West Side Story and the origins of social problems

A couple weeks ago I went to the theater to see the live performance of the famous Broadway musical. West Side Story was first performed in 1957 and it wove into the traditional Romeo and Juliet thread many topical themes. And this is probably what made it a success along with the great music by Leonard Bernstein and the clever lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

This short extract is extremely telling about how the understanding of poverty and social problems had evolved by the late 1950s. You probably remember how these problems were explained away by heredity (c.f. the selection of immigrants) or lack of individual responsability (if you were poor, drunk etc... it was more or less your own doing => "self help philosophy" ) in the 19th century and early 20th. After the Great Depression and WW2, the causes of social ills were sought for in society itself, in the educational context and no longer only in the individual.





I was struck by this song that clearly highlights these changes : the boys in this gang behave inappropriately ( hang out in the streets, get involved in fights with rival gangs etc...) because of their family background, or because they are psychologically inadequate or neurotic ( notice the strong german accent of the shrink !) or because they are a symptom of a wider crisis in society ( they are "sociologically sick").

Of course, West Side Story is also about immigration and urban rivalries between ethnic whites (Poles) and Porto-Ricain immigrants. One of the most famous scenes deals with the different expectations men and women have about their new life in America.



I hope you enjoy these two videos although the quality isn't as good as I wish it were. If you want the watch the entire movie, I recommend choosing the English subtitles : then you can really follow along and the French subtitles aren't as witty.