Piñero:

1. Piñero: A movie that tells a tale about the Latino icon, poet and playwright Miguel Piñero

2. Miguel Piñero: (December 19, 1946 – June 18, 1988)

3. Who was Miguel Piñero? • Piñero was a Puerto Rican playwright, actor, and co- founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was one of the leading members of the Nuyorican literary movement.

4. Main Characters in Movie: • Miguel Piñero-Benjamin Pratt • Sugar- Talisa Soto • Miguel Algarin aka Profe- Giancarlo Esposito • Tito Goya-Nelson Vasquez • Edgar- Michael Wright • Reinaldo Povad aka “Ray”-Michael Wright

5. Characters (Continued): • Sugar- Sugar was a prostitute that was the “girlfriend” or main lover of Pinero. She seemed to be obsessed with Pinero, and was willing to do anything to please him (both sexually and physically), and stuck by Pinero even at his worst. • “ You like me so much it makes me nervous.” –Miguel Piñero *This was a quote said by Piñero when Sugar tells him how much she likes him, and how she has been infatuated with him since she was young *It is obvious to the audience that Piñero does not share the same feelings for Sugar as she does for him. In my opinion Sugar actually loved Piñero, but Piñero’s love for Sugar is questionable. *I think that Pinero had Sugar around for the companionship and the sex, but at the end of the day he was unsure about his sexuality (ex. interaction with Reinaldo at the strip club)

6. Characters (Continued): • Miguel Algarin- Miguel Algarin is Pinero’s closest friend in the movie. He is there for Pinero no matter what, through thick and thin. Algarin comes up with the idea to open the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which is still open today on the Lower East Side. • Miguel Algarin is quite opposite of Miguel Pinero from his lifestyle to his personality. He is an accomplished professor at Rutgers University and has his life together. Even though he is stable in his life all throughout the movie, and Pinero is not, Miguel Algarin is still willing to help Pinero in any way that he can. In the movie he says to Pinero “I am your memory”. *When he says this he is referring to all the nights when Pinero does crazy things that he cannot remember while intoxicated, like the night of one of his play premieres.

7. Characters (Continued): • Tito Goya- Tito is one of Piñero’s best friends. He plays “Cupcakes” in the play “Short Eyes.” • *Pinero is hesitant to talk about Tito and gets angry whenever somebody mentions him. He is supposedly dead while the movie takes place and Pinero tells everyone the cause of his death was a ice box that fell on him. In reality Tito Goya died from liver ailment.

8. Main Characters (Continued): • Edgar- Edgar is Pinero's friend from prison. He is the first person that tells Pinero that his skills as a poet can get him out of prison and that he can do great things with his talent. • Edgar is Pinero's only companion once his fame wears off and he is back to his “junkie” ways. Pinero and Edgar live in Edgar's old van towards the final days of their lives, and Edgar becomes ill and dies in the van as well. • They have a true friendship, and when Piñero finds Edgar dead in the van, it is one of the first times that he shows true emotion in the movie

9. Characters (Continued): • Reinaldo Povad aka “Ray”- Piñero is introduced to Reinaldo because he comes to one of his acting classes. He stands out from the rest of the students because he acts in a fresh tone towards Piñero in a way that Piñero is not familiar with, and Piñero likes this about him. • After their first meeting, Reinaldo and Piñero go to a strip club, where their behavior is questionable and can be classified as “homosexual” or “bisexual” in Piñero's case since he still sees Sugar. • Reinaldo is Piñero’s protégé and writes a popular play called ''Cuba and His Teddy Bear.” This play became poplar when Piñero's fame had faded so Piñero is jealous of his success because in a way Reinaldo had become everything that Piñero once was. • Piñero shows up to the opening night of Reinaldo’s play drunk and belligerent which was sad to watch during the film.

10. Plot of Film is mostly Based on Events in Piñero’s Life: • Piñero was a film based on the true life of Miguel Piñero. • The film portrayed Piñero as a criminal, junkie, famous poet, and a good friend all tied together in one. • Piñero started stealing at a young age and ends up in jail, and when in jail he writes his first poem which was called Black Woman with a Blonde Wig On. He also develops a play called “Short Eyes” which was by far his most famous play. Joseph Papp notices the play and he brings it to the attention of Broadway where it becomes a hit! • After the success of Short Eyes, Piñero’s life slowly goes downhill. He turns to drugs, mainly heroin, and basically needs this substance to survive. • The doctor tells him that his liver is failing, so Piñero knows that he doesn’t have much time left but continues to drink which will lead to his ultimate downfall.

11. Short Eyes: One of Piñero’s Most Famous Plays • Pinero’s most famous play was Short Eyes . • The play is a drama based on Piñero’s experience in prison and with his inmates. • Play was first debuted in the 1974 at the Riverside Church in Manhattan • Joseph Papp saw the play and was so impressed that he moved the production to Broadway • From Broadway, the play went on for production in the Public Theatre, and then eventually to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre • Play nominated for six Tony awards • Won the “New York Drama Critics Circle Award” and “Obie Award” for best play of the year • First play written by a Puerto-Rican to be put on Broadway

12. Piñero&Puerto Rico: • Piñero visits Puerto Rico in the film, and while giving a speech to some well educated people he becomes upset and says, “ Be Puerto Rican and don’t fake what you are!” • Piñero becomes angry at the scholars when they claim that he is misrepresenting the Puerto Rican people and heritage because he associates the Puerto Rican people with his Nuyorican viewpoint • It seems that Piñero is mad that the Puerto Rican scholars are putting on an “Americanized” act of what they are, and he does not think that they are being loyal to their true Puerto Rican heritage • Piñero associates being Puerto Rican with being poor and living on the streets like he did, and he doesn’t understand that it is ok to be educated and use proper language so he looks down on these people to whom is is giving his speech and thinks that they are misrepresenting Puerto Rico

13. Piñero&Puerto Rico (Continued): • Piñero identified himself more with the streets of the Lower East Side where he grew up, and the street culture that was associated with this environment and lifestyle more than his Puerto Rican heritage • The fact that he created the term “Nuyorican” shows that he did not completely consider himself to relate to the Puerto Rican culture back home or in Puerto Rico • Pinero's love for the Lower East Side is clearly seen when he asks for his ashes to be scattered on the streets of the Lower East Side

14. Piñero and Emotion: • All throughout the film, Piñero is constantly under the influence of hard drugs (mostly heroin and coke), dope, or alcohol • He refers to himself as a “junkie” • He continues to drink even though the doctor sternly tells him that his drinking is killing him • Might be using these substance to numb himself of the emotion he feels because he doesn’t know how to express his emotions to other people or he might not want to feel emotion at all • His plays were an outlet for him to release his emotion, but once his fame floats away, it seems that he does not know what to do and turns to drugs more than he ever had before

15. Piñero and Emotion (Continued): • Piñero hides his emotion when people ask him about his friend Tito Goya • Piñero hides emotion when it comes to Sugar. He asks her to marry him but cannot give a reason other than physical as to why she should do this. (property, etc.) • Shows no emotion toward his mother when she comes to visit, until she says that she implies that she might not have much time left “I’ll make you proud mama”

16. The End: • 