Like Napster back in the day, streaming (and pirating) has been allegedly killing the film business for a decade plus. It’s actually not, but that’s the latest thing for us to shake our fists at rather than admit it’s rising ticket costs, a lack of diversity at the box office, and then there’s the question of whether movie theaters are actually dying.
Despite the fact that Netflix is no stranger to shady behavior themselves, post-Oscar 2019 season they’ve become the touchstone of a new movement: why do old white dudes hate nice things? Stephen Spielberg’s recent comments about Netflix (and not even the first of their kind) have gotten fellow actors and directors in a tizzy of opinions. But one thing is certain about the platform: Netflix gives opportunities to projects that otherwise wouldn’t stand a chance in Hollywood. Roma and Mudbound are definitive examples of this, and the latest one is a humble movie called Juanita.
Juanita is a film that would be right at home on The Hallmark Channel if they ever surprised us. The formula of Juanita is pretty worn and simple: Juanita needs a break. From her kids who are too old to be acting the way they are, from her high stress hospital job, from her hatin’ ass friends. Juanita—played by Alfre Woodard who has never in my life disappointed me—decides to take a trip “out west” somewhere via Greyhound and promptly ends up out west… somewhere. She meets a cast of characters at a local restaurant in the middle of nowhere and finds romance, healing, and most importantly herself.
Feel like you’ve read a Lifetime description? Good, because that’s where Juanita belongs. It’s cheesy, quirky, cute, and doesn’t ask too much of the view time- and energy-wise. And with Alfre Woodard in the front seat, just enough tough moxie and sass to make you fall in love with her all over again. Did I mention that Juanita’s life is so drab that Blair Underwood cameos in her fantasies as a deadbeat? My biggest complaint is that Juanita’s family could have used a bit more development because they otherwise come off as cardboard cutouts of Troublesome Character A and Troublesome Character B. But I can’t get over how refreshing it is to see an interracial romance between two brown leads and to see them get physical. You know, gettin’ it on. Knockin’ boots. Repeatedly! That alone probably keeps it off cable. But as some cast members have pointed out, it’s just appalling to think that there really is no space on the small screen or the big screen for this movie.
Which is a shame. Juanita is a great piece of representation that deserves to be seen, and if Netflix happens to be the platform for it, then so be it. In its short run time, Juanita explores culture clash and cultural shock, what love looks like as we get older (that’s right, there is life past thirty!), packs in some cozy and fuzzy feel goods, and even includes an old fashioned moral at the end. It’s a bright light glowing steadily in Netflix’s deluge of monthly releases, which seems to just get bigger and bigger and burying more and more content just as quickly as it comes out.
Yes, Netflix is actually kind of the problem that they’re kind of calling attention to. The problem that they’re solving by accident, anyway. Plenty of criticism against Netflix is deserved, but it really is introducing the under served masses to the content they actually want to see. Content we can’t find anywhere else neatly categorized at our fingertips. While simultaneously canceling it or pulling it without detectable rhyme or reason besides the obvious. Well, that’s show biz. Is Netflix going to save Hollywood? Nope. Is it killing Hollywood? Certainly not. But while we keep one eye on the service, don’t let sweet gems like Juanita slip through your fingers. This is where the representation at – not in big loud statements, but in the little quiet moments.