Truly Dreadful Film

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The positive reception this series has received isn't hard to understand. 'Vida' deals with interesting themes related to family and cultural identity, and it's actually well put together and acted. But why are all the male characters useless good-for-nothings: Lyn's boyfriend (unfaithful and irresponsible), her ex- (exploitative and superficial), Nelson the realtor and property developer (conned the sisters' mother, scheming financial predator), Mari's 'activitist' boyfriend (dishonest, manipulative), Emma's male colleagues from her workplace (in Chicago?) (unsympathetic, immature, sexist) ... sorry, but it just goes on and on and ON! Vida is a rogues gallery of male characters!I understand the drama is centred on the lives of women (the 2 sisters and lesbian 'wife' of their late mother, particularly), and perhaps there's a need to get back at men for all the years of hurt etc. But using unrelenting negative male (latino male?) stereotypes is a bit short-sighted. The story loses it's credibility in my view.I only point this out because it spoilt my enjoyment of the series, otherwise pretty good, and while I noticed 'Vida' picked up a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I hope they'll improve it in Season 2 by including more-rounded male characters along with the current ensemble.

I have to be honest - I read the negative/mixed reviews before watching the show and thought they did not do this show any justice. This show is amazing in its ability to capture the right balance of comedy, drama, and romance along with superb acting and just a lot of stories you can relate to. I, for one, hope this show doesn't get cancelled as I will be watching it weekly. If real life stories with a good home town feel is your kind of show, definitely worth giving this a shot!

The show greatly focuses on four central female characters with very different backgrounds. Marisol is a native daughter who is deeply rooted in her culture and her neighborhood pride. She is all about her family, and right and wrong is as clear as black and white to her. Emma and Lyn are sisters who both really tired to reimagine their lives after leaving the neighborhood. Emma looks like she got her things together and left without the intention of looking back. She obviously has some real issues with her mother, foreshadowing makes me think it has to do with Emma's own sexuality. As Emma calls her mother a "hypocrite" when she discovers her mother had been married to a woman. This brings us to Eddy the wife, she's totally heart broken about her wife's passing. You can see that she's from the neighborhood and was content to live,work and stay in her community. She doesn't want beyond what she has. Lyn is possibly the most complicated. She doesn't know who she is yet, she's young and selfish and has no capacity to understand how young and selfish she really is. This character is going to have a lot of personal growth once she stops being a crappy self centered asshole.All in all I'm enjoying the series I think it has a lot of potential. It's tackling topics like gentrification, sexuality, and how the Latino community comes together and falls apart.

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.