MovieChat Forums > Man Push Cart (2006) Discussion > If it was so great back home, why not go...

If it was so great back home, why not go back?

posted 15 years ago by jimjo838
11 replies | jump to latest

I don't understand why the characters keep saying things like, 'I've been in NY too long', 'I've gotta get out of here' and on and on about how much they hate where they're at. If they hate NY so much, why not go back to Pakistan? NY doesn't stop people from leaving, if they want. Shaw said something to the effect that if you can't appreciate what you've got, then you should get what you can appreciate. If these characters found NY so horrific, just quit whining and LEAVE!

[–] loverfellow 15 years ago

I haven't watched the movie, but I believe he couldn't go back home because of earning. A lot of people might have been dependent on him back home that he has to sacrifice for them.

[–] phelpsg1 15 years ago

>A lot of people might have been dependent on him back home that he has to sacrifice for them.

I don't think that's the explanation. He's barely making enough money to survive on himself, much less sending any back to Pakistan. And if he went back, he would presumably be able to make a lot more money there, as a rock star rather than a bagel seller!

It seemed to me that he was stranded in NY, unable to afford plane fare back home, and essentially "stuck".

[–] rootbeerking12 15 years ago

I see the movie as allegorical for something perplexing about the human condition: often we put ourselves in situations where we are uncomfotable and in pain and yet we refuse to dislodge.

Have you ever been in a dreary situation where all you could think was, "I wish I was somewhere else"... and then never did anything about it?

I don't think the director was attempting a political film.

[–] lumbaka 12 years ago

yet keep rolling the stone back up the hill... you make a good point. Women stay in abusive relationships not seeing a way out. People stay in horrible jobs they hate not seeing a way out... And even when there is sometimes a way out, Learned Helplessness.

[–] Local Hero 15 years ago

I hate to have such a hostile response, but your question reflects such a spoiled, sheltered, limited view of the realities of this world. Whether or not they can actually do better back home, most immigrants who come to a country like the U.S. dreaming of a better life but finding themselves caught in menial, prospectless situations, DO NOT HAVE THE FINANCIAL MEANS to leave the country and try to start again somewhere else. Your question presupposes so many things that show how totally unaware you are of the lives that most people on this planet lead.

[–] smgundlach-1 15 years ago

Whether or not they can go back is very complicated - may depend on their status (immigrant, refugee, asylum, etc) Another consideration is that a bagel seller in NYC may earn more than someone in their war-torn country.

[–] sumeetster 15 years ago

He had a kid in NY who his in-laws took care of. Couldn't just leave.

[–] bhaskie 15 years ago

"He had a kid in NY who his in-laws took care of. Couldn't just leave."

Exactly. Sometimes the answers are right in front of you people lol

[–] Sparrowhisperer 15 years ago

Other than being a pathetic question, what do you make of the fact that the guy's (Ahamd's friend) idea of having it made is getting a job at Dunkin Donuts? And the point in the movie was to emphasize Ahmad's dogged determination or rather the drudgery and numbness of his life.

[–] jimjo838 14 years ago

It’s amazing how people like Local Hero can develop such keen insights about other peoples’ life experiences based on a few sentences. Why is it that academics, who tend to view themselves as being so tolerant, are so quick to respond to questions they don’t like with insults, slurs, and stereotypes? Insults are a poor substitute for the facts.

Asians (that includes Indians and Pakistanis) living in the United States have the highest incomes of any racial/ethnic grouping, on average making about $10,000 per year more than whites. While the film presents an interesting anecdotal case of immigrant failure (Pakistani rock star to NY street vendor), it is hardly representative of the general reality. To deny this reality (that immigrants can be quite successful in the U.S., and are not all crushed by this horrible society) reflects the kind of “sheltered”, “limited” view of the world that Local Hero accuses me of having. However, I can understand where Local Hero is coming from. When you live in the spoiled academic world, it’s hard not to have this kind of sheltered, limited, politically-correct perspective of society.

As for the poor immigrant not being able to afford getting back home, you can get a ticket to Pakistan for a little over $900. I think our rock star could scrape that together if he wanted. He could probably get that selling his push cart.

[–] bgormley 14 years ago

Still, though, the majority of immigrants struggle to make it for some time in a strange country. The film really is representative of the general reality. There are many, many stories of people who had to start all over from a professional position in their homeland and worked in menial jobs here. I've met a few here in Dayton, Ohio. There are plenty of reasons they still prefer to live in this country but that doesn't mean they don't get so frustrated and homesick they wish they had never relocated at times. Personally, I'd be afraid to go to another country to live if I didn't speak the language, or spoke it poorly. But that's what many do. It really takes courage.