Television has played a huge part in my life throughout my childhood. I would spend hours watching episodes of "Friends," "Lizzie McGuire," "Recess," etc. Although these shows were funny and enjoyable, I noticed that there was a lack of characters who shared the same skin color and lifestyle as mine. "Full House" in particular, was a show that I enjoyed watching, but I couldn't relate to. It was as if the media was telling me that my life had to be a specific way in order to be happy.
And although there were shows like "That' So Raven" and "The Proud Family," I couldn't relate to those either. These families portrayed what an authentic American family was supposed to be. But with my parents being from El Salvador, that made it seem as if my family wasn't normal.
Once I grew older, I slowly started watching less TV. It was mostly because I had less time to watch and because I felt like there was a lack of diversity. Lately, there has been more recognition for people of color on-screen (such as "Black-ish" and "Jane the Virgin"). However, I still felt as if there weren't any television shows that truly portrayed a Latinx household in the United States. That is— until this year.
Netflix released a new series called "One Day At A Time," which is based on a 1975 series of the same name. It centers around a Cuban-American family in Los Angeles. It follows the story a newly divorced military mom planning her daughter's quinceñera with her old-school mother.
I watched this entire series in one day because it was so good. It covered several topics throughout all thirteen episodes. It talked about PTSD and depression in military veterans, immigration, feminism, religion and LGBT issues within the Latinx community. The conversations that came up throughout the entire series were subjects that I related to. They were the types of conversations that I would have with my own family. And although I don't come from a Cuban-American family, I was still able to relate to them.The show didn't try it's best to have an authentic American family, and that's something I enjoyed a lot.
I finally found a television show I could completely relate to. I finally found a show that tries it's best to portray a specific group of people as accurate as possible. I can only hope that other television companies will learn from Netflix.
