Frida Kahlo and Lisa Loeb Walk Into a Web Series...

The name "Frida Kahlo" probably conjures memories of Salma Hayek pretending she isn't one of the most beautiful women in the world, or maybe one of the painter's monkey-friendly self-portraits. You vaguely remember that she had polio or something? So you could be forgiven not knowing the entirety of Frida's biography, one little-known part of which is now coming to light in a hilarious new webseries. Turns out she was also... a junior marketing exec?

"Frida Kahlo, Marketing Exec" imagines the famous Mexican painter (played by Grace Parra) working at a marketing firm where, still a famous painter, she must wow her cynical colleagues with original ideas. In the episode above, Frida squares off against Lisa Loeb — her old grad school foe, natch — to win the singer's "Lisa Loeb Eyewear" account. Other episodes (three so far) have seen Frida pitch one of her self-portraits, and completely misinterpret the words "performance review." Undaunted by the pressures of the modern workspace, Frida throws herself into each and every project with passion. The woman contained and contains multitudes.

Parra, who also created the series, perfectly captures what I... well, imagine to be Frida's speech patterns and mannerisms. (Here, some combination Lucille Ball and Ann from Arrested Development.) Could Frida survive in the marketing world? Is the unibrow homegrown? Parra makes us believe! Sharp and hilarious writing buoy the whole absurd scenario, all of which the real Frida Kahlo probably would have found amusing. I think. As "Marketing Exec" proves, there's still just so much we don't know about her.

Image: Wikipedia