Blog Post #5: Grace, Patience, and Honesty

It seems crazy to think that this semester is already coming to an end. I have to try not to feel robbed, as I'm sure many other students feel, of my spring semester. I remember the first week of classes in January, walking into Telenovelas, Culture, & Society, and thinking to myself 'Wow. This could be my favorite class I've ever taken.' I have to try to look at the positives and be grateful for the time that we had together. Obviously, had I known what would happen I think I would've been more intentional, more deliberate with every second I had in the class, had I known it was going to be so limited. But I think, as horrific as this pandemic has been, I think it's made all of us really remember to never take anything for granted. When the pandemic truly hit the fan, it was everything I could do to stay calm. My anxiety disorder took COVID-19 and ran with it, making waking up each day like a nightmarish version of the 1993 film Groundhog's Day. 'You have nothing to do! You're isolated in your apartment you have no excuse to not do your work!' However, at least for me, I found the walls of my apartment closing in around me. All of the work that I needed to do suddenly seemed meaningless compared to the climbing death toll on the news every morning. I could barely concentrate on the things I needed to do. The things I used to look forward to, now seemed to take an unreasonable amount of effort. Even watching my telenovela. I tried my best to be swept up in the world of La Doña. Sometimes it worked, most of the time I found myself having to rewatch the same 5 episodes because I either couldn't pay attention, or couldn't remember what had happened. I think at this point, the concept of grace is so important. We need to give each other grace and have patience in this crazy new world, but most importantly, we need to give ourselves grace and listen to our bodies and what we need. The collective unease that we all feel every day? It is grief. Grieving a life that we lost and the people we've lost with it. Even if you don't know someone who lost their life to COVID, we have all lost pieces of our lives and the normality that we used to have. I am grateful for the hard working people that create La Doña and give people a way to escape and a glance back at what life looked like before social distancing. I know that, without this pandemic, I would've watched more of my telenovela, but I am working on being patient with myself and giving myself grace and knowing that I am, truly doing my best.

The drama of cheating

This post is going to be very personal so prepare:

I think one very important thing about me is that I am a hopeless romantic. I am a sucker for romance, therefore the majority of the tv and books I watch and read are romance. There is no romance in it? I will probably not enjoy it as much. I don't know where this originates from, but I just do. Another thing about me is that I come from an extremely Machista country, which Dr. A has talked about in class. One of the consequences of machismo is that men are allowed to get away with many things, in specific for this blog post, cheating.

When your partner cheats, how you react and the decisions you make regarding your marriage are completely up to you, but when I was a kid I did not think that way. I remember when I was around 10 I was having a conversation at lunchtime with my friends about marriage and my friend said "Your husband will cheat. There is nothing we can do about it, it's just going to happen, it's not enough reason to get a divorce cause otherwise we will be single all our life" At the time, I agreed with her but as the year passed, I realized that it is complete bs.  Regardless, growing up I saw and heard many cases of cheating which made it seem common and acceptable. One example would be my parents, my mom met my dad, a married man, and he swept her off her feet. After many years of ups and downs, they got married when I was 12. This story is pretty common in telenovelas, it is a challenge where the main couple has to break a marriage to get their breakthrough. One example would be La Mujer Perfecta or Cosita Rica where it was the main plot and it didn't get as much interest as the subplot because it was a very common challenge. In addition, even though the ex-wife was not the romantic point of the story, she still fought really hard to keep her husband even though he was seeing somebody else on the side, and she was viewed as evil for that (sometimes she was evil for more things though). Growing up watching these shows and saying many similar cases in real-life has a big impact on how you see relationships. 

The viewpoint I had on relationships and marriage has changed significantly as I grew up. Before, being the hopeless romantic I am, I considered these stories to be super romantic, but what is romantic about being with a married guy? Or what is so romantic about staying with a guy that cheated on you? I believe that the reason why these plots are so successful is due to the machismo that is ingrained by our society, therefore to break these I think we should stop romanticizing this toxic behavior in the media that we consume the most. I am still glad some people make their relationship work, like my parents and many of the happy endings in the telenovelas, but just because it worked for them, it doesn't make it acceptable. 

Growing up Watching Telenovelas

   Growing up, in my household, telenovelas were always on. When I would come back home from school, no matter what my mom was doing, there would be a telenovela on. Maybe they were on for background noise or entertainment doesn't matter, they were always on. I loved the storylines, the plot twists, and the drama. The romance was bizarre but that is what made me want to keep watching.
    My favorite telenovela as a kid, which I can guarantee you shaped the attitude I have today, was "Teresa." It is about a law student, named Teresa who is played by Angelique Boyer, lures her way into the world of wealth. She grew up in a poor town and went to a private school on a "scholarship." In the beginning, what really draws you in to keep watching is the way she lies through her school life. No, you think her vices and need for karma would make you hate her, but I can promise you that is not the case. She was popular, dated the perfect guy, but made herself seem like she was rich and had it all. Anytime anyone would ask about her parents she would shrug it off and say they were on a business trip.
   What made me like the character Teresa was her drive to succeed. When the truth came out, she didn't let it bring her down. She went to the law school of her dreams, married the perfect man, and later on owned had her own firm. There were decisions she made that would make you a tad bit annoyed but in the end, while she wasn't supposed to have it her way– she did.
    Angelique Boyer (as our class should know by now) is one of my favorite Latina actresses. She is half-French and half Mexican.  I first saw her in "Rebelde," a telenovela that is based on the different backgrounds of different classes. I grew up watching Boyer and I admire her as a person. She is so confident and dedicated to what she does.
    Another one I grew up watching was "El Clon." The version with Sandra Echeverría, where she portrays an Islamic woman named Jade who is caught in a love triangle. As a kid, I was used to seeing love triangles in telenovelas, but I was always entertained by the drama behind them. You would typically think that it just involves a woman and two different men but there have been cases where it was a woman and a set of twins.
   Yes, the drama was what I lived for but the plot twists would just make me so excited to watch the next episode. Whether a favorite character of mine committed a crime, the couple I never expected share a kiss, or even the villain approaching the main character out of nowhere– the moments that made you want to pull your hair out, those were the best. Especially when it ended in a cliffhanger because that is how you know that the next episode will be absolutely insane.
   I am proud of having grown up watching telenovelas. Yes, they had their drama and crazy love stories but they also taught great lessons. Like, if you slap a man, he will most likely fall in love with you or your maid is possibly your mom or maybe even sister. In all seriousness, they do an amazing job in pushing for diversity, being mindful of those who have a disability and to remain patient even when things get difficult.
 

The future of (Ben and) telenovelas

Throughout this semester, we have learned so much from our amazing professor, Doctor A. Whether she was lecturing in class, setting up interviews with famous actors/actresses/writers, or talking to us through email and pre-recorded PowerPoints, Doctor A was expanding our minds. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say thank you. Because honestly, this course has impacted me in ways I didn't expect it to. I have Colombian family that I got to see over Christmas break, and I told them about my plans to take this class. They were all super excited for me to get a glimpse into their lives back in Colombia when they were growing up, which in turn allowed me to hear some really amazing stories I had never heard before. (It also was when I first realized that this class would be good for my Spanish that clearly needed work after I kept having to ask Tía Nelly to repeat things 🤣😅)

With this semester coming to a close in such an unexpected way, I look back at our class time with such a longing for our lost class time to learn so much more... haha nooo! I'm most upset we don't get to enjoy a delicious home cooked meal from Doctor A!!! In all seriousness though, I am sad that we missed out on so many interesting discussion topics. The one that I think is the most intriguing is the conversation behind remakes of Telenovelas. It's so wild to me that Corazón Salvaje for example was re-made four times! How can something be done over and over and over again like that? I think Alberto Barrera is spot on in this quote from the slides: "Remakes come from one of the greatest anxieties in the telenovela industry: the guarantee of success." But I want to relate that to people. We can't try to do things the exact same way as others in hopes of being successful. What works for some just simply doesn't work for all. In the current digital age, I worry about kids and young adults that are our age who feel so much social pressure to be picture perfect in a way that should "guarantee success." I'm an RA here at UGA, and I saw Tik Tok take over some of my residents' and friends' lives while they try to copy famous people as best they can so they too can become Tik Tok famous. And yes I understand they do it because it's fun and that they know the odds are stacked against them reaching fame through this app. However, not everyone does.

I was watching La Reina del Sur 1, which was recently followed by La Reina del Sur 2. (I got lucky with that for the sake of this argument as it helps prove my final point I want to make) We as a society should try to focus on part 2, or chapter 3, or season 4, and so on, instead of trying to be Ben 2.0... no Ben 3.0... no no this is Ben 4.0, better than ever! Looking back at who we were to learn from our mistakes is the real way to guarantee future success. Trying to do remake after remake will only result in a bored audience and an unsustainable future.

Sen Anlat Karadeniz - Ada Milla

ESPANOL

A medida que el semestre llega a su fin, también es el fin de  mi experiencia con las telenovelas. Bueno, más o menos. Todavía tengo que terminar Sen Anlat Karadeniz (y cedí y compré YouTube premium para poder verlo sin anuncios, así que estoy determinada terminarlo) y estoy pensando en viendo Kara Para Ask pronto ya que está en Netflix. Después de mi experiencia con La Impostora, tengo que admitir que no estoy demasiada interesada en comenzar otra telenovela latina, pero algún día podré comer mis palabras.

Recogí esta clase en el último minuto como una forma de cumplir con un requisito, y estoy tan feliz que elegí esto en lugar de la clase de psicología que estaba considerando.  En esta clase yo aprendí mucho y llegué a amar a todos los personajes de esta telenovela. Creo que mi personaje favorito tendría que ser Asiye, porque ella trajo la astucia y la ligereza a una telenovela que estuvo cargada de drama, y ​además ​es muy divertida y graciosa. 

Sen Anlat Karadeniz ha sido uno de mis programas de televisión favoritos, y también tengo a mi compañera de cuarto y a mi tía adictos. Creo que me enamoré porque es un programa realista que no solo es adictivo desde el punto de vista de la audiencia, sino que también (desafortunadamente) personas pueden relacionarse con esto. No me gustaba La Impostora o El Clon porque ambos eran programas que tenían muchas cosas extremas al azar, y las posibilidades de que eso ocurra en el mundo real son mínimas. Me duele decir que muchas mujeres pueden identificarse con Sen Anlat Karadeniz, pero también pueden sacar fuerzas de ella y esforzarse por ser como Nefes. No voy a mentir, cuando la Profesora A mostró por primera vez los trailers en clase, los odiaba y no estaba segura de por qué alguien querría ver algo así o revivirlo si hubiera sido algo que habían experienciado en el pasado. Sin embargo, me di cuenta de que este programa podría inspirar a otros a hablar y ayudarse a sí mismos. Junto a todo esto, puedo decir honestamente que el programa también me enseñó algunas cosas sobre un país del que realmente no sabía nada, lo que creo que también fue parte de la apelación.

A pesar de que el semestre está terminando, estoy muy feliz de haber podido compartir este semestre con todos, y aunque COVID19 nos dejó sin vida, aún pudimos reunirnos con Leonardo Padrón. Honestamente, tengo mucho más que decir sobre esta clase, pero no sé cómo dejar de ramble en mi blog post, así que concluiré con esto:

Gracias Dra. A por presentarme al mundo de las telenovelas (especialmente las turcas!!). Gracias por siempre estar disponible para reunirse después de la clase (o zoom) y por hacer lo mejor para sus alumnos. Usted ha sido uno de mis profesores favoritos y, aunque me gradúe en una semana, espero tener el privilegio de seguir tu trabajo a través de Instagram.

ENGLISH

As the semester comes to an end, so does my experience with telenovelas. Well, kind of. I have yet to finish Sen Anlat Karadeniz (and I gave in and bought YouTube premium so I could watch it without ads, so I WILL be finishing it) and I’m contemplating selling my soul to Kara Para Ask since it is on Netflix. After my experience with La Impostora I have to admit that I’m not too keen on starting another Latin telenovela, but I may one day eat my words. 

I picked this class up last minute as a way to fill a requirement, and I’ve been so happy I chose this over the psych class I was considering because I learned so much and came to love all of the characters in this show. I think my favorite character would have to be Asiye, because she brought sass and lightheadedness to a telenovela which was heavy with the drama, and she’s funny as heck. 

Sen Anlat Karadeniz has been one of my favorite TV shows I’ve ever watched, and I got both my roommate and my aunt addicted to it as well. I think I fell in love with it because it is a realistic show which isn’t only addicting from a viewer standpoint, but can also (unfortunately) be relatable to many women around the world. I didn’t like La Impostora or El Clon because those were both shows that had a lot of random extreme things, and the chances of those ever happening in the real world are slim to none. It pains me to say many women can relate to Sen Anlat Karadeniz, but they can also draw strength from it and strive to be like Nefes. I’m not going to lie, when Profesora A first showed the trailers in class I hated them and I wasn’t sure why anyone would ever want to watch anything like it, or re-live it if it had been something they had experienced in the past. However, I did come to realize that this show could inspire others to speak up and help themselves. Alongside all of this,  I can honestly say that the show also taught me some things about a country I really didn’t know anything about, which I think was also part of the appeal. 

Even though the semester is wrapping up, I am so happy I was able to share this semester with everybody, and even though COVID19 threw all of our lives out of whack we were still able to meet with Leonardo Padron. Honestly I have so much more to say about this class, but don’t know how to without rambling on in a blogpost, so I’ll conclude with this:

Thank you, Dra. A for introducing me to the world of telenovelas (especially turkish ones!!). Thank you for always being available to meet after class (or zoom) and for doing what is best for your students. You’ve been one of my favorite professors, and even though I graduate in a week, I hope I get the privilege to follow your work via instagram.

Blog 5

Telenovela Remakes are Causing the Industry to Die

While I do not believe that the telenovela industry is currently dead, I do in fact believe that the constant remakes of stories are causing a slow decline in telenovela popularity. After reviewing the "Future of the Telenovela" slides posted by Dr. A, it dawned on me just HOW many remakes there have been. While I did know remakes existed, even in American culture as well, the amount of remakes done of certain stories truly blew me away. 

Looking at the three specific opinions from Salvador Mejía, Fernando Gaitán, and Alberto Barrera, the main thing that stood out to me was that both of the writers (Fernando and Alberto) shared similar negative opinions about remakes, while the producer (Salvador) had the opposing viewpoint. This is because, as Dr. A said in the slides, producers are the key component in a remake because they were not the ones that came up with the story, and instead are trying to change or tweak it. 

In my opinion, I fully agree with the writers in this case. I feel as though writing a true and original telenovela is a difficult task, and only creative people can execute this successfully. It can take months and years to create such complex stories, and when successful, the credit is due to the writers. While in the past some remakes have been successful, (again, this is true in American society as well. ie. Cinderella) it is crucial for the telenovela industry to constantly be issuing new and original ideas. As Fernando said, "remakes don’t give any space to tell the story of what happens in Latin America and impedes telenovelas to transmit what Latin America is about." I do believe this to be true as well. 

photo credit: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fernando-gaitan-dies-creator-yo-soy-betty-la-fea-was-58-1181076 

Una reflexión sobre esta clase y pensamientos finales sobre mi telenovela

De todas las clases que he tomado en la universidad este ha sido mi favorito. Y la parte más divertida fue al principio del semestre en la que no tenía ninguna idea de lo que me estaba metiendo. En DegreeWorks todo lo que tenía para esta clase las descripciones eran "español a través de las desapasquerías" con sólo 8 asientos disponibles para esta clase, lo que me pareció extraño. Cuando intenté inscribirme en esta clase tuve que obtener un permiso especial de la Dr. A para registrarme y ella respondió muy rápidamente a mi solicitud.

El primer día que llegué a esta clase pensé que estaba en la habitación equivocada y revisé múltiples antes de darme cuenta de que se trataba de telenovelas. No tenía idea de cómo sentirme al respecto porque nunca he estado realmente expuesto a este género de la televisión y realmente no entendía por qué era tan importante. Lo único similar a una telenovela hasta este momento fueron soap operas y programas de televisión estadounidenses como 90 Day Fiance. Cuando comenzamos esta clase no me di cuenta de lo mucho que no sabía y lo grande que era el mundo de las telenovelas. Aprendí mucho sobre producción, historia, comunicación, influencias culturales, representación e identidad, consumo y regulación. Las experiencias de Dr. A y la perspectiva que proporcionó también fue increíble. Me he ganado tanto respeto por este género de televisión y el mundo de las telenovelas y nunca he querido ser parte de un mundo que no conocía tanto.

Otro de mis trabajos favoritos para esta clase fue ver la telenovela en sí. Mi telenovela en sí siguió perfectamente lo que estábamos aprendiendo en esta clase que lo hizo mucho mejor. Mi telenovela Celia, fue una telenovela sobre la vida de Celia Cruz. Su historia fue contada vibrantemente a través de la música, la danza, el carácter estelar y el diseño vestuario y una gran escritura de guiones. La vida de Celia Cruz estaba muy bien representada hasta el punto que siento como si pudiera haberla conocido a ella y a sus luchas. También me gusta mucho cómo la telenovela representaba las relaciones ya sean amistades, relaciones sexuales, asociaciones, LGBTQ+, relaciones entre género e identidad y dinámica familiar. Además, esto me gusta mucho cómo la telenovela representaba las relaciones ya sean amistades, relaciones sexuales, asociaciones, LGBTQ, relaciones entre género e identidad y dinámica familiar.

Al final tendría que decir que he aprendido más sobre la cultura española en esta clase que cualquier otra clase de español por lo crudo y nuevo que es el material para el mundo. También tendría que decir que voy a extrañar mucho a todos en esta clase y tal vez después de esto todavía podamos encontrar una manera de reunirnos y celebrar nuestros logros.

Muchas gracias Dr. A!

Sydney Higginbotham