What Sets and Costumes say about the West Side

West Side Story doesn’t do a very good job of describing race, or the aspects that were important to racial differences at that time. This statement might seem weird, because, naturally, the musical is about the tension between two gangs from two very different groups of people both defined by their race. While lyrics and dialogue within the musical describe the financial or societal situations of both gangs and their families, the costuming and set seems to contradict these claims. For example, the Puerto Ricans in their song “America” describe their financial situation as being quite poor because Americans have a problem hiring Puerto Ricans when filling the positions at good jobs. Whether this idea is true or not, the set of the two stores exhibited in the film contradict this idea that Puerto Ricans can’t find a good job. The two stores in West Side Story are the dress shop and the doctor’s pharmacy/soda shop. While the doctor’s pharmacy is more or less dark, empty, and never lighted properly, the dress shop is very bright and full of fabrics or premade dresses to sell. The costumes worn by each of the gang members seems to follow the same pattern as the stores. The wardrobe of the Jets is very pale, worn, and sometimes dirty, while the sharks wear clothes that are very rich in color. This gives the idea that the Puerto Ricans can afford better clothes. Even the vestments hanging on clotheslines in the different neighborhoods are either pastel or vibrant depending on whose territory is being shown.
I have another comment about the stores shown in West Side Story, well actually, not the set, but the people in these stores. We only ever see one, possibly two men working the entire film. These characters are the doctor and of course Tony. Interestingly the people working in the dress shop are all female. No surprise there, women usually did all the tailoring at that time. But even more interesting is the number of women working in the dress shop. Maria sings her ditty about being pretty to three other girls who have just finished their projects. Anita is also present at the shop. This makes five Puerto Rican women who work during the course of this story. None of the Puerto Rican men are seen working. At the same time, none of the women from the Jet side are seen working. I might even argue that Tony and the Doctor cannot be considered part of the Jet family. Tony may have been the leader of the Jets at one time; he has stepped out from that position to be with Maria. The Doctor is definitely the most neutral character in the film who only wants peace. Whatever the costuming and set of West Side Story is trying to argue about life as a first generation immigrant from Puerto Rico or a second generation immigrant from Poland, it certainly doesn’t seem to match up with the characters’ own arguments about life as one of these races.