Netflix’s “Smiley”: Not Your Regular Queer Comedy Drama
In recent years, Netflix has become a go-to OTT platform to binge-watch queer romances, which are mostly mainstream or way too sexual, thus, lacking depth. Amidst a multitude of cliché-bearing TV shows and movies, Smiley comes forth with a deeply-moving narrative, which is entertaining as well as ruminative. Moreover, the actors in this show have done a commendable job portraying the crazy lives of the characters. The actors who surprised me with their spontaneous acting the most include Miki Esparbé as Bruno, and Meritxell Calvo as Vero. The one marvelous feature about most of the Netflix shows is how fitting the castings are, and Smiley comes as a winner!
Besides queer love, Smiley traverses through important themes of relationships, fatherhood and gender identity. Here’s how the show works wonders by being a powerhouse of all these aspects of human nature.
The Dynamic Queer Hook-Up Culture
In the pilot episode, we find Álex calling his ex-lover about ghosting him. Unfortunately (or, fortunately), it is the wrong number and the call went straight to Bruno. While Álex is a bartender, Bruno is an architect. They eventually hook up, but they never confront each other about having a spark. Thus, they part ways but none of them could get the other out of their minds.
Queer culture is all about hooking up randomly until one finds true love — while this has been normalized in the present days, it should not be practiced by queer folks, as is evident from the episodes. It causes heartbreaks — mostly, irreparable emotional damage — and leads to nothing but a distressing lifestyle. The same evil not only caught hold of our main characters but also grappled with by the show’s lesbian couple Vero & Patricia, who were unhappy and were searching for a third person to add more excitement to their sexual life.
Fatherhood
The only prominent straight relationship shown in Smiley was that between Albert and his wife. Father of three, Albert is an architect and is Bruno’s colleague. Living through constant bickering with his wife and bee-stings of mockery from his father-in-law, who runs the company he works at, Albert strives to be a good father as well as a good employee. At one point in the show, he’s found under tumultuous circumstances when he breaks and fails to be both. However, he’s seen prioritizing his family — his kids, to be specific — and shows the viewers that no matter what, family ought to come first.
Sometimes, Albert adds comic relief to the narrative, which makes him one of the most likable characters in the show. Moreover, he has some of the most heartwarming (and funny, of course) scenes that will be cherished by the viewers of Smiley.
Drag Life
One of the most attractive features about Smiley is the presence of Javier — his performances as a drag queen would help unwind his customers and brighten their faces. A dear friend of both Álex and Vero, Javier is a man who’s as talented as the word itself. He showcases what it is to be a drag queen — wearing lustrous drag makeup and clothes to escape all his inner ill feelings. With a charming personality, he also helped Ramiro (Carles Sanjaime) confront Álex and his widowed mother. Eventually, they embark on a relationship that Ramiro had once dreamt of with Álex’s father.
Coming Out to Parents in Your Mid-30's
Less often than not, queer relationships are more difficult to maintain. While Vero was open about her sexuality, Patricia was not. Her worst nightmare would be her parents knowing about who she is. Instead of revealing their relationship to her parents, Patricia told them that Vero is a mere roommate. As days passed by, Vero was vexed every time Patricia video-called her parents and did not tell them about themselves. This lie was exposed when Patricia’s parents arrived at their apartment without prior notice.
In the presence of Javier and the third person Patricia and Vero were involved with sexually, Patricia was coerced to come out to her parents. Although they didn’t react against it, Patricia was indignant about this revelation and despised Vero for this incident. Towards the end of the show, Patricia and her parents come to terms and loose knots start getting tied.
There are a number of shows on all OTT platforms where the characters, in their teens or pre-teens, are shown coming out. However, there exist only a few shows which do this with mid-30’s adult characters, like Smiley does. It’s as if Smiley tries to showcase how it is to lead an adult closeted queer life, and it successfully does so.
Forbidden Queer Romance
Of all the characters in Smiley, Ramiro was the suspicious one. When he was shown in the initial episodes, we as viewers were sure that there’s more about him than meets the eye. Eventually, we come to know that Ramiro and Álex’s father had an affair while the latter and Álex’s mother were married. The three of the aforementioned people were close friends and the two men were colleagues. While Álex was under the impression that Ramiro might be his actual father, the real story was completely different. Revealing everything to Álex’s mother and his dear friend, Ramiro left their place with a heavy heart. This revelation doesn’t quite glorify extramarital affair culture, which it ought not. Rather, it shows how a married man could also be bisexual and might seek male companionship. This tender aspect of Smiley simply betters its narrative in every way possible.
Smiley is anything but pretentious. It should not be as underappreciated as it currently is because it is true to its core. For obvious reasons, Smiley is deserving of a viewing, after which it will undoubtedly grow in popularity and become one of the most memorable queer shows ever.
