Film Analysis Essay on Better Life: Undocumented Struggles of an Immigrant Father & Son

Introduction

The movie "Better life" illustrates the lives of undocumented immigrants in the United States of America and their struggles to get by daily. The movie is based on the lives of one family, a father, and a son. The father, namely Carlos and his son Luis. Carlos moved from Mexico six years earlier and lived in a house that was left for him by his house, but his son was born in the state. Both the father and the son are undocumented citizens, together with several other citizens that are also shown in the video.

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Carlos works hard and rises early in the morning with the birds to work at the lawns of the wealthy people around. He cannot find a decent job because of him being undocumented, and he barely spends time with his son because of the different schedules they both have. The undocumented immigrants are seen to get into a gang in arrival to the state mostly, and Carlos is afraid that his son's girlfriend is luring him into the gang affiliation.

There are also dysfunctional families in the immigrants, and this is shown from the less time the father and son spend together. The son also sees his father as a looser because, at times, he cannot afford to give him money when he needs it. To acquire justice when undocumented is also a problem because you cannot involve the police. This is illustrated when Carlos buys a truck, and it gets stolen, they try to find it with his son. Undocumented immigrants cannot work in the well-paying decent jobs because they cannot get licenses; they have to live in the low and avoid attracting the police to their personal lives to avoid deportation. Most of the illegal immigrants use the gangs for protection by staying together and to also perform some illegal duties that help them is surviving from day to day as well as risking their stay in the country by doing so.

Carlos Actions to Give Luis A Better Life

Carlos was doing the best to give his son a good life, but sometimes his son didn't understand and thought of him as a failure whenever he couldn't give him money. Carlos would wake up with the singing birds to attend to the lawns of the rich to get some money that would help them cater to their needs. Carlos wanted to have a normal life and wanted the same for his son though he feared that he might get into a gang.

Carlos worked hard to ensure that his son went to school to get an education, but he was getting frustrated because his son was on the verge of being suspended because he was missing school a lot and hanging out with his girlfriend, who was gang-affiliated. Carlos worked on the low profile jobs to avoid getting deported to make sure that he is able to take care of his son and provide for him. Carlos wishes for a better life, and when he gets a chance to buy a truck, he gets a loan from his sister to acquire it. He knew it was a risk to have the car without a license, but he decided to take the chances to give his son a better life.

Carlos was trying to provide for his son, but there were some mistakes that he also did while undertaking the venture. He was away from his son almost all the time that he barely knew him. A parent needs to have a healthy relationship with his child. The connection helps the parent to learn the kid and guide them as well. The other mistake is taking his fourteen-year-old son on the vengeance to retrieve their stolen truck. It was a risky venture, and it was more dangerous to take his son with him. He was supposed to the protector of his child but not take him into a risky job that they didn't know the outcome. The action though also taught his son to be healthy and always fight for what is rightfully his.

Journal Articles to the Movie

In the movie, it is seen as a normal thing for illegal immigrants to get into a gang. According to Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood by Roberto G. Gonzales, this is for survival tactics as one has to learn how to live being illegal (Gonzales, 2011). Carlos wants his son to stay in school because, in school, his son is protected. After all, according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the school cannot give out any information about the student to the immigration authorities (Gonzales, 2011).

The Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood document further explains that all the undocumented adults cannot get work in the legal organization, get any financial help from the government, and have a driving license (Gonzales, 2011). All these limitations hinder the illegal immigrants from having a better life that Carlos desires. He cannot get aid from the government and also has to work an odd job for long hours to provide for his son and himself. After buying the track, he risks being deported because he cannot get a driving license. In case he is stopped by the police while driving, that would be his end of living in the United States of America. In the United States of America, one has to have proper documentation to be able to live in the country or even own property. To drive a vehicle, one has to have a valid driving license. To operate a business, one has to have proper work permits to run it. Undocumented citizens are unable to acquire all these documents that would help improve their lives because they can go to these offices without getting deported.

Reference

Gonzales, R. G. (2011). Learning to be illegal: Undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. American sociological review, 76(4), 602-619. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122411411901