Media Reaction Paper – West Side Story

Media Reaction composing due west Side Story atomic number 74 Side Story was unmatchable of the first musicals this writer saw on Broadway. It was such a mesmerizing experience to live the culmination of the hard work performed by a group of very talented individuals that stemmed from a single idea. It was non until research was done for this paper that this student realized what a wide cultural impact watt Side Story was when it was first introduced to audiences. The restrain for West Side Story was written by Arthur Laurents in 1949. An provoke fact ab off this legendary story is that it was not always named West Side Story.The original name given this tale, based on Romeo and Juliet, was eastern Side Story. It was written as a rivalry tale among a gang of Roman Catholic jejuners named The Jets, and a gang of Judaic teenagers named The Emeralds. Because this topic of rivalry between the Jewish and Roman Catholic communities was spare in the industry at the time, the creative team imperturbable of Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein, determined to put the project on hold. Thus, they ceased work on the idea for a period of almost five eld (Miller, 2006).After five years the creative team reunited to work on other projects and decided to return East Side Story and give it a completely unexampled twist and decided to set it in Harlem, New York metropolis (Miller, 2006). West Side Story depicts the love between a Caucasian teenage boy from the West Side of New York City and a early days Puerto Rican girl from the same neighborhood. The characters were all from a poor neighborhood and hung out on the streets together. There were two gangs that were in constant conflict with individually other The Jets and The Sharks.Tony, the main character, is a member of the Jets, a gang composed of Caucasian teenage boys. He is however, various from the rest of the members and wants to work and someday go on his own way. Maria is the sist er of the leader of the Sharks, a gang composed of teenage Puerto Rican boys. Maria and Tony meet and instantly pearl in love and need to deal with the turmoil of being from polar cultural backgrounds and the difficulty of having their love accepted by each of their groups. The alliance causes conflict in the neighborhood that results in violence and ultimately Tonys death.West Side Story was considered a breakthrough for the Puerto Rican community. Very half-size exposure about the Puerto Rican culture and their presence in New York City had been portrayed in any type of media up to the time the moulds debut on Broadway. Although Puerto Ricans were depicted with stereotypes that were not ineluctably true about their culture, the story delivers a message of change. It describes racism as dangerous and as an obstacle to love. To have developed such a controversial story during times when segregation still existed in the get together States was very brave.What softened the div ersified and strong topic was the fact that it was a musical with very vivid choreography and colors andan upbeat volume full of humor. This factor made the story more acceptable to the American people. The media has its ways to persuade the masses. Within the past century, the media has played an important division in the cultural changes in America. Television, radio, theater and written works have broken through the racism barriers to expose the many faces of the American population.Everyone is different and their cultural background makes a special contribution to the community of the world. West Side Story is a good example of a media break up that addressed Americas cultural diversity in a time when most people had no idea how multicultural our realm really was. References Miller, G. (Wintr-Summer 2003). Arthur Laurents chronology. American Drama, p. 1(9). Retrieved November 10, 2009, from General OneFile via Gale http//find. galegroup. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/ips /start. do? prodId=IPS