As is usual for me every Sunday, I spent the day in bed with a bag of sour gummy worms perusing the “recommended for you” tab of my Netflix account. Last week, the streamer debuted its new rom-com, Office Romance, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ted Lasso’s Brett Goldstein.
As soon as the trailer came on my screen, I was sold. I tuned in fully expecting a cliché. You know, the typical boy meets girl, girl falls in love, they can’t be together, but they end up in love anyway kinda thing. And don’t get me wrong, Office Romance is exactly that, and I love it for it – JLo does rom-coms like no other, and Goldstein’s humor and good looks provide the perfect “unexpected” male lead for her.
But actually, Office Romance is so much more than I originally gave it credit for.
The Netflix production follows Jackie Cruz (Lopez), a pilot and iron-willed CEO who constantly finds herself under the intense scrutiny of the board and her demanding father, Air Cruz-founder and Captain Jack Cruz. Naturally, Edward James Olmos plays JLo’s dad – he seems to be great at overbearing fathers, see the last time he played Lopez’s dad, aka 1997’s Selena. Meanwhile, Daniel Blanchflower (Goldstein) is a reserved Brit who happens to be the airline’s newly appointed in-house lawyer. Despite the pair’s rocky start at a deposition, Jackie and Daniel quickly realize there’s some major chemistry between them.
In trying to keep up with her father’s expectations, Jackie enforces a rigid, non-negotiable anti-fraternization policy across the company. Which becomes a problem once she realizes she’s crushing on her new lawyer. As expected (and policy be damned), the pair falls in love. She tries to conceal her illicit relationship and keep the airline’s board happy – even when they insist on removing her from the job she’s very clearly excelling at. But as things come to a head, Jackie finds herself being pulled in different directions. Which is more important? Family loyalty / legacy? Or her personal / love life?
The romantic aspect is appealing, but I was most intrigued by Jackie’s relationship with her father/boss. Like Jackie, I have spent the last decade working for my dad, who, like hers, is also an iconic, well-known, and respected businessman in our community. When Capt. Cruz calls Jackie “gordita” at a board meeting, I remembered that I, too, have been (unintentionally, I chose to believe) undermined by my father calling me my childhood nickname – even though I’ve made abundantly clear I don’t like being called in a professional context, in front of vendors, clients, and coworkers.
Just like Jackie, I hold an important position in the company my father and my mom built from scratch, and like her, I live and work in the shadow of a man who refuses to let me fly fully on my own – or at least that’s what it feels like sometimes. I have to run my decisions by him, so my employees know my word isn’t really final. Vendors address him before they do me, even though I’m the one with the knowledge they’re looking for. He double and triple checks my work… And like Jackie, I have a strong urge to please him and not make him angry (as a father? As a boss? Honestly, I’m not sure anymore). It’s one that I don’t think will ever go away.
Sure, an office romance is complicated, but navigating them doesn’t compare to figuring out your place in a family business. No-fraternization policies are impossible to enforce when your boss is your father, and you see him both at the office and at family dinner every day. There’s always a feeling of dread when I’m called into his office: Is my work being called into question or my personal life choices? Am I having Sunday lunch with my father or my boss?
I know he’s proud of me (at least that’s what his friends tell me. I can count on one hand the times he’s actually said it to me). It feels like in his eyes I will forever be “Ceci,” the little girl who ran around his office, pink stapler in hand, turning the conference room into my personal playground. He doesn’t see me as Cecilia, the grown-ass woman who gets things done and keeps things running behind the scenes and rarely (if ever) gets so much as a thank-you.
The thing is, I know I’m not alone in this. Family businesses are common in the Latinx community, and kids (especially eldest daughters) are expected to take over without really taking over. We exist in this limbo of a coworking family that blurs lines and creates wounds. Our parents stand in the shadows, taking care of us (or making sure we don’t mess up their legacy?), ready to take back control and remind us who’s still boss if they feel we’ve messed up.
In Office Romance, Capt. Cruz tells Jackie that he always says she’s the best person for the job, and she replies emotionally, “Not to me.” In that moment, he finally realizes he needs to be more supportive of his daughter’s work and her role in the company he built (and she expanded). I felt that deeply – more so than anything going on in Jackie and Daniel’s story. Capt. Cruz finally publicly supporting his daughter heals me a little bit. I don’t doubt that my father loves me and appreciates me. So I’m not losing hope. Maybe if enough fictional dads start supporting and acknowledging the work their employee-daughters do, mine might come around someday, too.
