Three Lessons I Learned From Watching ‘From Scratch’

Three Lessons I Learned From Watching 'From Scratch'
Photo credit: Netflix / Instagram: @zoesaldana

With so many streaming platforms, we sometimes get distracted when choosing a title to watch. That’s why I was so interested when social media agreed on one title: “From Scratch” on Netflix. “From Scratch” is led by Latina powerhouse Zoe Saldaña, who, in my opinion, delivered a performance of a lifetime.

I wasn’t the only one who thought that. I noticed social media users comment on what a tear-jerker the story was, and how emotional her performance was. And get this: it’s based on a true story.

The fact that it’s based on a memoir, “From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home” by Tembi Locke made it that much more heart-wrenching. The limited series was created by Locke herself and her sister, Attica Locke – so you just know it mirrored much of what the two actually went through.

“From Scratch” follows the story of Tembi’s character, “Amy”, who falls in love with chef “Lino” (originally Saro) in Italy. She was in Florence to study abroad, when she fell in love with a man that changed her life forever. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it?

Well, it was until it wasn’t.

The story impacted me so much that it still has me pondering – and yes, I learned from it. That’s the power of storytelling – it gets you thinking. For those who have yet to  watch the limited series – be aware that there’s spoilers below.

Here are three lessons I learned from watching “From Scratch.”

Despite life’s present challenges, it’s okay to pursue what you want for your future

In the limited series, Lino is diagnosed with cancer. Despite this health challenge, the couple decides to adopt a child. It puts things in perspective: what do you want in your relationship? Yes, Amy’s partner has an incurable disease, but it forced them to think forward. They still wanted to be parents. Although Lino (Saro) sadly passes away,  Amy (Tembi) has their child present in her real life.

“I think one of the things that I learned is life is still happening all around us and for us, we’d always wanted to be parents,” Tembi said in an interview.

Your loved ones will always have your back

Whether it’s family or not, your loved ones will always have your back. During the limited series, you see many teamwork examples to make Amy’s life easier. In this case, she had her family – specifically her sister Attica Locke, known as “Zora” – who would literally make schedules for each of them to help Amy. Furthermore, the series follows just how much Zora puts aside her own feelings – for example, not wanting to announce her major life events – to not make her sister uncomfortable.

It’s okay to love again

The real “Amy” – Tembi – captured her love story in words and film – but it doesn’t mean she didn’t move on from it. Towards the series’ end, we see her attempts at making amends to life’s decision of taking her love away. She decides to move forward. I was curious to see what happened to her afterwards, and it turns out that she did remarry in 2020.

Nevertheless, this love letter of a film helped her grieving process, and shared to viewers about the love she once shared with Saro.

That’s amore!

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