5 Reasons You Need To Watch "One Day At A Time" | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

5 Reasons You Need To Watch "One Day At A Time"

"Jajaja, qué funny."

253
5 Reasons You Need To Watch "One Day At A Time"
The Mary Sue

The Netflix original series "One Day At A Time" has won over my heart, and I know it will steal yours too. This 2017 remake of the 1975 show follows the lives of the Alvarez family members, consisting of an army veteran and nurse mother, a Cuban-born flamboyant Abuelita (grandmother), a self-proclaimed social justice warrior daughter, and a family jokester of a younger son.

This sit-com has everything and more that you could want from a modern, family-oriented show. Here are 5 reasons why you need to watch "One Day At A Time."

1. There is great racial diversity among secondary characters, and of the main 5 characters, 4 are racial minorities.

I love that the show's main cast is primarily Latinx. Although I can see many people potentially labeling it as a "Latinx show," I think that it is absolutely a step in the right direction. There are people of many different races and ethnicities in the full cast, and I think that it is so important to ensure that television casts are not racially gentrified and white-washed.

This country is not all White - far from it - so, it is time that our media showcases the current American reality more accurately. Also, this family is not the stereotypical Latinx family portrayed on television shows that rigidly follow outdated character tropes. These characters are pretty realistic, granted this is entertaining fiction, but they can easily be related to you and your family. Abuelita is just like my grandmother, except Cuban instead of Spanish. I totally relate to Elena, the daughter. I'm sure you could find similarities between the characters and your family members.

2. It plays on Latinx stereotypes in a funny way, validating the silly ones and often breaking the offensive ones.

I love that it shows Latinx women as intelligent, hard-working, and capable people. Many shows will make Latina characters ultra-traditional, passive, and un-empowered. This aforementioned portrayal sickens me, because in the real world Latinas and Hispanas are strong, intellectual, and absolutely empowered. I can say this because I am an empowered Hispana myself.

There are simple jokes that the show uses to poke fun at Latinx culture, like making Abuelita dance salsa like it's her job, playing around with Abuelita's accent, and making fun of Cuban family over-protectiveness. While this would be offensive in some contexts, it adds an extra layer to the humor because Hispanic families can often relate. The humor is all quite tasteful and appropriate.

3. It talks about realistic immigration situations.

I won't reveal any spoilers, but I think that this show excellently portrays circumstances that are occurring in the United States daily, both with legal and illegal immigration. The show gives you a real look at different situations that immigrant families may go through now, or may have gone through in earlier decades. When it happens to characters that you love, you get a different perspective than that you may see on certain news outlets currently. This is one of the many activist topics that the show touches on.

4. It hits on so many important social issues.

From sharing an LGBTQ+ coming out story, to discussing religion and the stereotypical ultra-Catholicism in Hispanic families, to talking about affirmative action and diversity quotas, to providing a non-shameful sex education narrative, to emphasizing the struggles of military veterans, to showcasing what it is like to have a loved one deal with addiction, this show hits on a lot of important issues that should be discussed throughout media. The fact that this show manages to do that in a humorous way is brilliant, and necessary in order to educate our society. If people are too ignorant to want to read up on and educate themselves on current social issues, you've gotta feed the 411 to them somehow. I am a huge proponent of incorporating educational topics into entertainment and media.

5. You get to learn a bit about Cuban culture.

Between all of the Quinceañera talk, Abuelita dancing to Celia Cruz's music in the mornings, and the little bits of Spanish that are dropped into the dialogues, I think that this show provides an excellent opportunity to learn a bit about Cuban culture, history, music, traditions, and foods - even if it takes place in California, and not Cuba or Miami. Imagine if we learned about a different culture in each show that we watched. If that was the case, I think that racial insensitivity and fear of other cultures would be much less of an issue in our country today. After watching this show, you'll be calling people bobos, ordering ropa vieja for dinner, and listening to Celia while exclaiming Azúcar!

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Relationships

20 Things You Forgot To Thank Your Mom For

Moms are super heroes dressed in yesterday's clothing and they deserve an award for that.

565
family
Facebook

Dear Mom,

You took care of me and my brothers our entire lives and you still continue to! I will not be able to truly grasp all of the hard work that you put into this family until I create my own one day. But, I know that there are plenty of times I forgot to give you a simple thank you or an appreciative smile. I thank you for everything that you have done for me and will continue to do for me. Here are some examples of those times where you had my back and I forgot to pat your back for saving me:

Keep Reading...Show less
pumpkin
Holytaco.com

College is hard. As people ages 18-22, we’re just trying to figure out what we’re doing with our lives, our careers, our eating habits, exercise routines, sleep patterns, and other necessities for adult life. We definitely don’t take proper care of ourselves; it’s basically impossible when we have essays, tests and readings due and somehow we’re supposed to eat right, exercise and sleep. We’re doomed to get sick. I have zero experience in science but when I get sick there are certain things I do to make myself better.

Keep Reading...Show less
Bob's Burgers
Hyannishyball

First of all, there is no shortage of fun when you're together.

And you often find yourselves entertaining each others terrible ideas.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

The Unwritten Rules Of "Talking"

What is "talking?" How does one "talk?"

8786
girl holding phone
NYCPRGIRLS

Now that it seems “talking” is the new way to date, and will stay that way until another idiotic term is used to describe the people who can’t settle down and just date someone, I feel as if it’s time to go over the unwritten rules of “talking.”

Rule 1. Having feeling without feeling.

Keep Reading...Show less
The Stages of Having FOMO in College
iamthatgirl.com

Are you one of those people that gets super upset when you miss out on anything? Well, you may have FOMO, or fear of missing out. In college it’s not hard to experience FOMO every once in a while. You just love doing everything and anything, so hen you have to miss out on something it's the worst possible thing in your mind. Whether you’re sick, have to work, or have so much work to do you could cry – FOMO will hit you hard in college.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments