Mr Sweet Face

April 23, 2018 11:42 AM

On TV's Jane the Virgin, men cry, embrace empathy, and are open of heart. Why one writer wishes he’d been able to watch it as a kid.

Spoiler potential for the end of Season 4.

posted by threetwentytwo (8 comments total)

This show is so good.
posted by k8t at 11:46 AM on April 23, 2018

I love Jane the Virgin so much. I have thought back on (and tried to emulate) specific scenes on the show when I'm having difficult conversations with my partner. No joke. I feel like I've learned to be more honest and braver in my personal relationships because of, uh, a tv show.

Plus Gina Rodriguez is ridiculously charismatic. I can't wait for her to star in a movie that deserves her.
posted by minervous at 1:02 PM on April 23, 2018 [6 favorites]

(JtV on FanFare.)
posted by brainwane at 1:42 PM on April 23, 2018

This article gives me hope. Will it really, maybe be easier to raise woke men and women who view each other as equals and friends? A little help from pop culture goes a long way.

From the show, I really loved how Rogelio dealt with the fact that the woman he is in love with, Xiomara, did not want to have another baby (since her Jane was all grown up and she, herself, was just coming in to her own) and he really struggled but it was his struggle and problem to solve within himself. It was very real.
posted by amanda at 2:22 PM on April 23, 2018

Plus Gina Rodriguez is ridiculously charismatic. I can't wait for her to star in a movie that deserves her.

It's gonna be a long wait to see her as Carmen Sandiego.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:49 PM on April 23, 2018

I'm several seasons behind so I'm not gonna read the article, but this gets at one of the best things about the show. For all the crazy soap/telenovela drama (and boy is there a lot!), the show always stays rooted in the emotional experiences of the characters, which always feel very real, even if the situations are not. And that requires a show where these emotional experiences are made explicit, no matter the gender of the characters.
posted by lunasol at 3:09 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

"Earlier this season on Jane the Virgin, Mateo felt powerful after accomplishing what he thought was a magical feat. “I’m like Wonder Woman, daddy!” he yelled, flexing his muscles. I wanted to hug the scene, in which a boy character was shown relating to a woman—to aspire, even—without shame, and with heart-swelling pride. Damn right you’re strong like Wonder Woman, Mr. Sweet Face. May a whole generation of boys grow to be just as strong as her and Nubia, I thought as I watched. Perceptions of masculinity are informed by everything and everyone around us, and for me, a latchkey kid with hours of entertainment budgeted into each day, media played as significant a role in shaping those ideas as did my own parents. For better or worse, it taught me what it meant to be a boy—at least, what I understood it to mean."

THIS.
posted by stellaluna at 4:08 PM on April 23, 2018 [8 favorites]

I wish JtV had caught on on FanFare, because I think it's worth discussing but I guess others weren't into it.

That article is not very ah, revealing, with regards to later activities. In case this is an issue for anyone.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:32 PM on April 24, 2018