This is a class blog run by Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru and her students in the course "Telenovelas, Culture and Society" at the University of Georgia during Fall 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Telenovelas vs. Soap Operas
I am loving what we are learning in this class so far! Currently, I have only watched two episodes of my telenovela, La Reina del Sur, and I am DYING to see what is going to happen next after every episode.
Instead of talking about my telenovela, since I do not know that much yet, I wanted to mention how incredibly shocked I am about how popular telenovelas are. Honestly, I thought of them as soap operas in the US. I will admit I had no idea how much more successful they are than soap operas. I realized they were both love stories and that they were both pretty melodramatic, but I had no clue, for example, that telenovelas determine the star system in Latin America. I guarantee if you asked my friends that they would say the exact same thing!
It's awesome that telenovelas don't really have seasons. This means that you will always be hooked and never have to say, "they probably shouldn't make another season of this..." There are a lot of times when I really enjoy a show but it becomes ruined when they create a season 8. The main characters that you once fell in love with die off (whether it's from sickness or moving cities) and you just become less interested. For telenovelas on the other hand, once one ends, another one begins. I think that is pretty interesting.
After having taken this class for literally only about two weeks, now I find myself flipping through Telemundo and Televisa every day! It's fasinating to me that there are 5-6 episodes playing every day. AND instead of waiting a whole week for the next episode, it's on the next day!! I love that. I am so excited to get even more entranced in my telenovela. I am going to continue to compare it to the soap operas I have watched.
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Nicole, I agree with you that the whole telenovela set up is infinitely better. If I could have a new episode of my favorite tv show every night for 4-5 months and then have a new one come along I would be so happy. The whole season thing really kills it. I hate waiting several months for the show to come back on, and I have seen too many shows just fizzle out and not be contracted for another season. I wish all shows were like telenovelas!
ReplyDeleteI also came in with a lot of preconceptions about telenovelas being like soap operas. I know a few people who watch telenovelas regularly but the shows always seemed to be so melodramatic and just plain ridiculous. But "La Reina del Sur" wasn't like that at all! It was nice to have a great example of what we were learning in class to show us how different the two types of television truly were.