Telenovelas and Modern Television

As I have continued my journey watching La Reina del Sur, it has become apparent to my friends and family that telenovelas have become some of my favorite things to discuss. They constantly ask me how my show is going or about the latest drama regarding Teresa Mendoza. Recently, one of my friends reached out and mentioned that he was watching a new drama on Netflix that he thought I might find interesting. He explained that it was called Elite, and that it was all done in Spanish.

                            

I decided to watch a few episodes, and was shocked at the similarities between this modern television show and the telenovelas that we study in class. It was apparent to me upon watching just a few episodes that drama was the most important element in this series. Within the first few minutes, the audience had already been exposed to a first degree murder, a heated sex scene, and a building burning to the ground. Emotions were exaggerated and love/hate was the center of everything that occurred throughout the beginning storyline.

I was also surprised to find that a handful of characters in the new Netflix original were the same actors that starred in the popular Spanish television show, La Casa de Papel. I noticed these actors overlap between the two television shows greatly, playing a diverse range of characters that have little connection to one another. 

In comparing the Spanish modern television that I have been watching to my study of telenovelas and my journey with La Reina del Sur, I have been surprised by the similarities but also by the differences. In telenovelas, it is obvious that the fan following is very different. I have learned that they often have a very loyal following and individuals that are very connected with the characters, often going above and beyond to make their opinions about their characters very public. I have not seen this type of following with La Casa de Papel and Elite, and I assume that this is due to the strong  audience/character connection that I have learned telenovelas produce. 

Regularly watching these modern television shows in Spanish has served to increase my Spanish speaking abilities and also allow me to study telenovelas in a whole new light. In comparing the two, I am able to see the stark contrasts between telenovelas and regular television, and have thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and educational aspects of both. 

antagonista:

En una telenovela, hay personajes que son esenciales para trama de la serie. Cuando gentes consuman las demostraciones generalmente porque del tirón del drama.  

Malintencionado y amor crean un siguiente sin paralelo. Si un escritor puede desarrollar un amor fuerte e incluso un odio más fuerte, entonces la telenovela será un éxito. Como CATALINA CREEL. Catalina Creel es un nombre todas personas que disfrutan telenovelas saben y ellos saben por el miedo que crea. Hay más a la antagonista, antagonista se convierte en una parte clave de la reparación o la justicia. En vidas cuando los hombres malos no siempre reciben castigos, las telenovelas son el lugar donde la gente puede ver la justicia.

En Celia, hay muchas antagonistas porque este telenovela como la mayoría de las telenovelas tiene muchas niveles. También hay grados en los que una persona es un antagonista. Por ejemplo, Simón es un antagonista porque él crea retos en las planes de Celia pero Noris es más de un antagonista porque ella quiere Celia a experimentar dolor y perder. Al principio, Noris se estaba metiendo en el camino de Celia experimentando amor con Alberto pero Noris realmente quiere ver a Celia sufrir a través de la destrucción de sus sueños. 

Noris es una antagonista icónica, porque ella no tiene la misma inocencia o ingenuidad que posee Celia. Ella también está dispuesta a usar el sexo para ganar lo que desea. Una diferiencia muy importante entre Celia y Noris es sus morales. Pureza no es un virtud muy importante a Noris, su sexualidad es simplemente un medio para conseguir lo que quiere. Hay un breve momento en que Noris se da cuenta de la vergüenza de sus acciones, pero no es suficiente para detenerla.

No hay límites para un antagonista porque su enfoque es únicamente en obtener lo que quieren. Pronto se darán cuenta de que la vida del protagonista se desarrollará incluso con los desafíos.

Con las parcelas más pequeñas dentro de la telenovela, hay otro antagonista que la audiencia está esperando a que se sirva justicia. Por ejemplo, Eliécer Calvo abusivo padrastro de Lola Calvo. El espectador espera el momento en que el protagonista se levanta contra el antagonista, exige respeto y los pone en su lugar. 

Por público que no tienen el poder a defenderse por sí mismos pero ellos puden ayudar los en las telenovelas. 

Consumption and Perception of Pablo Escobar: el patrón del mal in Different Cultures

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

Historical Accuracy (and remaining true to the story) in Pablo Escobar- el patrón del mal

As a telenovela that is based upon real events, Pablo Escobar: el patrón del mal presents every part of the production team with unique challenges.

Presumably one of the most difficult things about producing Pablo Escobar: el patrón del mal is that the story is a real one. Therefore, the writers had a basic script and plot that they had to follow, limiting their creativity and limiting the new ideas that they could incorporate into the story. The plot has already been written. The characters have already been chosen. The setting has already been chosen. All of these elements leave the writers in a "box" that dictates their writing.

An interesting element of the production of this telenovela is the costume work that was involved. There are photographic depictions of the clothing that the different characters wore in real life. In one way, this would simplify the work of the costume artists, as they do not have to imagine the characters and create costumes for them. However, in another way, this would make it difficult for them because they have a guide to reference and any deviation from that guide could make the characters seem less realistic.

Another aspect of the production that is already determined is the setting of the story. The story has to take place in Colombia, and it has to take place in the late 1900s. These are two aspects of the story that cannot be changed. This limits the variability that the telenovela can have in terms of the setting.

Another aspect of production that is already determined is the characters. The story of Pablo Escobar has a finite number of people in it. There is a little room for introduction of new characters in his story. Therefore, the writers must work with what they are given. They have to write roles that fit the roles of the characters in real life and there is not a lot of leeway in terms of creativity and plot twists. If a character died in real life, the telenovela has to have that character die.

The final, and most influential aspect of the production is that story of Pablo Escobar has a beginning and it has an end. Writers cannot create more action in the story by adding events in the plot. When the writers had finished writing about his life, there was not the option of writing another season because Pablo died in the last episode!

Can you all think of any other challenges in production that I overlooked?

The plateau in Telenovelas

After listening to the presentations on consumption the last 2 weeks, I realized that there are in fact plateaus in certain telenovelas. I found it interesting to notice that while telenovelas traditionally don't have seasons, in modern day TV, some telenovelas are so good they do have seasons.

In Al Otro Lado del Muro, I noticed that in the middle of the season, things were getting stagnant and repetitive. In typical TV shows this is normal, but after learning about telenovelas, I really expected the writers to get creative. Because it is a show within Telemundo, they produced the show in bulk before the season aired so when consumers got impatient with the plot, they had no other options but to let it run its course.

I find it interesting, however, that in shows like La Reina del Sur, there are sequels despite it being a telenovela. After thinking about it, I can see how some shows suck viewers in and lead to other seasons. Plot twists tend to hook the viewers rather than the same repetitive events happening. Additionally, after listening to Paula today in class, I found it interesting that real life issues tend to grab attention because they become relational.

In this case, both shows I mentioned do have realistic issues taking place in them, but I think that La Reina del Sur focuses more on narcotrafficking while the issue of the border and wall between the US and Mexico in Al Otro Lado del Muro fades out amongst the two stories.

Regulations in Media

I never considered how big of a role regulation played in the production of telenovelas. In my Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS) classes I have learned about the oppression of society by the government in different countries. Therefore, it does not surprise me that the government has some type of extreme power over telenovelas, even though I did not initially consider it. However, it did surprise me how much the production team restricted themselves.

            After the Media Content Law in Venezuela, production companies like Venevisión began to restrict themselves by creating rules and regulations that the law did not even cover. For Venevisión, writers like Leonardo Padron contradicted with their over-regulation. Padron wanted to express himself through his writing and the production company stifled that expression. I could not imagine being a writer with so many restrictions. I love to write. As a person who deals with anxiety, writing helps me make sense of my feelings and connect with others regarding those feelings. If I ever had to deal with the restriction of those thoughts and emotions, I do not know how I would handle it. This is especially if I was put in a similar position as Leonardo Padron. I could not even begin to imagine not being able to return to the country I am from due to my feelings not being accepted.

            Restrictions such as a Media Content Law amaze me when it comes to content such as telenovelas. I think of telenovelas as a world where the audience can relate to the characters and their problems and where the writers and producers can express themselves however they want to. The fact that something as simple as the word “beer” cannot be mentioned does not match up to those expectations. I have noticed, through the content taught in my LACS classes and my own experience with the United States government, that the government can be extremely sensitive especially when it comes to opposition. This sensitivity is valid, but it is concerning when it begins to impact the expression and rights of citizens and entertainment media outlets. I cannot imagine major production companies in the U.S. that are equivalent to RCTV being shut down or companies equivalent to Globovisión being bought-out by the government. For me, that is like Freeform or the CW being shut down or bought out by the government - in terms of teenage dramas as opposed to telenovelas. Although I appreciate the freedoms that I do have and that the media has when it comes to expression, I am not naïve enough to ignore how easily they can be taken away.

Pasión de Gavilanes o de Amor

Cuando yo estaba investigando el consumo de Pasión de Gavilanes, me dio cuento que esta telenovela ha sido reproducido o mostrado en muchos países alrededor el mundo. Encontré esto a ser muy interesante porque antes de esta clase no supe que las telenovelas fueron muy populares y esto hecho me da una gran realización finalmente que las telenovelas pueden ser universales. 

Pasión de Gavilanes ha sido mostrado en España, Grecia, Albania, Georgia, República Checa, Bulgaria, Brasil, Chile, Argentina, Rusia, Croacia, Turquía, Eslovaquia, Polonia, Serbia, Rumania, Israel, Hungría, y los Estados Unidos. El más interesante cosa es que hay una adaptación nueva en las Filipinas. Decidí a explorar esta adaptación más y como es similar o diferente a Pasión de Gavilanes.

La adaptación se llama Pasión de Amor y fue lanzado en 2015. Los actores son filipinos pero a mayoría de los personajes tienen los mismos nombres como Pasión de Gavilanes. La cuenta es la misma como Gavilanes también. Los rating de Pasión de Amor fueron muy altos como Pasión de Gavilanes. 

Y como Pasión de Gavilanes todas las personas son muy guapas y la química entre ellos es muy caliente. Pienso que las únicas diferencias entre Gavilanes y Amore son los actores, el idioma, y algunos escenarios. 

Pienso que esto es interesante porque los temas del amor, la venganza, y la familia son universales y familiares a través las culturas muy diferentes.