In our research on the consumption of Pablo Escobar: el patrón del mal, we realized that the consumption varied greatly depending on where (and, more accurately, by whom) the telenovela was being consumed. The main differences were between people that are Hispanic and people that are not.
(For these two categories, I will speak from experiences in direct conversation with my roommate who is from Colombia and my experiences as someone who is not Hispanic.)
If I had to put the telenovela in a broad, mostly incorrect category, I would say it is a reality. The reason I say this is because the telenovela is based upon real events. Pablo Escobar was a real person that did real things. I guess a better category to put it in would maybe be as a documentary, but documentary does not really fit the feeling of this telenovela. All of this is to say that the consumption of this telenovela by Hispanics is greatly informed and influenced by this lens through which they are viewing it. The way that a Hispanic person views this telenovela is completely different than the way that I view it simply because I was raised in a different culture. For example, my roommate saw me watching the telenovela and mentioned to me that his parents did not let him watch anything that had to do with Pablo Escobar. The reason for this was because they did not want him to glorify Escobar, as they feared many productions about Escobar did. They had and have a real connection to Escobar, one that I do not have.
Because of the reality of their connection to Escobar, my roommate and his family would most certainly consume the telenovela differently than I do. For example, when I first started watching, I viewed the telenovela through the lens of a spectator. Although I was appalled at some of the things that Escobar would do, I did not perceive it as real or historical until I talked to my roommate about the show. The reality of the events in the show is masked in theatrics, making it difficult for the uninformed viewer, such as myself, to decipher (or even to recognize!) what is historical and what is dramatized.
For those of you who have watched Pablo Escobar: el patrón del mal (or any television production about Pablo Escobar), how do you perceive it? Is it reality? Is it fictitious? Somewhere in between?
- John Kutteh
John --
ReplyDeleteI found your analysis of perception interesting and I have to agree. Our perception of "historical"shows like Escobar really depend on our proximity to the people and/or those affected by them. Although I have not watched Escobar, I had a similar experience while watching a "documentary" about Kate del Castillo meeting El Chapo, they showed people from his home state who had a lot of nice things to say about him. If I hadn't known about all the bad things he's done from the news and/or people who lived in Mexico (like my parents) I would have a hard time deciphering between fact and fiction. It was also eye-opening for me to realize that everything (even documentaries) have some sort of agenda and it is important for us as consumers of the genre to research and educate ourselves so that we can think critically about the shows we watch and how "real" events pictured there are.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of Escobar is truly interesting, and I agree with you on many levels. I have watched many different shows and documentaries about Escobar including Narcos, Drug Lords, and good bit of El Patron del Mal. In shows such as Narcos and El Patron, I completed depicted every aspect of the show as historical. However, I did depict certain events in the shows as historical and even looked up facts about Escobar after just about every episode. So I definitely perceive them as in between with more drama added.
One thing that I think the writers of these shows did was create the same attitudes and feelings of Escobar and some individuals had while leaving through his time in Colombia. Some perceived Escobar as a money-hungry, power-hungry terrorist, while others believed he was more like robin hood with a slight bad temper towards his enemies. I thought that was a really interesting fact which we also discussed in class after your consumption presentation.
John,
ReplyDeleteEstoy muy contenta de que has expandido este tema en su blog, ya que pensé que era un elemento muy interesante que discutiste durante nuestra presentación sobre el consumo de telenovelas. Para mi es interesante lo que estás diciendo de cómo las opiniones varían mucho en cuanto al clima en el que las personas son hispanas o no. Aunque no he visto esta telenovela, cuando era joven siempre escuché el nombre de Escobar con una connotación negativa. Sin embargo, creo que sería muy difícil ver a El Patrón del Mal si fuera colombiana y tuviera una familia afectada por sus acciones.
Estoy segura de que definitivamente fue difícil para el escritor y director de esta telenovela encontrar el equilibrio entre la realidad y la dramatización cuando, al final del día, lo más importante son las calificaciones altas. Al mismo tiempo, creo que la dramatización y la glorificación ayuden a representar cómo se sintieron los colombianos que vieron a Escobar en una luz positiva mientras él estaba en el poder.
I find this very interesting. It was really insightful listening to the presentations about shows that are based off of real people. While still a telenovela, the audience really does consume it as a documentary. They become attached per usual telenovela culture, but then become angry or upset when certain areas of the character's life are explained differently in real life. I think that these shows seem to have high success, but wonder if there's a way for writers and distribution agencies to avoid having to deal with such backlash.
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