minority immigrant population. While Carlitos challenges the Latino threat narrative through her cultural wealth, Rosario shows the viewer the real-life lifestyle of an ordinary immigrant in the United States. States. Rosario ultimately refutes the threat narrative because it does not resemble the negative perceived image of highly fertile Latina women producing anchor babies. In the film, Rosario was given the chance to marry Paco and gain citizenship, but she refused because she believed marriage should be a union of love. She never suggested having a child nor did she want to acquire citizenship based on marriage. Additionally, she undermines this negative narrative because she has no desire to rebel or conquer America and instead focuses on her family. She immigrated and sacrificed her child's education, hoping to give him a better, financially stable future in America. This character trait contrasts with the uneducated image of the Latino and highlights Foulcadiun's immoral bureaucracy. Being perceived as an “illegal” alien in the United States deprives Rosario of the basic right to see her child. Additionally, Rosario's actions refute the Latino threat narrative because she maintained her moral grounding and showed respect even when her white employer threatened her. Her white employer fired Rosario and suggested she call the police after denying Rosario's right to her wages. Knowing that Rosario is an illegal immigrant, her racist employer responded with microaggressions and discrimination. This demonstrates the convergence of white superiority interests and promotes the concept of racist nativism. According to Dr. Lindsay Perez Huber, racist nativism is “the attribution of values ​​to real or imaginary differences in order to justify the superiority of…[white natives], over that of non-natives,…[immigrants of color]”, thus ensuring indigenous domination. These indigenous racist discourses “construct Latino and Latin American immigrants, and particularly undocumented immigrants, as perpetually subordinate foreigners, while at the same time constructing the legitimacy of whites as the dominant “indigenous group”” (Perez, 226). In the film, Rosario's character embodies American values ​​of hard work, honesty, and determination, but immigrants are stereotyped as an inferior threat. Nonetheless, this “pervasive ‘threat’ narrative has historically been used to justify the exclusion and inhumane treatment of immigrants and people of color” (Perez, 240). Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayThe groundbreaking film, La Misma Luna, dissolves the Latino threat narrative by illustrating how the two characters navigate immigrant hardships with the help of their cultural wealth, display moral and ethical values ​​and lack signs of winning America back. This film presents the internal struggles of a family.),:10.1080/1361332052000341006.