It is only natural...

The Immigrant (2013)

There is nothing refreshing about this film. The story of a poor Polish immigrant migrating to the land of possibilities, the trials and tribulations that she goes through and fighting the vultures of flesh in the newfound land. Then the love triangle and the guilt to stay true to heart and her religious belief.

The redeeming feature is the visually pleasing sepia hued recreation of 1920s New York City. The ambience created by the backdrop and props draws the audience back to the 20s as if they were actually there. The immigrant melodrama spells deja vu all around, too many stories with the same.

What struck me was the way we as a nation are treating our immigrants just like how they were treated in the 20s in the US during the Prohibition Era.

With development and affluence, works considered menial did not excite the locals. That drew a wave of immigration, escaping the tortures of tyranny and poverty. The leaders need the comfort for the people to win votes and the people were too  living in almost perfect bliss, pampered after being mollycoddled for years. Industrialisation and robotics were too capital intensive, the profit minded capitalists friendly to leaders did say. We still need to create jobs for the people, they say, forgetting that as the country progresses and the level of education improves, citizens want more challenging vocations. They are no longer contented working at spinal level and burn their wages over a weekend high and the stupor that follows.

The immigrants, being as human as anyone, also want to progress in life. They too would start thinking in the long term, thinking of their offspring. After being fed the good life, the last place that they would want to be is the dungeon that they came from. It is only natural that they set root in their newly discovered land of plenty.

As you noticed, this post has nothing to do with the movie.....