As someone who has
never seen or invested in a Telenovela before I was genuinely surprised with
the results that came from watching my very first one. While watching Pasión de Gavilanes I was able to explore the ups and downs of an hour-long
introductory episode where each character immediately introduces their own
strong personality. But with the strong personalities there’s also very strong
cultural norms and expectations for characters to follow. There’s a strong
sense of patriarchal power within the first episode between Libia and her
brothers when they found out she has a lover. They were ultimately concerned
with her virtue and the fact that she will soon become the latest gossip of the
town. However, the brothers may flirt, hookup with, and even in rare cases be
paid to date and sleep with rich women while simultaneously have no concern for
their image. The brothers show different examples of male rage and power
expectations within the household; however, Juan is the most Abusive and
controlling of the three.
And even with my
knowledge of Telenovela’s always packing every inch of an episode with exciting
and dramatic new developments, I found the series’ plot actually moving
extremely slow. One of the main characters, Libia, dies in order for the main
plot of brotherly revenge to occur. However, Libia hasn’t died two episodes in,
and the true plot hasn’t officially begun. I’m excited that they didn’t use Libia
as a quick character to die and further the brothers plot and she is instead a
character that the audience gets to connect with and love before she passes.
I found myself genuinely surprised at how easy it was for me to become hooked on this show. Are there over dramatic moments that are easily laughable? Yes. Am I still enjoying every moment? Yes. As someone who sometimes takes the shows and movies they view a little too seriously, it’s nice to just have something to consume without thinking about the overarching meaning. I found myself unable to look away from the TV while watching it, and it’s so easy to understand why a nation goes quiet during the later hours of the day to tune into their favorite telenovela. What I have learned from the very start of this semester long project is that I should never have let a language barrier stop me from viewing content.
I think Paige was leading into the concept we learned in class the other day of how there are the two extremes of machismo and marianismo that leads to the patriarchal context of telenovelas. We see how there is almost a double standard with Libia and her brothers that her sexuality is to be guarded by them while they can do whatever without her approval, consent or opinion for their life AND hers.
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