real women have curves

Director: patricia cardoso

Actor: america ferrera,lupe ontiveros,ingrid oliu,george lopez

Data Published: Fri Nov 08 2002

Genres: Comedy,Drama

Key Words: united states,usa,factory,mexican american,latino

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296166/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Women_Have_Curves

Description: Real Women Have Curves is a movie starring America Ferrera, Lupe Ontiveros, and Ingrid Oliu. In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her...

Plot: 18-year-old Ana García struggles to fulfill her dream of going to college while considering family duty, and a tough economic situation. The thought of Ana going to college torments Ana's mother, Carmen, because she wants to keep her family together. Carmen also wants Ana to help work in the family-owned textile factory, run by Ana's sister Estela. The factory itself is in danger of closing; Estela cannot afford to make the rent and pay her employees. Although Ana does consent to spend sweaty summer days working in the factory, she spends her nights writing her college entrance essay for Columbia University and sneaking out to see her American boyfriend Jimmy. Ana defies Carmen (her mother) and applies to college, despite warnings against such behavior. As the summer goes by Ana grows into a confident woman through experiences with Jimmy, and positive self-affirmation. She challenges cultural and socioeconomic boundaries, in favor of a life independent from her family. Despite the warnings of her critical mother, Ana gains support from her sister and father to pursue success beyond the borders of East Los Angeles. She also starts to call out her mother on her critical and emotionally abusive ways. The film begins in a Hispanic neighborhood in Los Angeles. An old woman is standing at her front gate, singing enthusiastically. The camera then brings us into the living room of a home on the same street. We see a young woman, Estela (Ingrid Oliu) trying to convince her younger sister, Ana (America Ferrera) to go look after their mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros). Carmen is moaning and groaning in bed, looking quite ill. Ana rolls her eyes and goes inside her parents' bedroom. Carmen asks Ana to come nearer, whispering that she needs Ana to cook for the family that day because she is sick. Ana erupts and says she absolutely refuses to miss her last day of high school and stomps out of the room. Moments later, Carmen gets out of bed and is apparently quite alright. Ana catches two buses to get to her Beverly Hills high school. At the end of the day, her teacher asks her to consider applying to colleges. Ana explains that her family won't be able to afford it, and remarks that "it's too late anyway". Her teacher disagrees and tells her that he knows the dean of admissions at Columbia University and could possibly have her application looked at, even if it is past the deadline. Ana tells him she will think about it. That night, Ana's family throws her a little party to celebrate the end of her high school years. As the night continues onward, however, the festivities turn to well-worn topics: Her mother nags Ana about not eating too much cake because of her weight, and emphasizes the need for Ana to get married and have children. Ana's grandfather and father try to defuse the situation, until her mother and Estela start discussing the family factory – a very small run-down dressmaking warehouse that Estela runs, and Carmen works at. Carmen tells Ana that it's time she started working at the factory. Estela protests, saying there isn't enough to pay Ana. Carmen insists, saying it's time Ana starts working for the family, no matter how little money she gets paid. Ana wants to do something else, but doesn't have a job. At that moment, her high school teacher arrives at the house, and asks to talk to Ana's parents about the possibilities of Ana going to college. Ana's mother is resolute, saying that there is absolutely no way Ana will go away. Carmen says Ana belongs at home and that's the end of the story. Ana's father seems open to the idea, but does not say anything in the face of his wife's strong stance. He does assure Ana's teacher that he will think about it. Later, Ana tries to convince Estela to face down the executive in charge of her clothing line to grant her an advance so she can keep the factory running. The woman refuses, and instead Ana convinces her father to give Estela a small loan after Ana sees how hard Estela works to produce clothing she is proud of. Meanwhile, Ana works with Mr. Guzman to produce an essay for her application to Columbia University in New York. Ana develops a relationship which later becomes sexual with Jimmy, a boy from her high school who thinks that people in the United States have it too easy, because everything is given to them. Carmen confronts Ana about her sexual activities, and Ana insists that she as a person is more than what is between her legs. Later, at the factory, all of the women working there except Carmen grow exhausted of the heat and Carmen's critiques of their bodies and strip down to their underwear, comparing body shapes, stretch marks, and cellulite, inspiring confidence in one another's bodies. Carmen leaves the factory in a huff over her family and co-workers' lack of shame as Ana declares that they are women and this is who they are. Mr. Guzman comes by the house to inform Ana and her family that Ana has been accepted to Columbia with a scholarship opportunity, though it would mean moving across the country from Los Angeles to New York City. At first, Carmen convinces Ana and the rest of the family that her place is in Los Angeles with her family, but eventually Ana decides that she needs more out of her life and more importantly needs to break free from her domineering mother and her father agrees to support her. At the end of the film, Ana is dropped off at the airport by her father and her loving abuelo while Carmen refuses to leave her room and even refuses to say goodbye to Ana, and the final scenes show her striding confidently through the streets of New York.