The show that I chose to watch was the Jane the Virgin. A few of my good friends have watched this before so when I saw it in the recommended list I knew I had to start it. The show starts with the main character Jane living with her mom and grandmother. They are a Spanish speaking family and the grandmother only speaks Spanish. Jane is seen talking to her “abuela” in Spanish but also speaks in English to her mother.
The creators behind this extremely funny and enjoyable watch is Jennie Urman who is the director. Something different about this show which isn’t usually common is their is a narrator throughout the whole show. The voice is done by Anthony Mendez, Mendez has a thick Spanish accent. Using a narrator mimics how in Jane’s, her mom’s, and abuelas’s favorite type of shows are telenovelas. These Spanish soap operas use drama and intense love to tell stories. I noticed that the show Jane the Virgin is just like Jane wants, to be in a telenovela, her life is just like one.
Jane the Virgin has a large cast, throughout the first season different characters are introduced. Gina Rodriguez plays Jane, in the dramedy Jane’s grandmother is very dedicated to religion and the idea of saving yourself for marriage. While Janes moms beliefs are the complete opposite. But, Jane respects her grandmother and made a decision to save sex for marriage. Janes grandmother is very traditional. Jane her mom and grandmother all wear light clothes considering they live in Miami. Janes style is usually business casual or she’s seen a lot in her comfy home clothes she enjoys wearing when she has tv nights with her mom.
The first episode shows Jane visiting her female doctor and her doctor is seen being very disheveled. The doctor mixed up the patients files and the doctor ends up doing the wrong procedure on Jane, Jane was unaware of this happening though. Jane’s doctor eventually realizes what she did, she put another mans sperm in her and artificially inseminated Jane, she did not tell Jane of her mess up though. Jane is seen feeling really sick, in reality it was just morning sickness. Jane’s mother is very worried so they bring her to the hospital. The doctor comes back smiling and excited to tell Jane her big news… The doctor tells them that Jane is pregnant and they don’t believe him because Jane was a Virgin. Eventually they figure out what the doctor had done, she apologizes for her mess up and tells Jane she can undo what has happened. This is the storyline of what is to be seen in the show.
The original network the show was aired on the CW. But older seasons can be watched on Netflix. I watched the show using Netflix. Instead of watching 3 episodes I ended up really enjoying the show and watched the whole first season. While Jane the Virgin is an English language show the director wanted to target the Latino population. The show mimics a telenovela like i mentioned above so people who enjoy drama-comedys would enjoy this show. The storyline is hilarious and throughout the first season we see Jane go through tons of ups and downs. From meeting the mans sperm she was artificially inseminated with to deciding if she wants to keep the baby and also meeting the women who was actually supposed to artificially inseminated. These three people become the main characters of the show along with a few other characters introduced later in the show.
A show I would compare this to would be modern family. This show depicts a typical disfunctional white family. The comedy has characters of all different ages and the audience is wide because the humor is relatable to all. The extreme comedy and humor is similar in both shows except in modern family mostly the average American would enjoy this show considering it is about a typical white family. In a way they are similar are that there is a Spanish speaking family in both shows. In modern family Gloria is a beautiful Spanish women and her son manny both speak Spanish. So modern family can also be relatable for the Spanish speaking population.
Jane the Virgin is a fantastic modern Tv show. The characters are relatable and the show is viewed by a wide audience of people of different backgrounds. There aren’t any many stereotypes seen other than the fact of how traditional her grandma is. I highly recommend this show and can’t wait to continue watching it now.