YMMV / Vida

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Marisol's antagonism against so-called "White-tinos" (and the occasional Whites) is not entirely portrayed sympathetically. Is she a Straw Character representing the typical angry activist who's simply going through a "phase" of making a big deal out of a small cause? Or was she a nice young girl who simply snapped as a result of systemic racism, and fighting what she perceives to be modern-day colonialism that's slowly replacing her culture in the form of gentrification?
  • Nelson Herrera. A developer who's only trying to make good financial decisions for the neighbourhood (no matter how shady)? Or a raging Latina-hating sleazebag who looks down on his own culture and is purposely harming his neighbourhood by repossessing and reselling Latinx-owned properties to privileged white people.
• Awesome Music: "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" playing at the end of the first episode and into its end credits. After all, it wouldn't be a modern-day show of a predominantly Mexican-American community without the occasional Selena song.
• Best Known for the Fanservice: Many viewers remember the show for Lyn's many, many sex scenes.
• Friendly Fandoms: With various Latin-inspired shows such as Gentefied, Diary of a Future President, One Day at a Time (2017), and Party of Five (2020).
• Narm: The Spanglish that is frequently used in the show. Some viewers are put off by its excessive use,^note Which is strange considering that constant code-switching is common in bilingual communities. while others point out that the Spanglish (and the Spanish) not only feels forced, but sounds like it was pulled straight out of Google Translate.
• Out of the Ghetto: Despite having an all-Latin American cast, the series has still scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was even renewed by Starz for a third season less than a week after the second season's debut.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: The show became subjected to controversy with its initial plan to film in Boyle Heights, with residents fearing that the show's continued presence in the neighbourhood would result in its actual gentrification. The show even became a target for the anti-gentrification movement "Defend Boyle Heights", who protested the show's presence^note On a post that can be seen on their Instagram page , including Tanya Saracho, accusing her of trying to harm her own people (which became the inspiration for the "White-ina" term). Saracho took their claims seriously, and subsequently moved the show's filming to Pico-Union.
• Questionable Casting: While the show was praised for introducing new Latin American actors into the spotlight, some viewers pointed out the overrepresentation of light-skinned or ambiguous-looking Latinos, in spite of colorism being one of the show's major themes.