Breaking Down The Comic in 'Real Women Have Curves' by Patricia Cardoso

Real Women Have Curves is an American comedy-drama shot in East Los Angeles. It is directed by Patricia Cardoso and was released in 2002. However, the play Real Women Have Curves written by Josefina Lopez has the same setting, but it was published six years before the movie in 1996. One of the most significant difference is the plot

The plot of the film is based on Ana, who is struggling to fulfill her dream of going to college while there is a terrible economic situation in the family. Ana’s mother Carmen wants to keep the family close and make her work in the factory. As days pass by Ana grows into confident women, and she applies to Columbia University. Ana is seen breaking all the cultural and socioeconomic boundaries by having a boyfriend and for an independent life. Her father and sister support Ana. Finally, when she gets accepted to Columbia University and prepares to leave Carmen still being traditional women is not happy and does not meet Ana before she leaves.

On the other hand, the plot of the play revolves around Estella, Ana’s older sister and the owner of the factory. In the play we learn about Estella being undocumented and how she fears of being deported whenever there is patrolling by the Immigration services ( La Migra). The play is all shot in the factory, this how we also get to experience the problems faced in the factory as well as, how women try to meet impossible deadlines to save Estella from deportation.

If you look at both the plots, they are entirely different from each other. Ana is the center of the plot in the movie, whereas Estella is more prominent in the play. Furthermore, the plot of the film mainly focuses on Ana’s struggle of going to college. However, in the play that is just a small part and it focuses primarily on problems faced by Estella. In the movie, we are not even given a hint about Ana’s deportation or the patrolling of immigration services whereas it is one of the most highlighted events in the play. Lastly, the movies show Ana’s relationship with her boyfriend. However, Anas boyfriend does not even exist in the play. It is Estella’s relationship with her love El Tormento that we get to see in the play. The characters involved in the plot are different too. The father who supports Ana in the movie is just mentioned as Carmen's husband in the play other than that we don’t even hear about him. Furthermore, Carmen also has a slightly different personality in the movie. She looks stricter towards body showing when all the women undress and compare their bodies. Whereas, we see her more lenient when the same scene takes place on the play.

However, we experience a lot of differences between the movie and the play. One of the most important issues in the 1990s was sexual discrimination when the play was written and hence its theme is gender injustice. By the time, the movie has produced the Isle of Man passed its first sex discrimination bill in 2001. I feel that the screenwriter might have deviated because he might want to change the course to education for women by breaking stereotypes in the cultures. On the other hand, it can also be a financial move. The play is intensely related to Latinos problem so for him to capture a diverse audience he might have tried to produce a romantic comedy that is the common problem in most of the cultures.