Edward J. Olmos

4 Pages 1075 Words

Edward James Olmos was born in East Los Angeles. He was a theatrical actor for many years until he landed a role in the musical “Zoot Suit”. He received a Tony Award nomination for this role. Some of his movie roles are Wolfen, Blade Runner, Stand and Deliver, American Me, My Family/Mi Familia, and Selena.
He also has received honorary doctorate degrees and is active in many humanitarian efforts. He is the United States Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. On average, he speaks at one hundred fifty schools, charities and juvenile institutions throughout the country every year.
In the analysis of Olmos’ movies I will discuss only the ones that I believe hold or put forth a statement on cultural issues. These are American Me, Stand and Deliver, and My Family.
The movie American Me is about a young man that goes to prison only to be let out later in life in a world that he no longer understands.
Stand and Deliver is about a schoolteacher who goes into Garfield High in Los Angeles. The economy of this area is very depressed. It seems that because of this fact the teachers and school itself have given up on the students. When Olmos’ character comes onto the scene he decides that these are decent kids who, if motivated could achieve far beyond the present standards that they were held to.
He is approved to teach advanced prepatory calculus. Because of his motivational effort and by believing in the students, they stay in the class and go on to pass the college placement test well above the national average. Due to the fact that the scores were so close and the Hispanic background of the students, the testing agency deems their efforts were the product of cheating. Only by having the students re-take the test are they able to prove that they did not cheat.
My Family is a very nice story of a Mexican American family going through life in the United States. Olmos is the narrator of the family story. His father ...