Under+the+Same+Moon

The movie, //Under the Same Moon//, is about a nine year-old Mexican boy named Carlitos who decides to cross the US-Mexican border alone in order to be reunited with his mother, Rosario, who had immigrated illegally into the US four years prior to the events of the movie. This movie does a great job depicting just how desperate some Mexicans are for a better life for themselves and for their families and how challenging reaching this goal can be for them. I never really thought about what illegal immigration was like for Mexicans on a personal level, such as how it affects the immigrants’ families. All the information about illegal immigration that I learned from school in the past was that it was dangerous and fairly difficult for them to cross the border. The movie proves this correct and also shows me that it can be both expensive to get across and an emotional hardship to leave behind friends and family. The movie put a lot of focus on how Carlitos and his mother feel about being separated and how it has affected them. The film stressed how much Rosario misses Carlitos and how she thinks about him every day. This made me realize how hard it must have been for her to leave him behind in Mexico and live so far away just so she could earn money and send remittances to him. Carlitos has not seen his mother in four years because she has not been able to earn enough money to bring him into the US. This situation reminded me of the Chinese factory workers we saw in a video in class. I remembered that they could not visit their children in their village for years on end and how their children nearly forgot about them and who they were. The Chinese couple seemed worried that they would not be able to see their children grow up or that their children might forget about them completely. I noticed that Carlitos had similar fears about whether his mother would ever find a way to pay for him to come to the US or if she would forget about him if they remained separated. These fears are some of the main reasons he decides to travel to the US and find his mother. (2 hours worth) Excellent. Reflection: 10 English: 10