Picking a Novela and Thoughts on "El Capo"

            Picking a Telenovela was a hard decision for me. After growing up with a mom (and dad sometimes) watching different telenovelas over the years, I’ve decided I prefer novelas on the “de ruptura” side. I considered rewatching “Yo Soy, Betty La Fea” or “El Clon” again since I was so young when I initially watched them with my family. Those two are probably the most memorable telenovelas my parents have watched. I remember my mother taping “Betty La Fea” on the VCR for my father to watch later when he would get home (that is how obsessed we all were). I also remember endless phone conversations between my mother and her sisters about the latest episode of “El Clon.”

            I decided to watch one my dad recommended and that I had not seen before. “El Capo” is a fictional story about the richest, most wanted drug trafficker in Colombia, Pedro Pablo and his. So far I have watched a total of 7 episodes. The love triangle between Pedro Pablo, his wife Isabel Cristine, and a reporter, Marcella was the first typical novella conflict to arise. There’s no evil step-mother/ mother-in-law, but there is a father-in-law that is causing problems for Pedro Pablo. Pedro Pablo and his wife Isabel Cristine have two children, one of which is married to the son of the Minister of Defense of Colombia. His mission is to find Pedro Pablo in order to enhance his political career. This is definitely causing a problem for Julieta and Juan Carlos, the children of the most wanted man in Colombia. They are stuck between their love for their parents and protecting their secret identity.

            In the seven episodes I have watched, background stories of most of the characters have been shown through flashbacks. Pedro Pablo’s drug trafficking career is being retold through an interview done by Marcella in the bunker the love triangle and Pedro Pablo’s minions are hiding out in. I understand that the background story needs to be told, but the plot development, so far, has been a little slow. I have a feeling it will pick up once most of the background story has been told. Although it’s been a little slow I am extremely hooked. I have found myself yelling at my laptop screen (sometimes in even in Spanish… which rare for me) and struggling to pick a true side with love triangle. So far my heart goes out to Isabel Cristine since she is supposed to be the true love and is the sweet and good-hearted woman. Marcella is the mistress and I’m supposed to hate her, but I can’t help but admire the kind of career driven woman she represents.

I am excited to see what other internal conflicts arise as I watch more episodes throughout the semester.

This class seems fun!

My LACS advisor was right! This class is awesome. The professor is funny, very knowledgeable, and can really relate to the students(no flattery intended). I think telenovelas are a good idea(and apparently so does most of the world). At first glance, my initial thought was that to make a class out of just telenovelas is difficult, but hearing from someone who has studied them for 15 years makes it sound so cool. I understand the difficulty in classifying telenovelas, but the attempts at classification that the professor made were very helpful. Also, I can't wait to talk to some very impotant people in the telenovela world. Im also nervous about my skills in Spanish, so for practice I found this joke online. Paciente: Doctor, doctor, me he roto el brazo en varios sitios. Doctor: Pues yo de usted no volvería a esos sitios.

Telenovelas Rosas

      Coming into this class, I admit that I was a little apprehensive. I did not know if my rusty spanish skills would be enough to get me by. I was worried I would be the only one who had never watched an entire season (or multiple seasons) of a telenovela. I was scared I would be unprepared to talk about the cultural and social implications of such a vast genre of television. But now, after we have gone through the first couple of lectures and I have watched almost ten episodes of the telenovela I will study this semester, I can already see the ways telenovelas can and have impacted cultures all around the world.

In my opinion, one of the many interesting things we have discussed in relation to telenovelas, culture and society (and one of the reasons I chose La Tempestad as my telenovela to study) has been the history and typology of telenovelas rosas. It amazes me that countless telenovelas with the same basic structure have been recreated over and over again. What is even more amazing is that many of these telenovelas share the same twists and turns: Twins separated at birth. An evil stepmother. A cinderella story. Betrayal and revenge. An ugly duckling. These things have appeared over and over again since some of the first telenovelas and likely will continue to appear in telenovelas rosas of the future, yet massive audiences are still drawn in by the latest telenovela that has these elements.

I think this might relate to society in ways that are deeper than the obvious reason that these things are entertaining to watch. Perhaps there is something comforting about watching a telenovela, being engrossed in it and entertained by it, and knowing exactly what is going to happen in the end. Telenovelas are not only constant and consistent in the way that they appear in people's lives every day at the same time of day, but they are also constant in the fact that what is expected is exactly what is delivered. When watching a telenovela, it is not surprising when the pretty girl ends up with the hunky guy. But why would someone want to be surprised by their telenovela when they are already exhausted from the constant surprises of the ups and downs of their real lives?

I see the telenovela rosa not as a tired genre, but a genre that serves a specific purpose in the lives of its viewers. It's comforting to know that everything is going to work out in the end, and it's entertaining to watch how that unfolds. The question is which characters and settings will fill in the blanks next? What I am discovering is that the typical devices can come up in unexpected ways. For example, in La Tempestad I have no doubt that Marina and Capitán Fabre will end up together, but instead of Mariana being a "Cinderella" character she is a powerful, successful businesswomen from the city. It seems that he might be the one that fits better in the "Cinderella" position. We'll see what happens!

Telenovela Cuban History & My Family's History!

So, I thought it was incredibly interesting how Telenovelas came to be. How long days of rolling cigars seemed to get pretty mundane pretty quickly for the women doing the work. It is incredible that something that began as reading stories aloud to the workers, turned into a worldwide phenomenon with enough force behind it to pause war for some countries, and to change time of prayer for others. My mom and her entire side of the family is from Cuba, so the fact that this phenomenon began on the beautiful island in cigar rolling shops completely grabbed my attention. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity to call my grandfather in Miami and see if he had any memories of the Telenovela’s impact on my family history. I expected it to be a simple; “yes we all listened to and watched them.” Well, he had a little more to say about it so get ready, because it’s really cool!

I decided to sum up everything he told me, so here is a little snippet from my Papi…

The Telenovela is such a huge part of Cuba’s history. The different stories contained philosophical topics about the country, about the history, and especially Cuba’s independence. They lasted for months covering all different thought processes and interests of the people that called Cuba home. The men loved them just as much as the women, and when they started playing over the radio, the world literally stopped spinning, people would stop whatever they were doing because that broadcast took priority over anything going on at the moment. When my Papi was young he remembered his mom and his dad listened to them religiously. But going back to before they took over the radio… The workers in the cigar placed often couldn’t read or write, so my great grandfather found a way to make money since he couldn’t support his family on just a missionary’s salary. He decided to help in building these little platforms with steps and a railing to read these novels (which would later turn into Telenovelas) to the workers to keep them entertained and interested. He called them “escogidas del tabacos”. Sooner or later the novels started playing on the radio and everyone in Cuba would drop whatever they were doing to listen to them everyday. (My grandfather even joked that they were so important that a daughter would be late to her mother’s funeral to make sure she didn’t miss a show.) He remembered in the 40s, El Derecho del Nacer. The novel was about the right to be born. A lady had a baby out of wedlock and hid what happened for years and the only one who really knew what happened was the grandfather except that he couldn’t speak because he was deaf. The story was so dramatic and the grandfather would always mumble and try to say, “I want to talk, I want to talk,” because he wanted to tell the truth about what was going on. He also remembered another one called Los Tres Villa Lobos, which was about 3 brothers fighting against the abuse of a big shot. The brothers were wealthy so it was more of a crusade on their part to help the poor. He said he loved when they began adding sound effects, and people would clap wooden spoons to mimic horse hooves, or would shake maracas to mimic rain. He finished by saying that they were still a huge part of his life, and that if I didn’t remember, when he and my grandmother would take care of me when I was little, my Abuela would always watch at least two a day and I would sit and watch them with her before she passed away. I don’t remember this because I was very little, but it’s a sweet memory to be reminded of.

This was one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had with my grandfather, and it was so amazing to hear the pride in his voice for his country and his pride for Telenovelas.

Not all telenovelas are the same....

After seeing a few episodes of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso I can’t stop watching. When this telenovela was first released I remember my mother and father always sitting down in the living room and watching it once he got home from work. They were so addicted to it that they would not even bother eating dinner, seeing what would happen to Catalina and the rest of her friends was more important. At the time I could not figure out how a telenovela could grab their attention like that. Since I had grown up in the United States I was used to the telenovela rosa that Univision usually broadcasted. I hated the way things were portrayed and how fake everything seemed to me. Every aspect of the telenovela was over dramatized and I just could not stand it. By being exposed to those kinds of telenovelas I had grown to think that all telenovelas were the same. Thankfully I was completely wrong in that matter. Although I am a little late in watching Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso, I have grown to appreciate other Colombian productions such as Betty La Fea, Hasta Que La Plata Nos Separe, and most recently Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal. 

I feel that the main reason that I like Colombian telenovelas more than any other kind such as Mexican, Argentinian, or even Brazilian is the fact that its Colombian. I love hearing the ascents from different parts of the country, seeing the backdrop of the capital or other important cities, and overall just being able to understand the jokes and different references that are being made. It makes me feel closer to a country that I only get to visit once a year. In addition to that, it keeps me closer to my family and friends in Bogota. Any conversation I have with them usually ends with us talking for more than an hour about the telenovela we are watching. Currently the big novela in Colombia is La Seleccion and my friends literally stop whatever they are doing just to watch it. Now that it is being broadcasted in the United States I am beginning to see why they liked it so much.

In the summer I went to Colombia to visit family and friends. During a dinner one night I remember that everyone slowly started leaving the living room and going to the television room at around 10 pm. I could not understand why the dinner party had stopped so abruptly. After going to investigate what was going on, I entered the next room and saw all 10 people sitting in front of the television completely absorbed by what they were watching. During the hour that it was shown no one talked unless it was to say something about the telenovela. It simply amazed me. I had seen my parents do this before but it was hard for me to comprehend why anyone would leave a nice party just to watch TV. 

As I have begun to watch more and more telenovelas in recent years I have begun to comprehend how it can captivate almost anyone no matter their social status or gender. The maid and my grandma would sit down just to talk about what had happened in the telenovela the night before which always seemed a bit weird to me.  Recently I have begun to understand this more. Telenovelas, have been able to stand the test of time and unite usually divided countries all over the world, not just Latin America. It has even united my family due to the fact that we all sit around the living room on Sundays to catch up on the episodes we recorded during the week. My views on telenovelas has changed. They have plots and characters for everyone. I cannot wait to continue watching Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso and become obsessed with these new sets of characters and the overall storyline. If this novela is as great as the other Colombian telenovelas I have seen I will not be disappointed. 

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.

The Initial Rant (contains spoilers)

I think this first blog post will be a little bit of a rant but I had a lot to say after I binge watched the first five episodes of my telenovela this weekend. By the way if anyone is planning on watching Escobar either for class or just for fun (DO IT!) there are spoilers in this blog post. Read with caution.

My Telenovela is Pablo Escobar el patron del mar. So far for typology (I’m on episode six) I can see that it is a narcotelenovela geared towards the adult age group. There is a definite love story between Pablo and Patricia. The first obstacle between their love was her brother. They circumvented that quickly though. It could also be said that there is a kind of metaphoric love story brewing between Pablo and money/power, which is fascinating to watch. I can see this second love being a further obstacle to the central love story between Pablo and Particia. Even from the first episode when Gonzalo says “only that kind of money can give you such security” (discussing El Alguacil) the idea of ‘money is everything’ rose to the forefront. Within this story money even seems to be powerful enough to wash away all sins. For example, in episode two when Escobar is released from prison after being charged with bank robbery the family is still happy to see him. As if the bank robbery did not happen and their long time family friend hadn’t just mysteriously been murdered. This occurs again in episode five when Pablo buys a helicopter and he’s dad says “Another fine achievement” but remains either painfully ignorant or has succumb to self induced ignorance at how his son can afford a helicopter.

Money is a common theme but money does not buy class or acceptance (the country club for example). At first I thought of this as a sort of Cinderella story, from rags to riches but it is not that simple. True, they have all they could want and give generously to family, friends and neighbors but they are not accepted among people of their same tax bracket. A Cinderella story of a negative sort: from selling smuggled cigarettes to killing and kidnapping (I’m not at the kidnapping yet but I know it is coming).

Also, a family member died in the series (the youngest brother Yerson) and I was surprised about how said I felt. Dr. A was not kidding when she said how emotionally attached people can get to telenovelas and this character wasn’t even a huge part of the series. But I seriously almost cried and I am not ashamed! It was sad, like the death of innocence in the show. Yerson was the only adult who wasn’t in some way a part of or corrupted by Pablo’s enterprise. He was going to be the one who studied and made a future for himself through legal means. In a way, he represented hope and the carefree lifestyle that comes with being a teenage boy. Now, perhaps, Pedro’s son, Emilio, will take on that role.

I also have to give credit to the telenovela world for their excellent timing when it comes to the plot. Timing is vital in humor and with the unveiling of bad news. Here however, the introduction of the cocaine business near the end of episode two and full-fledged beginning in episode 3 left enough time to see Escobar’s childhood then introduction to illegal life and finally to the production and sale of cocaine, what most viewers tuned in to see. It was not in your face HERE IS THE COCAINE BUSINESS!!!! but more steady, giving the audience breadcrumbs in the first and only episode where Pablo is not directly involved in the production of cocaine.

I feel a little sad at not being able to be a part of the ritual of sitting down with a million+ other viewers to watch it every night. But like a Netflix binge on a tv series it’s pretty satisfying to get through many episodes in a weekend while having something to look forward to after school or work. My roommates began watching with me on episode 4 and they are hooked, they don’t even speak Spanish or know that much about Escobar. That is how good the writing, production, action and acting is. It crosses languages, while remaining quintessentially Colombian, which is fascinating.  

(above) Patricia before
(below) Patricia after actress switch

I read Dr.A’s paper about the image of women in telenovelas before watching Escobar and with that article in mind looking at the women in the novella was pretty interesting. In this telenovela not all the women are beautiful. In the first few episodes Pati and Pablo’s hooker friend, Maytia, are the only attractive women. Then soon after Pablo and Patricia get married there is an actress switch. The new actress playing Pati is still beautiful, but quite curvy and motherly looking, which is appropriate since in the same episode they have their son Emilio. She is not common telenovela beautiful, though. Which I thought was pretty interesting. And Pablo is most defiantly not common telenovela male lover/boyfriend lead. 

Continuing on the subject of women in this telenovela I watched how each woman is treated differently. Maytia, the hooker, is somewhat respected, by Pablo and her brother. While Pablo cheated on Patricia before they were married (granted I’m only on episode 5 so I haven’t gotten to the post matrimony cheating), and gets treated like an object by her lunatic brother Fabio. Fabio, ironically, casts himself out in the big brother role of looking out for his little sister’s honor and best interests by saying things like “she’s just a girl” but then turning to her saying “shut up, go home!” Although that may just be how his character is written, because he does it again in episode 5 with the whole “I’m just defending your house and the lady of the house” speech to Pablo while telling Patricia to ‘shut up’ and infringing on her conversation with Chili in her own home.

And as stated before, I have not gotten to an episode where Pablo cheats on his wife but I foresee it through three things: First, when Patricia point blank asks him to tell her that he will never cheat, he never does. Pablo promises her the world, but never that he will remain faithful. Second, Pablo’s mother telling Patricia bluntly “All of them [men] are unfaithful” (she is quite a lady, Pablo’s mother. I could write a whole paper about her). And third, in the entrada there is a pretty lady in pink who comes out of an airplane and hugs Pablo. She is not Pati, and that hug is exceptionally long.  

This show has so many facets that can be explored.  I am excited to watch the rest of the series and (seriously) look forward to the paper we have to write on it. 

Initial Thoughts on Destilando Amor

The telenovela I've decided to analyze this semester is entitled Destilando Amor. This Mexican telenovela is set in a small rural Mexican farming town, where "La Gaviota," a rancher, falls in love with Rodrigo, the wealthy grandson of the ranch-owning family and the newly appointed head of the ranch. I'm only a few episodes in, but from what I've watched so far, I've been able to determine that this telenovela is a classic "telenovela rosa". Every intense situation is extremely melodramatic and each shocking moment ends with a zoom-in close-up on a character's face with dramatic music for emphasis. Here's the "entrada" for a visual:

Regardless of the melodrama, I'm enjoying Destilando Amor so far. However, there have been a few instances thus far in which I haven't been in total agreement with what the writers are implying. For example:

• Rodrigo's persistence in winning back Gaviota. Gaviota goes abroad for a year, and within that period of time Rodrigo marries another woman, Isadora, simply to spite Gaviota. However, once Gaviota returns and Rodrigo realizes his misunderstanding, he will not stop pursuing Gaviota in an attempt to win her back (he's married to Isadora during all this). I understand how this is supposed to be seen as romantic and as though the love that Rodrigo has for Gaviota is so deep and strong that he will not stop before he wins her back; however, the problem I'm having with this gesture is that Gaviota asks Rodrigo to let her move on multiple times. She reminds him that he is married and that she can have nothing to do with him, and yet he persists. The implied message I get from this is that when a woman says "no" she really means "yes," she just doesn't know it. It implies that Rodrigo knows more about how Gaviota feels than Gaviota does, and furthermore it implies that men are capable of telling women what and how they feel. Hopefully as I get further into the telenovela this implication will stop being so prominent.

• Another implication I don't agree with entirely is found in the portrayal of Isadora, Rodrigo's wife. I understand that Isadora is the antagonist and that she stands in the way of the true love between Rodrigo and Gaviota (and forms a part of the "love triangle" that is integral to the telenovela), but it seems as though what she wants is not entirely evil and unfair. Rodrigo made a commitment to her, and he promised her a future when he married her. When Gaviota returns and Rodrigo decides he wants to divorce, Isadora refuses. The portrayal of this refusal implies that Isadora is heartless and cruel, but in reality she has every right to react as she does, given that she and Rodrigo are legally bound. Rodrigo's demands to break his promise because someone he desires more came along implies that men have the right to commit and then change their minds on a whim. Writing Isadora's character to seem crazy and obsessive when all she wants is for Rodrigo to keep the promise he made to her seems like an unfair portrayal.

Because Destilando Amor is such a traditional telenovela rosa, many of the questions I've been asking are related to the idea of "machismo" and patriarchal character portrayals. These issues are definitely on my mind as I watch, but I'm also hopeful that the female characters will gain some respect as the telenovela progresses.

Welcome to Telenovelas, Culture and Society!

You will practice the fundamentals of critical thinking via blogging about telenovelas. Your blog entries should reflect your thought process and your learning experience as you go through the course. In other words, your posts should be a thoughtful (and creative) expression of yourself. If you wish, you can complement the entries with images or other media.

Specifically, blog entries will be of two types:

• Open topic entries: With the exception of the post due on October 24, which will have a specific topic, you are free to analyze, comment and/or reflect on any of the topics and readings we will cover in class. You can also write about the telenovela(s) you are analyzing for your class assignments. Be warned that mere description won’t meet my expectations.
• Responses/comments to entries: A good blog builds a community. In that spirit, you should comment on the entries posted by your classmates or by me, be those open topic entries or responses to others’ posts. Your comments must be substantive and add to the conversation. In other words, merely stating “I agree” or “good point” is not nearly enough.

You must write at least six open topic entries and six responses/comments during our term. These entries should be spread out throughout the semester. Therefore, I expect to find at least one new open topic entry written by each of you by:

• August 29
• September 19
• October 10
• October 24* (topic set by me)
• November 7
• December 3

There are no partial deadlines for your responses/comments, just the final deadline: December 3. I highly recommend you also write your comments throughout the semester.