Vida

I am so extremely happy to see this series out in the world. I thank Tanya Saracho for writing this beautiful story and for the cast and crew for executing on her vision and dream. I cannot be more proud to read the credits to this show, to literally see parts of my own story and identity represented in an authentic way. Gracias a todas por esta bella serie!!!!

So I totally don't get the bad reviews at all. It's a drama that explores human nature, identity, and culture. Not a mindbending plot, but fresh perspectives that are timely and very much needed to demonstrate the range of American life today.

This show moves us well past Ugly Betty's America Ferrera and a second generation Latina making it in the world of NYC's fashion journalism scene. This also moves us past Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and the quintessential American blended family...

On the one hand, this show fully explores intersectionality. Every protagonist is a female, and a second and third generation Latina in Los Angeles. The show also engages with class, immigration woes, and gentrification by female protagonists in a way I haven't seen before. The show also explores sexuality from the female gaze. The characters shatter the stereotypes about what it means to be Latino/a in the US today.

On the one hand, this is totally an anti-Girls/post-SATC show. And at the same time, this is exactly the sort of thing that demonstrates the multitude of structural realities present in American life that Ta-Nehisi Coates critiques in "Between the World and Me".

Identity is complicated, and reconciling multiple cultural pasts and presents is an ongoing process! The women of Vida are bad ass and finding their own way.

Where to start?

Theoretically, I should have never started watching this program. And, I should have never "liked" this program. And certainly I should have never cared about any of the characters in this program. After all, I am NOT female. I am NOT Mexican-American. And I am NOT homosexual, etc.. I am NOT by any stretch considered the target audience for this light, yet gritty, tale about some of the harsh actualities of real life.

This 22 episode binger checked a lot of boxes for me. I found the main story arc compelling from the jump, as well as the secondary arcs, and this was a well cast group of actors who acted their asses off to bring these characters to life for the 3 seasons they had to work with. I mean, the actors were FREAKING GREAT! I honestly cared about these characters from the very beginning, and it intensified as the story progressed.

The first season laid a good foundation, and the story and characters were developed very well.

In the second season, a few more characters were introduced who had important roles and were acted well, but Roberta Colindrez's portrayal of the multifaceted "Nico" was simply brilliant. Her character alone lifted the whole show to a new height IMO, and the rest of the characters were rapidly developing as well.

Especially the main characters, who had to go from being selfish, self-centered *bleeps* to having to grow up faster than they would have liked and make some adult-sized decisions, while also learning how to respect their community around them.

I gave this a 9 because I simply DO NOT give 10's except in the rarest of rare occasions -- (like "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad" and only a few others) - but had this show gone on a bit longer then who knows? This had enough going on for it to last AT LEAST a couple more seasons IMO, if not more, and was doing nothing less than getting progressively better.

This old, straight, white guy is very sad "Vida" was never given a chance to play itself out, and shame on Starz for chopping "Vida" down at the knees when it was just fully hitting it's stride 8/

All in all this drama was a really, really good 12.5 hour spin :) I would be willing to take a chance on anything else Tanya Saracho were to get involved in, and her whole crew did a great job making this breathe life for the short period it had.

I can't remember where I heard about this show but it was early 2018. I was interested because the themes and characters seemed a bit unique and different than most anything else on tv. I noted the date for the premier and caught up to the four episodes over the holiday. Wow! What a show! I'm not Mexican American but it feels very authentic. What was most impressive was that I immediately identified and connected with the characters. The writers have done a fantastic job conceptualizing each character and creating meaningful and realistic relationships between them. I cared about their stories and where they were headed after the only the first episode. It's the kind of excellent writing that transcends any particular ethnicity or culture.

It's Starz so there's a fair amount of sex, which works here; but that component is less a distraction and more a compliment to the overall show. The only disappointment was finding out how short this season is... only 6 episodes. I sincerely hope that Starz brings this back soon. Highly recommend!

I came across this show after watching another show on STARZ and in 2 days I watched both seasons, and wished there was more.