Diversify your Netflix

Dig in folks, the pandemic's not over yet but I've got your back for Netflix: The Diverse Edition.

Brief reviews and possible spoilers of of:

Humour, starting from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Great News, One Day at a Time, Sex Education, and Derry Girls.

Drama, starting from Once Upon a Time: Always a Witch (Siempre Bruja), and Cursed.

Film, starting from Always be my Maybe: Someone Great, Nappily Ever After

If you're a fan of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's silly humour that gives you major second-hand embarrassment, you'll probably like Great News (starring Rita Morena and Tina Fey!). The premise of Great News is that the mother of an experienced (yet very awkward) reporter winds up interning at her daughter's news agency. Imagine Brooklyn 99, but in a newsroom with a bit more cringe. Throw in an awkward British love interest to maximise the second-hand embarrassment, and you've got Great News!

And if you enjoyed Great News, no doubt thanks to Rita Morena's stellar performance, you'll probably have to watch One Day at a Time. ODAT follows a Latine family (two teenagers, their mother, grandmother, and upstairs neighbour) in their daily life. It's genuinely hilarious, and not in that cringe, Great News/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt way, but still manages to touch on huge issues such as sexism, racism, and LGBT+ matters. A lot of people like to compare ODAT with Brooklyn 99, in part due to the Latine representation on both shows, but I think it compares far more to New Girl, but with a different family culture.

Liking the LGBT+ aspect of ODAT? You should probably check out Sex Education, which follows the son of a sex therapist as he tries to help various classmates navigate sexuality and sex. Although not as racially diverse as ODAT, Sex Education touches on many different aspects of sexuality and sex, from sexual assault to asexuality, disabled relationships to underage sex. The hilarity of ODAT carries through despite the very serious topics it covers, adding enough lightness to make it a bingeable show. It's all done with just enough of a tinge of British whimsy to make American audiences fall in love (but not enough to stop British audiences from complaining).

And if you liked the British aspect of Sex Education, you should check out Derry Girls. It follows a group of Irish school-age girls (without any 'jailbait' moments, Riverdale) as they navigate their last few years of school as well as the tensions between Ireland and Britain during the troubles. Occasionally, it gets back into cringe humour (we've come full circle!) but more so in the way that makes the viewer remember their own cringe behaviour from their teenage years.

Not feeling humour? How about fairytale and period based magical dramas?

If you liked Once Upon a Time for the way magic was incorporated into the fairytales, you might like Siempre Bruja. Brujeria, or female witches from Latin America, form the core basis of the show's conflict—it is with using magic that the main character, Carmen, is able to travel to modern day Cartagena, Colombia. Carmen is an Afro-Latina and there are plenty of other POC in the cast. Although the show is dubbed in English, I encourage you to watch it in the original Spanish and turn on subs instead!

And if you prefer the more fairytale side of Once Upon a Time, then Cursed may be the racially diverse answer to your Netflix search. Cursed is an Arthurian retelling which is incredibly subversive in many ways. For one, the story centres around Nimue, who is historically best known as the Lady of the Lake, instead of Arthur. (Nimue also makes an appearance in OUAT as the original Dark One, controlled by the shards of Excalibur.) Like OUAT, the storytelling, especially in the earlier episodes, is a bit clunkier. Once you get past the exposition and into the meatier episodes, it becomes well worth the watch. At times, it seems that the writers are trying to fit too much plot into too few episodes, but the fast-paced nature of the show leaves us with an incredible cliff-hanger at the end of season one, with no promise of renewal for season two. Netflix, if you're reading this, please renew it!

How about some romantic comedy films?

If you liked the wishfulness of Always Be My Maybe, you might like Someone Great. Starring Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez, Someone Great is packed with POC leads and love interests. Following a promotion that would move her across the country, our heroine is dumped by her boyfriend. The film takes place across the span of a few days in which there is an incredible last-hurrah of girl-friend bonding as well as sweet reminiscence but eventual acceptance that the relationship had to end. It's a great watch if you're into bittersweet endings or are trying to convince yourself over an ex.

Or perhaps you don't want the bittersweet ending. You want one where the heroine triumphs over her awful, good for nothing ex. Then Nappily Ever After should be next on your list. Starring an entirely Black-led main cast, Nappily Ever After follows Violet, a woman who has got it all but has to have everything under control—most of all, her hair. Her boyfriend dumps her but takes her back once he thinks she's 'fun' enough, only for her to realise that she doesn't want to fit into his narrative. In the end, she gets her happy ending with someone who builds a narrative for her.

So there you have it. 8 new diverse shows to add to your Netflix queue which will hopefully fill up your evenings with laughter and tears.