Under the Same Moon is a classic tale of passion, courage, and determination. These qualities are demonstrated in the film by using the modern issue of illegal immigration. The main boy, Carlos, or Carlitos as he is normally called, flees Mexico into the United States to find his mother.
1. In the film Rosario, Carlos's mother, states that she left him in Mexico, while she went to the United States, to create a better life for them both. However, she could have had some motives that were only in her interest also. In the movie, it shows many other Mexicans attempting or desiring to leave for the U.S. It could be possible that Rosario wanted to leave just as much for herself as for Carlos.
2. I believe that Rosario's decision to leave must have been very, very difficult for her to make. Leaving a child would extremely challenging for any parent. I think that the knowledge that if she succeeded, she could give Carlos a better future fueled Rosario and made it possible for her to suffer. It must have been difficult knowing that some members of her family believed that she had abandoned Carlos and was never returning. Also, the difficulty was demonstrated when she calls Carlos and he keeps asking her when he gets to visit her and she can't give him an answer.
3. Carlos faced many difficulties living apart from Rosario in Mexico. His neighbors, whom he discovers are his Aunt and Uncle, tell him that his mother is never returning and they try to take custody of him. Across the border, Carlos's mother faced her own challenges. She moved away from her family to a place where she is not respected or treated well. She is forced to take low-paying, serventry style jobs.
4.While an American mother would normally never have to face these sorts of difficulties, I believe that love is universal and that any mother would do whatever she could for her child.
I'm sure the move to the United States was very traumatic for Rosario. Looking back, she probably had no idea that four years later she would still be separated from her son. Rosario soon realized how much harder it was going to be to live in the U.S., not being aware of all these challenges before she crossed over. During the phone call with Carlito, Rosario mentioned the lawyer that had taken her money, which she was helpless to do anything about it, since she was in the US illegally. To her, sending money and gifts was in some small way going to make up for her absence, even though Carlitos appreciated the gifts, it didn’t make up for the fact that his Mom had been gone so long. Unfortunately, Granny became ill, forcing Carlito to grow up quickly, adding to his maturity and determination to reunite with his Mom.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed watching the movie, finding it hard to believe at times that a nine year old would have the courage to cross over by himself and make it to the U.S. The movie had a “fairy tale” ending but it did make me realize some of the challenges illegal immigrants face while they are in the U.S.