It was a boring Saturday evening when I was curled up on my bed with my laptop set on Netflix’s homepage and a cup of tea besides me; I was desperate for a new show to pick up after finishing "Gossip Girl" for the second time. One icon caught my eye — the show was labeled “Jane the Virgin,” which made me think, “Hmm, must be one of those overly-cheesy sitcoms with no overarching theme.” But what if I was wrong? Don’t judge a book, or show, in this case, by its cover or Netflix description is a saying for a reason right? So, I watched the first episode, then the second, then the third, and the fourth, and the fifth. Before I knew it, I’d finished the entire first season in a matter of two days. So what made me fall so in love with a show that I’d originally written off as unoriginal and corny? Here are four reasons why “Jane the Virgin” is one of the most successful and wholesome shows ever:
1. The women in the leading roles are all single mothers who raised/are raising wonderful kids.
How often do we see that on TV? Jane’s abuela traveled all the way to the United States just to give her daughter a better life, and the daughter, Xiomara, in turn, gave birth to and raised Jane despite her young age. One could only imagine that Jane would have the best support system to raise little Mateo. Additionally, the show passes the Bechdel test with ease, meaning that there is at least two women discussing something besides a man and are named, which happens just as often as boy-talk on “Jane the Virgin.”
2. Rogelio. Enough Said.
If you were anything like me, you were more than a little cautious when Rogelio wanted to come back into Jane’s life in the first season after leaving pregnant, teenage Xo 23 years prior. But his continued efforts to make up for the time he missed with Jane and being an incredibly supportive father despite his busy schedule as a successful telenovela star landed him a spot as one of the most beloved characters on the show. Plus, his bromance with Jane’s on then off then on again fiance Michael is beyond adorable.
3. Jane constantly chooses her son and herself over any man.
She chooses to go to grad school, work on her writing, spend her time with Mateo and her family, all over dealing with the messy love triangle with men in her life. Whether you’re team Rafael or Michael (clearly the best choice is Michael, just saying), you can agree with me that the team all fans are on is team Jane. Her priorities are solid and she knows what’s important to her, and for that, I admire her.
4. The cast is incredibly diverse.
Jane’s Villanueva family moved from Venezuela before her mother Xiomara was born, and her abuela made sure to preserve the culture as much as possible, as shown whenever she speaks in Spanish and Jane responds in English, something children of immigrants like me can totally relate to. There’s no “token ______” character on the show, which makes the diversity and acceptance of all kinds of people feel natural and life-like, not forced as it often feels in other TV shows.
