A comedy about a drama

Se tiene que morir mucha gente is a title that suggests a pessimistic view of life, a bad temper that denotes existential weariness and an extra dose of sarcasm. It fits with what the series released by Movistar+ proposes, created by the comedian, screenwriter, and writer Victoria Martín. Co-creator of the podcast Estirando el chicle, a successful phenomenon thanks to its irreverent and feminist content, Martín has acquired her own voice with a tendency towards self-parody and black humor that reflects the insecurities of her generation. She also turned this universe into a novel, which she has now adapted for the screen with a raw and acid style.A lot of people have to die works from a very generational perspective, especially with the female audience. It revisits the crisis of the thirties of three lifelong friends: Bárbara (Anna Castillo), Elena (Macarena García) and Maca (Laura Weissmahr). The first is addicted to benzodiazepines, the second is pregnant —unintentionally— by a millionaire much older than her, and the third has a tendency towards toxic relationships. Their love-hate bond and having to share an apartment will further complicate their existence.The best thing about the series are the witty and agile dialogues that give a lot of personality to the protagonists. The idea of including an alter ego of Bárbara as a child as another character to underline her immaturity is sensational, especially because it portrays the crueler and unfiltered nature of an indignant girl. But more than a discomfort against the world and the environment, the big problem the series wants to explain is the lack of self-esteem. They can't stand people, but above all, they can't stand themselves.Mental health problems are a constant in the series, but filtered through black humor. And here is where some of the most uncomfortable aspects emerge. Addiction to benzodiazepines is lightly integrated into the character of Bárbara, and the pregnant woman's behavior of drinking alcohol and smoking is hard to perceive as part of the comedy. There is a trivialization of these circumstances that, depending on how you look at it, is difficult to manage. The series trusts that humor will defuse the seriousness of the events, but ends up falling into the romanticization of mental health problems. Too often, some fictions that want to portray the female universe turn self-destruction into an attractive attribute of the characters, into an element of fascination. Addictions, anxiety, or risk-taking behaviors become the mark of their personality to endow them with charm and complexity. This happens very especially when these characters want to present themselves as irreverent, modern, and indomitable. There is a comical idealization of discomfort and emotional instability. It's as if mental health problems endowed people with charisma. And when this confusion is transferred to real life, then we are not talking about comedy, but about drama.