Feedback From Viewers
As a show that is so explicitly Catholic, it is no wonder that "Jane The Virgin" has many viewers praising the telenovela as well as many critics who are worried about their religion's representation on television.
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Positive Feedback |
Many Catholic viewers see Jane the Virgin as a great representation of modern Catholic women on television (which is rarely shown in tv shows) and praise it for not making religion the punchline of a joke, but rather just another part of each character's identity (Addington). Jane the Virgin clearly represents the story of the Virgin Birth in Catholicism. According to some scholars there are an infinite number of ways to tell the stories of Jesus' life and each one is not mockery, but rather honouring Jesus Christ through its retelling of his life (Doherty). For religious viewers, this seems to be the main belief or feeling towards the show. Also, while Jane the virgin has taken some controversial stances on issues that the church has involved itself in, some young Catholics are praising the show for giving progressive or less conservative Catholics a voice. Viewers are most impressed with the way the show deals with virginity: without making Jane a joke for being abstinent and without shaming other women on the show for having sexual relations before marriage (Addington). The show has also been praised by Latinx scholars for representing Catholic Latinas in a positive light. Catholicism is not the main sect of Christianity in the United States, where the show takes place, and Latinx are a minority population, not often represented in film or television, so this show is a positive representation of a somewhat niche audience, but also appeals to other Catholics and Christians (Galarza). On top of that, some have praised the show's portrayal of Catholic motherhood arguing that it is something as holy and pure as her virginity (Manning). Based on its positive reviews, Jane the Virgin seems to be one of the best representations of Catholic women on television and Jane has been often called a positive role model for young Catholics.
Negative Feedback
Jane the Virgin has also received its fair share of flak. The main complaint of critics is simply that the show is not religious enough. Some feel that the show is not pushing religion enough perhaps to appeal to a broader audience, but is losing its Catholic audience in doing so. Critics have also argued that Jane the Virgin is not Catholic at all because it mocks the religion. They claim that this is not a retelling of the Virgin Birth, but rather a parody or a joke of it created to make fun of Catholicism (IMDb). There has also been a lot of criticism over Jane's virginity. Some feel that the show ridicules this traditional Christian value because Jane has the choice of whether or not to wait until marriage and often feels tempted not to wait. One critic believes that there is not enough guilt driving Jane's morality and decisions and the show offers her the choice to do whatever she wants which will send the wrong idea to young viewers (Sabey). Overall, the main argument that most critics make is that the show does not have enough religious elements to be considered religious and that instead it is a mockery of Catholicism and its traditional values and stories.