Telenovelas Online

Today I was planning to write about the latest in a string of new Venezuelan telenovelas, Torrente (Venevisión). However, I'm going to postpone my analysis for a few days because I must note a review about my book,  Venezuela es una Telenovela that was published today in Venezuela's most read newspaper, Ultimas Noticias.  The review's author is respected literature and performing arts critic E.A. Moreno-Uribe, who's also the author of one the blogs I visit and respect most, El Espectador.

The semester is over and so is my Telenovelas class. And the last class was a nice final episode about final episodes. That day we moved our class from afternoon to evening, and from the classroom to my living room.



My students had already watched the final episodes of the telenovelas they had analyzed throughout the semester: Rubí, Amor Real, Corazón Salvaje, Amarte es mi Pecado, Pasión de Gavilanes, La Mentira, Piel de Otoño, La Usurpadora, Los Ricos También Lloran and Dame Chocolate. That evening at my house we discussed different types of telenovela endings. From the most traditional with weddings and terrible punishments for the villains, to the less typical (and more contemporary) ends in which the protagonists are together, without a classic wedding, and impunity is present as not all crimes receive punishment.

We watched several interesting final episodes. Among them, Juana La Virgen's, which like this whole telenovela, was mostly "rosa" but with an interesting twist. In its final episode: the use of memories and recollections by the protagonists who are now elderly.



We watched the terrible and lesson-laden end to the important Colombian series Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso, which has many of the elements of a telenovela--melodrama, love triangles and secrets--but it's too short, in my opinion, to be considered one.



We also had a chance to watch on the screen (and read the script) of the last episode of Cosita Rica, which blurred the line between reality and fiction until the very end, by having the character Nixon presenting on the stage of a filled theater the end of each character/subplot.



(Pictures courtesy of Dani, foro Cosita Rica)

We were able to compare the script and mise-en-scene of Ciudad Bendita's last episode, which occurred in the tragic context of the murder of actor Yanis Chimaras, only hours before the last key scenes were taped. This time reality bit fiction. Throughout these examples, we talked about the distance between the script and what we saw on the screen, and the way these episodes were received and read by the public and the entertainment press.

My telenovelas class is having some special experiences these days. This week we also had a phone conversation with writer Leonardo Padrón, author of the following telenovelas:

Ciudad Bendita (2006-2007)
Cosita Rica (2003-2004)
Amantes de Luna Llena (2000-2001)
El País de las Mujeres (1998-1999)
Contra Viento y Marea (1997)
Aguamarina (1997)
Amores de Fin de Siglo (1995)
Gardenia (1990).

His work goes beyond telenovelas. He's a well-regarded poet:

El Amor Tóxico (2005)
Boulevard (2002)
Tatuaje (2000)
Balada (1993)
La Orilla Encendida (1983)

And film writer:

Miranda (2006), dirigida por Diego Rísquez
Manuela Saenz (2000), dirigida por Diego Rísquez
La Primera Vez (1997), dirigida por Luis Alberto Lamata

In the last two years, Leonardo Padrón has also worked on radio with Los Imposibles, a show organized by seasons in which he interviews 20 personalities that are "impossible to ignore."



I must mention that Los Imposibles 1 and Los Imposibles 2, turned into books, are now editorial successes.

These recognized writer had a very interesting conversation with my students. Among the topics we discussed were:

1. The way he has explored the feminine through characters that break the traditional telenovela stereotype of the submissive and suffering woman who waits for, or needs, a Prince Charming who will rescue her from poverty, or from a loveless or senseless life. In contrast, Leonardo Padrón creates female characters that are warriors, with a will of their own, and who have agency over their destiny. (For example, Miranda in El País de las Mujeres).
2. How he constructed Olegario in Cosita Rica, a character allegorical to President Hugo Chávez. He shared with us his intention that this character would elicit reflection in the audience. We also discussed how the Venezuelan audience read this character, and how the "villain" was in their eyes the most charismatic character of this telenovela.
3. His reasons to choose Roque Valero as the male protagonist of Ciudad Bendita, and the calculated risk he took by having a protagonist that broke the stereotype of the traditional "galán" and a love story that transgressed the established telenovela codes.
4. His interpretation of how the U.S. Latino market is changing the telenovela genre. And his concern that this market, dominated by Mexican immigrants from the popular classes who are used to traditional telenovelas, is beginning to determine the way telenovelas are written and produced in countries like Colombia and Venezuela. (I share this concern as I've expressed before in this blog: 1, 2).

At the end of our conversation, Leonardo Padrón congratulated my students for the level of the questions they asked. My students and I thanked him for the honesty of his answers, and for visiting our classroom. Our telenovelas class would be incomplete without the voice and presence of this recognized author.

Just like telenovelas can carry messages that promote health and the improvement of certain sociocultural problems (see my last post), these shows can also include political topics.

In Brazil, the vanguard of realist telenovelas, realism, politics and telenovelas have frequently walked hand in hand (see Realism and Politics in Brazilian Telenovelas by professor Mauro Porto). In Venezuela we have the cases of Por Estas Calles and Cosita Rica. In all these instances, telenovelas actively participated in the political conversation of their country of origin.

It's interesting to note that the serialized melodramatic format of telenovelas is being used in the U.S. not only to promote health and education in the Hispanic community (again, see my last post), but also for political purposes. In particular, the political campaign of Democrat Barack Obama is using a micro-telenovela consisting of three 4-minute episodes titled a Tu Voz, Tu Voto in an effort to win the primary election in the key state of California. In this way, telenovela-inspired formats have become the media format of choice when the goal is to reach U.S. Latinos:

Continuing with my students’ presentations, today I bring two that focus on two telenovelas that are considered landmarks in the industry: Los Ricos También Lloran y Corazón Salvaje.


Presenter: Jenny Reid

Topic: The impact of Los Ricos También Lloran

Objective: Although Los Ricos También Lloran were broadcast before the Internet boom, what traces can we find today in the Internet regarding how this telenovela was received?

Sources: Internet blogs and message boards

Findings and conclusions:
- This telenovela had immense success in post-communist Russia. From members of the working class to the political elite, Los Ricos También Lloran was watched by almost everyone.
- By today standards Los Ricos También Lloran has modest production values. In addition, its plot is pretty predictable. However, Internet messages suggest that this telenovela is still one of the all-time favorites.
- There have been several remakes of this story, and they have also been successful.

My thoughts: Among the many questions that I’m constantly asking and trying to answer regarding telenovelas is: How do these stories “work” within a specific historic moment of consumption? For instance, in Venezuela Cosita Rica’s success was linked to the country’s polarized and hiper-politicized reality during 2003 and 2004. The success of Los Ricos También Lloran in post-communist Russia begs the question: What were the characteristics of this sociocultural formation that determined, at least in part, the audience’s attention? In addition, why do its remakes work so well time after time? Why is it that these cinderella-stories work most of the times? Is this related to the global phenomenon of the feminization of poverty? Or is it that the dream of socioeconomic ascent is universal?








Presenter: Amanda Young

Topic: The consumption of Corazón Salvaje

Objective: Understand why Corazón Salvaje is considered by the public “unforgettable”

Sources: Internet Blogs and message boards

Findings and conclusions:
- Two main reasons determined Corazón Salvaje’s success: The work of actor Eduardo Palomo and the chemistry between his character, Juan del Diablo and Mónica (Edith González).
- Eduardo Palomo was, at first, considered an unattractive protagonist. However, his character hooked the audience. There are messages that extoll his performance, the nuances of his character, and, above all, his powerful gaze.
- Many consider that the chemistry between these protagonists hasn’t been surpassed yet.
- Juan del Diablo was the defining character in Eduardo Palomo’s career.

My thoughts: There are characters that become unforgettable for the audience. These characters also leave their mark on the actor's career. This is the case of Eduardo Palomo and Juan del Diablo. By the same token, there are telenovela couples that captivate the public. They penetrate the audience's imaginary. This also happened in Corazón Salvaje, in which the love triangles not only rotated (Juan del Diablo begins in love with Aimee, and ends up falling in love with Mónica), but also permutated (Triangle 1: Andrés-Aimée-Mónica . Triangle 2: Juan-Mónica-Aimée). What factors determine a perfect engagemente between actor, character and audience? There are actors who've been marked by a particular character. Case in point is Eduardo Palomo and Juan del Diablo. There are others who have the ability to leave their mark and be marked by several of the characters they have interpreted. Moreover, these characters also remain in the public's mind. For example Venezuelan Gledys Ibarra has given us Eloina Rangel, Luna Camacho, Patria Mia and La Diabla. All of them women from a popular socioeconomic level, all different, all unforgettable.

Here's the second installment of my students' class presentations about telenovela consumption/reception. Today I feature two presentations about Amor Real and a small study about four telenovelas produced in four different countries.


Presenter: Bryan Perry

Topic: The consumption of Amor Real

Sources: Univision message boards

Objective: To understand the reception of the broadcast of Amor Real in Univisión.

Findings and conclusions:
- The audience believed that the scandal between actors Mauricio Islas and Génesis Rodríguez marked the broadcast of Amor Real in Univisión.
- The telenovela generated a battle between the characters of Adolfo Solís (Mauricio Islas) and Manuel Fuentes Guerra (Fernando Colunga) that was present in the audience's messages in the Internet.
- Amor Real's immense success seems to be related to how it differentiated itself from other telenovelas that were on the air at the same time. For instance, in Amor Real there are several mature characters, and since it was set in the 1800s, costumes and dresses were beatiful, but didn't show a lot of skin.

My thoughts: I believe that the fact that the main love triangle "rotated" (Matilde is at first in love with Alfonso, but ends up passionately in love with Manuel) kept the public's attention. There is a particular chemistry between Matilde and Manuel. The careful and lavisth mise en scene also contributed to the telenovela's wonderful ratings.






Presenter: Fiorella Montalvo

Topic: The reception of Amor Real

Sources: Several Internet message and bulletin boards

Objective: To explore the reasons behind the success of telenovela Amor Real.

Findings and conclusions:
-One of the elements that seems to underpin the telenovela's success is the "surprise" factor. The fact that Adolfo, who seems to have a good heart and be the protagonist, ends up being the antagonist. While, Manuel, whose behavior isn't always the best, is the true protagonist.
- The mise en scene is widely approved and applauded by the audience who lauds its realism. Actually, the number of comments regarding the mise en scene are more numerous than those focusing on the protagonists' physical attributes.
-In spite of their devotion for Amor Real , the audience underscored what they perceived as contradictions between some of the characters' vocabulary and behavior, and the time period in which the telenovela takes place. In particular, the public criticized that Matilde only had one child.
- Because Amor Real is a remake of Bodas de Odio, there were many comparisons between the two.

My thoughts: It's interesting that production values are many times equated with the "realism" of the mise en scene. In the case of telenovelas "de época" (depicting a long-ago time period), this equation is more obvious, since the audience's knowledge of that historic visual "reality" is not acquired directly, but is the consequence of other media products and some works of art. However, when exposed to a lavish production, with beatiful sets, costumes and exterior locations, we feel it is "real."








Presenter: Megan Ward

Topic: The consumption of telenovelas among Hispanic students in the U.S. and Mexico.

Sources: Internet survey conducted by Megan

Objectives: 1.- To examine whether these students watch telenovelas produced in countries other than theirs. 2.- To determine if certain telenovela themes carry over across countries.

Findings and conclusions:
- Telenovelas made in Mexico are the most widely consumed in the U.S.
- All the telenovela themes explored appear in the four telenovelas studied, and were recognized by the study's participants.
- When asked about a telenovela not produced in their country of origin, the participants ignored which was the producing country.
- Of the four telenovelas examined, Rubí was the most watched by the participants.

My thoughts: It's important to mention that Megan's study isn't statistically generalizable. However, it suggested things that we already know: that Mexican telenovelas are the most watched in the U.S. This is mostly due to the fact that Mexicans constitute a majority of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. But Megan's sample also determines the findings. And since more participants watched Rubí, it isn't surprising that the theme most widely known is the "evil protagonist", even though this finding isn't consistent with the number of evil protagonists that we see in telenovelas. An evil protagonist is still an important exception.






To be continued...

As many of you can imagine, my research on telenovelas has a presence in my classroom. Sometimes more and sometimes less so, but it's always there. These past two weeks, my scholarship was very present in my Telenovelas, Culture and Society class.

These weeks we've been tackling issues related to telenovela reception or consumption. I divided the topic in several sessions in which we read and discussed the place that telenovelas have in Latin American homes and family routines, the role that Internet message boards, blogs and chatrooms play in telenovela consumption, the reception of telenovelas that include political content (e.g.: Cosita Rica), sociocultural content (e.g.: Ciudad Bendita), how consumption is measured (the omnipresent and powerful ratings and shares), and the representation and reception of health and sociocultural issues in a telenovela.

Regarding the latter, we examined the mise-en-scene and reception of plots that include:

- Domestic abuse


Catalina (Elba Escobar) in El País de las Mujeres

- The obsession with plastic surgery


Pamela (Viviana Gibelli) in El País de las Mujeres


Maru (Jessika Grau) in Ciudad Bendita

We also examined the treatment and reception of health-related storylines that can't have a happy end:


Peregrina (Caridad Canelón) has Alzheimer's Disease in Ciudad Bendita.

The latter merits a few lines. The ratings always showed that the Venezuelan audience had an interest and favored this plot. (The episode in which Peregrina gets lost and is found by her son, Juan Lobo, obtained a share of 47.8% and a rating of 14, establishing a difference of 8.4 points with the telenovela that came in second that night). Those members of the audience who participated in my study of Ciudad Bendita wrote and talked to me about how moved they were by Peregrina's story, and the difficult process that her family and caregivers went through dealing with this illness that Nancy Reagan once defined as "a long good-bye."

My students were also moved this week when they watched how Peregrina's Alzheimer Disease advanced relentlessly: Peregrina is confused when she cooks, she misplaces her wedding ring, is suspicious of strangers and friends, forgets how to pray the Our Father, forgets the name of her son, asks La Diabla to tatoo the name of her loved ones in her arm, gets lost, doesn't recognize her family members, etc...

Even though Peregrina's Alzheimer is highly dramatic, it isn't an easy story to tell in a telenovela because it defies the "crime and punishment" logic that so dominates the genre. Peregrina doesn't have a happy end, even though she isn't "evil" or "villanous." This is a storyline with no humor possibilities. Therefore, it must be balanced with lighter, funnier stories. In addition, it must be spiced with lots of love and, if possible, romanticism.

In sum, it is quite a challenge to include a storyline like Peregrina's. Hence, it should be done carefully and responsibly. When this is achieved, the audience responds positively.

I'm finally back in Athens after two intense weeks in Caracas. Two weeks that were certainly different. I'm used to observing and conducting interviews. In this trip it was the opposite: I was observed and I was interviewed. In this sense, I was a bit uncomfortable. However, my current predominant feelings are the emotion of seeing and touching my book, and the immense satisfaction of the comments I've received from those who have read Venezuela es una Telenovela.

Now I'm back in my natural habitats: my classroom and my little blue table in the basement where I work on my research surrounded by the many pictures and gifts that telenovelas have given me. Following are some of the pictures (courtesy of Editorial Alfa, Dragoons, my friend Claudia, and my daughter Carolina) that will be added to that collection. They are part of the path I traveled the last two weeks.