J is for Jane the Virgin #AtoZChallenge #PandemicAlphabet

Hello, I love this show.

Okay, so I have considered rewatching Jane the Virgin many times during this here pandemic. For one thing, it is on Netflix, which means it’s easy to access and binge watch (if you’re into that type of thing). And for two, it is an absolute joy and a delight.

Here are all the reasons you should watch Jane the Virgin:

• It’s a telenovela (soap opera), which means it is high on the drama and shenanigans
• It embraces and subverts telenovela/soap opera tropes at every turn
• I grew up watching soaps, so it takes a lot (a lot) for these types of shows to surprise me and there was one twist that made me SCREAM out loud in my living room so much so that I clamped my hand over my mouth because I remembered that I have neighbors

Here is real life footage of me during that twist:

• It has one of my favorite characters of all time–ROGELIO MY BROGELIO.
• To know Rogelio is to love him with your whole heart.
• In fact, I love all of the characters! It took me a little while to warm up to some of them but by the end, I loved them all and just wanted good things for them–even Petra.
• Jane and her family are GOOD PEOPLE who try very hard to do the right thing, period. Jane is the center of the show and she is a good person. There are no anti-heroes on this show, and you are not once asked to root for the bad guy. Do you know how rare that is, especially on a show with high stakes drama?
• There is a love triangle, and it is really well done. You can either be right and be Team Michael or you can be Team Rafael.
• THE CAST IS EXTREMELY GOOD LOOKING. It is honestly offensive how attractive they all are.
• The continuity on this show is exceptional.
• The show is extremely feminist and deals with all kinds of issues (pregnancy, body image, sex, sexual harassment, etc) in varied and sensitive ways.
• It takes all of its characters seriously.
• It is SO FUNNY. I forgot to mention that, but the humor is outstanding. This is another show that balances drama and humor really well.

• Remember I said the continuity is exceptional? As soon as you find yourself thinking a thread has been dropped, they pick it back up and tie up that loose end. It is really masterful.
• There was at least one episode that gave me the eye sweats because I’m getting soft.

I mean, I could go on.

If you don’t believe me, here’s a review from The New Yorker that is full of spoilers so you shouldn’t read the whole thing, but you can just revel in this quotation:

Although it employs all the tools of high melodrama—evil twins, gaslighting—it doesn’t have a camp sensibility. Instead, it ballasts the most outrageous twists with realistic emotional responses. How would you feel if your twin stole your identity and drugged you into paralysis, thus intensifying your postpartum depression? This is one show that will take your trauma seriously.

“Jane the Virgin” Is Not a Guilty Pleasure

I think that quotation just perfectly encapsulates the show. It is rooted in emotional realism even when the most outrageous things happen.

So I realized that I forgot to give an overview of the show. It’s about Jane, a virgin, who finds out she’s pregnant. A friend of mine refused to watch the show because she didn’t understand how Jane could be a virgin and pregnant, and I told her to just watch the show and find out because it’s answered in the first 20 minutes, but she refused. Don’t be like this friend. Watch it anyway.

Jane gets accidentally artificially inseminated, btw. How she gets pregnant is less important than the show getting you to buy into the fact that she then decides to continue the pregnancy, and I think they do that very effectively and in a way that helps you understand all the major players on the show.

I will also tell you that the series finale is very satisfying, even if it will make you sad because you know the show is officially over.

What else can I say? This show is a good time. Let it help you get through the last stretch of this pandemic.

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For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have decided that I’m going to focus on comfort reads/watches as we enter our second (!) April in the pandemic. Tune in Monday to see what I choose for K!