Real Women Have Curves (2002)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Don't Believe the Hype

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This movie describes the relationship between Ana and her mother. It can accurately portrait the value of a traditional Mexican woman. In the movie, we can see that the expectation of Ana's mother is so different from Ana while Ana is a first generation American born Mexican. Ana's mother has a strong sense of family value and the expectation on a traditional Mexican woman. In a particular scene, Ana was taught by her mother how to "walk like a woman" while we can also relate the last scene that Ana walked like a woman in New York. The director of this movie tries to convey a message that "real women" do not need to be defined by the society. If you have curves, then you are a real woman.

"Real Women Have Curves" concerns the generational gap that occurs in the abrasive relationship between a old-fashioned Hispanic mother and her daughter in contemporary Los Angeles. This impressive HBO Films release examines the place of women in twenty-first century society from the perspective of a rebellious young Latino teenager who refuses to follow in her mother's traditional footsteps; meaning, seek a man, a marriage, and the responsibility of rearing children. Instead, our heroine wants to attend college and rise about the lowly economic status that has paralyzed her parents and crippled her older sister who operates a sweat-shop where fashionable apparel is assembled for peanuts then sold for a fortune in a upper-scale name brand department store. No, "Real Women Have Curves" doesn't qualify as a formulaic mainstream comedy about a cute, sexy Anglo-Saxon star wading into and out of a series of romantic complications. Instead, this realistic, independent film deals with a teen who is overweight and struggles to resolve her own issues with her family as well as her future. Bogotá, Colombia, native Patricia Cardoso directed this insightful social drama with "MacArthur Park" scenarist Josefina Lopez and "A Dog Year" scribe George LaVoo. A bovine-looking America Ferrera delivers a sympathetic performance as the conflicted protagonist long before she achieved acclaim in the hit television series "Ugly Betty." Lupe Ontiveros is equally as good as her abusive mother who believes that she is doing what is best for her misguided daughter. Hispanic comedian George Lopez is restrained but effective as the heroine's high school English teacher who inspires her to go to college despite her dire shortage of financial aid. Among the issues that Ana (America Ferrera) and her mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros) quarrel about is her weight. Carmen has not had any luck getting her oldest daughter married off and she fears the worst for her youngest daughter. The action opens with Ana leaving high school after she graduates and facing an uncertain future. Her compassionate teacher wants her to pursue her education, but the demands of her family obstruct Ana's dreams. Carmen drives her daughter insane with her own demands. The scene in Estela's small sweat-shop factory when the ladies undress to proudly display their stretch marks and bulges is great. There is nothing contrived about this drama. Ultimately, "Real Women Have Curves" is a feminist film that pits female against female and the men stand out as sympathetic.

By looking at the title of the film "Real Women Have Curves," audiences can clearly know that film will talk about a group of women who have different sizes as others. This culture movie talked about a Mexican American family's life in L.A. The main character Ana is an American- born girl who has an old fashion Mexican-born mother. Sometimes they have had hard times communicating with each other because they grow up in different cultures and her mother Carmen always convinced Ana to do some things as her. This film has own style, which made it more special than others, such as the characters' chosen and their authenticity. Most female characters in the film were not good-looking women. It helps us related to real Mexican Americans look like. The main character Ana was a regular high school student who was not as other girls who make up and dress up nicely to go to school everyday. She cared about her schoolwork and she tried hard to convince her family to agree with her to continue her education. However, her mother Carmen thought that Ana should stay home, take care of men and get married to a nice person instead of thinking about college. Therefore, after Ana graduated from high school, her mother convinced her to work in her sister's dress factory which Ana was not very happy about doing. In the dress factory, most workers came from Mexico, wanting to have job in the U.S. However, even though they work hard making dresses, they did not get paid enough, only receiving $18 for each dress and each of them will be sold at $600 in the stores. When Ana heard this unfair business, she wondered why her sister still doing the job that she didn't even get paid fairly. One day in the factory, Ana felt so hot of working in the humid room which did not have any conditioners. Ana did not care about what her mother said concerning how fat she was, she just took off her clothes to cool herself. Her mother thought Ana was crazy and she felt very embarrassed that Ana didn't care about her appearance and body size. Her mother always said that Ana was too fat and she needed to lose weight. Other workers started to talk about fatness, and all of them thought they were fatter than one another. They started to take off their clothes to compete with each other to see who have the fattest body. They didn't think being oversize is a bad thing and they have confidence in their appearance. In this scene, audiences can see a truth of these Mexican American women. Even though they are overweight, they have confidence about their looks. In addition, it showed they are real women who have curves.This movie was not only focused on culture and women, it also focused on the motions of each member of the Mexican American family. Ana's dad seemed understand what Ana really wanted to do in her future, and he always stayed positives on Ana's decision. Her grandfather loved Ana and he respected her decision, too. Her grandfather even helped Ana dated with Jimmy who is Ana's boyfriend without telling Carmen. Other family member, such as her sister and boyfriend, all support her for going to college and continue her education. If you are interested in Mexican American culture, I recommend you to watch this movie and it will give you many information of how Mexicans' lives look like in the U.S.

The new millennium started promisingly: In 2002, we got to see America Ferrera, curvy, round and sexy like no other Hollywood film star at that time. Then, three exhaustingly long years later, the lover of Big Beautiful Women was highly awarded with Kylie Sparks, leading actress of "Pizza" (2005). And now? We have just buried the first decade of this millennium, and it looks less promising than ever. What can a lover of Big Women do besides consulting the pertinent special fashion magazines of BBWs, visiting the web sites of a few of them who are proud of flaunting with what they have gotten? In TV nor film you don't see them. They cannot make carrier unless they loose "willingly" the substance that turns them from being beautiful into being gorgeous. Unfortunately, so did Mrs. Ferrera. Allegedly, I have read, she looks more appealing than ever. A terrible lie! For a real lover of BBW's, watching one of the several sex-scenes in Hollywood movies is as enjoyable as watching a gay-striptease.