Money Heist Ancillary

Game of Thrones. The Walking Dead. Criminal Minds. During the peak of quarantine, when most of America was stuck inside their homes, none of these perennial favorites were at the top of the television charts. Nope. The most in demand show in the country was a small Spanish TV series that was on the brink of getting cancelled. Money Heist, or La Casa de Papel, became the most in demand show not just in the US, but worldwide, after Netflix revived the show at the end of 2017.

So, how did this Spanish crime drama with a painfully generic name and the added difficulty of subtitles make its way into the hearts of so many Americans? Some would attribute the series’ incredible success to the major theme of anti-capitalism/resistance against the system. The mastermind behind the series and show’s director Alex Pina explains, “First and foremost, the series is meant to entertain, but an idea runs underneath. Skepticism towards governments, central banks, the system … This notion would not sink in unless it were formulated within an entertaining narrative. The action genre used to be considered shallow and superficial, and social movies as boring. Why not put these two concepts together?” This unique approach to the heist/crime genre differs from traditional American/British versions of the genre which are

Although, equally important are the incredibly personable and well-crafted characters.

American heist films have traditionally been told with a male Anglo-centric focus. Money Heist enters a new dimension having a strong Spanish identity and a female narrator in one of the protagonists, Tokyo. The cultural identity of the show helps it separate from other heist series as well as its focus on the female characters and feminist themes.