friendoffilm — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 06:52 PM)

Im back.with another diary about my all time favorite movie,
West Side Story
.
As I have written on here before,
West Side Story
is a film that I never get tired of seeing over and over and over again. This diary is about a whole bunch of reasons why. Some of it will undoubtedly be familiar to all of you, and some of it will not.
Earlier today, on a forum called
West Side Story/Live Journa
l, I noticed a post about the best romance films from the 1940s through the 1960s. Along with
My Fair Lady
,
Breakfast at Tiffanys
, and a whole bunch of other films, some of which Id heard of and others I hadnt, I was very happy to see that
West Side Story
was also included in this youtube video/list. As I looked at the list, realizing that most of the films that were listed and posted about on this particular youtube video, I came to realize that, although
West Side Story
was included as one of the best romance films of all times on this list, something else occurred to me:
What makes
West Side Story
such a beautiful and strong film is the fact that its a combination of a number of things. Whatever anybody may think of the romance between the ex-Jet leader/founder, Tony, and Maria (who are played by Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood), the younger sister of the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Shark gang leader, Bernardo, the romance between Tony and Maria is an integral and important part of the very story behind
West Side Story
.
While
West Side Story
is about Tony and Marias romance, which eventually goes up in smoke due to the hatred and conflict between the warring Jets and Sharks,
West Side Story
is also about a number of other things, as well.
West Side Story
takes place in a rough and run-down urban area, on the West Side of 1950s-1960s Manhattan, in the United States largest city: New York.
West Side Story
is also about urban gang warfare, racial and ethnic tensions and hostilities, and conflict with the law, as well, as well as love and romance between two people of different racial/ethnic/cultural groups, all of which occur in real life, throughout the United States and throughout the world, generally.
West Side Story
is also about rebellion and forbidden love, as well as tribal friendship and loyalties. Its also about how our society has left groups of have-nots to compete with the crumbs that have been left to them by our society and our system, which is something that the Jets and Sharks competition for a small piece of turf is clearly indicative of, if one gets the drift.
West Side Story
is also about the cruelty and hatred that the Jets not only inflict upon each other, but about the cruelty and hatred allocated to both gangs by law enforcement, but there are also very kindly and caring adults (such as Doc, the candy store owner, and Glad-Hand, the social worker, at the Gym), who try to help them, and steer them in a better direction.
If
West Side Story
is about all of the above-mentioned things, its about exuberance, arrogance, love of dance, and fun, as well, which are all indicated in the
Dance at the Gym
and the
America
scenes. The
Officer Krupke
scene also indicates the humor (albeit rather wry) in WSS, as well.
West Side Story
is also about rebellion in the form of women/girls attempting to break away from the old, traditional values. Maria, Anita, and Anybodys are the strongest women in
West Side Story
, for that particular reason. Maria rebels and falls in love with Tony, and Tony by falling in love with Maria. Anita, who clearly disapproves at first, unlike Bernardo, comes around to accepting Maria and Tonys love, albeit grudgingly. Anybodys is persistent in gaining acceptance by the Jets as an equal and one of the gang, proving her toughness, resourcefulness, and her ability to take care of herself, and she finally does gain acceptance by the Jets.
The
Rumble
scene in
West Side Story
is the climax, where tensions ultimately explode, thus resulting in the deaths of Riff, Bernardo and Tony, and yet the
Cool
scene is the anti-climax, where hot blood is cooled by Ice, who takes over the Jet gang leadership after Riffs death during the Rumble, after both the Jets and Sharks flee the police and go into hiding.
Yet, while
West Side Story
is about the harsher side of life in a run-down, rough urban area, there are gentler aspects, as well, such as the short-lived romance between Tony and Maria, the way both the Jets and Sharks romanced with their girls, and the fact that Glad Hand and Doc were gently trying to steer both gangs in a better direction.
West Side Story
is also about possible redemption between people through intergroup reconciliation, which is strongly indicated by the fact that several Sharks and several Jets come together to carry Tonys body off after hed been shot to death, partly due to jealousy on the part of Bernardos friend, Chino, also a Shark gang member, and partly due to retaliation for Tonys having stabbed Bernardo to death in retaliation for his having stabbed his (To