This movie is a modern remake of the famous musical Romeo and Juliet story. Two young people from rival gangs in New York City fall in love, but their groups fight. The film features highly visible themes of identity, race, and social justice. One character is changed to be transgender, and several scenes use Spanish with no English subtitles to make both languages equal.
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for West Side Story.
Woke representation / casting
The movie used an all-Latinx cast for the Puerto Rican characters. More importantly, the character Anybodys was cast with a non-binary actor, Iris Menas, to represent a modern transgender identity. Since queer and transgender casting is a high-priority activist signal in the industry, this confirmed LGBTQ+ casting adds significant weight to the score.
55%
Woke political dialogue
Screenwriter Tony Kushner updated the script with dialogue that focuses on systemic unfairness, poverty, and prejudice. The characters also have conversations about gender identity. For example, Anybodys has dialogue about being misgendered and wanting to be accepted as a boy by the other gang members.
60%
Production
Identity-driven story themes
The plot focuses heavily on the struggles of Puerto Rican immigrants facing systemic racism and the loss of their homes. It also features a clear gender identity storyline for Anybodys, who transitions from a simple tomboy seeking acceptance to a character with a defined transmasculine identity arc.
70%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The movie portrays the local police as uncaring and biased against minorities. It also critiques urban renewal as a system that destroys poor neighborhoods for the rich. Furthermore, the decision to show Spanish scenes without English subtitles was an intentional critique of English language dominance in America.
65%
Woke character or canon changes
The character Anybodys was changed from a tomboy in the original 1957 play to a transgender man. This represents an ideological update to a classic character. In addition, the original character of Doc was replaced by Valentina, a new Puerto Rican character played by Rita Moreno, to add a specific racial dynamic to the story.
80%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Conservative critics and viewers complained about the lack of English subtitles, calling it an annoying political stunt. There was also backlash over changing Anybodys into a trans character, which critics felt inserted modern gender politics into a 1950s story. The film was banned in multiple Gulf nations over this character.
65%
Creator track record context
The creative team is a mix of backgrounds. Writer Tony Kushner (95) and producer Rita Moreno (85) have strong activist histories. Producer Kevin McCollum (70) also focuses heavily on representation. Even though director Steven Spielberg has a lower score (26), he supported and enacted several of the movie's political choices.
55%
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