Projecting Mexico to the World: Hybridity in Diablero (2018-2020)

Suarez, Marta ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7205-0339 (2024) Projecting Mexico to the World: Hybridity in Diablero (2018-2020). In: Streaming Wars: The New Hispanic TV Series. Vanderbilt University Press. (In Press)

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Abstract

The Netflix series Diablero is firmly set in the speculative fiction and horror genres. Building on usual conventions for this kind of narrative, it also approaches transnational themes and modes of production, connecting the series to “glocal” concerns. Departing from the book that inspired the series, the narrative explores plots around the disappearance of children, patriarchal attitudes, and criminal networks in Mexico City. Produced by the Spanish production company Morena Films, despite the Mexican elements, the series opens with themes that are recognizable for international audiences familiar with paranormal horror storytelling, such as the presence of demons, the fight between good and evil, Christian motifs, and an underdog main character that hunts them. Yet, it soon develops and explores other themes more anchored to Mexican identity, such as pre-Hispanic deities or the use of Nahuatl. The chapter examines the way in which hybridity permeates the narratives and characters in Diablero to project notions of contemporary Mexicanness that build on the emphasis of the mestizo from post-revolutionary Mexico and incorporates ideas of gender equality. It discusses the context in which the series was commissioned under Netflix Originals, after which it explores the series’ approach to Mexican hybridity as a convivial solution to tensions derived from the coexistence of different cultures in the same space. After establishing the conceptual framework that informs the analysis, the chapter analyses the series’ portrayal of a contemporary Mexican identity to argue that whilst this identity continues to be anchored to hybridity, it also incorporates more current concerns, such as gender equality. Despite being the first Mexican speculative fiction series heralded as a Netflix original, the series has not been explored in academic texts.