Free Essay About Real Women Have Curves

Directed by Patricia Cardoso and starring America Ferrera, Real Women Have Curves, is a movie that has been loved and hated in equal measure. The movie is the story of a Hispanic girl, Ana, who has just graduated from high school and is torn between different options that are presented by the demands of her culture and the realities of the contemporary world. The main points of the film revolve around feminism in both the old Mexican culture and the contemporary American culture. Foremost, the movie seeks to address the essence of positive body image. Secondly, another point is the struggle between the traditional Mexican views of women versus the contemporary feminist view of gender equality. Another point worth noting is the pressure and assault on women to act in line with the stereotypical body images as perceived by traditionalists.
While I did not learn any new terms from the film, some aspects remarkably got my attention. Foremost Ana’s rebellious pride is quite dramatic. She is not ready to conform to the thoughts and ideals of other people. Another trait that I liked in Ana is her confidence to challenge the people around her to accept her in her current shape. In many scenes, Ana takes the people around to task with regard to their stereotypical views. Another scene that caught my attention was the scene where Ana had her first sex encounter with a former classmate. She jumps out of bed with awe-inspiring boldness and turns on the light saying, “I want you to see how I look like.” The scene was quite dramatic.
In conclusion, I noted that the movie was exceptionally successful in acting and realism. The movie concentrates on bringing out the contrast between the goals of traditional Mexican culture gender roles and the contemporary education-driven society. I, however, noted that the movie fails to make a commentary on the economic distress of the characters. For instance, the movie fails to comment on Ana’s complain of being paid $16 for a dress going for $600. Overall, the movie is applicable to today’s society, especially in the third world and the Hispanic cultures where transformation is taking place at a high rate.