Brooklyn (2015)At a time of the US elections and a possible candidate whose selling point seem to be to limit immigration to his country, this movie appears to be all so relevant. It is a sober reminder that movement of people is inevitable. From a time in antiquity, people have been displaced around either for political or economic reasons.
We are all immigrants, not by choice but by birth. It is history that we cannot change. No one can proclaim superiority over the other. After all with the affluence of society, the menial tasks of the society would be shunned by its members.
As long as the capitalistic model of keeping the rich wealthy and suppressing the wages of the working class remains status quo, till then, migration will stay. We are still a long way from automation, or perhaps the master class is quite content with this arrangement.
This 2015 period drama set in the early 1950s America and Ireland, depicts aptly the uncertainties and the emotions that the immigrants have to endure to ensure a footing on life. Knowing that there is not much of a future in their motherland, the protagonist has to leave her love ones behind. Her sole intention is to secure a better life. There is so much sacrifice on the part of her sibling towards this end.
Reaching the destination is no pleasure cruise either. The emotional baggage that has to be left and the uncertainty of able to survive the journey and to turn a deaf ear to the uppity glances at a newcomer are just the tips of the iceberg.
If adjusting to new work in an alien nation is a challenge, what about the uphill task of studying while working?
Then there is the problem of keeping hormonal urges under check so that the priorities do not go astray.
Those who can sail through these challenges are indeed the ones who change the landscape of many newly emerging economies. Evidence towards this end is by far too many to enumerate. It is the story of many an American Dream.
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