Themes of the Westside

The movie, Westside Story, is a classic musical loosely based on the story of Romeo and Juliet, so it makes sense that the movie would have many similarities with the play. In the movie, there are two themes that appear; the roles of gender and cultural differences.
Gender roles in the movie are based on tough, manly men and weak, defenseless women. This is how the movie wants to depict men and women. I, however, disagree. I believe that this movie wants to show the way men and women are supposed to be based on stereotypes, but throughout the entire movie, the roles a reversed. For example, the Jets and the Sharks are supposed to be two tough gangs in a neighborhood of Manhattan. Anyone who is not part of the two gangs is afraid of them or wants to be them. The guys are so tough, even the police cannot stop them. What I do not understand is that the two gangs are supposed to be intimidating, but they dance everywhere and randomly burst out into song. Given, this movie is a musical, but if these guys are supposed to be shown has tough men, it makes me curious as to why they show so much femininity. Another example of gender role reversal is at the end of the movie. After Tony is shot and killed, Maria, stripping herself of the feminine stereotype, takes the gun that killed Tony and starts threatening the two gangs and then threatens to kill herself. She intimidates the men and uses the threat of violence to get her point across. I found both role reversals interesting because it broke the stereotype of men and women.
The cultural differences in this movie are extremely significant to the time period in which it was filmed. The movie was filmed in the 1960s when the Civil Rights movement was taking place. The film shows a lot of hate and racism and the consequences of the actions that are taken out of hate. The song, ‘America,’ Anita sings, “Buying on credit is so nice” then Bernardo sings, “One look at us and they charge twice” expresses the mindset of how immigrants were viewed and still are viewed today. It’s a horrible way to view a person and I believe this movie helps show the truth of ignorance and its consequences.