I have to say, I am always rather tentative when it comes to starting a new television series, especially when it is spoken in another language. I don’t mean for this to sound discriminative in any way. Believe me, I enjoy learning about other cultures just as much as the next person, maybe even a little more considering I am a third year English and Hispanic Studies student who is writing this review from Murcia, Spain on her year abroad. However, as you can imagine, it is not always my number one choice to spend the quality down time that I have watching something that you have to really pay attention to in order to understand.
Despite the subtitles to guide you through, you still have to pay attention to reading them in order to keep up with what is going on. Either way, it can be slightly mentally exhausting. However, when it came to Paquita Salas, a Spanish comedy program that was recommended to me by a friend from Barcelona, I knew from the first episode that it would be an exception to my former opinions.
Basically, the show is the Spanish equivalent to the internationally popular UK and American comedy series ´The Office´ (or what I believe it to be). It follows the life of Paquita Salas, the manager of an office, who has both a witty, flamboyant and bold character: a woman who says whatever she wants, whenever she wants to. To put it simply, she is the female Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrel, but with a little more of a sexually overt edge and personality.
What I love most about this program is that, not only does it offer up a refreshing change to see a woman (who is excellently played by a man, Brays Efe, 30) run the show and take over as the boss on the big screen, it is also non discriminative to those who are not the thinnest of sticks out there. By that, I mean those who don’t match the equivalent of a size 6 or 4, which, let’s be real, seems to be the majority of the population. It breaks gender boundaries on every level and provides us with easy and feel good watching.
In my opinion, because of this brilliant choice of actor, the show becomes a lot more appealing and, in some ways, more genuine to everyday life. It advertises that, even though you might not be that tall and skinny woman in the pencil skirt and high heels, anything and any position in the work place is definitely possible and that image is far from being everything.
Now, I can feel satisfied in saying that Paquita Salas (directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi) is not only a program that I can watch for educational purposes, but also one for my own pleasure and enjoyment. After all, we all need a good laugh once in a while in a relaxed environment. That one is definitely a given.
4/5 stars