WATCH NOW: LATINX ON THE SCREEN
After a week of meetings, calls, reschedules, cross-departmental locker combinations, therapy sessions, am gym routines and stops at the super market — the only thing I want is my couch and a tv show that I can indulge in. So this weekend I did just that! I wanted to hone in on the ones that either touched on the Latinx communal experience or had a Latinx character that made me say ‘there we are’.
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE OF ASHLEY GARCIA
This show is so cute. I love cheesy shows and this one filled my heart with love. First of all, she is a teen with a PhD. I was planning spirit days at the age of 15, not building robots. BUT this is why this show is important. For all it’s ‘cheesy-ness’ it gives young Latinas an opportunity to either envision themselves as young achievers or to feel validated for putting books before boys. It also highlights the complicated relationship between moms who want to do right by their kids but can be overbearing. You get to see a young woman balance responsibility with puberty.
KNIVES OUT
If you like CLUE, this movie will have you giddy. I saw this and was really trying to figure out what happened. Ana de Armas is one of the main actresses in this film and she is una Cubana who lived in Spain since the age of 18. I thought she was straight up Spanish because her accent reminds me of Penelope Cruz if I’m honest. Regardless of that, she was excellent in the film and really convincing. Won’t spoil it, but her win felt like our win.
GOOD GIRLS
First off this show is GOODT. I wish it got more promotion, but alas tv/streaming companies don’t always know their winners. Part of why I enjoy this show is Manny Montana, whom I first saw years ago on USA’s Graceland. In GG he plays Rio, un malo pero so gooooood! He’s like that guy you know you shouldn’t mess with but something about him makes you wanna keep texting… caution though.
GENTEFIED
Okay I have not watched this, but this is on my list of shows to watch. I’ve loved seeing all the coverage around it. I appreciate that there are so many new comers on this show and it’s exciting to see new talent infiltrate Hollywood. Plus Carlos Santos used to be the Host of Mi TRL in 2006 and yes I know that is a throw back but he was hilarious then and I hope he is on this.
CHARMED
This is truly my guilty pleasure. I watched the original charmed with an all White cast and now I am committed to this reboot. It also makes fans of the old school show BIG MAD that this one has Black & Brown leads (womp!). I know the WB is not HBO, but they try to make the characters have some depth and complicated story lines and that I can appreciate. Not only are they trying to learn to be sisters to each other, they are also trying to rectify their own fears as they step into womanhood. Something we can all relate to. Plus seeing women kick ass on screen is never gonna get old.
NANCY DREW
This is a stretch I know, but I’m a sucker for a non-scary super-natural sitch! So I binged this entire show and it just twists and turns (okay enough for my level of excitement, I’m chicken shit). If you also watch, you can catch the handsome Miles Gaston Villanueva play a mystery rich guy whom we are yet to figure out!
ON MY BLOCK
This is A+ content here. It’s real, it’s funny, it’s a little heartbreaking. The new season drops this week and I am excited to see what this group of friends is up to next. The hood tries to swallow them whole but their friendship and support of each other pushes them through.
ALTERED CARBON S1
Caveat - S2 is also great. But S1 has Mexican Actress Martha Higareda KICKING CULITO left and right. Homegirl is 5’3 and she is really putting the hurt on other characters. Granted I don’t know if she does her own stunts but it is wonderful to watch a Latina actress play such a badass playing a Latina character. Enjoy it!
BIRDS OF PREY
This film is so fun, I highly recommend you grab your mom, sister, bestie etc and go watch. It’s such a diverse and colorful cast and again it’s all the woman empowerment one needs. Rosie Perez shows us that as she says ‘women of a certain age’ can still throw them bows and hold their own down. I hope this is the start of much more Rosie on the screen.
LET IS SNOW
So this came out last November, and I know the last thing we want is snow, but it was a really fun film to watch. Especially for anyone who’s ever thought about what growing up in small town America would be like (actually, idk if this is an accurate representation). Isabela Merced is a great budding actress and it’s fun to see her alongside Shameik Moore , because how many of us didn’t crush on a singer/rapper/actor growing up and wish he’d magically show up and notice us?
The last thing I’ll say is that what I hope to see come out in the coming months/year is more content that shows the Latinx experience of other folks in different regions of the US (hello NYC! Miami! Chicago! Philly!), and age groups. As you can see a lot of the content I mentioned above has a young cast, I’d love to see some 30+ y/o storylines (40+ 50+ 60+ ya’know). And also some Afro-Latinos too — get with the program fam.
That’s all I got for now, as always tell me about what you’re watching, put me on via @thegirlmob
