Classic English Literature

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A Better Life
Psychosocial perspectives are an important approach to understanding the Chicano and Latino culture and family in the society. The concepts broaden knowledge and understating of various aspects of this society and how they may play a role in the diversity among American populations. In the film “A Better Life,” various concepts are portrayed by the main characters such as Carlos, Luis, Santiago and Anita and they help one understand the various challenges that exist in the Chicano/Latino society. Carlos is a single parent who is a casual laborer and must deal with seemingly difficult son, Luis. Some of the important psychological aspects include emotional regulation and expression, family relationships as well as acculturation.
Emotional regulation and expression is an important social psychological concept that is extensively reflected in the film. Luis is a teenager who acts out because of his emotional state. In the night club scene, he helps his father to search for the truck that Santiago has apparently sold. He believes that he has found the track and in his emotional state, he tries to convince his father that the truck is the same one. Carlos tells his son that the keys do not fit, the color is wrong, and the windshield is not cracked. In his emotional state, he fails to understand that everything is different because he wants the truck to be the right one. When the duo finally confronts Santiago in the same scene, Carlos realizes that Santiago has sent the money that he got from the sale of the truck back home to Santiago’s family.

However, Luis, in his immature emotional state, cannot see the point of sparing Santiago and beats him up even when Carlos tells him not to. In the scene, it is Luis who grapples with the fleeing Santiago and pushes him to the ground. He then starts punching Santiago, asking him about the whereabouts of the truck. His emotions are uncontrollable, and as he kicks Santiago, he wants to be fought back. Carlos tries to stop him from continuing with the beating, but he tells his father that he wants them to move to a better neighborhood, a better house, and go to a better school. He then asks, “What the hell are we going to do now?” and despite his father holding him and telling him to calm down, he is not able to do so. Carlos says, “Don’t touch him anymore!” as a way of preventing Luis from continuing to inflict pain on the old man. This scene indeed is full of emotional expression, and Luis expresses anger and aggression that cannot be easily regulated.
The selected scene shows the aggressiveness and self-exertion as behavioral concepts linked to emotional regulation and expression. According to Saarni (2011), emotional development as pertains to childhood involves the dynamic systems and the functionalist theories. Everything that a child encounters in the environment provides components that are multi-emotion related such as action tendencies, expressive behavior, and goals as well as motives among the rest (Saarni, 2011). In this case, emotional development may be seen as reflecting the social and cultural experience as provided by the environmental interactions. Ideally, Luis is being brought up by a single parent after his mother disappeared, and the father is busy most of the time as a lawnmower. Luis has all the time to do all the bad activities that put him into trouble now and then. To relate to a community context, Luis must adapt to different environments and different emotions, one of which is anger. His emotions are varied because he is being exposed to a gang and he continuously meet immigrants from Mexico who influence him in many ways. All these factors, including the fact that he does not have a mother, impact negatively in his teenage, and he acts out against his father. Such acting outs include the way he responds rudely whenever his father asks him about school and how he sometimes avoids going to school for no apparent reason. However, in the scene described, Luis gets to experience a multiple of emotions perhaps because he is anxious to get his father’s truck back so that he can have a better life, a better school and a better environment in which to live. This makes him experience anger at Santiago whom he believes in derailing his transformation to a better life, and he is exasperated that his father is trying to protect Santiago whom he views as an enemy. Further, this reveals his lack of empathy or sympathy for the emotional state of others as he fails to realize that Santiago stole the truck and sold it so that he can send money back to his family in Mexico so that they lives can improve. This is an emotional state that only expressed by Carlos.
Relationships play an important role in defining the Chicano people. As a concept, relationships may be presented in the form of family relationships, friendship, and even workplace relationships. In the film, the most crucial form of relationship presented is family. The scene from minute 24 at Carlos’ house presents Anita’s visit. She waits for him on the stairs, and when he comes home, they get inside the house. Carlos tells Luis that his aunt Anita is around, and Luis greets her and asks if she has come to check on him and to see if he is behaving. She says that she came to see his father even as Carlos asks her if she would have something to drink. She says she will take water, but she cannot stay for long since her pay may be docked. Then, she asks Luis to give them a moment after which she gives Carlos some money in an envelope. He asks where she got the money and she explains that it is from an emergency fund that she and her husband keeps. She has taken it without her husband’s knowledge, but he cannot realize because the account is in her name and he never checks the bank statements. Carlos is reluctant to accept the money for buying the truck and fears that something may happen to it. Anita assures him that she understands. In this scene, the most important psychological concept is family relations. Anita is Carlos’ sister and Luis’ aunt. In the family dynamic, this shows a close-knit family where the individuals love, protect and support each other financially. Anita knows the state in which Carlos is in because he is an illegal immigrant who does not even own a permanent job. He has to struggle to make ends meet, and she is there to support him, to love him and to ensure that he gets comfortable and changes his situation.
The Chicano family is presented as being friendly to one another, and this is why Anita even comes to an inquiry about Luis and whether he is behaving well or not. This also proves that behavior is regarded highly among children in this culture and they have to be monitored by family members so that they grow up as very upright individuals in the society. Accordingly, research on family reveals the theories and concepts being migration and how it impacts family patterns. The gender roles pattern provided in the scene shows how women are instrumental in supporting their families, and how they also play a major role in improving their living status. Anita is the accountant of her family because the bank account is in her name and she uses the funds to support her brother’s family who is affected by the immigrant issue.
Acculturation may be understood as a cultural change that develops when people from different cultures meet (Flores, 1982). It may also be defined as the psychological change that ensues at various levels when different cultures are interacting. Such acculturation is best presented in the Rodeo scene where Carlos has taken Luis following their search for the stolen truck. Luis fails to understand why his father has to make him become part of the audience of the rodeo and he believes that the culture is presented to him is inferior. He asks his father why the rodeo participants are clad in different attires and sarcastically comments that they think they are in some Halloween party. His father reminds him that this is the culture from where he comes from. Carlos further reminds him that these are his people too. He denies that they are not him, though and even fails to recognize the language being spoken there as Spanish until his father points it out to him and advises him to listen closely. Cultural interaction then emerges when he gets to understand the commentator’s message as involving how jumping horses is dangerous yet a brave act. He also comments that he hates the music being played, but his father reminds him that he used to love such kind of music when he was young. However, when he gets to watch the horses and the riders, his perspective gets to change, and he even comments, “That is dope.”
Acculturation as a concept within the Chicano family is therefore seen as a way through which people get to be involved in cultural issues, to participate in cultural events and to appreciate culture. The Chicano are presented as people who love showcasing their cultures, and in this case, Carlos is a Spanish who still cherishes his culture because it gives him a sense of belonging. He can still associate with the Spanish culture although he is an immigrant. Luis, on the other hand, has been brought up in America and does not understand the Spanish culture. He believes that it is inferior and does not even take a keen interest in recognizing the Spanish language until it is pointed out to him.
In conclusion, emotional regulation and expression, interrelationships in the family and acculturation are important concepts of the psychological development presented in the film “A Better Life”. The film presents these concepts as instrumental in shaping people’s perspectives and providing them with a sense of hope and change aimed at improving their living conditions. Accordingly, the family is presented as playing the role of providing support, comfort, and correction through the existing interrelationships. Again, emotional regulation is key to guiding how people behave and how they treat one another while acculturation points to the way people understand various cultures and survive them in the Chicano and Latino society. These dynamics are therefore important because they act as guiding principles for understanding the Chicano/Latino culture in the American society.

Works Cited
Flores, Yvette G. (1982). The impact of acculturation on the Chicano family: an analysis of
selected variables. Stanford University, 1982.
Saarni, Carolyn. “Emotions: Emotional Development in Childhood.” Encyclopedia of Early
Childhood Development, 2011. www.child-encyclopedia.com/emotions/according-experts/emotional-development-childhood. Accessed May 21, 2017.