["Batuka" by Tito Puente plays] [♪] KIDS: [chatter] Bye, Angel!

[voices overlap] TINA: [laughs] ÁNGEL: Tina!

Hola, Ángel.

- What are you doing here?

Tú papá me dijo que te viniera a buscar.

Él y don Manuel tienen una reunión, y tu mamá tiene que llevar a Delia al doctor.

¿Al doctor?

- Mm-hmm What's the matter with Delia?

Is she sick or something?

Nothing.

Just to check up.

I'm glad it wasn't me.

TINA: [laughs] Hey!

You brought your cab.

I thought you had walked.

Es que tengo que ir al museo, para ver cuándo me asignaron las nuevas clases de dibujo.

¿Quieres venir conmigo?

To the museum?

Is there anything good there?

A lot of things.

You can see the works of famous artists.

My meeting won't take long.

If you want, you can take a look-see while you wait for me.

Want to?

- Okay.

Okay.

[upbeat guitar music plays] [car engine starts] [♪] [♪] [car door closes] [♪] ÁNGEL: Wow... ¿Te gusta?

It's beautiful!

<i>MR.

LEVY: Hello, Tina.</i> <i>I've been expecting you.</i> Hi, Mr.

Levy.

I'm sorry I'm late, but I had to pick Ángel up before coming over.

I hope we didn't keep you waiting.<i></i> <i>- No.</i> Ángel, this is Mr.

Levy, the curator of the museum.

This is my new neighbor, Ángel Blanco.

Hm!

Mucho gusto, Ángel.

Bienvenido al museo.

¿Es esta tú primer visita?

Sí, señor.

He speaks Spanish.

Sí, Ángel.

Yo he vivido muchos años en la Argentina.

Mr.

Levy is from Germany.

He speaks several languages.

Really?

What languages do you speak?

[chuckles] Eh... Deutsch-- eh, German, English-- inglés, Spanish-- español, Italian-- italiano, and Yiddish.

Yiddish?

What's that?

Well, Yiddish is a language that comes from German, with some words in Hebrew and Slavic languages.

The name of the language, "Yiddish" comes from <i>jüdisch deutsch</i>, which means "Jewish-German."

Oh, so you're Jewish?

Sí, judío alemán.

[chuckles] Shall we go to my office?

<i>TINA: Oh, yes.

Certainly.</i> I've been anxious to-- ¿Vienes?

May I look around?

Oh, sure.

And if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them, hmm?

Tina.

<i>I am going to show you...</i> [soft guitar music plays] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] <i>MR.

LEVY: Ángel?</i> <i>Ángel?</i> You seemed so far away.

Did you like what you saw?

Oh, yes.

Yes.

It's beautiful.

I wish<i> I</i> could paint like that.

¿Tú puedes Tina?

Si no puedo, por lo menos trato.

ALL: [chuckle] Ok, vámonos, que no queremos llegar tarde a tu casa.

Ok... Hasta luego, Sr.

Levy.

Hasta luego, Ángel.

Y ven a visitarnos cuando quieras.

I will come back!

I promise.

Looks like you got yourself a convert.

[chuckles] <i>Bye now.</i> - Bye.

[soft guitar music resumes] [knocking] Come in.

Hi, Delia.

Tú no tienes que tocar cuando quieras entrar a mi cuarto.

You can come in, anytime you want.

Gee, thanks, but I'd rather knock.

That way, you'll have to do the same when you wanna come into <i>my</i> room, if you ever remember.

¿Qué haces?

Homework.

Tina me dijo que te llevó al museo esta tarde.

Man, don't you guys ever keep anything to yourselves?

Well, she said you'd enjoyed it.

Gee, I'm sorry.

I don't know what you're so jumpy about.

Espera, Delia.

I'm sorry.

Hmm?

De verás, Delia.

Lo siento.

Well, that's better.

Dime, qué viste.

I saw a lot of paintings and sculptures.

Boy!

Hasta los garabatos eran lindos.

¿Los garabatos?

You know.

The ones that you can't tell what they are.

Even those had pretty colors.

I think they call those abstract paintings.

I think it's because they subtract the real thing, and they just leave the colors.

Abstract!

Not subtract.

Abstracto.

Did you see any paintings done by a Puerto Rican?

I don't really know.

But why should they have Puerto Rican paintings in an American museum?

For the same reason they have French paintings, Spanish paintings, Dutch paintings, Italian paintings-- Okay, okay.

German paintings, English paintings-- Okay!

Because they're good.

And that's what you have to be.

You have to be good, no matter where you come from.

[soft tense music plays] Even if you're Puerto Rican?

Yes!

Even if you're Puerto Rican, if you're good.

[music fades] [melancholy guitar music plays] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] [♪] Good morning, Ángel.

¿Qué haces?

No, nada.

Nothing.

Ángel... I am a little concerned.

You see, I'm glad that you have developed such an interest in art.

I have seen you here several times, admiring the works of the masters, but... I have also noticed that you have been coming here during school hours.

That's not so good... Right?

Ángel... El arte... Es algo sumamente importante en las vidas de todos aquellos que tienen la suerte de conocerlo.

Pero... La escuela también es muy importante, y a tu edad, hay que continuar estudiando.

You see, going to school, studying, will make it easier for you to understand, later in life, many of the paintings which you now like, but which also confuse you.

I'll make a deal with you.

You go to school.

<i>Don't miss another class.</i> I will personally take it upon myself to show you what we have here and to explain to you all I can about it.

Okay?

It's a deal.

MR.

LEVY: [chuckles] Hey, Ángel!

BOTH: [laugh] Gracias, señor Levy.

De nada, Ángel.

Senior Levy?

¿Sí?

What's a curator?

A curator?

That's the title given to a person who is in charge of the paintings in a museum.

Like you?

Like me.

Now, [snaps fingers] run along.

Not bad, Ángel Blanco.

Not bad at all.

No, I'm sure.

I'll find out what's happening.

AlI right, thank you.

Bye now.

[hangs up phone] [door opens and closes] Hi, pop.

[sternly] Ángel.

What is it, pop?

How was school today?

[hesitantly] School?

Bien.

Oh, really?

Really?

¿Y qué aprendiste?

¿Que qué aprendí?

Yes.

What did you learn in school today?

Mucho.

[shouts] ¡BASTA!

It is bad enough that you play hooky, but when I ask you a question, I want the truth.

¿A dónde diablos tú estabas metido?

In the museum.

En el qué... En el museo.

What the devil are you doing in the museum when you're supposed to be in school?

[shouts] ¡CONTÉSTAME!

Looking at paintings.

Paintings?

You have been-- ¿Qué clase de pinturas?

Paintings by the great masters.

[laughs incredulously] Eso era lo que me faltaba a mí.

You're looking at paintings... [mutters] Ahora sí que me salvé yo.

Ángel, go to your room and stay there until your mother comes in.

GO!

Go.

<i>[door closes]</i> [buzzing] <i>SECRETARY: [on intercom]</i> <i>Mr.

Levy,</i> <i>a Mr.

Luis Blanco</i> <i>is here to see you.</i> Please send him in.

<i>LUIS: Mr.

Levy?

</i> - Yes, Mr.

Blanco.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Tina has spoken to me very highly of you and your family.

<i>Please, take a seat.</i> Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Mr.

Levy, I hope you forgive me for dropping in on you unannounced.

You see, I have a problem.

- Oh.

It has to do with my son.

Ángel.

Yes.

Do you know him?

Oh, yes, very well.

He is very taken by our museum.

Yes.

That's precisely what I came to see you about.

You see, uh... I had a call from the principal of his school, Mr.

Peter-- <i>MR.

LEVY: </i> <i>About Ángel missing school.</i> Yes.

Do you know about that, also?

It was obvious, Mr.

Blanco.<i></i> <i>- Well, I don't--</i> Mr.

Blanco... I spoke today with your son about it, and I made a deal with him.

I told him I would teach him everything I can about art, if he doesn't miss another day of school.

So I think you don't have to worry about it anymore, Mr.

Blanco, because I'm sure he will keep his part of the bargain.

Well, yes... That is fine, Mr.

Levy, but I happen to think that Ángel must be punished, so I am afraid that I will have to forbid his visits to the museum.

Mr.

Blanco... The things that...bind all Hispanic people together, and, in turn, separate them from American people and other people in this area, are cultural.

<i>Do you know what I would give</i> <i>if kids like Ángel could visit,</i> or rather, be encouraged to visit, museums like this one?

You see, Ángel has discovered by accident, something important.

Which is not readily available to him.

Maybe it is the system, but fortunately, he discovered it.

And his interest is great.

<i>Well, I would admonish him, yes,</i> for missing school, but... I would not keep him from coming here and learning something the system would never teach him.

What is that?

That Ángel... You Puerto Ricans, and all the Hispanos living in these United States are heirs of the people who are among those who contributed most towards culture and civilization.

Your forefathers, Mr.

Blanco, your forefathers came from a country <i>that has produced some</i> <i>of the world's greatest painters.</i> <i>Ángel will never learn in school</i> <i>about artists like Campeche</i> or Oller-- both Puerto Ricans.

No history book will tell him <i>how Oller lived in Paris</i> <i>and was a close friend of Renoir</i> and Monet and Degas and many other great impressionists.

No, Mr.

Blanco.

Those are things he would learn here.

Well... Mr.

Levy, I-- I respect and admire your knowledge, but you see... My son will have to survive in a very hostile world.

And if you'll excuse me-- I don't think that art is going to help him much.

Mr.

Blanco... The Puerto Rican child, like any other child, acquires a picture or an image of himself from his social environment, <i>from the information it internalizes</i> and from the social conditions that force themselves upon him.

You see, no one is born with a low-self concept.

One gets it from peers, and teachers, judges, police, mass media, and parents.

Now, wait a minute, Mr.

Levy.

I don't think that you-- You see, children-- excuse me.

Children... Children see themselves as they think these people see them.

That's why so many times you see such defeated behavior.

Oh, no.

My family is a very close family, Mr.

Levy.

There's no defeatist behavior in our house.

That's why I'm taking the time to explain these facts to you, Mr.

Blanco.

Don't close this door to Ángel.

Art could serve to strengthen Ángel's self-respect, and self-dignity.

Words.

Words.

Words, it's... Very easy for you to say them.

It's terrible.

What do you really know about discrimination, and... prejudice, social frustrations, El barrio, for exam-- <i>- The ghetto?</i> Yes, the ghetto.

I'm a Jew, Mr.

Blanco.

[soft tense music] A German Jew.

When I was Ángel's age in Berlin, the Nazis would not let <i>me</i> into a museum.

Two years later, I lost my entire family.

Only my brother and I survived.

Some friends made it possible for us to reach Argentina.

Where art... made it possible for me to see myself and all the Jews around me in a realistic and positive light.

I see.

I'm sorry.

<i>Oh...</i> So am I. I apologize.

I didn't mean to lecture.

Well, I thank you for it.

Muchas gracias.

No hay de que, señor Blanco.

<i>[door knocking]</i> Come in.

<i>[door opens]</i> ¿Qué tal, Ángel?

¿Cómo te sientes?

Bien.

Me alegro.

Oh, yo te traje... [taps package] ...algunas cositas aquí.

¿Para mí?

Mm-hmm.

Para ti.

[package rustles] [footsteps recede] <i>[door closes]</i> [paper ripping] <i>ÁNGEL: [loudly]</i> <i>Yippie!</i> [silently chuckles] [coughs] <i>[door opens]</i> <i>LUIS:</i> <i>[holds laugh]</i> LUIS: [laughs] Pop, you're the best pop in the whole world!

[laughs] No.

What?

In the whole world?

Por lo menos en esta casa.

[laughing continues] [indistinct chatter] MR: LEVY: Oh, hello.

LUIS: Hi How are you, Aidita.

¿Cómo estamos?

¿Qué tal?

Please to meet you.

- Bienvenidos.

¿Cómo está?

- Hi!

Que la disfruten... A lot of people here.

I'd like to congratulate you in doing something like this for our community.

[chuckles] Thank you, Mr.

Blanco, but whether you know it or not, usted, Mr.

Blanco, ha sido como un agente catalítico que ha promovido que yo hiciera esto.

Lo había pensado muchas veces, pero nunca lo había hecho.

[laughs] TINA: The important thing is that you have done it.

Look.

Just look at all those Puerto Rican people beaming because their artists are being recognized.

DORIS: To tell you the truth, Tina, I'm Puerto Rican, and I had no idea that we have so many fine artists.

MR.

LEVY: Mm-hmm ÁNGEL: Don't worry, ma'am.

I'll show you them.

Come with me.

- Excuse us.

["Paduana (From Suite No.

4)" by John Williams plays] [♪]