Sure, I have notes on how so many Netflix love stories starring women of color have white leading men (Never Have I Ever, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, almost every rom-com starring Kat Graham and Christina Milian, etc) and why the intricacies of their interracial relationships are never explored, but I also know better than to expect thoughtful examinations of the nuance of that dynamic or to hope for the prioritization of Black love onscreen – especially from Netflix. Sometimes, you take what you can get, and From Scratch’s rooted-in-reality premise and charming performances actually make up for most of its shortcomings. There’s also something to be said about the series choosing to skirt the unfortunate detail that in real life, Locke’s in-laws, her late husband Saro Gullo’s parents, didn’t approve of her because she’s Black and American. Leaving out the fact that racism played a key part in their love story probably seemed like a way for the creators (the showrunner is Locke’s sister Attica Locke) to avoid the Traumatic Black Story™ tag. Instead, it lets Lino’s family off the hook by ignoring the hard realities that many interracial couples face when their families’ respective cultures clash.
