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
It is amazing to think that simple competition between networks could have such a huge impact on the quality of a telenovela. This impact can be seen in the cases of Colombia and Venezuela. Both countries have enjoyed a lucrative telenovela industry. However, Colombia’s quality and international recognition is expanding while Venezuela is seeing these two aspects decline. This has to do with the fact that RCN and Caracol, the two leading networks in Colombia are always in competition with ratings and viewers. On the other hand, Venezuela does not enjoy this healthy competition between networks anymore after the government of Hugo Chavez began to censor a lot of aspects in Venezuela’s daily existence. For this reason, many television stations in this country began to censor themselves because they were under constant threat of being sanctioned or put off the air. Those networks that decided to continue criticizing the government like RCTV, obtained the harshest penalties. In the case of RCTV, its license with the
government was not renewed and as a result it was not able to go on air after May 2007. With this blow to the television industry, Venevision no longer has a competitor. This in turn has caused the telenovela industry in this country to decline. With so much censorship and no one to compete with, Venevision has begun to create a more universalistic telenovela to export with a lot more self-censorship. What is interesting to me is that Venezuelan telenovelas were already doing great in the export market without having to be universalistic. The mannerisms and ways of speaking of the Venezuelans attracted other countries. There was no need to go in this route. On the other hand, I can see where this network is coming from. With no competition and the government always watching what it was saying in its television programming, a new form of producing telenovelas had to be created. Venezuela is going through hard economic and political times and like in many other cases, this is reflected in the quality of its television programming.
In Colombia’s case, Caracol and RCN are in constant competition for ratings. With minimal government censorship and new genres of telenovelas such as the narco-novela gaining popularity, this industry is flourishing. Much like Venezuela almost 20 years before, Colombian telenovelas are going through a golden period in my opinion. Even though this industry is definitely not universalistic, people from a vast array of countries love watching them. I think what makes them so popular is the fact that they are so “Colombian.” Its entertaining to see the different accents and mannerisms of each region of the county. I feel that this industry is going to continue growing in Colombia if it keeps on following the same path. Productions are becoming more elaborate, the story lines are well written, and the dialogue is thought out. Some examples of the great production and overall quality of Colombian telenovelas which have had both success nationally and internationally include Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal, Yo Soy Betty la Fea, and Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso. Competition is very important to the television industry, especially the telenovela one. Without competition networks are not as inclined to spend generous amounts of money and produce thought out telenovelas. This in turn not only affects the quality of a telenovela, but it also affects the average viewer in this country who is forced to watch subpar programming. Colombia is a great example of how competition is helping create intricate and award winning productions. Hopefully Venezuela is able to once again produce competitive telenovelas worldwide in the near future when more television networks are able to compete against each other and the watchful eye of the government is eliminated. For now, we will just have to enjoy the amazing telenovelas Colombia is producing.
Our Skype interview with El Chascas was absolutely amazing! I usually get
star-struck but, he was a lovable, genuine person. He even revealed to us that
he agreed with the critics – the male protagonist in Santa Diabla is not as
strong as the male antagonist, causing a large amount of sexual tension between
him and the female protagonist. By giving the protagonist many action scenes, El Chascas attempted to redeem him as the strong, hunky man he was intended to be.
The
most interesting thing El Chascas talked about was his style as a writer. Oddly
enough, he said he doesn’t believe in inspiration. This is because writing is
his job. Everyday he is paid to write, regardless of whether he feels inspired.
He noted that he only writes about things he disagrees with in order to communicate something entertaining, not romanticized and boring. I loved when
he compared himself to Alfred Hitchcock, a director who is famous for his element
of surprise. Growing up, I loved watching Rear Window and (was terrified of)
The Birds. With these comparisons in mind, I now understand more clearly the
way that El Chascas writes -- each episode reveals small details until there is
a climactic moment of energy and chaos.
Speaking
with El Chascas was one of my favorite moments in class so far! And I am sad
that means the end is near… :(
PATRON DEL MAL
Since
this is my last blog post before the final paper, I would like to give some
final thoughts on Patron del Mal. Right now I am on episode 46 and I hope to
have the series finished in the next week and a half. At this point, Pablo’s
appearance has changed dramatically from the beginning of the novella. He looks
older in the face and has put on at least 20 lbs. His demeanor has also changed
– his compassion for others is EXTREMELY limited. He is now the notorious drug
dealer I was waiting for him to become. While I am anticipating the worst, I
realize I still have a while to go before he gets caught.
Overall,
I am very satisfied with the telenovela I chose. I knew that I would get bored
of an overdramatic and romanticized series. Fortunately, Patron del Mal is
based on something that matters. His global influence and national influence is indisputable and I have definitely
enjoyed watching him evolve as a character. From being bullied as a young boy
to trying to fit in with the ‘Old Money’ to earning respect through fear as a
major player in Columbian politics. Coming from a family of Cuban refugees, I understand a little better the emotional response of Columbians whose lives were directly altered by Escobar. You buy into the ‘business’ or you risk endangering yourself and your family (why my family was forced to flee after Castro took over). And because I
am a International Affairs major, the social and economic consequences that
came as the result of one man is awe-inspiring to say the least. From the data we gathered from social networking sites in the Consumption project, people were extremely divided on their opinions of the show. While some felt that it gloried Escobar, others thought it was a story that needed to be told to the new generation. This relates to a discussion that I hoped to bring about in class after our Consumption Presentation. How much power should television have in relation to sensitive topics? Who should tell a historical account when there are so many perspectives? Although we didn’t have time, I wanted to see what everyone thought about using TV as a mechanism for showing social change. Maybe this will come up again when we discuss censorship?
***On a side note, my father recommended I check out this
documentary about Pablo Escobar’s love for soccer and ultimately, his
relation to the Columbian soccer team. Appropriately named The Two Escobars, Andres Escobar was murdered when he accidentally scored a goal in the Columbian goal on their path to the World Cup. The documentary examines soccer at the time of Escobar as well as the relationship between national identity, soccer, and the drug lords.
I watched the trailer and it looks
good! Has anyone seen it by chance?
As we all know from my group's presentation last week, people are obsessed with William Levy. He plays the hunky Capitan Fabre on La Tempestad, and fans have fallen as in love with him as they are with the show. Unfortunately, he has recently declared that this will be his last telenovela. Fans are extremely upset about this news. As I know from the research I did for our consumption report, people are religiously devoted to this actor. He is the main reason some people even watch La Tempestad, and the news that he is retiring from telenovelas is devastating to thousands of fans. In a recent article published by the Huffington Post, Levy explained that his reason for quitting telenovela acting is the demanding nature of the profession. “Making these novelas is hard work,”he told reporters.“And as time passes, you find other priorities in life. You start getting a feeling in your stomach to be with your children and spend more time with them.” (from Huffington Post) Awwwww. The article also mentions that Levy will focus on making films now, instead. This is interesting, especially in light of today's discussion with Marisa Roman. She, too, has become a film actress, and she described how hard it can be to work on a telenovela, explaining that for one novela she would work up to 14 hours a day. I am wondering if we will see this become trend for telenovela actors and actresses. Nevertheless, many fans are upset about the loss of Levy to Hollywood but excited to see what he will do next. One fan commented on the article, "William is a superb actor. Im glad he's going to give Hollywood a try. He is too handsome for just novelas" (Barzzini). Read the full article here. Also be sure to check out Levy's ridiculous Pepsi Ad at the bottom of the page!
Today's consumption project about the telenovelas on air right now really got me thinking about the future. It was awesome to learn that Santa Diabla is reaching and English-speaking audience, an audience that is invested enough to post their thoughts in forums in English. Although I am not exactly sure who this audience may be, it sort of just opened my eyes to the direction that the communications industry is heading.
Here in the US, the Hispanic population continues to grow year after year and this influence has become apparent in almost every aspect of our lives. Where as before the majority of Hispanics here identified more as immigrants to the US, now we see an increase in a population that has grown up here yet they still identify with their Hispanic roots.
As an Advertising major, I've learned all about the millennials generation, our generation, and the new trends on how to reach this specific audience. Of course, our generation is much more digital and social media has become extremely important. Getting out attention has become harder that ever before and the industry is working hard to come up with innovative ways to reach this unique millennial generation. Yes, in fact the millennial generation is extremely unique, not just in the way they consume media, but in the demographics too. Right now, there are a few new channels that are trying to cater to this audience: fusion, el rey, and pivot just to name a few. The goal of most of these new TV networks? To reach English-speaking millennials of diverse backgrounds. Fusion, for example, is a joint venture between ABC and Univision trying to reach millennials through news, pop culture, and entertainment for English-speaking millennials, particularly those of Hispanic backgrounds.
You might be wondering what all this has to do with telenovelas, and well, I believe that the US market has a lot more telenovela influence in its future! It is already apparent just by the fact that telenovelas in Telemundo and Univision have won ratings on some nights even surpassing big networks like ABC and NBC. I could go on for a while because this is a topic I am extremely passionate about, but I'll just stop here. It will be interesting to see these new TV channels evolve, and see how this unique millennial audience will consume and react to these innovative ventures trying to get our attention in any way that they can.
Here is a video about Fusion from Noticias Univision (the channel launched already!):
After watching all of the
presentations, and getting to sit and listen to an incredible writer and actor
talk about their life in the telenovela world, I have so many thoughts running
through my head. The one thing that I can’t seem to shake is how much telenovelas
are a part of life, and a source of life in a way. They are comedy when people
need a good laugh. They are relatable, exhilarating, dramatic, romantic…you
name it. Every emotion on the spectrum, every idea, every theme of one’s life…
a telenovela has portrayed it. After listening to consumption presentations,
and especially after researching my own telenovela (Corazon Salvaje’s)
consumption I laughed at the obsession of the fans that followed the telenovela
so religiously. There are people posting on forums 90 times a day. There are
quilts and family Christmas cards with Monica and Juan del Diablo on them.
There are love letters and song lyrics, declarations of adoration from a fan to
a character. While doing all my research I just chuckled and the level of
devotion these people gave to their telenovela, but after some time of thinking
it over, I see it in a different light. No, I’m not belittling how much of
their life has been poured into this, or saying that I think it’s completely
normal to be this obsessed with something, but part of me is saying that I can
see it, and see where it comes from. These telenovelas are representations of
life for the people that follow them so closely. Whether it is an escape from
reality for them, or a reminder of a cruel reality, or even more so, as Chascas
put it, a glimmer of hope. These novelas are more than just sheer entertainment
for an hour or two every night. They bring family together, and they bring a
culture together.
As human beings we all have this
longing not only be accepted, but to be able to identify with something,
someone. We want to be part of another whole and feel like we belong somewhere
and that we are understood. I feel like seeing these telenovelas, and hearing
the stories and reading how fans are so in love, I get it. They have found
somewhere they can fit, where their life makes sense, and somewhere they can
identify with, or someone. And when it comes to that sense of hope, everyone
loves a happy ending. So seeing the Cinderella get the guy, or that girl find
her real mother, or he ends up becoming CEO, or whatever the end may be…there
is a part of us that takes in a deep breath and sighs feeling deep down that
everything is going to be okay.
As I watched “Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal” I realized
how little attention was spent on the life of Pablo Escobar’s son. I understand
the goal of the telenovela was to shed light on Escobar’s story and how his
actions influenced the lives of the Colombian people, but I believe there is an
important story that remains untold, the story of Pablo’s only biological
child. I began trying to imagine how growing up as the child of one of the
world’s most notorious criminals would be.
A father is
such an important and crucial individual in every young boy’s life. A father
should be a strong role model; someone who a boy can look up to and idolize. My
own brother has an extremely strong relationship with my father, and sometimes
I am even jealous of their strong bond. It is for this reason why I have such a
hard time grasping what the childhood of Pablo’s son, Sebastian Marroquín, must
have been like. Sebastian Marroquín, who was born as Juan Manuel Escobar Henao,
changed his name after fleeing Colombia and moving with his mother to
Argentina. His mother also changed her name.
I wanted to
know more intimate details about the life of Sebastian and where he is today,
so I did some research. I found a couple of very interesting articles, and I
learned I am not the only one who has questions about this topic. When asked
about his childhood in an interview, Sebastian said, “My father was like any
other father – the only thing he didn’t do was get up early for work. When
you’re very young you don’t know exactly what it is your father does for a
living but as I got older I started noticing that he was in the news a lot,
that my freedom was restricted and that I couldn’t lead a normal life. All this
made me curious.”
Later in
the interview, Sebastian also explains how his father always used violence as a
way to solve problems. He goes on to say that as a result of the crimes his
father committed, he now has strong views against violence. He has used his
father’s offences as a learning experience, and believes it has made him a
better man today.
Recently,
Sebastian has produced a very controversial clothing line called,
“Escobar-Henao.” It has gained popularity in Mexico, Spain, and Austria. The
fashion line features images such as Pablo Escobar’s ID card, driver’s license,
and bank account ledgers. However, Sebastian has made it very clear the
clothing line will not be sold in Colombia, but the factory producing the
clothing is in his hometown of Medellín, to “help stimulate the economy.” Many
people think Sebastian is simply profiting off of his father’s fame, and
believe it is morally wrong. It will be interesting to see if the clothing line
will be successful, despite the strong resistance it is receiving.
I really have enjoyed these presentations. First of all, I looked getting deep into the nitty gritty of La Reina del Sur's facebook pages. Not only did I discover that people are literally OBSESSED. They continue to be obsessed even if the telenovela isn't streaming or hasn't streamed in 10 years! My mind had mostly been on La Reina del Sur because it is currently the telenovela I am watching, but after hearing these presentations, I want to watch the others. The fact that Corozon Salvaje streamed in 1993 and people are still going crazy posting on their social media sites is absurd to me! Twenty years later and they still have things/opinions to say. Clearly this telenovela is one that everyone needs to watch. After I finish La Reina del Sur, which is premiering again on Nov 11 (7 days!), I think that is the next one I am going to watch. Telenovela rosas have me hooked!
Talking to el Chascas last week was so exciting. Actually
hearing from the writer of a successful and on-air telenovela made the entire
process of telenovela production and broadcasting seem that much more tangible
and real. Talking to Chascas was really exciting because he reiterated so many
of the things we've discussed in class. He discussed the production and writing
process in the same way we learned about it in class; it was interesting to
hear his take on the crazy schedule and the sheer amount of writing he has to
do for each telenovela and to then think about how we've learned about that and
about the writing method. I thought it was also really interesting to hear
Chascas talk about his methods behind how he creates a story for a telenovela.
His technique of creating situations and characters from circumstances and
situations he dislikes is really clever and creative. I really appreciated that
he uses these situations that bother him to send a message. Some telenovelas
that I've seen and that we've talked about in class really don't have a very
profound message outside of the generic love story, so hearing Chascas say that
he deliberately creates his telenovelas with a purpose and significance in mind
was awesome. Just knowing that Santa
Diabla has been carefully set up to
make the audience think and reflect is really convicting. I also really
appreciated that he even noted that some writers and producers of telenovelas
assume that their audience is stupid, when in actuality they are very intelligent.
I really enjoyed hearing how down to earth el Chascas was and how much of
himself he has put into writing telenovelas for his audience.
Firstly, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed the conversation with Chascas. It was very educational and entertaining; I wish it could have gone on a little longer. Towards the end of the conversation, Chascas said something that really got me thinking. While talking about his past in Chile and how it has affected his writing, he said “There is a thin line between revenge and justice.” He was worried that too many people today still wanted revenge, rather than the justice they deserved. I was really surprised when he said this because he is from Chile, where a democratically elected president was overthrown by a coup d’etat led by a tyrannical dictator who later tortured, killed, disappeared, and drove thousands of civilians out of the country. From what I can remember from my “Geography of Human Rights” class junior year, Pinochet finally stepped down from the role as president in 1990, but remained commander in-chief of the army until 1998 and was declared a “senator for life,” which granted him immunity from prosecution. Chile never did prosecute Pinochet for his crimes, in fact it was actually Spain that filed charges against him. After committing so many heinous crimes and violations of Human Rights, Pinochet died without ever being convicted. I was so surprised when Chascas spoke about the thin line between revenge and justice because he comes from a country that hasn’t actually seen justice, so how can he judge (judge isn’t the right word here, it’s too harsh for what I want to say) but how can he be the one to decide whether these people are seeking revenge rather than justice. Taking a closer look at all of the Human Rights violations that occurred in the second half of the 20th century, it’s easy to see that very few people have received justice. At most, lower ranking officers have been tried for some of their crimes but there appears to be a fog of immunity around higher ranking officials who ordered the kills and torture. In a way, I believe that this lack of justice, not only in Chile, but all over Latin America, has in fact led to people wanting revenge; or is it that after so much time, the justice required is getting closer to what revenge would be? I feel like I’m having a very difficult time putting this into words. I think I was just so struck that Chascas didn’t seem to want any more justice for the Chilean people. Getting away from my rambling, I tried to apply this idea to the Colombian telenovela, “Escobar: El Patrón del Mal.” There is so much controversy with this telenovela. While many people hated Escobar, there is a significant population that thought he was a savior to the people. While the telenovela tries to historically portray his crimes, many critics think that making a telenovela about Pablo Escobar only glorifies him and his crimes. I was surprised to discover during one of the consumption presentations that the writers of the telenovela are the daughter of a journalist kidnapped by Escobar and the son of the editor of the Espectador killed by Escobar. Did they write the telenovela with the sole intentions of it being educational and to prevent history from repeating itself? Or is the telenovela their form of justice? Of revenge?
I'm very conflicted about my telenovela right now. At the beginning of this story, I was completely sold on the love story between Santa and Santiago. I think Santiago is SO good looking, and he cares about Santa and yada yada yada. What I didn't bank on was that Carlos Ponce's acting would make me change my mind.
The writer of this story (El Chascas) has done a remarkable job of keeping Humberto from being a full on villain. He is complex. He broods a lot. He struggles between hate and love for his wife. But the fact of the matter remains; Santa is his wife. Call me traditional, but I believe marriage is sacred, so from the start I wished that Humberto could just be a character who Santa would want to stay married to. And he's starting to become that. For all his faults, their chemistry is undeniable. Their fight scenes and dialogue are so charged, they could set the room on fire. Even though she is trying to destroy his life, and he is trying to destroy hers, I think there is potential for this to be more than a frenemy relationship. There really could be something there.
As for Santiago, his scenes with Santa have been relying entirely too much on the music lately. Their scenes are dead between the two of them. In my opinion, Santa looks significantly older than Santiago, which makes it more difficult for me to see them together. Also, Santa talks to Santiago like he's a child. She treats him at times almost like she would treat her son. That's weird to me and vaguely uncomfortable. I liked their relationship at first, but with the introduction of Humberto as a viable candidate for Santa's affections, I'm beginning to rethink my statement.
I also love the idea of love blossoming out of hurt and for there to be reconciliation. All in all, Santa and Humberto belong together. I don't think that is going to happen though. If Santa doesn't end up with Santiago, his character will completely go to waste. His only role in the story is to serve as Santa's love interest. Without him doing that, there is no point in him being in the story in the first place. But oh dear Lord, his expression never changes. A person could literally do a montage of that brooding face and have hundreds of pictures of that same expression. It's out of control. I'm a sucker for good acting, so seeing Carlos Ponce spread his wings and own his role is very attractive. On the flip side, bad acting bothers me. So, it's safe to say that right now, Santiago is bothering me, and I don't think he's going to change my mind about him.
I do very much look forward to seeing how this is going to end. I don't even know if this telenovela will have a happy ending.
When I started watching Santa Diabla, I will admit I did get hooked, but it wasn't a top priority of mine since the episodes are so long and are split up when I watched them online. But, I finally stayed up until 2am one night and got caught up on the season. The next week I began to watch it on Telemundo with the English subtitles. It made such a difference! Not to mention how relaxing it was to be in bed by 10 pm and not have to click back and forth through the different parts of the episode.
And this is where my obsession began-
The next week in class, Dr. A said we would be speaking with Chascas, the writer of Santa Diabla. I could not help but try to contain my excitement. I have followed him on twitter since I began watching the show. I usually don't tweet- but I tweeted him TWICE before we spoke with him. After our conversation he truly captured me with his passion for writing telenovelas and how he relates them to himself personally. I can say I completely agree with his reasoning of using an African American woman as someone who is strong, independent and an educated entrepreneur. It truly amazed me to see the reasoning behind choosing her for the character. I see the cause and effect relation in this choice through the way viewers talk about Mara, the African American character. They absolutely love her and value her strong-mindedness.
Another thing I admire about Chascas was his choice of writing about things in which his values were completely against. I never thought about that- it makes complete sense that it is a therapeutic process for him and... maybe I should try it? Haha. With that being sad, my obession with Chascas began.
After our discussion with him, I continued to watch the shows on Telemundo.. every night.. at 10pm. And when I went home.. I recorded it when I couldn't watch it. But I couldn't get the subtitles to work so then I just read a recap (do you see this obsession progressing?)
Next, my group and I started working on our consumption presentation (this is where it really gets worse) I developed a stalking procedure of all of the characters social media (twitter/instagram). I saw that they post pictures and tweets of what they are doing real life, which right now is still filming Santa Diabla... truly facisnating to me that they can post these pictures of themselves on the set! I also noticed that every one (the director and characters) has an ipad which I guess is to read the script. I also saw a picture of Gaby Espino in an Alaskan jacket because it was so cold on the set (Dr. A told us it was freezing). So my epitome here is that I have been learning about all of this so far in the semester and now I actually see it-- through the lenses of consumption and production.
This my friends, is how my obsession with Santa Diabla, the characters and the writer began.
My consumption
project team decided to focus on a very specific theme as we did our research
so that we could really focus and dive deep into a telenovela. We chose to
analyze La Tempestad as a model for our study of why telenovelas rosas capture
the attention of the audience and draw them in so quickly within the first 15
episodes.
I
honestly had no idea what to expect from a telenovela considering I had only
seen clips of them in my childhood when my Colombian grandmother would babysit
me and my cousins. At that point in life I had no idea what was happening. So
honestly, I didn't know what to expect.
I chose La
Tempestad pretty randomly without even knowing was a "telenovela
rosa" meant. I began watching the show and was captivated by the main
protagonist Ximena Navarrete simply because she was so beautiful and I was
curious how and why she would end up falling in love with the long haired,
hispanic Brad Pitt, William Levy. At the beginning I was not sold on the long
hair, but honestly by the 3rd episode his hair didn't even matter
anymore....Captain Damian Fabre was a rockstar in my books.
So why are
people so captivated by the traditional love story? Why are these telenovelas
successful every time? How do people stand watching a telenovela when they know
exactly how it is going to end?
Honestly I
feel that the answer is very simple in analyzing the human heart and our need
to love and be loved. Because we were created in this way, it makes perfect
sense that majority of people would enjoy watching a love story when you know
everything is going to work out in the end. No matter what obstacles the
characters face, I don't have a shadow of a doubt that Marina and Damian will
end up together in the end.
I believe that
we watch these stories because this is the hope for everyone in life. We all
want love to prevail. We all want to end up with a beautiful story. We long for
this love story to have adventure and obstacles that our love will always
overcome. It is the typical desire of every human heart to enjoy and experience
they type of love that we see in telenovelas rosas.
So why are
telenovelas rosas so popular and why will they always be successful? Simply
because the human heart was created to enjoy a beautiful love story and when we
see these telenovelas they can give us hope that that type of love still exists
:)
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