#Cuéntalo [#TellIt]: Feminist voice(over) in Spanish Netflix series: Cable Girls, Money Heist, and Intimacy

Abstract

In light of a renewed emphasis on gender inequities and gendered mistreatment both within and beyond audiovisual production industries, this article argues that contemporary Spanish television and streaming is a vital site for the articulation of new modes of feminist engagement and expression. At the core of this articulation is the nexus of gender and voice. I analyse this nexus through a close contextualised reading of three Spanish case studies: Cable Girls (2017–2020), Money Heist (2017–2021), and Intimacy (2022). All three series feature female creatives behind the scenes as showrunners, creators, and writers, and all three have a female narrative voiceover, which invites varying degrees of feminist engagement, empathy, and solidarity. Emblematic of a wider paradigm of female and feminist voice(over) in contemporary Spanish streaming productions, these series exemplify the ways in which Spanish popular culture is a locus of intersecting ideas around feminisms and gender inequities. The international reach of these series, streamed via the globally dominant platform of Netflix, highlights their impact beyond the Spanish context, positing Spanish popular culture, and streaming content in particular, at the forefront of contemporary feminist engagement within mainstream cultures and as a key site within which frustrated articulations of industrial, and wider societal, injustices converge with new modes of feminist engagement and expression.