‘My Friend Frida’ web series was announced this week
07 December 2019
How would people feel about Frida today? That is the question that inspired creator/writer/director Juan Rodriguez to develop this series where frida is reimagined as a Millennial Hipster, "trying to navigate the modern world and all its social norm".
“I loved the idea of a ‘modern Frida’ but also the commentary on how we view artists today vs. in the past. Do we treat them with the same respect? Do their differences make then unique or weird? What constitutes as art today? What have we gained or lost in our obsession with our historical heroes?” co-producer/writer Christina Igaraividez told HipLatina.
Igaraividez is the co-creator of the social media comedy channel Latinaish TV. She is a member of the all-Latina theatre group Teatro Luna and she portrays Frida in the series. The show has been in the works for years after Rodriguez approached her with the idea, having worked together in the past and both being huge fans of Frida. In photos and in her self-portraits, Frida never smiled and there was an almost stoic stillness about her that Igaraividez says was her inspiration for the development of the modern-day interpretation.
“How do you play someone you have never even heard speak? I just thought of her bad-assery and her complete commitment to being herself no matter what. She always seemed very still to me, so the stillness was my inspiration.”
Rodriguez drew inspiration from some of TV’s most famous outcast shows, Daria and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where both lead character didn’t really care about what other people thought of them and spoke freely. Viewers can expect a totally uninhibited Frida, which for Rodriguez is a rarity these days and all the more reason he believes she’d be an outcast.
Each episode runs about 10 minutes and they’re infused with uncomfortable humor and situations with Frida painted as an outlier because, according to Rodriguez, “no matter what, the Frida in our story would be an outcast.”
Each episode centers around social situations where Frida would be front and center as the source of discomfort and how that plays out. Rodriguez and Igaraividez brainstormed scenarios that involved common situations like going on a date and going on a paint and wine event and thought, “WWFD” (What Would Frida Do?)
Click on the link below to read the full Hiplatina article with other details about the series and the pilot episode.
Follow #myfriendfridaseries in Instagram for future news about the show....
