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Week 7

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you a child, your world is about to turn upside down. Especially when the film's protagonist, Valentin, is stuck with a one-year-old child as a result of one of his previous hookups. Thrown into dad-hood, he struggles to find suitable work in America in order to support his growing daughter. His primary goal is just to make her happy as she has a terminal illness and he wants to make her childhood as fulfilling and wholesome as possible. After failing the paternity test, the court orders separation from the little girl that he loved and raised which raises a moral dilemma among the audience. Overall, the film was pretty good (until the last five minutes I guess) and threw in some controversial topics without directly alluding to them. In the one scene with the "mom lineup", a trans named George walked up the mic and was immediately swiped aside. Although George probably wasn't going to get the part, it possibly broadens the assertion that there is a major bias towards roles with transgender/LGBTQ actors in Hollywood. Another subtle case made by the movie, was about Valentin's heritage as Mexican and the fact that he can't speak English. He had to take a high-risk job in order to financially support his daughter, as many immigrants do. Many immigrant's prioritize their family's welfare over their own safety and assume risky jobs because many American citizens do not value or do not HAVE to value their safety against their welfare. When the court ordered him to find a less risky job in order to legally take care of his daughter, this caused turmoil for Valentin because there aren't many jobs (as he found out) that hire a Spanish-only speaking immigrant. The language barrier also led to him being taken advantage of by leaving his translating daughter to do the negotiations. However, he proceeded to face his fears in order to provide for his daughter and keep her spirits joyous. The stereotypes are not unique to Mexico and central America, but can be found throughout the world, but Mexicans and Central Americans are usually the first to be cast when these stereotypes are presented in film.

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