This is a post that has been percolating in my mind for awhile, and, having experienced a certain amount of derision on some other boards for talking about West Side Story, because many people consider this movie mainly for adolescents. This could be because most people, when they pick a favorite film or films, tend to pick films that they directly identify with in some way or other, and West Side Story is supposedly a movie that teens identify with. Having first seen the film West Side Story when I was still in high school, I can see why many people feel that way.
However, over the years, I've been more and more inclined to believe otherwise. Since I was still a teen in high school when I first saw this great classic film, back then, I was able to identify with the kids (i. e. the Jets, the Sharks and their girls, and Tony and Maria) being kids, but when I got older, I came to appreciate West Side Story even more for what it really is; a work of theatrical art and beauty through and through. Contrary to what many people say, either explicitly or implicitly, the great golden oldie-but-goody movie/musical classic, West Side Story is not just a movie for teenagers, but a great movie/musical classic for people of pretty much all ages and from all walks of life. I say this, because, whenever I've attended a screening of this great classic, I've noticed that people of almost all ages (I say almost all ages, because I personally would not recommend West Side Story for kids who're under eight years old) and all walks of life are present in the audience--pre-teens, teens, young adults, middle-aged, and older people.
West Side Story, imho, is a classic that seems to bring people from pretty much all walks of life and all ages together, to share as one big happy, if temporary community, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, as it's really meant to be viewed. Unfortunately, however, like all things, West Side Story also has its detractors. There are people who're upset by it, because, for whatever reason(s), it tends to hit too close to home for them; those who live and work in low-income communities where there's much crime, gang-violence and racial/ethnic tensions. Social workers, mental health councilors and many law-enforcement people, and average, ordinary people who've got issues that they have to deal with themselves, or people who simply fail to get what West Side Story is about, because of a generation gap also often feel that WSS hits too close to home. They frequently have had to deal with racism, gang violence and the problems of substance and alcohol abuse.
Many of today's young people, regardless of who or what walk of life they're from, have also grown up listening to tinnier-sounding music and viewing schlockier films in which things are constantly exploding on the screen, and that're extremely fast-moving, with no slow-down breaks in the action, in antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas that contain anywhere from 10-30 cinemas that're shoebox-sized, with screens that look like great big TV's, plus the general admission and concessions can cost upward of ten dollars or more.
Yet, West Side Story is proof of one thing: that really artistic and beautiful movies/musicals with style and substance can be and have been made. However, since West Side Story, like all movies, reflects the times in which it was made, it would be unrealistic to expect the movie industry and the Hollywood of today to produce the same sort of movie. A movie is what it is, and West Side Story is no exception, and there's no way to replicate the original, or even re-make it successfully, no matter how hard one tries. So, all of the above having been said, I'll also add this: Whether you're a devout fan of West Side Story like me, who's also seen some good stage productions of this great musical and rarely misses a WSS screening at a movie theatre in my area, someone who's only seen this great classic on TV, DVD or video, or if you've never, ever seen West Side Story at all, I say: If West Side Story ever comes to the great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre in your area, I say.... jump at the opportunity to see this great classic film! It's an enriching, fullfilling experience that you'll never forget.
However, over the years, I've been more and more inclined to believe otherwise. Since I was still a teen in high school when I first saw this great classic film, back then, I was able to identify with the kids (i. e. the Jets, the Sharks and their girls, and Tony and Maria) being kids, but when I got older, I came to appreciate West Side Story even more for what it really is; a work of theatrical art and beauty through and through. Contrary to what many people say, either explicitly or implicitly, the great golden oldie-but-goody movie/musical classic, West Side Story is not just a movie for teenagers, but a great movie/musical classic for people of pretty much all ages and from all walks of life. I say this, because, whenever I've attended a screening of this great classic, I've noticed that people of almost all ages (I say almost all ages, because I personally would not recommend West Side Story for kids who're under eight years old) and all walks of life are present in the audience--pre-teens, teens, young adults, middle-aged, and older people.
West Side Story, imho, is a classic that seems to bring people from pretty much all walks of life and all ages together, to share as one big happy, if temporary community, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, as it's really meant to be viewed. Unfortunately, however, like all things, West Side Story also has its detractors. There are people who're upset by it, because, for whatever reason(s), it tends to hit too close to home for them; those who live and work in low-income communities where there's much crime, gang-violence and racial/ethnic tensions. Social workers, mental health councilors and many law-enforcement people, and average, ordinary people who've got issues that they have to deal with themselves, or people who simply fail to get what West Side Story is about, because of a generation gap also often feel that WSS hits too close to home. They frequently have had to deal with racism, gang violence and the problems of substance and alcohol abuse.
Many of today's young people, regardless of who or what walk of life they're from, have also grown up listening to tinnier-sounding music and viewing schlockier films in which things are constantly exploding on the screen, and that're extremely fast-moving, with no slow-down breaks in the action, in antiseptic-looking multiplex cinemas that contain anywhere from 10-30 cinemas that're shoebox-sized, with screens that look like great big TV's, plus the general admission and concessions can cost upward of ten dollars or more.
Yet, West Side Story is proof of one thing: that really artistic and beautiful movies/musicals with style and substance can be and have been made. However, since West Side Story, like all movies, reflects the times in which it was made, it would be unrealistic to expect the movie industry and the Hollywood of today to produce the same sort of movie. A movie is what it is, and West Side Story is no exception, and there's no way to replicate the original, or even re-make it successfully, no matter how hard one tries. So, all of the above having been said, I'll also add this: Whether you're a devout fan of West Side Story like me, who's also seen some good stage productions of this great musical and rarely misses a WSS screening at a movie theatre in my area, someone who's only seen this great classic on TV, DVD or video, or if you've never, ever seen West Side Story at all, I say: If West Side Story ever comes to the great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre in your area, I say.... jump at the opportunity to see this great classic film! It's an enriching, fullfilling experience that you'll never forget.
