Review of You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

 

 

In You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria, Jasmine and Ashton are super hot, super nice actors starring opposite each other in a Netflix-like show featuring an entirely Latinx cast.  They like it.  They like each other.  They bang. 

Jasmine's problem is that her family does not support her acting career and just wants her to settle down, get married, and have babies.  This leads her to be insecure, which leads her to fall in love too easily.

Ashton's problem is that he has a secret love child abandoned by the child's mother, who he has foisted on  his own father and grandparents to raise in Puerto Rico, while he lives in the mainland US to pursue his acting career.  He visits as much as he can, and wishes he could spend more time with his son.

The problem with the book is that these problems are not equivalent.  What if their roles were reversed -- if Ashton fell in love too easily and Jasmine had decided to farm out the raising of her child while she pursues her acting career?  Would we feel the sympathy for her as a mother -- poor thing, if only there were a way she could actually parent her child -- that we are apparently supposed to feel for Ashton as a father?  I wouldn't sympathize with her and I don't sympathize with Ashton.  Man up.  Parent your kid.  And if your responsibilities interfere with your acting career -- well, as a mother who made the typical huge career sacrifices that mothers often make to be the parent my kids needed, I just don't feel sorry for you.