MovieChat Forums > West Side Story (2021) Discussion > Don't listen to the idiots making a big ...

Don't listen to the idiots making a big deal about the use of Spanish


I just got finished seeing Spielberg's West Side Story and can truthfully say, as one who doesn't speak Spanish, that I was never confused about what was being communicated even when Spanish was being spoken. It was usually something simple like "Maria--come inside" or something similar. Usually if someone says something in Spanish, a translation in English immediately follows, oftentimes because the character of Anita keeps reminding the Puerto Ricans to speak English. There was only one scene near the end between Chino and the Sharks that was spoken in Spanish that left me a little confused, but the rest of the film you can figure out what the meaning is intuitively. A lot of the boo-hooing about using Spanish is coming from the same types who are getting their panties in a wad because they fear that Spielberg has gone "woke". The only bit of "wokeness" I discerned was when the elderly Rita Moreno pronounces judgement on the Jets that they are "rapists" because they almost force themselves on Anita near the end. It actually looked more like a "rape" in the '61 version, to be quite honest.

Don't listen to the naysayers. There is no "40% in Spanish" garbage like dimwits are spreading. Any moderately intelligent person can figure out what is being conveyed even if they occasionally hear a sentence or two in a language they don't know.

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So you're saying the Spanish use is very mild and in short remarks? Not all Spanish in a song singing or long conversations in Spanish?

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Only once in the scene I identified between Chino and the Sharks near the end. From what some people had been saying, I fully expected a song like "America" would be sung entirely in Spanish, which it isn't. Any attentive eight year old should have no difficulty figuring out the sense that is meant even if the characters occasionally say something in Spanish.

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It's easy to understand

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Like the Spanglish in Dexter, the Showtime TV series?

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Never seen Dexter.

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[deleted]

Aren't there subtitles when they speak Spanish?

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There are no subtitles in English or in Spanish.

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Thanks. It wouldn't bother me, but there are plenty of people who don't know simple Spanish expressions or words. Subtitles would've been the better way to go.

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Given the small.amount of Spanish involved, it really wouldn't be necessary.

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[deleted]

The irony is you know as well as I do that when it gets dumped in foreign markets that it will be subtitled in the language of the country it is shown in. This was just woke stupidity, and not only do I blame Spielberg for it but more to blame are the execs at Disney that allowed the idiot to do it. Do they really think that when it is shown in Mexico that it won't have Spanish subtitles for the English?

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Great point! Spielberg's explanation that subtitles would make English the dominant language is ridiculous since that's the reality.

Anybody's should have been kept a Tomboy which would've been more acceptable in that era. Spielberg turned her into a transgender person who would've had zero chance of being accepted into the Jets since they were bigots.

BTW, woke only means being aware of racial injustice. I support woke 100% and would've preferred to see more black, brown and fairer Puerto Ricans which is the reality. Spielberg was "woke" with the wrong things.

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A transgender in that time period would have been eliminated from the gene pool. The only question is whether it would have been the local gang or the trany's family that took him out. Throwing one into the movie is the same ridiculous bullshit that had the Merlin TV series throwing in a black Gwendolyn to be King Arthur's love interest.

Nothing screams woke louder than casting decisions that are counter to the time period where a show is set.

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I doubt it, unless you were the one killing them back then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_transgender_people_in_the_United_States#1950s_and_1960s

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No, you are ignoring that these are Puerto Ricans, the latin machismo would come into play which would make it more like what you have today when some muslim decides to be a tranny.

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Stop stalling. Who are you eliminating from the gene pool?

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A black Gwendolyn is more realistic than a 100% white American Western TV show or movie.

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You don't need to know any Spanish at all to understand what is being conveyed in the film. As someone already said, much of the Spanish is immediately translated to English by the characters. The dialogue is done very smartly in these instances. The characters are prompted by Anita to "speak English!" and so they do speak those passages in Spanish and English.

There are also those times when the meaning of the Spanish spoken word is conveyed to the audience in the facial expressions and stunning acting done by the cast. Honestly, anyone who does not get the understanding of what is being conveyed on on the screen in Spanish is just plain lazy or totally unaware.

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Subtitles would have been awkward because they often switch back and forth between English and Spanish. Is is typical in Puerto Rican Spanish, they frequently use English words.

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I agree. Subtitles would be awkward. I was so entranced in the acting, subtitles would ruin the movie for me. So glad Spielberg was adamant about no subtitles.

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No

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There should still have been subtitles.

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"There should still have been subtitles."

Are you saying that because you've seen the film and know this to be true?

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Yes . Like the late Mr Lear, I read but I cannot speak Spanish.

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Puerto Ricans also speak a distinctive dialect. Plus further distinction from New Yorkers vs on the island so Maria's Spanish would sound a little different.

Many people find the dialect harder to understand so subtitles would've been helpful if they chose to be authentic - which I doubt.

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Whatever the reason (e.g., panties in a wad), not many people turned out to see it in theaters. Maybe it will do better streaming or in DVD if it wins some awards.

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I was hoping it would do better at the box office.

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Was Coppola being "woke" in The Godfather when Michael talked to Sollozzo completely in Italian (with no subtitles) during the diner/assassination scene? In that particular scene the non-translation was justified because we need to see Michael reverting to his Sicilian roots, plus it put Office McCloskey in the position of an outsider as we the audience are to the ways of the Mafia. On the other hand, the decision not to include subtitles in Patton (also scripted by Coppola, incidentally) in the original theatrical cut was not so successful, as it served no real story purpose and just left the audience confused about what the German officers were discussing. That was in the original release of the film. I believe later releases of the film have provided the German translations. Anyway, I can't speak about whether the non-use of subtitles works in this film West Side Story works or not, because I haven't seen it yet, but it seems to me people are making value judgements about a film they probably haven't seen yet either.

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Some portion of the people who considered seeing WSS likely heard or read that some of the dialogue is in Spanish with no subtitles. And some portion of those people - impossible to know how large - found that off-putting. But I honestly doubt that Spanish dialogue was the main reason for the movie’s poor showing. That said, other producers and directors might think twice before attempting a repeat. Subtitled movies are, unfortunately, usually thought of as art house fare in the U.S. rather than blockbusters bound for wide release.

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I agree with you that not using subtitles can be acceptable and even artsy as in The Godfather. Like you rightly analyzed, there was a valid reason in The Godfather. Actually Spielberg did the same in Saving Private Ryan with German language.

The problem here in West Side Story 2021 is rather the reason Spielberg is giving not to use subtitles. Spielberg said he refuses to use subtitles in WSS 2021 not to empower English .... and that reason is 100% woke in my opinion and non acceptable.

If Spielberg wants to be woke or push a woke agenda, good for him. But I'm not going to encourage that ideology that I consider insane and over the top. And I'm glad his movie bombed.

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Spielberg's ill-advised statements about subtitles promoting "racism" and "colonialism" before the film was released are the main problem, I think. This poisoned the well and made people less willing to give the film the benefit of the doubt. As I said in another post, it was a "self-inflicted wound".

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I've seen the Godfather with subtitles.

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Some parts have subtitles and some didn't... I talking theatrical release by the way. I have no idea what goes on in BluRay and later releases. The theatrical release of Patton back in 1970 had no subtitles for the Germans, but they were added later when it was released for Home Box Office.

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You're a troll trying to promote an awful movie as some joke. Haha! There you go, there's your validation

Now stop trying to convince us to watch a fucking musical directed by a washed-up director, starring a statutory rapist leading man and a nobody from Youtube leading lady

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Unpleasant as always. Now I remember why I had your illiterate, hate-filled ass on my ignore list. That's where you're going back to right now.

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Don't you fucking dare block me, you stupid bitch

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Nice. NOT!!!!!!!!

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