I’ve been sitting here typing and erasing all my initial thoughts so I think I should just dump and see where this goes:
I love America Ferrera’s M.O. The way she navigates life is very unique and telling. She has literally broken boundaries — many of which nobody has been able to break before her. Her hardworking, no bullshit taking, “I know my worth” personality is so admirable. I kept thinking as I was listening, “how have I never listened to this episode before?” Overall, it was super enjoyable. If an episode makes me like a celebrity more than I did before listening, I consider that a win. In fairness, I really knew nothing of America Ferrera besides Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, so I went in with little opinion of her beforehand, but nonetheless, this episode 100% made me like her. A win, indeed!
A little repetitive? I don’t know if I can even say this with confidence. I wasn’t head-over-heels for this episode. It felt one-note to me — which is really strange considering she has such an intersectional identity — yet they only really spoke about her being Latina. I loved hearing her opinions about directing, having some sort of an imposter’s syndrome and how she thinks writers of shows need to reflect the characters that speak those words. All of that was understandable and, again, very commendable for her to speak so declaratively since there are very few people who say that enough. The only reason I’m saying it felt a little repetitive was because nearly the whole episode focused on her being the voice for the greater Latinx community.
So what was missing? America is also a mother although that is touched on much less. I was bummed by that. She was pregnant with baby #2 at the time of recording and she hardly spoke about it. I will say, she seemed stressed because this was the beginning of Covid and giving birth during the first months of a pandemic cannot be easy — so I understand. We heard very little about her childhood, which from the little snippets that were given, her childhood seems very special. She did mention she has challenging relationships with her family members (namely her mother) and I’m wondering if Dax didn’t do use the usual childhood → fame structure with America to respect her boundaries. I dunno what the truth is, but all I can say is I felt a lot was missing when it comes to knowing WHO America Ferrera really is. I got to know her famous person side but the intimate, personal side was lacking. Disappointing, but I’m going to assume that happened on purpose.
Last notes of things I liked:
- I liked America and Dax’s convo regarding their poor childhoods → adult prosperity and how it’s hard to raise children so differently than the way you grew up. I don’t hear Dax talk about that so much, and I appreciated the vulnerability.
- I liked at the end when America was complimented Dax and Monica for AE, how much she likes the podcast. She complimented Dax on his openness and thoughtfulness and then said to Monica, “You make him better”. I firmly agree, America :) I have never heard a guest compliment Monica in that way. Very notable.
- I believe it’s not the only episode in which this happens but this was the first episode with no facts in the fact check!(Aly Raisman’s episode I’m pretty sure has no facts, too, but that came out a few months later). In the fact check, Monica and Dax talk about their identities a lot and it was enjoyable to listen to. Although it had little to specifically do with America Ferrera, it was clearly America Ferrera-inspired. Sometimes when Dax goes off script, I get a little worried and a little annoyed but that didn’t happen this time.
This entire episode covered important topics from top to bottom. That is something I can wholeheartedly respect.
