The role of the Mexican immigrant in Spanglish (2004) defines the objectification of women and their children in the white hegemonic American workforce. Spanglish (2004) is a film that defines the workforce objectification of Flor Moreno (Paz Vega) when she has to work two jobs in order to make enough money to support her daughter. However, these two jobs prevent her from being able to raise her daughter, which defines the low-wage income she must endure due to her skin color and ethnic identity as a Mexican. However, Flor and her daughter, Cristina Moreno (Shelbie Bruce) eventually find a job as a nanny at the Clasky home in an effort to make more money in a middle-upper class household. John Clasky (Adam Sandler) and Deborah Clasky (Téa Leoni)…show more content… Spanglish (2004) is a strong example of the exploitation and objectification of Mexican women as part of a servant class in white hegemonic American society. Flor’s role in this film identifies some of the important factors of low-wage household cleaning services, which never provide them with a decent standard of living. These economic conditions make Flor extremely susceptible to objectification and manipulation by the Clasky family. Christina’s role in the family defines how the Clasky seek to keep Flor as their nanny, which reflects the power of the white hegemonic family to control and manipulate an overworked and exploited female domestic servant, such as Flor. These struggles involve the inability of Flor to be a mother in these working conditions, and, more so, how they affect Deborah and John’s marital problems in this type of domestic workplace. This is part of the conceptualization of the “transitional tortilla” that is only viewed as a servant in a predominantly white American society. In this film, John’s role as the white head of the household defines the objectification of Flor as the romantic “other” in contrast to Deborah’s hostile role as an embittered wife. This is how John objectifies Flor as a Mexican immigrant nanny in the household:
Flor Moreno: It's something, watching you.
John Clasky: Well. Well, if it's anything on…show more content… Flor’s stereotypical role as an attractive nanny objectifies her identity in relation to the primarily white hegemonic authority of John in the Clasky home. Surely, the temporary status of Mexican labor in the nanny/maid industry is part of the low-wage oppression of female Mexican workers, which make them vulnerable to the greater wealth of the families that they serve in the U.S. In this manner, Flor is representative of the “other” romantic interest, which is used as a prop for the re-unification of John and Deborah at the end of the film. Although John and Flor seem romantically interest, it is apparent that she is merely a romantic fantasy that he wishes to fulfill due to the unhappy state of his own relationship. This form of objectification illustrates the concept of “transitional tortilla”, as Flor and Christina have been used and disregarded because the class-barriers and ethnic/racial barriers that cannot be broken in a white hegemonic American society. Flor’s objectification fulfills the stereotype of sexualized/romanticized maid (albeit in a comedic role), which makes her identity transitional in a society that marginalizes and exploits racial/ethnic identity for low-wage domestic labor. This is how Flor’s role as the nanny/maid defines the underlying workforce objectification of female Mexican labor
