Critical Thinking Piece - Spanglish Timed Write

The film defines an outsider as a person outside of their comfort zone, where they feel uncomfortable and they may even feel that others are hostile towards them. For example, if a person cannot speak the language of the culture that they are in, they feel like they do not belong. And also, when people do not hold on to the same values, it is hard for them to identify with each other, creating misunderstanding.

An example from the film is that Deborah was an outsider within her own family. Her values were almost totally contradictory to the rest of her family. This woman valued temporal things and she focused mostly on her appearance and the appearance of her family. Without consulting her daughter, she intentionally bought clothes too small for her in hopes that she would lose weight. She was obviously not sensitive enough to her daughter's feelings. Her husband's feelings were hurt because his wife ostracized their daughter. She also felt left out when her husband gave 20% of his restaurant to his assistant chef without consulting her. These situations made her outside of what the family valued.

Another example is that Flor felt like an outsider when she went to work for the Claskys because of the language barrier. She could not communicate effectively because she could not express herself verbally. Most of her understanding of what was going on was watching their actions. This cultural barrier gave her the decision to finally learn English. A specific example is when Deborah brought home clothes for Bernice. Flor did not realize what was going on until Bernice tried her clothes and checked the tags of the rest. She witnessed how everyone was upset, so she wanted to get out of the house as quickly as she could because she was uncomfortable and did not know what to do.

The comparison that I see with the films definition of an outsider and my cultural understanding of an outsider is that in both cases, it is apparent that anyone, regardless of race, nationality, language, gender, or economic status, is immune to being in a situation where they are an outsider or even feel like an outsider. Any time a person is in a situation with other people that they do not know, they feel like an outsider. This feeling is compounded, the more interaction that is required, which forces someone out of their comfort zone, especially when there are communication barriers.