Government Controlling Networks

While we have learned so much about telenovelas in class the one think that has grabbed my attention the quickest is the laws around the telenovelas in Venezuela. I was looking back through my notes, and I actually wrote “OMG” in a section because I was so surprised by all of the rules. I could not believe how one day a network is thriving and in its prime, then the next day it is shut down by the government. A whole entire network can be shut down in a matter of seconds due to the strict government rules.

            Each network has a set of lawyers who go through scripts and make sure they abide by the laws. A fear every network has is being shut down. The unfortunate thing is that these lawyers are much stricter than the laws due to fear of being shut down. One example that I remember Dr. A mentioning in class is that a show is not allowed to differentiate between beer, wine, or mixed drink. The reasoning is that these drinks represent a different social class. The actors and actresses have to say “it,” when referring to any drink to keep everything equal. Venezuela quickly suffered as telenovelas were having to be put on hold to match the law.

            This became very evident in the Chavez era. I remember Dr. A talking about the rapid decline of Venezuelan telenovelas which is difficult for me to wrap my mind around since Venezuela is the place telenovelas began. In 2010, there was only one Venezuelan telenovela on the air from July to November. The show was La Mujer Perfecta. Venezuelan writers were having to try a new tactic since they had lost their time spots on TV. They needed politically safe content that would help bring back the love of Venezuelan telenovelas. The author decided to target Venezuelan’s obsession with their physical appearance. By November, La Mujer Perfecta won Venevisión back the 10 p.m. time slot. While La Mujer Perfecta was on Venevisión, the government demanded the network stop showing three shows due to violence or mocking Venezuela. Just when Venevisón was regaining its power, it was quickly stripped as they suffered financial losses because they had already bought these series. This demonstrated how quickly the government can step into a network and completely change the direction of the network.

Self-censorship and strict monitoring keep Venezuelan telenovelas on air. Not one network wants to be shut down, so everyone complies with the law. One of the things I do not understand is what does the government actually gets from this?