The Goonies, Sandra Cisneros, Immigration, and Our Wishing Well

Not only do I love this clip for all of the nostalgic reasons any kid of the 80's does, but also for the uncanny way it popped into my head during one of my sheltered English 10 classes.


For those of us not in the education field, a sheltered core class is solely comprised of English language learners.   Most sheltered classes contain students that range in English proficiency levels from conversational-only up to just about No Child Left Behind grade level reading and writing mastery.

A unique cultural trend in public schools that have large populations of Hispanic families (my school, Freedom High School in Woodbridge, VA consists of close to 70% Hispanic students) face the same phenomena--the extended November/December through January family vacations back to the countries from which they immigrated.  Our county regulations force us to withdraw a student that is truant for fifteen consecutive academic days.  Unfortunately for a good amount of our students, their families leave for Central and South America the week of Thanksgiving and return sometime in mid-January; thus, these students do not receive credit for the first semester at all and pending on their time of re-enrollment, may not receive credit for the second semester either.

One of my students returned to school today from Honduras.  She was tan, looked emotional wrecked, and sat in her old assigned seat.  It was ghostly to see her walk in the door.  She told me her mother still lives in Honduras and she lives in Woodbridge with her father.  When I met with her about her academic situation and what the midterm exam situation is going to look like, she registered a sincere nothingness.  Her academic GPA meant nothing to her; she just wanted to check  out a text book, a novel, and pick up from where she left and probably avoid the emotional waterfall pouring down on her.  And that's what got me thinking about The Goonies.

This is her time, her time down here.  Up there, up there in the land of her parents chasing down their dreams, of superintendents and No Child Left Behind legislators, it's there time, there time up there.  On-time graduation rate?  Passing standardized tests?  It all just seems trivial.  Her life and its meaning is being defined by larger cultural forces of Hispanic immigration while she tries to hold on and forge her own way to happiness.

But then I thought about her mom...who in my mind became Troy waiting for Andy to ride up that bucket.  What about her mom that might have been aching to see her daughter and found a very Americanized young Latina?  Andy, you Goonie!  How could you do this to me?  Or, this student could be Troy waiting to see her mom again to find that her mom is not the same way she left her last year.  Mom, you Goonie!  Then I felt really guilty for speculating upon and equating their relationship to that of Troy, Andy, and the schism between one person's subconscious wishing well and the other's. 

My mind then jumped to Sandra Cisnero's character, mamacita, in the vignette "No Speak English" in The House on Mango Street.  The "no-speak-English" Mamacita loses it when her little baby boy starts speaking English, thus rendering the two unable to communicate and connect.  The tragic irony is that Esperanza realizes how much freedom a bilingual education can bring if mamacita could just find some moxie to get out there and...just get out there and...go out there and...maybe its not that doable after all.   

And then I was jealous of her Kerouac-esque lifestyle.  She may or may not score well on our No Child Left Behind standardized ENGLISH reading and writing tests, but the depth of her education  dominates that of her general education peers that may never go on vacation and to travel the twenty some-odd miles to Washington D.C. seems unfathomable.  She somehow seems much more real and interesting than the American, general education student that sits in that same desk next period and complains about how much work I make the class do.

Then I felt like Mickey.  What the hell, right?  Goonies never say die and this is our time, our time down here.    Down here...down here where life really is and our public school legislators don't really seem to know what's going on in our wishing well of a classroom; its our time down here and that's all over the minute we go riding up Troy's bucket. 

Walk Abroad and Recreate Yourselves

I wanted to name this blog after my favorite line from Caesar.  And then I became self conscious over who would or wouldn't know the reference and the context.  And then I became more self conscious because people might think of me as pretentious, as arrogant, or think of me how I used to think of my peers in literature classes making obscure references during their diatribes to show off to or try to relate with the professor.  This line of thinking hindered me from moving forward with the creation of this blogspot because I couldn't name the page Walk Abroad and Recreate Yourselves and I couldn't really move on with my life without getting in this line.  So here it is.  

 "He hath left them you, and to your heirs forever--common pleasures to walk abroad and recreate yourselves."

What I love about this line is Antony's relationship to the mob.  The mob is powerful and influential and drives the politicians' psyches.  First, we see the mob in Act I enjoying the holiday without any regard for the on-going political shuffle.  One day they drink in merriment for Pompey; the next for Caesar.  It doesn't matter to them who rules Rome as long as the mob's status quo remains. In Act III, the mob is so stereotypical and easily swayed by political rhetoric they love Brutus one minute.  Next they riot because Antony hinted there would be no legal consequence, and if they don't burn Rome, they lose their recreation and their freedom.  Then, they disappear for the rest of the play while the handful of politicians go to war to see who gets to call themselves emperor.  In the end, the outcome doesn't matter to the mob; all the mob knows is they will keep on being a mob and as long as they maintain the ability to recreate themselves, all is well.  Also, the cobbler in Act I, with his pun about being a "mender of bad soles," is so much more witty and with it compared to the dweebs Flavius and Marullus.  This seems to suggest the mob has a deeper understanding of their place in the world than these stuffy politicians and the mob understands the meaning of life.  Dare I say the mob in Caesar is like Randall "Pink" Floyd, Wooderson, Mitch, and the whole crew hanging out at the Emporium in Dazed and Confused ?  Teachers, police, coaches, parents and anyone else that struggles for power are all just peripheral shadows that seek the support of these Texas high school kids in order to have meaning in their adult lives.

 

 L-I-V-I-N.

 Even these cats figure out they need to stop preparing and planning for something their parents,   teachers, and authorities feel is important and get on with recreating themselves. 

  Anyway, back to Antony and his relationship to the mob.  Maybe Antony is like Wooderson--as Antony gets older, the players of the game (like Octavius) stay the same age and to keep himself relevant, Antony needs to recreate himself.  Or, Antony is envious of the mob's freedom, power, and balanced lives that allow them to take the day and hang out in the parks and recreate themselves--or he knows that is important to the mob and they have life  figured out.  Or, Antony needs to live vicariously through the mob and he needs them to burn Rome because he couldn't do it while maintaining his status quo in the political game.  There is something proverbial about this line that makes Antony a deep character.  Antony is the guy with whom the cobbler wants to drink beers because Antony gets the value of the arbors, orchards, and recreation.  Cassius feels threatened by Antony's prowess.  Brutus sees altruism in Antony.  Caesar trusted Antony with his life and now Octavius trusts Antony with his.  Antony has it.  Antony is one of them--he gets it and knows how to maintain status quo and keep L-I-V-I-N. 

My point is, I don't know what this blogspot is really going to be do as it matures.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with my life as I mature.  

I do know that I always want to be able to recreate myself.  I do know I need to find a better balance of work and recreation in my life.  I do know I would vote for Antony and if he told me to burn Rome, I would do it.  Like Antony says, "Mischief thou art afoot; take thou what course thou wilt."