So, what do you think happens to Maria?
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friendoffilm — 12 years ago(March 30, 2014 10:18 AM)
Natalie Wood's death was sadand eerie. Nobody really knows how she died, despite the fact that the case was re-opened 3 years ago, at around the 50th-year Anniversary national re-release of the film
West Side Story
. -
hodie — 12 years ago(April 19, 2013 03:01 PM)
Well, she was living with her parents and they were still alive. I assume that like most people she mourned for a time and eventually got over the heartache. I doubt she married Chino since there seemed to be no chemistry between them. She probably married someone who wasn't in the story.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" -
otter — 11 years ago(September 25, 2014 09:56 PM)
Yeah, well, that's where the source material would put her fate.
Of course she didn't kill herself due to the peculiar circumstances of Shakespear's play. But maybe Tony left her pregnant, and her family was so awful about it that she saw only one way out. Or maybe her family was horrible even if she didn't get pregnant, they abused her or planned to send her back to Puerto Rico - just because she got with a no-good hood who wasn't even a Puerto Rican no-good hood!
" Jack, you have debauched my sloth! " -
friendoffilm — 11 years ago(May 04, 2014 12:34 PM)
Nobody knows what really happened to Maria, but I can't imagine that she'd want to marry Chino after he'd killed Tony, the guy that Maria really loved. Who can tell, however. In real life, people date and even marry criminals all the time.
Maria and Anita just went on with their lives, after mourning for their dead lovers, working in the Bridal Shop for several more years, before deciding to go back to school so that they could change careers. Maria decides to go into the health professions, goes back to school and becomes a medical secretary at a large NYC Hospital. Anita goes back to school, to a nursing school in NYC, becoming a Registered Nurse, and landing a job at a large NYC hospital, the same hospital that she'd attended nursing school in. -
noirgirl — 10 years ago(July 05, 2015 03:07 PM)
Since the end of the story shows (esp. with the lifting of Tony's body) that they all grew up and learned a terrible lesson about hatred and bigotry. I think she mourned Tony for a while, but ended up marrying one of the Jets like BabyJohn who was kind and gentle, and also a link to Tony. Anita, I think married another of the Sharks and stayed a seamstress, since I don't think she ever was able to let go of her hatred and resentment. She made it quite clear in the rooftop dance scene that she had no desire to be in Puerto Rico.
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pontevedro — 10 years ago(July 09, 2015 09:36 AM)
One of the prior posters suggested that Maria committed suicide, as in R&J. Indeed, Maria's suicide was included in the musical version of West Side Story until very close to its first performance. Apparently, the scene was removed at the suggestion of Richard Rodgers as being unnecessarily dark.
Also, I think that the peace that appears after Tony's death can only be regarded as temporary at best. The gangs will be back at odds within the week. The best you could hope for might be that a few gang members might give up gang life in reaction. But many or most would continue on.
Sorry to be so bleak. But this drama is definitely not a musical "comedy" - it's a musical tragedy. -
friendoffilm — 10 years ago(July 11, 2015 02:17 AM)
Also, I think that the peace that appears after Tony's death can only be regarded as temporary at best. The gangs will be back at odds within the week. The best you could hope for might be that a few gang members might give up gang life in reaction. But many or most would continue on.
Sorry to be so bleak. But this drama is definitely not a musical "comedy" - it's a musical tragedy.
To each their own, George-E-Borden, but I think that there were plenty of funny parts of
West Side Story
that made the audiences laugh, as well as the sad, tragic moments.
As for the truce between the Jets and Sharks being temporary, who knows whether or not it would be? One of the beauties of this great, golden oldie-but-keeper of a classic film is that whether the truce between the Jets and Sharks is permanent or temporary is basically left to the audiences' imagination(s). The fact that several Jets and Sharks came together to carry off Tony's body in the end, after he'd been shot and killed by Chino hints of possible reconciliation in the future. Perhaps the gangs came to their senses and stopped all the senseless hatred and fighting right away, or perhaps it took a long time afterwards for them to do so. -
pontevedro — 10 years ago(July 12, 2015 06:14 AM)
Sure there are comic elements to the story but in terms of dramatic form, it's a tragedy.
As for the gangs, it's possible that peace breaks out, of course. In R&J, the Montagues and Capulets are reconciled. There's room for hope. But nothing has changed the social and economic factors that made the gangs appealing to the boys. So I expect that many or most will remain in the gangs. Even if the Jets and Sharks are at peace, there will soon be another rival gang. We've still got gangs 50+ years later. -
friendoffilm — 10 years ago(July 12, 2015 07:35 AM)
You have made some good, interesting points about gangs, George-E-Bowdenj.
This:
There's room for hope.
is an important message that
West Side Story
conveys to people; that the possibility of intergroup reconciliation among people, as remote as if often seems (and is), and as difficult as it can be, are still possible, if one looks at the fact that many people from different racial, ethnic and religious groups here in the United States can and do also become friends, and there's a substantial amount of inter-dating and even inter-marriage among different racial, religious and ethnic groupsmore than there used to be.
One big reason, I think, that
West Side Story
appeals to so many people (myself included), is the fact that it's still quite relevant, even today, especially because they occur in real life, not only here in the United States, but throughout the world: the intergroup mingling that occurs alongside of and despite the presence of racial/ethnic tensions, urban gang warfare, and the constant fighting among groups, and even among countries.
Yes, we do still have gangs, and the socioeconomic factors still exist, but now, in real life, gangs are even more ruthless, and disputes among gangs are far more likely to be carried out and settled with guns, rather than fisticuffs and/or switchblade knives. Police departments in our society have also become more militarized than they were back when
West Side Story
first came out, and was the most popular, but the fact that I've attended many well-attended screenings of this great golden oldie-but-keeper of a classic film still indicates that
West Side Story
is very popular, even nowadays.
You are so beautiful and talented. I would love to perform with you.