From Vida to Los Espookys , American TV has Begun to Center Unapologetically Latinx Stories
“I can watch a movie about somebody who doesn’t really look like me and still feel connected to their emotions,” says Mishel Prada, the 29-year-old star of Vida. “Why is that an issue when it’s a Latino person onscreen?” In Vida, Prada plays Emma Hernandez, one of two Mexican-American sisters who returns to her East Los Angeles home after their estranged mother’s untimely death. The show is the work of a mostly queer, all-Latino cast and crew: the brainchild and debut production of showrunner Tanya Saracho (Girls, How to Get Away with Murder). Now in its second season (with the writers presently at work on the third), the series has been praised for how its dynamic storytelling broaches issues of identity, belonging, gentrification, and sexual agency. If current trends continue, Prada’s question, which gets at the ostensible demographic siloing within entertainment, may be less and less relevant.
Starz stands with a host of other networks and premium channels that are increasingly turning their lenses to the second-largest segment of the U.S. population: Hispanic and Latino-Americans. Although Hispanic and Latinx people make up nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population, researchers at UCLA found in their 2019 Hollywood Diversity Report that Latino actors accounted for just six percent of the roles on scripted cable television shows that ran between 2016 and 2017. Of course, a few beloved characters, like doctor Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) who appeared on Grey’s Anatomy from 2006 to 2016, and Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez), the title character of the 2014 dramedy Jane the Virgin, have offered glimpses of representation. But until recently, they’ve had very little company. Starz’s Vida is presently in the company of Comedy Central’s Alternatino with Arturo Castro, HBO’s Los Espookys, and Pop TV’s One Day at a Time (a recent acquisition by parent company CBS from Netflix). Los Espookys and Alternatino are brand new, both having just premiered in June. While Vida and One Day at a Time premiered in 2018 and 2017, respectively; both were the subject of widespread social media attention when they were renewed.
That these series, with their recurring cast of Hispanic and Latino actors, offer visibility and representation is a given. But the kind of representation they provide matters too. They are written, directed, and produced in a way that avoids stereotypes, heavy-handed explanations of Latino culture, or any exasperating combination of the two. Instead, they offer fresh perspectives on the vast variations in Latino relationships: from comedic-almost-campy friendships (Los Espookys) to the complexity of juggling multiple identities and the inevitable code-switching the juggling act entails (Vida), all without a single cartel subplot in sight.
Latino actors have long been limited to one-dimensional stereotypes—the exotic temptress, the villainous drug lord, the rarely-seen and never-heard domestic servant—this focus on Latinos and Hispanics as characters rather than caricatures feels triumphant, especially to the actors starring in them. “When I first started, lots of the roles that were available to me were just very, very stereotypical,” says Alternatino star Arturo Castro (formerly seen on Narcos and Broad City). “It was hard, especially because a lot of what they were looking for were these really hard-ass, gang member sort of roles, and I just don’t look like that! It sent the wrong kind of message,” he says. Similarly, Prada reflected on her gratitude for her ability to portray a character like Emma: a high-earning corporate consultant, with a tenacious work ethic and a hunger for upward mobility. “There’s something really amazing in showing a woman who came from a low-income neighborhood, who, for all intents and purposes wouldn’t usually end up in the corporate world.”
By all accounts, this approach is paying off. Starz reported Nielsen ratings that indicate that the second season of Vida boasts the largest Hispanic viewership of the all premium television shows. According to the network, 24 percent of viewers who watched the shows live or on streaming platforms within seven days of the air date are Hispanic. According to Nielsen and YouTube analytics provided by Comedy Central, Alternatino amassed a viewership of 7 million across platforms just three weeks into its run. Los Espookys, according to HBO, has an average viewership of 1.2 million per episode, with overall viewership averaging above that of other Friday late-night series.
These numbers are small compared to the 6.6 million who watch a show like The Bachelorette each week, but they represent a small but significant incursion into the TV-watching and streaming viewership—valued in part for their loyalty and enthusiasm. Pop TV’s president Brad Schwartz commended the outspoken fans of One Day at a Time as an “audience who is willing to activate and rally to see a story that represents their lives told on television,” citing the #SaveOODAT campaign that took over Twitter upon Netflix’s cancellation of the beloved series about a Cuban-American family.
The creators and talent behind these shows see the stories they tell as increasingly vital, as intolerance and white supremacy—and the acts of domestic terrorism—rise. “There’s such a bubble of hate, and I believe a lot of it is caused by a lack of information,” Castro says of the strategy he and his writers employ on Alternatino. In a series of minutes-long vignettes, Castro navigates encounters with decidedly un-woke New Yorkers and the matriarchs of his extended Guatemalan family. Then, in something of a dream world, he acts in hyperreal skits that offer an irresistibly topical parody of the way Latinos and Hispanics are characterized, everywhere from TV to the language of the Trump administration. The result is a series of sharp, funny vignettes that highlight the absurdity of the stereotypes.
Though shows like Vida and Alternatino offer visibility to an often misunderstood and underserved demographic, it’s their compelling plots and endearing characters that viewers of any background can connect with. “With us on television and in writers rooms with our showrunners and our producers, we can all talk and be in a cultural echo chamber and say ‘Yes, yes, we agree with each other.’ But the power of television is that it can reach living rooms and grant access to people who maybe don’t have queer people or immigrants around them,” says Prada. She credits Saracho with building a storyline in which no singular character speaks on behalf of an entire group. “I think it’s important to have shows like Alternatino and Los Espookys and any shows with Latin content that counteracts hate and ignorance with information,” Castro says. “We have this mutual responsibility that we can’t ignore. It’s on us to keep talking about it, even when it’s uncomfortable.”
Originally Appeared on Vogue
