A few months ago, 13-year-old Lucy and her widowed father, William, planned to enjoy a typical vacation to Rome. And, for the most part, they did. The two visited museums, toured the city, and prepared to tell their friends back in America all about their adventures.
But an hour before Lucy and William went to the airport for their return trip, their lives became sweeter than Italian gelato.
William met pop star Francesca Fortuna and fell in love. Shortly after, the two married, and William and Lucy moved to Rome.
Although Lucy misses her best friend, Kyla, she’s thrilled to experience adventures abroad. And during their daily video calls, Lucy tells Kyla all about her commutes past the Colosseum, trips to the Forum and sampling of real Italian cuisine.
But Lucy’s new life comes with its challenges. After an embarrassing first day of school, a popular girl named Charlotte teases Lucy, making it difficult for her to find friends there. Still, with the support of her dad and Francesca, Lucy feels inspired to be true herself.
Despite its difficulties, Lucy feels her life in Rome is magnifico.
While media frequently depicts dysfunctional families, Home Sweet Rome! presents a positive portrait of a newly formed family. Although Lucy misses her birth mother, who died when she was younger, she has a healthy relationship with her stepmom, who makes an active effort to connect with Lucy. Additionally, Lucy and her dad display a positive relationship through their ability to rectify misunderstandings and apologize for mistakes.
While its messages are primarily positive, Home Sweet Rome! comes with its caveats. Lucy seems to have a healthy relationship with Kyla; however, Kyla’s tone sometimes comes across as blunt, and her advice often seems careless. Additionally, students at Lucy’s school call one another names, and a few teens seem to place an unhealthy emphasis on their social media presences.
However, despite its content concerns, Home Sweet Rome! offers sweet messages about family and being true yourself.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Lucy’s blissful life in Rome takes an uncomfortable turn when she thinks her stepmom, Francesca, wants to be called “mom.” And things get worse when she experiences a disastrous first day of school.
While Lucy occasionally disrespects her dad and stepmom, she generally displays positive relationships with them by apologizing for her mistakes. A character yells at someone over the phone, and another character makes a joke about divorce. Kyla, Lucy’s best friend, suggests she emotionally manipulate her dad to rectify her own mistake.
During her first day of school, Lucy learns that students use bathroom humor to make fun of a student. Later, Lucy experiences name-calling and bullying at school.
When Francesca invites Lucy to a red-carpet event, Lucy devises a plan to appease her school bully: dress to impress. Meanwhile, Lucy’s dad tries a similar approach when he feels overshadowed by Francesca’s numerous, famous ex-boyfriends.
Lucy experiences bullying at school, but through the support of her parents and best friend, she learns the importance of staying true to herself.
Lucy and Kyla display a generally positive relationship, but Kyla’s advice occasionally comes across as rude and blunt. In one scene, Kyla claims that she wishes to “put a hex” on Lucy’s bully. Lucy and another girl gossip about various party guests. The girls refer to one of these guests as a “brat.”
A married couple shares a short kiss. In a montage of Lucy getting dressed for the red carpet event, she briefly dons some short skirts and eventually settles on wearing a strapless dress.
Through various conversations, Lucy and other teens implicitly express that that they place part of their self-worth in their social media presences.
Violence, profanity and explicit content reign king in this mob-like series that’s crafted to show the worst of society.
Petty rivalries and sexual dalliances might make for good drama, but they don’t make much for wholesome viewing.
Fantasmas, like the crayon Julio hopes to make, has no clear message—but plenty of clear issues.
