BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — It's being called a Spanglish love letter to Mexican American culture. Gentefied is Netflix's newest series that follows a Los Angeles-based Mexican American family chasing the American dream while they try to preserve the things that matter to them most, their neighborhood and their immigrant grandfather's taco shop.
The show was co-created and directed by Bakersfield native Marvin Lemus. He says he drew a lot of inspiration for the show from his upbringing in Kern County.
"Telling this story helped me find a peace you could say and a love and appreciation for my hometown in a way that I struggled with for a long time because I never felt like I quite belonged anywhere," said Lemus. "It was hard to feel like I could own my hometown and to own like feeling like I belong there."
Lemus says you will be able to find several Bakersfield references throughout the show.
"When I was growing up we would just crack jokes about Bakersfield. And I think we do that with people that we love. We like to roast them," said Lemus. "All these things that I think growing up, there was this insecurity about like oh I’m from Bakersfield. We are in the shadow of LA. Now I get to throw it all in there and have entire plot lines about it honestly. "
Gentefied is on Netflix now.
You can reach out to Marvin Lemus on Twitter and Instagram at @elmarvinlemus.
