Smart and warm-hearted, Netflix's Gentefied benefits from not having the burden of being TV's only Latinx show

Rolling Stone

"When the TV landscape was much smaller and lily-white, any series that centered on minorities had to shoulder an unfair burden of representing that entire group," says Alan Sepinwall, pointing to Margaret Cho's All-Amercan Girl. "In the bigger and more inclusive world of Peak TV, there’s more room to just tell a specific story," he adds. "The cultural details remain hugely important, but there’s no longer the need to be all things to all members of an underrepresented group. Gentefied, a new Netflix half-hour series created by Linda Yvette Chávez and Marvin Lemus, neatly conveys the advantages of this more representative world. The story of a Mexican-American family battling the forces of gentrification as they run a taco shop in East L.A., it isn’t even the only current show covering this geographic and anthropological territory; there is a lot of thematic overlap with Starz’s excellent Vida, down to the recurring use of 'coconut' as an insult against brown people too eager to seem white on the inside. Relieved of having to be the only series on this turf, Gentefied gets to focus on what makes its appealing cast of characters tick at least as much as it does on the sociopolitical forces that are making their lives very complicated."

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• Gentefied proves it can co-exist in the same setting as Starz's Vida: "The shows aren’t quite as similar as they might sound," says Judy Berman. "Some might still protest that we don’t need two series about the children of Mexican immigrants trying to save their families’ Boyle Heights businesses. To them, I say: remember when NBC debuted two shows about the making of network-TV sketch comedies in the same season?) Vida tells a more intimate, mature story, one that’s just as attuned to the complexities of gentrification yet also delves into themes such as womanhood, power and desire. It’s deep where Gentefied is broad."
• Gentefied bounces a little too wildly between comedy and commentary: "The ingredients for a show with messaging are all there, along with a hangout comedy and a family sitcom," says Danette Chavez. "But Gentefied never really settles into any of those grooves, which is why, when it suddenly swings back to just how precarious life is, especially for Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the U.S., the viewer can feel a little lost." Chavez adds: "Though it’s not quite as assured in its storytelling as Vida, Gentefied still represents just as significant a development in shows made for and by Mexicans and Mexican Americans—a roster that’s still woefully short. (Marvin) Lemus and (Linda Yvette) Chávez have also introduced a new layer to stories of human migration, which they remind us is founded as much in desire as it is necessity. By telling such specific narratives, they’re broadening the definition of not just what it means to be Mexican or Chicanx, but what it means to be American. Gentefied may come up short on focus, but not purpose."
• Gentefied is exactly the kind of TV we need right now: "Netflix’s latest half-hour comedy is bilingual, bold, and braced to tackle painful issues with wit and nuance," says Jude Dry, adding: "Gentrification isn’t just a buzz word for these characters, or for their creators. It’s a very real issue that affects their lives in myriad ways, threatening to tear communities, neighborhoods, and even families apart. That Lemus and Chávez managed to infuse that very real struggle with so much humor and warmth — while also representing Mexican-American identity in a way few TV shows have been given the space to do — is what makes Gentefied so special."
• Gentefied excels when it is trying to educate its viewers: "The slipperiness of that 'us' is what animates Gentefied, which is at its best when pairing these weighty considerations with community-specific humor instead of leaning too heavily into its stated mission to teach audiences about a complicated social phenomenon," says Hannah Giorgis. "While direct references to the current political climate and scenes of protest against 'colonizers' can feel clichéd, quieter reflections resonate because of their emphasis on the connections between characters. As in the case of the obviously absurd Mexican test, Gentefied can hold both warmth and critique in the same scenes."
• Gentefied is a palatable rendition of something much rawer and spikier: "Which isn't to say the show's existence in itself isn't notable," says Inkoo Kang. "It contributes to the still paltry canon of depictions of Mexican-American daily life on television, particularly those that illustrate the diversity and complexity within Chicano communities. And within the confines of the broad family sitcom, it addresses topics as wide-ranging as anti-black racism, homophobia, cultural appropriation, L.A.'s housing crisis and workplace abuses (at the garment factory where a supporting character works) — all while embracing Spanglish more than other shows about Latinx-American families like Vida, Jane the Virgin and One Day at a Time ever did. But Gentefied feels significantly less polished than those shows, too. (The early episodes are especially rough.)"
• Gentefied has a lot to say, and its likability carries it through its rougher patches
• Gentefied takes some time to tell a story that is distinctly its own
• Creators Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez had never set foot in a writers' room three years ago when they pitched their show 10 times to TV executives: Lemus and Chávez pitched their show as a love letter to their background. “Everything always came back to wanting to show the human side of what it meant to be us, our families, and our parents,” says Chávez. “We weren’t trying to show other people that we’re good; we’re showing ourselves that we are good. When I sit in a coffee shop in Norwalk, and I see a cholo come in with his kids, and I see a professional Latino come in, and an immigrant mama, I get emotional. I want to see that onscreen. That was our focus. How do we capture that?"