VivirLatino

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

It seems like it was only yesterday that Mala and I were tweeting that we were surprised we had not been invited to a screening of the upcoming film Our Family Wedding featuring America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King, and Forest Whitaker. Then all of a sudden an invitation falls into my inbox! I’ll admit that when I started to see the trailers on television I just took a deep sigh as the images and storyline lead one to believe that it will focus on the racism that Latinos have towards Black people. And ya’ll know how I feel about that already.

The film follows Lucia performed by America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) who is attending Law School at Columbia University in NYC where she meets her fiancé Marcus performed by Lance Gross (House Of Payne, Meet The Browns), who is seeking a medical degree at the same University. We meet them as they are packing to head back to LA to visit family and announce they are getting married. Dating for less than one year, Marcus is excited to share his decision and love for Lucia with his single-father who raised him, Brad, performed by Forest Whitaker (Last King Of Scotland), who is one of LA’s most eligible bachelors ad a well known radio personality. Lucia however, is very concerned about telling her father Miguel performed by Carlos Mencia (The Mind of Mencia) and her mother Sonia performed by Diana-Maria Riva (Chasing Papi, What Women Want) about her wedding plans, dropping out of Law School to become a teaching to immigrant youth, and moving with Marcus to Laos for a Doctors Without Borders opportunity.

As I watched the film, I was entertained, but it became clear to me that the film was written by men because each of the multiple ways the female characters were developed (or not) and how they were portrayed as weak, sad, fearful, or chasing after men. Yet the men are angry, opinionated, and in various ways display levels of power not just within their specific communities but power over the women in their lives as well. Read more…