West Side Story & Pop Culture

For my paper, I specifically focused on the musical West Side Story & Pop Culture.


I feel as though the musical, West Side Story, has made an impact on many generations. I remember loving it growing up as a child. I think this is due to a few reasons. One is that teenagers are performing in the musical, two, love and revenge are two main emotions being expressed among the gangs and their friends, and third, an association within a group brings about closeness and unity. All of these aspects within the production bring all the age groups together, and this is why I feel the musical, West Side Story, is still being performed in High Schools today.
With teenagers playing the roles within the musical, viewers are able to relate to this awkward stage in their life. Teenagers bring a sense of innocence and infatuation. As a viewer, you are able to see this between the young lovers Maria and Tony. People of all ages are able to relate to this time period in their life, when love seemed so definite in your life.
Love and revenge are emotions that every one has felt at one point in time. Even though this musical was created back in 1961, issues regarding love and revenge are still the same as today. This allows children and young adults viewing and performing the musical today, to understand that decades ago these same events were still occurring. Love between two individuals is still the same feeling in 1961 as it is in 2008.
Revenge is another emotion seen throughout the musical. Throughout life, people will wish to seek revenge on an enemy. People relate to the part of the musical where the Jets and the Sharks fight. Revenge is an inevitable emotion. It’s a natural feeling when someone has been betrayed. I would hope however, it would not lead to killing anybody. This musical again, is able to reach all ages through this aspect of the production as well.
Groups are a part of life that every one strives to be in. As human beings, people want to feel included and make contributions they feel are important to their every day lives. The Jets and the Sharks are gangs, but they are also a type of group. They are like a family, always there for each other. All generations of people have been apart of a family, biological or not. Therefore, people have been able to express feelings and find support within some type of group that they belong to.
All of these ideas give me reason to believe that this musical relates to pop culture and grasps the attention of all age groups. I also wonder, however, why many people do not know the history behind this musical. I personally remember watching this musical in my 5th grade classroom and having no recollection of my teacher explaining to us that this musical was referring to the increase of Puerto Ricans moving to the United States just after World War II (127). I had no idea it was causing so much turmoil within the United States, but I do see as to why.
As an educator, I do not want to make this mistake. I would like to be able to give my students a history of something we are studying in class so they are able to understand why we are learning about a certain subject. It only seems fair. Nowadays, I feel as though showing children that interracial couples are more prominent now than before, would help them to see how times have changed as well. This is one idea to focus on when telling them about the movie. Diversity is such a key issue today, so tying in this movie about the Puerto Ricans moving to the United States, and Maria and Tony falling in love, could lead to a discussion about acceptance and decreasing stereotypes and prejudice.
I now wonder as to why my teacher did not give my class and me a history lesson on these issues behind this musical. Is it because people relate to this musical on so many levels, that there is no need for an explanation on the reasoning behind its creation? I do not know this for sure, and I am not saying we as educators should continue this, but it is just a thought. If not for reading this article, I would not have known that it is so important to look into the history of everything you wish to incorporate into your classroom.