Written by Ali Grutchfield, Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
As many Americans are becoming successfully vaccinated, film connoisseurs and people fed up with their families alike are headed to the theaters. Jon M. Chu’s “In the Heights” is one of the first major blockbusters to officially hit the big screen rather than going exclusively to streaming services. Many SCAD students rushed to see the movie and form their opinions on it.
Similar to critical acclaim, SCAD students had mixed reviews about “In the Heights.” Recent graduate Lilah Sanchez saw the film as a special and visceral experience, which surprised her considering she streamed the movie rather than going to the theater. Aidan Gomez, a first-year film student, also loved it and cited it as his favorite film of the year. However, he didn’t think it could be adequately done at home, rather, he said it was “it was something that had to be experienced on the big screen.” Conversely, AJ Manby, a first-year graphic design student, had low expectations going into the theater but left thinking it wasn’t worth all the hype. He attributes his melancholic review to “the times in the film where the singing would be fast-paced and fun and then it would abruptly come to a screeching halt with a super slow, melancholy and sleepy tune.” He felt that these moments caused him to be tonally confused.
For the students who loved the movie, certain songs really made them connect with the characters. For example, Gomez said she loved “When You’re Home” because of the parallels from the song to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s personal life. This song transcends the theater screen for Gomez, as he said that he loves that the inspiration came from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s actual first date with now-wife Vanessa Nadal where they showed each other their favorite spots in Washington Heights. Sanchez couldn’t pick a favorite song, but admired “the entertaining and musical way of learning about different cultures.” This movie brought the spotlight to a community that hasn’t recieved much attention in entertainment.
Aside from the content itself, “In the Heights” has received a lot of pushback about whether or not the Afro-Latin community was left out of it. Additionally, the debate has arisen as to who should be deciding what representation is good enough. Gomez notes that while everyone is entitled to their own thoughts, “the people who are the most relevant in this discussion are people who live in Washington Heights and are a part of the community, Lin-Manuel Miranda being one of them.” That said, he said that he believes there is still much progress to be made regarding representation in film. Sanchez said that he agrees that this movie should not function as the scapegoat for all that is wrong with Afro-Latin representation in film. She thinks that “while the Latino community has the most diverse skin colors, I saw our dances, our jokes, our music, our struggles and our ways of living in the film.” Her personal struggle with identifying as a “white Latina,” played a major role in her perception of the film.
Although the movie itself capitalized upon heart-tugging romance and strife, “In the Heights” should be commended, if nothing else, for simply starting such an important conversation. The film industry doesn’t need to stay away from certain stories in fear of losing part of their audience. Instead, society needs to encourage the industry to continue down the path of learning about and embracing different cultures. With movies such as this, many major players, both on-screen and off, identify with the communities represented and thus are telling their own stories. As Lilah Sanchez so beautifully stated, “the better we understand our neighbors, the better we coexist.”
