Sofia Vergara Isn’t Playing Around When It Comes To Griselda
I’ll be honest, it was hard to imagine a version of Sofía Vergara outside of the hilarious realm of the sitcom Modern Family, but her performance in Netflix’s new miniseries Griselda proved me wrong. It’s a modern day Scarface, except an actual Colombian plays the lead role of a Colombian character. The show comes from the creators of Narcos, the 2015 drama of the same essence, that captivated American audiences and had everyone reading… subtitles? Gasp! Narcos casted Latino actors and actresses to convey the rise of the cocaine trade in Colombia on screen. It was refreshing to see the actors and actresses speaking Spanish as well, We often see stories take place in Europe or South America and everyone is speaking English to cater to audiences, but Narcos and now Griselda flip the script.
The mini series explores the life of real life drug lord Griselda Blanco and starts off with Griselda whisking her three boys away from Colombia in the hopes of a better life in Miami, Florida. The life she is fleeing is unknown throughout most of the first episode, until there's a flashback displaying that Griselda shot and killed her husband. It's soon understood that the events that transpired followed an abusive marriage. Much like the film Gone Girl, Griselda is a woman ingrained in evil, but you find yourself rooting for her. Griselda may be the new, twisted feminist icon.
The show is set in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s where sexism was rampant and the series makes that evident throughout the story. Through gritty, grainy shots you see men consistently telling Griselda that she’s just some housewife that can’t make it in life, but she proves them wrong. Through many trials and tribulations, she does the damn thing. The opening of the first episode starts with a quote by the infamous Pablo Escobar that sticks with you while watching the “Godmother of Cocaine” take action: “The only man I ever feared was a woman named Griselda Blanco.” It sets an eery precedent for the entire series.
It’s hard to find a show that you’ll truly binge and I’m not exaggerating when I say this new miniseries is the reason I didn’t get sleep last night. I just couldn’t turn it off. Vergara’s performance encapsulates you into the tumultuous world Blanco once lived. Her performance is only invigorated by fellow cast members Vanessa Ferlito and Juliana Aidén Martinez, who give alluring portrayals of their characters. While the show portrays that Blanco’s real life was rather sad, I took away that a world run by men, for any woman in any situation, is grueling and tiresome.
All six episodes of Griselda are now streaming on Netflix.
