Fidel

Living in Miami and living with a Cuban parent and grandparents, I must say that my ideas and perceptions of Cuban history have been shaped by the stories I've heard. All my life I've heard stories about Castro, and the impact he had on Cubans. I've heard about the destruction he brought to thousands of families, about the thousands of families he separated, and about the thousands of those he killed for going against what he thought. I also heard the story of my grandmother's family run pharmacy being taken away and given to the government, and how my grandfather had to leave the University of Havana because he didn't believe in what Castro was doing. I've heard the story of my grandparents having to start a new life in a new country, completely from scratch, with a new language, and people looking down upon them because they were immigrants. To me, Castro, and the Cuban government took so many things away from my family that its hard to look at a different point of view and think that maybe theres a different side to the story or that maybe Castro had a point in what he was doing. In watching the movie in class, however, I was able to see what Cuba was like pre-Castro, and the things that went on prior to his regime. In the stories I've heard, I never knew what went on before Castro and for me, seeing this movie is like a mini history lesson that was taken out when my grandparents were re-telling their story. It's good getting all your facts straight for a story, but watching this movie, for me, doesn't change what Castro did to my family, and the thousand others that suffered through Castro's regime.