Sugar

The 2008 feature film Sugar from directors Anna Bowen and Ryan Fleck has caught my eye from the start. I can relate to his story because I know many who have came from their home countries to the United States for baseball and opportunities in general. I enjoy the story plot, but it is frustrating based on the fact the protagonist Miguel "Sugar" Santos left the team because he was jealous and wasn't doing that good.  Miguel always loved baseball since he was a little boy. He signed up with the Kansas City baseball organization in DR when he was a sophomore in high school to be in a league. Miguel gets chosen to leave Dominican Republic and come to the United States to play. He gets sent to a league in Iowa on a team called Swing. Everything goes well in the beginning, getting known around well. Then, Miguel gets injured and I suppose him being sat down for a while made him rusty.

This movie touches upon the theme of a fish out of a bowl meaning Miguel is taken out of his home and is placed in a new place which is the States. I can connect the film Sugar to the short stories of Junot Diaz, especially "Ysrael" and "Fiesta, 1980." These stories follow their narrator, a boy referred to as Yunior, from the DR to New Jersey. The movie Sugar and the story "Ysrael" have many things in common because one day they are comfortable and the next completely not used to anything. In Sugar Miguel thinks all American food is sweet compared to back home, but it is only because he only knows how to order French toast. Meanwhile, Yunior in the story is in an uncomfortable situation with his father due to him cheating. Many themes are exchanged between the two. I recommend the short stories written by Junot Diaz, he is a good writer.