MovieChat Forums > Spanglish (2004) Discussion > So, wtf was the problem?

So, wtf was the problem?

posted 11 years ago by Portlis
17 replies | jump to latest

Flor wants John's nuts and even says she loves him, John is so attracted to Flor that he chubs up when the wind blows on her, John is clearly irritated and/or bored with his wife even before he finds out she's a cheating slut, and the kids all get along.

Yet, Flor is so obsessed with "being Mexican" that she chooses to throw it away and presumably run off to clean houses for different obnoxious rich white people that probably won't pay her or treat her as well? WTF?

So lets see here: We've got a full scholarship for our kid at a nice school. She's making tons of friends and obviously fitting in nicely and most importantly she's clearly very happy and getting a good education. Flor has a successful man that she "loves" that clearly wants her in return, cooks amazing food for her, and would obviously be willing to leave his wife for her. She would get legal citizenship (I'm assuming she wasn't, given how she entered the country). Money clearly wouldn't ever be an issue. And the neurotic psycho b**** wife would be out of the picture other than occasional visitation run ins.

Nope, heritage is too important. Lets remain a poor, lonely house cleaner instead, and lets take away potentially the best opportunity our daughter has for a successful future as well as her happiness. Clearly, being a blue collar illegal Mexican is better and more admirable than being a horrible rich white person.

I wanted to sympathize with Flor's emotions and I wanted to understand her situation. Unfortunately, in the end, she just came across as ridiculously selfish and quite frankly, dumb.

[–] bryan110875 11 years ago

OH MY GOD! THANK YOU!!

I just saw this movie for the first time on HBO and I was so pissed in the end.

I don't care much about the romance, if she wasn't feeling it then fine but the woman just tanked an amazing opportunity for her daughter in the name of her own ego (be more like me). That poor little girl is going to end up cleaning other peoples' houses, looking at what she could have had if her mother didn't insist on the moral superiority of living life like a poor ignorant peasant.

As far as heritage goes, that is crap. Your cultural heritage is something you focus on away from school or work. Anyone who says you can't be successful and Latin is racist and/or stupid.

[–] compact_disc_rack 11 years ago

It's not about being Mexican. It's about pride. Obviously you and a lot of other people have a hard time imagining the gloom of that situation, how *beep* horrible it must be for both the daughter and the mother when the family is on vacation but you're there as a servant of some sort, but your daughter is there as well having to watch her mother have such low status. You expect her to be a charity case in her daughter's eyes?

Flor did the right thing. And her daughter isn't gonna become a house cleaner just because her mother is one, as the clown in the reply said. It's possible, but not likely judging by her character.

[–] renacatt 11 years ago

Um, her daughter was narrating an essay for Princeton the whole entire time the movie was playing....pay attention people. Cristina DID NOT grow up to clean houses.

[–] lasercannon-1 8 years ago

It was an essay for an application to Princeton, it doesn't mean that she got in. She could easily be rejected and still wind up cleaning houses. Based on the fact that she left the private school means that she is less likely to get in.

[–] ezzy666 10 years ago

How often is it that a married man will divorce his wife to marry his mistress? The likely outcome to her having an affair would be the wife finding out, her being fired and her daughter's school no longer being paid for.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

[–] Bronte_Sista 10 years ago

Flor's hope is that her daughter won't turn out like you, Portlls. Looks like not everything is for sale to some people.

[–] jmrex 9 years ago

First of all, that was a mean thing to say. Second, what exactly would Flor have been selling?

[–] cheapfrill 9 years ago

I'm glad you said it. Some people have potty mouths. That guy has a potty brain.

[–] Portlis 9 years ago

For sale? Did you even watch the movie? They were clearly into each other for reasons that far transcended money, yet Flor threw it away because..... because why again? It still doesn't make any sense. The message this movie tries to send is just ****ing stupid.

[–] montrossboc-1 9 years ago

I love this movie and have watched it several times. I always get the feeling that Flor pulls away from John because he is married.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

[–] ragreen259 10 years ago

Add to all of this, the fact that they tell us that she brought her daughter to America "in search of a better life." Then she crushes the hope for a better life for her own daughter, happily. No, she didn't have to become a gold digger, or a trophy--but she turns away EVERYTHING including the free ride at the school. I pretty much agree with your final paragraph. Way to trite of an ending.

[–] scatter_brained4 9 years ago

Ummm the mother had to quit because Deborah deciding everything for Cristina and disrespecting flor's authority as Cristina's mother. Cristina was losing respect for her mother and wasn't even listening to her anymore and talking back. Its like she was becoming ashamed of who she was. Flor didn't want her daughters character to change by being around privileged kids. She was either going to be judged for being different or she would become like them. And Flor didnt want to commit sin by having an affair with John. Like omg she was doing the right thing... She had morals. She qas thinking of her daughter how in the world is that selfish?

[–] MsCurlsNCurves 9 years ago

YESS!! Everything that scatter_brained4 just said!

You also hace to realize that Flor was trying to cut all ties with that family....either because or her feelings for John or to cut away from Deborah because of her influence in her daughter's life. But if Cristina stayed at the school she would still find a way to sneak over to their house and continue to let Deb influence and provide for her and even still...being in a school like that clearly reputation and money is important. There's no way that Flor would be able to keep up with it and once her "friends" jumped on the whole "I hate immigrants" bandwagon they'd drop Cristina like a bad hat. And then where would she be?
Also in regards to the pride thing...you must understand that the Latino perspective on family, roots, and Latino pride is very deep and important to them. I can't begin to tell you how many students I know who had a similar background like Cristina but by the time that they hit high school they can barely speak the basics of Spanish. They may understand but can't speak it. It becomes really heartbreaking when a grandchild can't even communicate with their grandparents. It may not matter to you because you're not used to that lifestyle but it is very real. Just think of an American custom that is super important to us and then multiply that by 100.

[–] jporter-6 9 years ago

Flor is full-blown committed to the concepts of family and culture.

If the only other family member you have is being pulled away from you, then you are going to fight tooth-and-nail to retain what little family is left. And she wants her daughter to be committed to her Mexican heritage and not give it away to fit in with Americans.

[–] orignlsinz 8 years ago

[quote]And she wants her daughter to be committed to her Mexican heritage and not give it away to fit in with Americans.[quote]

Such is one of the biggest problems with both illegal and legal mexican immigrants. Most of them refuse to assimilate into American culture and are literally tearing the fabric of our society apart.

[–] MeTheMachine 8 years ago

So lets see here: We've got a full scholarship for our kid at a nice school. She's making tons of friends and obviously fitting in nicely and most importantly she's clearly very happy and getting a good education. Flor has a successful man that she "loves" that clearly wants her in return, cooks amazing food for her, and would obviously be willing to leave his wife for her. She would get legal citizenship (I'm assuming she wasn't, given how she entered the country). Money clearly wouldn't ever be an issue. And the neurotic psycho b**** wife would be out of the picture other than occasional visitation run ins.

I love your rose-colored glasses, OP.

Christina was right around the age when kids start to become incredibly superficial and popularity-obsessed...while her heritage/background wasn't posing a problem at the moment, it's ridiculously naive to think her differences wouldn't become very apparent in a few years. It would be very difficult for her not to become insecure/resentful listening to these kids brag about their luxuries her own family can never afford, and she'd likely be on the receiving end of a lot of pity (at best) or genuine hostility (at worst). You forget that a lot of people dislike undocumented immigrants (which explains Trump's success). Her friends in the movie are around 12 years old...once they start learning about politics they might dramatically change their opinion of her and her family. Their parents might even intervene and tell their kids not to hang out with her, or they wouldn't allow them to go to Christina's house thinking the area is unsafe (these are actually plausible examples - I went to private schools for nearly all of my life, and these elitist mentalities are not uncommon among the upper class). This stuff would all weigh heavily on her and give her major complexes.

In regards to the whole marriage thing, you're out of your mind if you think that John leaving his wife for Flor would be all smooth sailing. Considering how neurotic and bitchy Debra is, there's no way she'd be cool with John leaving her for their housekeeper, regardless of whether or not she cheated. I can only imagine what she'd do, but it would not be pretty, and everyone else would be caught in the middle and suffer, at least until she got over it (and who knows how long that'd take).

[–] CarolTheDabbler (575) 2 years ago

Considering how neurotic and bitchy Debra is, there's no way she'd be cool with John leaving her for their housekeeper, regardless of whether or not she cheated.

Presumably true -- she's too "entitled."

And -- perhaps more importantly -- it wouldn't work from Flor's point of view, assuming she's a Catholic. Even if John gets a divorce, he'd still be married in the eyes of the Church, so they couldn't have a church wedding. Even if they had a civil ceremony, the Church would say they were living in sin. She's clearly a very moral person, and if she's also very devout, there's no way she could justify being with John, either to herself or to her daughter.

I haven't seen the movie for years, but I've been thinking that a divorce would enable John and Flor to be together. I'm not a Catholic, though, so I wasn't thinking like one. I did some research recently (in order to understand a situation in my own family), and now I really don't see any way for it to work. With that being the case, her staying would be far too painful for both of them, so her only logical course of action is to leave.

The ending is tragic, in the dramatic sense of the word.