Television series
Yo soy Betty, la fea
Yo soy Betty, la fea is the telenovela that taught Latin America — and eventually half the planet — how deliciously satisfying revenge-by-competence can be. Betty is brilliant, kind, and constantly underestimated because she isn't conventionally pretty; watching her outmanoeuvre a fashion house full of vain executives is pure comfort food with teeth. Expect big emotions, bigger shoulder pads, and a slow-burn romance that earns every minute of its wait.
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Ugly Betty2006
The American remake keeps Betty's core joke — smart woman, dumb industry — but adds a glossier New York fashion-magazine setting and a scrappy, big-hearted America Ferrera performance that made the show a global hit in its own right.
But It softens some of the original's satire and stretches storylines thin by season three.
The Devil Wears Prada2006
Same fashion-industry battlefield, different weapon: instead of an ugly-duckling heroine, you get a terrifyingly competent boss and an assistant learning that ambition has a price. Meryl Streep is a masterclass in quiet menace.
But It's colder and more cynical than Betty's warmth — there's no fairy-tale romance waiting at the end.
Jane the Virgin2014
A loving, self-aware homage to the telenovela form Betty helped export worldwide, complete with narrator, plot twists, and genuine emotional core underneath the melodrama. If you want more of that flavour in English, start here.
But The soapy plotting gets genuinely ridiculous — you have to embrace the chaos rather than fight it.
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The Apartment1960
Both hinge on an unglamorous employee who becomes the emotional fixer for a boss's romantic mess — Wilder just strips away the telenovela's sugar to show how painful that setup actually is.
Billy Wilder's bittersweet office comedy has the same bones as Betty — an overlooked employee entangled in the boss's love life — but plays it as melancholy black-and-white comedy instead of technicolor melodrama. Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon are heartbreakingly good.
But It's slower, sadder, and far less interested in a fairy-tale ending than Betty ever is.
More like this (7)
Working Girl1988
An underestimated secretary outsmarts the glossy Manhattan business world using brains nobody credited her with — Melanie Griffith's every bit as scrappy and lovable as Betty. Plus a killer late-80s soundtrack and shoulder pads to match.
But The gender politics, while sharp for 1988, feel dated compared to Betty's more modern sensibility.
Bridget Jones's Diary2001
Another woman constantly told she isn't enough — too heavy, too messy, too much — who turns out to be the most likeable person in every room. Renée Zellweger makes ordinary radiant.
But It's a much smaller, quieter story — no corporate intrigue, no rival scheming, just one woman's diary.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding2002
A funny, warm-hearted comedy about a woman convinced she's too plain and too different for love, who gets it anyway, loudly and joyfully, surrounded by a chaotic family instead of a chaotic office.
But It trades Betty's workplace scheming for family farce — a gentler, lower-stakes kind of charm.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend2015
A musical comedy that interrogates the very rom-com tropes Betty plays straight — what happens when the fantasy of being chosen by the golden boss actually curdles? Sharp, self-aware, and unexpectedly moving.
But Its musical numbers and tonal whiplash aren't for everyone, and it's a much darker psychological journey.
Younger2015
A woman fakes her way into a publishing job by lying about her age instead of her face — same workplace deception, same eventual unraveling, same charm underneath the con. Light, glossy, and easy to binge.
But It never digs as deep as Betty's class commentary; this one stays firmly in rom-com territory.
The September Issue2009
It's the real-world engine room Betty satirizes: the actual fashion industry, where appearance genuinely does dictate who gets heard and who gets ignored.
This documentary follows Anna Wintour's Vogue team assembling the biggest issue of the year, and it's every bit as tense, catty, and image-obsessed as Ecomoda's fictional offices — except every barbed comment is real.
But There's no romance and no underdog arc — just the unglamorous, occasionally brutal machinery behind glamour.
The Rose Seller1998no page yet
Watched alongside Betty, it's a sobering reminder of what the telenovela's rags-to-riches fantasy is quietly papering over in the same country, the same year.
Made in Colombia the year before Betty aired, this stark, unsentimental drama follows a teenage rose-seller surviving Medellín's streets. It's the unglamorous flip side of the fairy tale — same country, same decade, entirely different reality.
But It's bleak, difficult, and offers none of Betty's comfort or comedy — a genuinely hard watch.
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- Fernando GaitánCreator