I have never been much of a history buff, but after enrolling in our Telenovelas and Society class AND and being in Intro to Hispanic Culture- I have seen how history repeats itself and this is the first time in my life that I have found any type of history interesting. I have benefitted from being in both of these classes at the same time because of how the cirriculums are correlated. The Telenovelas and Society class has shown me how the type of government also has an impact on the media which in turn impacts the society. I can't help but wonder what I would do if I was a Venezuelan citizen during the Chavez era. It's so easy to question why they didn't just pack up and leave? Through my Hispanic culture class we have learned how hispanics have such a strong pride in their country that it allows me to (halfway) understand why it would be hard to leave. Leonardo Padrón has endured so many changes in the telenovela production process, I feel like he could prosper and make a much larger income in the US. But then it occurred to me that the comparison of pride in your home country is different. This difference could be attributed to the intense and extremely difficult hardships that Venezuela has had to endure in the past. I have also made the comparison as to what is currently happening in the US right now, the government shutdown. While it may be unfair to the citizens of the US, our lives keep going on, and we continue our daily routines. I feel like this is probably the case in Venezuela as well, BUT the type of government, for example with Chavez, was affecting their daily routines. It was disrupting their daily routine. It was disrupting their leisure time of watching a telenovela.
After our discussion in today's class about regulation it is so interesting to watch how the government has that much input in the media. We can learn about it this 'power trip' in the history books, but the examples that Dr. A was using that actually happened to Leonardo Padrón made it that much more realistic. I just don't understand how a government can have that much power over it's country. Although I have really began to appreciate the amount of freedom we have in the US, I admire the citizens of Venezuela that endured the Chavéz era. I cannot imagine the amount of pride they have for their home country.
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
Hannah, I had lots of the same questions you did when we learned about media regulation during the Chavez era and how it still continues today. Obviously the inconveniences stretch way further than just television. I was very happy to hear that Marisa Roman was planning on moving to the US as working conditions were no longer favorable. But I was really surprised to hear that Leonardo Padron had no plans to leave; he is very talented and so many of his telenovelas have been critical of the government in some way. He's been hacked and personally attacked. Why wouldn't he want to leave? You touch on the idea of patriotism, and I agree with you that we, as Americans, don't have the same idea of patriotism. I definitely believe many Americans are incredibly patriotic, but I also wonder what would happen in a situation like Venezuela's. Would many people leave? I know I would if I was unable to express myself because of my government. The part that makes me the most upset about the whole situation is that there is so much talent in Venezuela that won't be seen because so many television stations have shut down.
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