The Many Genres of "Jane the Virgin"
Monday, October 17, 2016 at 1:00PM Please welcome new contributor Jorge Molina to the team. Here's his take on "Jane the Virgin," returning to TV tonight, two seasons in...
Jane the Virgin returns tonight on the CW for season 3Jane the Virgin has always been a hard show to describe. Even its one-line, high concept premise takes a couple of reads to fully grasp: “A young Catholic Latina virgin gets accidentally artificially inseminated. Hilarity ensues.”
Two seasons in and the show hasn’t gotten any less complex. Each episode adds more layers on plot, character, and style: someone will get pregnant or thrown down the stairs; there will be flashbacks, and murders, and small meaningful moments; and it will be as bombastic as it will be intimate. Sometimes in a matter of scenes.
Jane the Virgin is the rare case of a show that’s created entirely on pastiche, and yet has an unmistakable originality and essence that’s fully its own.
It embodies many genres, and weaves them all together in one single, coherent, Latin-loving storyline. Five genres as example after the jump...
Jane the Virgin is a rom-com
Whether you are team Rafael, team Michael, or team That-Teacher-From-Season-2, Jane’s romances have played a significant role since the very start. The ramifications of suddenly getting pregnant inevitably slipped into her love life. In very rom-com fashion, she has gone from an engagement, to getting together with her baby baddy, to dating, to getting engaged again and married (and, depends on how that finale cliffhanger turns out, maybe widowing).
Jane the Virgin is a family melodrama
The creators of the show have established many times that, above anything else, Jane is a story about family. In particular, about three generations of Latin women. And it’s inside this genre that the show usually finds its strongest emotional anchors.
It’s Jane bonding with her father after growing up without him. It’s Abuela Alba fighting for American citizenship. It’s Xo finally realizing she can’t act like a reckless teen anymore. It’s all of them sticking together no matter what.
Jane the Virgin is a telenovela
Jane the Virgin is based upon Venezuelan telenovela, Juana la Virgen, so it’s inevitable that the show would take some of the tropes of the genre and fully embrace them: melodramatic explosions, extreme coincidences, evil twins, shocking cliffhangers and multiple brushes with death.
But at the same time it also subverts them: Petra found that she had a long-lost twin sister, but Anezka became the only person she could emotionally open up to. Abuela is thrown down the stairs, but that lead to a meaningful conversation about immigration. Rogelio was kidnapped by a fan, but his trauma from that was further explored.
Jane the Virgin is a who-dun-it
Jane is a network show. They have to churn out 20+ episodes per season. They have to stretch out storylines procedural-style.
Enter the long (and definitely subpar) plot of Sin Rostro/ Rose, the underground plastic surgery ring, Rafael’s mother, and the Marbella mafia. This is definitely the weakest of all the Jane elements, because it’s the least emotionally compelling. It serves mainly as a plot propeller, which (as a writer who constantly struggles to reach emotional beats) I don’t hold against them. It feels like a necessary, albeit fun evil.
Jane the Virgin is magical realism
Less an established cinematic genre and more a visual style, the extended use of magical realism is another way in which Jane embraces its Latino roots. The appearance of imaginary salsa Jane as a more risqué counterpart, the constant appearance of young Jane as a conscience, and the many uses of visual allegories to represent emotional moments perfectly blend reality with fantasy. It’s one of the show’s strongest feats.
Jane the Virgin is whatever it wants to be
At the end, the thing that makes Jane the Virgin be what it is, is that it can allow itself to become anything, and it would still be true to its essence. It can go from grim depictions of postpartum depression, to imaginary snow romance sequences, and from the 1920s to a WME-style wrestle match. It can bring Britney Spears in a gag role, and show a painfully true depiction of new motherhood.
It can be anything. The possibilities are endless. The next chapter is always a blank one. And I cannot wait to see what surprises season 3 brings.
Reader Comments (9)
I *cannot* wait for the show to be back tonight.
I love this show so much. Gina Rodriguez sparkles! Really excited to see her in Annihilation.
SO EXCITED for Jane to finally be back! Far and away the most enjoyable hour on TV for the past two years. This article is a great rundown of just one of the things that makes it so great: The multiple genres/styles it operates in, often simultaneously and nearly always superbly.
Welcome, Jorge!
I loved the first season so much, but somehow the second one lost me. Your post made me decide to catch up on it again.
team michael!
Justin Baldoni! Always been a big fan, for obvious reasons LOL
I have never seen this series, but I adored Ugly Betty, and it feels like there's a lot of similarity in style, tone and attitude. Maybe I should give this one a shot.
brookesboy - To me, Jane the Virgin feels like a combination of Ugly Betty and Gilmore Girls, two of my favorite series.
Suzanne, I've never seen Gilmore Girls, but I've heard so many great things about it. I might have to check that out as well! Thanks.