I love the show One Day at a Time with Justina Machado and Rita Moreno. The show is about a single mom raising two children - Elena and Alex - while she works full-time as a registered nurse in a doctors office. The single mom and Army veteran played by Justina Machado - Penelope - is suffering from PTSD after returning from a tour in Afghanistan. The sitcom tackles issues of mental illness, immigration, sexism, homophobia, and racism that Latinx people living in the US deal with.
It's an interesting juxtaposition of watching Penelope - a second generation U.S. citizen - deal with these issues while having her mother - Lydia - have her preconceived notions of the same issues. While Penelope is taking medication for depression and anxiety and going to group therapy, Lydia essentially tells her daughter that Latina women just push through - and usually suffer - the issues and don't talk to strangers about what they're going through. Penelope is also separated from her husband who is also an Army veteran who won't get help for his own PTSD. Seeing the strain between Lydia's attitudes towards mental health and divorce/separation and Penelope's need for balance and an equal partner is interesting in that a lot of Latinx parents believe the same things Lydia does. You don't talk about your problems with strangers. You don't take medication for mental illnesses. You certainly don't get depressed or anxious. You just suck it up and push forward.
In the second episode Penelope realizes that she can't run her household without the help of her mother. Penelope is the breadwinner of the family and can't always be home in time for dinner or help the kids with homework. Lydia runs away for the day and sits at church praying for her daughter. In an especially touching episode, after telling Lydia she isn't sure she believes in God anymore, Penelope asks her mother why church was the first place she went to. Lydia told Penelope that while she was in Afghanistan, she would go to church every day and pray for Penelope's safe return. When she did return home physically okay, Lydia took that as sign that her prayers were answered.
The whole series deals with tough issues that a lot of Latinx parents and families deal with. From coming out as queer, stealing, drugs, and an absent parent, the Alvarez family is mostly depicted as a typical Latin family dealing with these issues. This is the first series that I feel that honestly portrays Latinx families in the 21st century. It's honest and they don't skirt around issues.
I give this tv series two thumbs up! Watch it...you won't regret it!
It's an interesting juxtaposition of watching Penelope - a second generation U.S. citizen - deal with these issues while having her mother - Lydia - have her preconceived notions of the same issues. While Penelope is taking medication for depression and anxiety and going to group therapy, Lydia essentially tells her daughter that Latina women just push through - and usually suffer - the issues and don't talk to strangers about what they're going through. Penelope is also separated from her husband who is also an Army veteran who won't get help for his own PTSD. Seeing the strain between Lydia's attitudes towards mental health and divorce/separation and Penelope's need for balance and an equal partner is interesting in that a lot of Latinx parents believe the same things Lydia does. You don't talk about your problems with strangers. You don't take medication for mental illnesses. You certainly don't get depressed or anxious. You just suck it up and push forward.
In the second episode Penelope realizes that she can't run her household without the help of her mother. Penelope is the breadwinner of the family and can't always be home in time for dinner or help the kids with homework. Lydia runs away for the day and sits at church praying for her daughter. In an especially touching episode, after telling Lydia she isn't sure she believes in God anymore, Penelope asks her mother why church was the first place she went to. Lydia told Penelope that while she was in Afghanistan, she would go to church every day and pray for Penelope's safe return. When she did return home physically okay, Lydia took that as sign that her prayers were answered.
The whole series deals with tough issues that a lot of Latinx parents and families deal with. From coming out as queer, stealing, drugs, and an absent parent, the Alvarez family is mostly depicted as a typical Latin family dealing with these issues. This is the first series that I feel that honestly portrays Latinx families in the 21st century. It's honest and they don't skirt around issues.
I give this tv series two thumbs up! Watch it...you won't regret it!
References
Hernandez, Dan; Palmer, Patricia Fass; Benji Smit; Fryman, Pamela. 2017. One Day at a Time. Culver City, California. Netflix Studios.
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