TV dramas and sitcoms are suddenly all about immigration
Travis M. Andrews of the Washington Post writes about President Trump’s impact on popular culture.
A number of television shows revolving around immigration began cropping up as Donald Trump rose to the presidency. Since Trump took office, his administration has ramped up deportations and cracked down on illegal immigration.
Popular shows such as “Superstore,” “Jane the Virgin” and Fresh Off the Boat” recently tackled stories about undocumented immigrants. And several networks announced upcoming new shows focused on immigration.
CBS announced “In the Country We Love,” a drama about a corporate attorney who begins taking on cases for undocumented immigrants. And the CW is developing “Casa,” which focuses on six Latino siblings who struggle when their parents are deported.
The trend also extends to three reboots of favorite television programs that spent years — in one case decades — off the air and never discussed immigration in their original runs.
Norman Lear’s popular sitcom “One Day at a Time,” featuring Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli and Bonnie Franklin, followed a divorced mom as she struggled to raise two teenage daughters on her own. It was a bold show when it premiered in 1975, since television programs centering on a single mother were sill a rarity.
Lear updated it for the reboot, which landed on Netflix in January, to reflect modern America. Like the “Party of Five” reboot, it swapped its white family for a Latino one, specifically the Cuban-American Alvarezes. See the trailer above. The main character is still a single mother, who lives with her two children. But now she’s joined by her mother, who emigrated from Cuba.
One of the main plotlines running through the 13 new episodes focuses on an undocumented immigrant one of the children befriends. The family tries to do the right thing, but they’re not sure what that is. Rather than offer an easy, digestible solution, though, the characters — all Cuban — argue about American policies surrounding immigration. Not what most would expect from a sitcom.
Lear often injected his shows with progressive ideals, so his focus on immigration shouldn’t be surprising. Especially given how outspoken he was about the issue throughout the presidential campaign.
KJ