Under the Same Moon

This film was very enlightening. It showed many different things regarding the Hispanic culture. I first noted the importance of family in the first few minutes of the film by the way Carlito was so attentive to his ill grandmother and in the fact that she cared for him in his mother's absence. There was also the birthday party in which there were many family members in attendance. It also gave me insight in the difficulties of these people, first with the dream that Rosario was having at the beginning of the movie about crossing the border and being chased by border police. It also showed the difficulties in finding honest work and the fight to keep her jobs. The fact that Rosario worked so hard to try to get money to bring Carlito to the US with her and the lengths she was willing to go to in order to provide a better life for him were eye opening. Carlito also went to great lengths to try to return to his mother. The fact that he left Mexico on his own and got jobs in order to obtain his dream were amazing. It was also appalling that someone in the US would allow a small child to work in a diner for food and a place to sleep. This would not have happened had the child been of American descent. It also showed that trust and caring can happen when he was left behind and Enrique, who did not want to help him, became a friend and helper who sacrificed himself in order to help Carlito obtain the dream of reuniting with his mother. Had I not been so intent on keeping up with the plot of the movie and taking notes, I would have probably shed tears at the end of the movie.