We reviewed the Facebook Watch and Buzzfeed Pero Like reality show, Mi Quinceañera Come True, on The Pilot Podcast. Join us as we talk all things coming of age, parties and falling in love with Xochitl’s perfect grandmothers.
Each week on "Mi Quinceañera Come True", the Pero Like team will help a quinceañera achieve her dream party.
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BJ 0:09
Welcome to The Pilot Podcast!
Mitu 0:11
Where we watch the pilot episodes of TV shows and recap other shows to answer your question: Should I watch this?
BJ 0:17
My name is BJ.
Mitu 0:18
And my name is Mitu.
BJ 0:20
And this week we're checking out a new series created by Facebook Watch and BuzzFeed, Mi Quinceañera Come True.
Mitu 0:26
So stay tuned to the end to find out how BJ celebrated his sweet 16.
BJ 0:30
I didn't have one. Actually don't remember what I did for my 16th birthday.
Mitu 0:34
Oh, really?
BJ 0:35
I think I probably just had dinner with my family.
Mitu 0:37
Okay, but let's get into this pilot episode because this quince, which is of course your 15th birthday, was very much not dinner with the family.
BJ 0:45
Correct. So in this episode, we're introduced to our host Curly, and Curly works for Pero Like, which is a group or division of BuzzFeed. And the whole premise is he's going out to meet different girls, and he's going to help them along the process of planning and celebrating their quince. So the girl this week we meet is Xochitl. Xochitl lives in California with her family. And one of the cool thing about her quinceañera is that she wants to combine all the different cultures that are important to her and her family. So not only will it incorporate indigenous Mexican culture, but it's also going to incorporate her Catholic faith and religion as well as bringing in the deaf community which is important to her and her family. So she ends up having three ceremonies: an indigenous ceremony, a Catholic ceremony and then her royal ceremony which is more of the typical quinceañera party you might be familiar with.
Mitu 1:43
BJ, what were your initial reactions to the show?
BJ 1:45
It was fun. I learned a lot more about the importance of a quinceañera to the family members. And I also really liked how they were able to expand the definition of a quinceañera to incorporate more things important to them. I think it's always fun when you really celebrate what's important about you.
Mitu 2:06
That was a really beautiful part of what her chosen grandfather said that the point is to build those roots in your culture, have a sense of who you are, but then go out in the world and do your own thing. To extend the metaphor spread your branches, but you always have those deep-seeded roots.
BJ 2:25
Yeah, now that you're 15, the world is your oyster. Go claim it.
Mitu 2:29
Her whole family actually was so beautiful.
BJ 2:31
Let's dive into that. I think what warmed my heart the most was hearing her grandmother speak and she was just very supportive and just so happy and you could tell that this was very important to her as well because she just wanted Xochitl to have a good time and just have this memory that she can make with her granddaughter.
Mitu 2:50
One of her grandmother's hadn't had a quince before so she was excited to contribute to the quinceañera for her granddaughter and then the other one was a bit sassy. She's like I had my chambelanes and usually you have a court of seven men and women and you have a main escort but she said she had no women in her royal court. She did not want to be out shined. I just love with people stand up in their diva-ness and she's been a diva since she was 15 apparently. But she said such beautiful words to Xochitl at the end about why she was proud of her why she was excited for her quince, and it certainly got me. I was getting choked up.
BJ 3:28
Definitely hard-hitting emotional moment. And you actually reminded me of something that I didn't know because I've actually never been to a quinceañera. There are a lot of elements that reminded me of a wedding.
Mitu 3:38
Yes.
BJ 3:39
Because you have the court of escorts like the bridesmaids and the groomsmen, they literally bought her dress at a bridal shop. So those things I was totally unaware of.
Mitu 3:49
Speaking of purchases, what was Buzzfeed's inclusion in the show? Because the premise of the show is they want to highlight interesting families and compelling stories centered around their quinceañeras. But we don't really know why they picked this family. They touched on the fact that this family has this cool background of being in the Deaf, indigenous and Catholic communities. But we don't know why they're involved - for example - in the deaf community, or at least I missed it in that 15 minutes. As they speak., they also use ASL, which is really cool and I'd love to know what got them started in doing that. And I can't tell how the Pero Like team got involved with them. I think they're all so charming and lovely. I love the BuzzFeed Pero Like videos, but I don't know what Curly did for that family. He was there. when they picked out the dress. He brought a couple more folks from Pero Like when they set up flowers, so we watched them put a couple of roses in vases for the party, which they could have done more but they chose to only show that scene. So I can't tell how Pero Like contributed and why they chose that family,
BJ 4:54
For the why they choose that family. I agree. And I feel like Xochitl, the literal star of this quinceañera didn't have much time to talk.
Mitu 5:04
Yes.
BJ 5:05
She didn't have many interviews where she was speaking about why this is important to her why she wants to have a quinceañera. And I think that could have helped answer what's special about her and her family.
Mitu 5:17
They kept featuring people even Curly, who had known her for minutes, and members of her family talking about her wishing her well. And so you get the sense that she is this fabulous person, but I would love to hear from her and get to know her directly. And if this is her debut into womanhood, why don't we give her the agency to share a bit of her own story?
BJ 5:37
I also hope that BuzzFeed and the Pero Like team contributed something financially to this quinceañera instead of just getting some free footage. So hopefully they bought the dress or just gave some general funds to the venue and set up or gave her a really awesome gift. But we don't know.
Mitu 5:56
We don't know because they didn't show that. They chose to show some prep, some interviews with her family, some of the quinceañera and that's it. I think that they intentionally kept it as a short show because it's for the internet. But our willingness to sit for longer form content on the internet is high as long as it's good. Those Hot Ones interviews, they're like 30 minutes. Good Mythical Morning is wildly popular on both Facebook and YouTube. Those episodes are so long. I feel like Pero Like almost didn't trust its audience to have an attention span. And representation is dope, so I can imagine if you had a quinceañera, you would love to see more stories like yours. Stories that are similar to yours but have these different bends like Xochitl's family with their cross-cultural experience, and I just don't get why they didn't trust us to be interested. And if you're not in the culture, like you and me, BJ, I would have loved to have learned so much more.
BJ 6:53
I'm not upset or disappointed with the 15 minute length. I think that is a sufficient amount of time to make sense something entertaining. I think that the structure was the flaw, especially because it seemed to end very abruptly, which threw me off. And coming into this, I was expecting something more along the lines of My Super Sweet 16 from MTV. And you know, taking away the spoiled brat element, but still incorporating the party planning, hearing more about the person having the quinceañera and why this is so exciting and important to them. And I think their focus was just in the wrong place. So we didn't get much out of it because it really was just Curly talking a lot, the family talking a lot and then clips of Xochitl at her different ceremonies.
Mitu 7:42
For example, she had a lot of white people in her court who learned how to do the traditional dances and moves for her quinceañera. It would have been so cool to see the process of them learning together.
BJ 7:56
Yeah, like a rehearsal scene.
Mitu 7:59
Just seeing her maybe explain the significance why they're doing this. And then you know, seeing her friends try to figure out how to not look like fools at this thing.
BJ 8:09
And maybe this is because I'm hungry right now listeners, but I'd like to know what kind of foods do you serve at these ceremonies.
Mitu 8:15
Facts. I want lunch, but I wanted to know more about what I saw. I don't think it's just my stomach talking right now.
BJ 8:22
There are a lot of details that the Pero Like team could have highlighted and focused on and maybe they'll get there with more of these videos.
Mitu 8:31
I also just wanted to know more about her. I can't stress that enough. I just wanted her to speak about maybe why she was excited for the three different ceremonies. She had that chosen grandfather who led the indigenous ceremony - what led her to do that?
BJ 8:45
It's really strange because she was in a lot of these interviews physically standing or sitting beside these people. But she didn't say anything. I don't even think that it's not that she had anything to say but maybe the Pero Like and BuzzFeed team just weren't directing questions towards her or which would be even worse - they just edited out all of her responses.
Mitu 9:07
I just hope that family at least got some in kind donations maybe Pero Like bought the dress or paid for the catering. Just something
BJ 9:15
Did you like her dress?
Mitu 9:16
I loved her dress, I actually loved all three that she tried on. But that third one that she ended up picking gorgeous. That was the dress. And again, I have high hopes for future episodes in that representation really matters. And I was a young child of color watching TV. and I'd never saw people that looked like me. And I love the fact that if you are in these cultures, you can look on this wildly popular BuzzFeed and Pero Like channel and see a story that you can relate to closely. There is like such a huge inherent value in that.
BJ 9:49
Definitely. There's a lot of potential. I think they're going to improve this, especially if they keep it going because I don't think they necessarily have to do seasons. They can just keep finding new quinceañeras and improve with practice and feedback from viewers.
Mitu 10:05
Yes.
BJ 10:05
So Mitu. What did you think of BuzzFeed Mi Quinceañera Come True on Facebook Watch?
Mitu 10:11
I am would watch again casually. I'm not gonna watch these as soon as they come out. But my algorithm on Facebook is set up such that I already get Pero LIke videos on my feed because I love the videos where they'll try different Dominican restaurants in New York or see who has the best Mofongo. All I can think about right now is food. [Both Laugh] So my algorithm is already set up such that I will see these videos and I have high hopes. I hope that we get to see more about why they choose these young women and why they choose these families because they talk about these unique stories. And for our listeners, although we ragged on it a bit. In the end, we might be a little bit cranky because we're hungry.
BJ 10:51
We're hangry.
Mitu 10:52
But it was fun. It was a literally bright show. And it'll put a smile on your face.
BJ 10:58
Yeah, the families were awesome.
Mitu 11:00
The grandmas made me cry.
BJ 11:02
The parties looked really cool. And it was exciting to see what type of ceremonies they were putting together. I would say my rating is based off of your rating. So I'm would watch if my friend tells me one episode really stands out. So since Pero Like is already on your feed, and now that you've watched this one episode, Mi Quinceañera Come True is going to be popping up on your feed as well because Facebook is stalking you, you can let me know if there's a really good episode and I'm definitely gonna come back to it. 15 minutes easy. If anything, you'll see another really cool family that has their own traditions that they're incorporating into a quinceañera. And honestly, I'm interested in seeing the differences between the parties and the ceremonies like what are traditional elements and what are the elements that each of these young women are incorporating because of their personal preferences and interests. That's another reason to keep watching. If you want to find more reviews head to our website at thepilotpodcast.com and you can subscribe to us on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher radio and Spotify, and be sure to leave us a rating and review it helps others discover us.
Mitu 12:11
You can also support us at patreon.com/thepilotpod where you'll get access to never before heard episodes, exclusive merch, amas, polls to pick the next episodes we do so go to patreon.com/thepilotpod. You can also follow us on Twitter and on Instagram at @thepilotpod. You can like us on Facebook at @thepilotpodcast. You can send thoughts, feelings, show suggestions, your quinceañera or sweet 16 stories to askthepilotpodcast@gmail. com. Thanks for listening!
BJ 12:41
Bye!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai