Why West Side Story and In the Heights Make This Latina Melt With Feels

I get the feels, a lot. I got the feels during the opening sequence of Disney’s Up. I got the feels during the finale of ABC’s Lost. The point being, I get the feels a lot in the content I consume. Part of it is because I’ve connected with these characters and the story told, while another part of it is because of the story woven together by a creative team that knows what it’s doing. But that doesn’t explain why the 2021 versions of West Side Story and In the Heights give me the feels on a consistent basis.

Both movies haven’t premiered yet, a trailer or two being the only thing that we know about either property. But every single time that either of them pops up on my screen, I tear up. Usnavi telling the story of Washington Heights while swooning over Vanessa? I tear up. West Side Story’s Valentina, a.k.a. Rita Moreno, serenading us during the premiere trailer of the movie that came out 60 years ago? I tear up. And it’s taken me this long to understand what has been going on in my head and why I’m overwhelmed.

I’m happy, ecstatic even, and ready for what’s to come from West Side Story and In the Heights. And that thing is a community, the Latinx one I belong to, in particular. Too often, I find myself lost in the media that I consume. I see people that look like me, light-skinned with straight or slightly curled hair. But I don’t see people that act like me, that come together like me, and that has firmly held onto the traditions, ways, and community as Latinx men, women, and people.

That’s where West Side Story and In the Heights come in and where representation comes into play.

These two feature films tell the story of Latinx people from a place that feels like home. I can feel it in every word spoken and every scene that features our flags or our multitude of people of different colors. I can feel it in the way that Latinx actors and actresses have been given the time of day to play out their own stories. And I can feel it in the excitement radiating off of my fellow Latinx people who have watched both trailers and felt welcomed.

That’s why West Side Story and In the Heights give me the feels every single time I watch their trailers, even though I haven’t watched the actual films yet. They feel like home, like the stars have finally aligned, and like Hollywood is finally paying attention to us and giving us the representation that we deserve. Is it perfect? No. Neither of these movies is. West Side Story runs the risk of out-of-date themes, and neither this movie nor In the Heights has a Latinx director.

But the fact remains that Latinx stories are being told and that our people are playing the roles we’ve so desperately wanted our entire lives. And everywhere I turn, it’s not just the Latinx community that is excited. People from all walks of life are here to follow and fall in love with the stories being told on West Side Story and In the Heights. And that excitement makes me feel welcome and like there could be more on the horizon for us when it comes to Latinx films.

West Side Story and In the Heights are just the beginning—or I hope they are—of a time in Hollywood where our multifaceted stories are told with respect, honesty, and love. And I look to our future with a feeling in my heart that things are changing for the better where we all, Latinx people included, feel represented and embraced by the movies we watch and the stories they tell.

(image: Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios)

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