Representation de Pablo Escobar

Upon watching Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal, it has been challenging to not be invested while thinking critically on the telenovela. As I watch, a prominent role is the identity of the Colombian people. Within the backgrounds and some mannerism of the characters give direct relations of the Catholic Church. At times when someone commits murder, they repeat the "sign of the cross" with their hands. Approximately 95% of the population consider themselves a members of the religion. I think back to class when watching the Turkish show the importance the Ulama was to delivering the writers message. The idea of the telenovela being a mirror of reality is enforced with the recurring gesture.

The social issues of Colombia at the time is reflected by the actions of Escobar. Early in the telenovela, Escobar is seen exploiting systems to gain benefit for himself. The first example is Escobar gets answer from a math test and when things do not go as planned he causes a scene. Later, Escobar earns wealth through the delivery of black market goods. The military that are suppose to be preventing such activities are persuaded to let the goods pass. The corruption of the police is a social issues that is persistent in Colombia and several other countries in Latin America. The military is also actively fighting the oppression of guerilla forces. The telenovela includes the guerilla forces and characters persistently assume the forces just want money. I am not familiar with guerilla tactics but I assumed this was writers reflection of guerilla forces always asking for money.

I can make the connections to telenovela being a mirror representation of reality. While I know Pablo Escobar was a real person, the writers made sure that the identity of the country was consistent in every scene. Whether the identity is a camera shot of a beautiful landscape, a street view of Spanish architecture, or the actions of many people the representation is a mere reflection of the time. As I slowly binge the 77 episode of the telenovela, the representation begins to grow. Just over the horizon is the political issues that soon Escobar will discover and probably exploit as well

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Celebrating Beauty or Exploiting Beauty?

The most universally - relevant topic covered in class this week was the glorification of external female beauty in Latin American culture, specifically in telenovelas. It is unfortunate and shameful that the prioritization of women's sensuality over their intellect and uniqueness has lasted the ages and overflowed into every culture. Just today, my friend and I were discussing the fact that women who have large followings on Instagram are often beautiful, featured posing seductively inexpensive clothes with little to say, while men who are deemed worthy of following feature exploration, leadership, and innovation. This is the key issue that I have seen in American culture and in the telenovelas we have watched: it is not the appreciation of the incredible beauty of women that is degrading, but the emphasis solely on physical appearance and the latest version of "sexiness, removing importance from who they are. Women can be both beautiful AND smart...beautiful AND kind. Or not externally beautiful, but a million other incredible things, making them worthwhile.

Something interesting about telenovelas that I have noticed is that men are also cast highly based on looks. When I researched "beauty in telenovelas," I found so many fan pages ranking the hottest male and female Telemundo characters. Even the men's desirability is determined by the size of their muscles and the depth of their tan. On the one hand, it is good that both male and female are assessed on the same scale, but do these series teach young Latin American men and women that their worth is determined by the way they look?

An interesting class discussion would be what the solution to this predicament is. Should directors cast purposefully less attractive people? Should appearance not play into casting decisions? Would simply having a more physically diverse cast make a difference? I am curious to see what others think.

Beauty Over Brains

     Something that really interested me was the lesson from class Tuesday. The importance of beauty in Venezuela and how prevalent the need to have it is.
     Plastic surgery is third in the country where the money is mostly spent. The value in beauty truly means more to the majority of the population. With the constant increase in females from age 16 and above getting breast enhancements to the cheap pricing in botox. As of 2017, the average pricing of a single botox session is $17.06.
     Regardless of the difficulties within Venezuela's economy– the plastic surgery market is thriving. Venezuela is the only country to have back-to-back Miss Universes and Miss Worlds. Their society's standards are much higher than any of us have experienced.
     In October 2019, it was reported in the New York Times that after a 15-minute ceremony in the Augusto D'Aubeterre Lyceum school located in Boca de Uchire that five children fainted and two were taken by an ambulance. These were victims of the hunger crisis that is occurring right now in Venezuela. Their children are suffering but the beauty market is off the charts.
     The average pricing of something as small as mascara is $1,643.6 (2017). This is what the title of my blog means: beauty outstands intelligence. Schools have less and less attendance. People are more aware of how somebody looks like rather who they actually are. Yes, that seems like something that everyone goes through everywhere but not on a level this extreme.
     Not to mention the shortage of medical supplies. In an article by CGTN America, a model, Yanuaria Verde, explains that not even the "quadruple-digit inflation" will stop her from getting plastic surgery. Just as there is a hunger crisis– there is a medical crisis.
     At the beginning of the article, it says that there is a shortage of prescription drugs and basic medical supplies. Verde was able to get tummy tuck liposuction in her arms and legs for under $2,000. As the model explained, the problem is not what occurs in the operating room but rather the treatment afterward. The model didn't have any form of medication after her last three surgeries.
     There are many things going on in Venezuela, but it has yet to affect the beauty market. It has shined through every crisis and event in the last several years.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/788169/venezuela-prices-plastic-surgery-procedures/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/world/americas/venezuela-students-hunger.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/788177/venezuela-prices-cosmetics-beauty-products/

https://america.cgtn.com/2018/04/15/cosmetic-plastic-surgery-venezuela-medicine-crisis

The Prevalence of Sexism in La Reina del Sur

While I am only on episode 7 of La Reina del Sur, I have seen countless examples of sexism throughout the show. As Teresa begins her life in Spain, she meets new people and becomes popularly known as "La Mexicana" who is stunning, interesting and abrasive. However, not everyone seems to be taking to her too well. Sheila, as well as many others, consistently calls her derogatory terms like "beaner" (that is the English translation in the subtitles) and Teresa has come to accept it probably because with everything else going on in her life it's simply not worth it. Others, such as her boss, male coworker and really any man that comes to her job at Yamila, refer to her as a "whore" and a "slut," despite the fact that she clearly works as an accountant in the back.

This has all been accepted as the norm in the show, but also represents the patriarchy in society. Women who are prostitutes are constantly shamed, yet men who have many partners are praised for their sexual prowess and accomplishments. Why are the men, who are the ones paying to be with these women, still allowed to treat them so poorly as if they are less than? I personally think it is utterly ridiculous to not allow a woman to use her own body to make a living. Especially when for a lot of them, they have no other option. Dris, who is a rich and powerful guy, currently is forcing one of his prostitutes to continue working for him and do as he says for an extra year so that she can get her son into the country. And as the conversation ends, he yells: "Prove that you are a good mother!" But how is it that working as a prostitute under blackmail from your boss, for an extended period of time, is a defining aspect of how she is as a mother? This would never, EVER happen for a man.

As we discussed in class, the line for women is either being a virgin or a prostitute, and there is no in-between. Given the representation of women in La Reina del Sur up to this point, that firmly holds true. Teresa is the only primary female character who doesn't seem to be judged quite as harshly as the other women, yet those hateful words are still thrown at her nonstop. Further, these men still see her as something she's not. No one respects her for earning her role as an accountant because she is smart and good with numbers. Marcelo, who is old, fat and not good-looking, has an interaction with Teresa in which she very maturely tells him that they would never get together. He smugly accepts that response claiming that one day she will need him, and when that day comes, she will think of him as Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, that day did come, and it was as hard to watch as you can imagine. Again, this is just a prime example of our patriarchal society. A man with power forces a woman into sexual favors she clearly abhors. 

La representación de cuestiones socioeconómicos y cirugía plástica en telenovelas

Pienso que sea muy interesante la manera que telenovelas y televisión latinoamericana abordan diferentes tipos de cuestiones. En mi experiencia, me he dado cuenta de televisión americana usualmente por lo general rehúye de temas controvertidos. Sin embargo, en telenovelas telan temas controvertidos en la compleja historia en diferentes capas. Unos buenos ejemplos de telenovelas son que Hola Olegario y La Mujer Perfecta.

Hola Olegario es una telenovela sobre un hombre se llamaba Olegario que se convierte en el CEO de una empresa de maquillaje llamada Onsorcio Luján. Se supone que esta compañía de maquillaje representa al país de Venezuela, mientras que Olegario se supone que representa a Hugo Chávez. Hola Olegario es una metáfora perfecta para el clima político y el estado de Venezuela bajo Chávez. Olegario afirma su poder sobre la oficina insultando a la gente y obligando a sus empleados a respetar su poder por la fuerza. No pienso los Estados Unidos haría un programa de televisión como Hola Olegario para criticar el papel del gobierno. Lo único que se podría más o menos ver es FOX burlándose de triunfo presidente en los Simpsons. 

Otro gran ejemplo de una telenovela diversa es La Mujer Perfecta. Esta telenovela profundiza en los complicaciones de la cirugía plástica sobre las mujeres y la sociedad, al mismo tiempo que toca la sexualidad y la masculinidad tóxica. En La Mujer Perfecta  nuestra protagonista lucha mucho para ajustarse al estándar de belleza de la sociedad, al mismo tiempo que luchan contra la presión que los hombres ejercen sobre las mujeres para que sean perfectas. Al final nuestra protagonista Micaela Gomez murió de cáncer de mama debido a sus complicaciones con la cirugía plástica. En mi vida he tenido mucho experiencia  y las cirugías plásticas. Mientras estábamos hablando sobre estos temas en clase, he pensando mucho sobre la influencia de cirugía plástica de telenovelas, el impacto de estos temas en la vida de gente y cómo cirugía plástica de una persona afecta su posición en sociedad. He estado muy enfermo en mi vida y tengo suerte de parecer normal gracias a los cirujanos talentosos que he encontrado en mi vida. Si no tuviera estas cirugías para mi salud no estaría vivo, sin embargo, también sería super autoconsciente si no salieran bien. De esta experiencia puedo ver el atractivo de la cirugía plástica a la mayoría de las mujeres porque sé cuánto puede aumentar su confianza teniendo cuerpo socialmente hermoso.

Simón Bolívar: La Cenicienta de Venezuela controlada por españoles

Muchos de los ejemplos más sorprendentes de representación en telenovelas de los que hablamos en clase eran en telenovelas que se desarrollan en los tiempos modernos y es por eso que fueron tan sorprendentes. En este día, y en nuestro país, es realmente sorprendente cuándo vemos racismo o sexismo obvio.

Sé que entre los latinos hay racismo y que también hay discriminación entre los latinos de diferentes países. No importa que hablen el mismo idioma y, muy probablemente, tienen raíces conectadas porque históricamente, había mucho mezcla entre varios latinos, españoles, y indígenas. También he escuchado a muchos latinos decir que el español de un país es mejor que otro y también hay muchas chistas discriminatorios sobre los latinos de diferentes países.

Cuando veo Bolívar, puedo ver muchos ejemplos de racismo en varios niveles porque se desarrollo en el tiempo anterior a la revolución en Venezuela. En ese momento, Venezuela estaba bajo el dominio de España y estaba gobernado por el ejército y los funcionarios del Rey de España.

Debido a que la historia se estableció en el pasado cuando había muchos esclavos, es posible decir que no es un reflejo de la sociedad y la cultura latinas modernas, pero creo que todavía es un comentario sobre la contradicción de los puntos de vista sobre la raza entre los hispanos/latinos. 

En el nivel más obvio, hay racismo contra los esclavos negros. Este racismo proviene de los españoles y también de los "criollos" que son españoles pero son españoles que se nacieron en Venezuela. Los adultos españoles y criollos asimismo tratan los negros como si no son seres humanos, pero tristemente, eso era normal en ese momento. Lo interesante es que los hombres creen que los negros no son humanos, pero todavía se sienten atraídos a las mujeres negras (y en algunos casos, niñas) y, a menudo, les violan. Esta circunstancia tiene implicaciones racistas y sexistas y asimismo retrata la representación de los hombres latinos, el machismo, y la dinámicas de poder que surge de eso.

Al mismo tiempo, los españoles, como el juez, insultan a los criollos, incluso a aquellos que son ricos con muchos esclavos, como la familia de Simón Bolívar. El juez cuestiona cómo un criollo como Carlos Palacios (el tío horrible de Simón) ose a tratar de llegar a un acuerdo con él. La idea que hay una diferencia entre un español que nació en España y uno que nació en Venezuela no tiene sentido pero todavía se crea una jerarquía.

Fue muy interesante ver todas las variaciones de "Cenicienta" en telenovelas en clase y creo que se puede aplicar la misma idea aquí.

Creo que en esta historia, Simon Bolívar es Cenicienta (su madre era viuda y murió cuando Simón era niño) y su tío, Carlos Palacios es la "madrastra malvada." El profesor es su hada madrina, pero todavía no sé quién es el príncipe Es posible que esta historia rompa con la historia tradicional de Cenicienta y que Simón sea su propio príncipe. Es mucho más posible en esta historia y no va a ser muy sorprendente porque Simón es un hombre. Siempre es menos convencional y mas atrevido cuando una mujer se salva en una historia.

Blog Post #2: Beauty and Aesthetic in La Doña

In La Doña, beauty and aestheticism are crucial to the story. Lady Altagracia, also known as La Doña, is a ruthless business woman who is feared by many, however she does not dress like a man to intimidate the men in the business, like some women in America feel that they should. Instead, she channels her femininity and wears incredibly low cut, lacey, lingerie tops with lots of cleavage, usually with a fitted blazer or leather jacket. While she is astonishingly beautiful, she is also revered and maintains control over hundreds of men who work beneath her in her company. In one of the first scenes where she is introduced, she is seen walking through her construction site with men around her working on building a parking lot. As she is walking through and looking at the scene, a new construction worker stopped her and said she looked especially beautiful. She thanked him, asked if it was his first day, which it was, and then told him it would be his last and promptly fired him on the spot. Her character is an example of beauty but also purpose and power behind it.

As I continue watching the episodes I quickly became aware of the classic telenovela drama that riddles the plot line. Like many telenovelas, this one contains a love triangle, however, the distinguishing factor is the mother, La Doña, and her daughter, Monica, are lusting after the same man. There's also the classic paternity drama. In this case Monica believes one man to be her father when in reality she was fathered by a man who raped Lady Altagracia. The lecture about beauty and aesthetic in Venezuela really stuck with me and I found myself analyzing the women in the telenovela trying to figure out if they had plastic surgery or not. It was both interesting as well as sad and unnerving to hear that women all over the world suffer with the feeling that their natural bodies are not good enough or attractive enough. It makes me wonder what we can do, globally, to change these notions and if we will ever be able to impact such change as to reverse the damage that has already been done. 

Blog Post 2: Beauty is in the Eye of the Telenovela

Beauty is in the Eye of the Telenovela 

During our in-class lectures over the past few weeks, we have discussed the importance and emphasis that physical beauty and vanity plays in telenovela culture. Many women are portrayed as symbols of beauty and sexuality, with obvious curves and little clothing. I have seen this especially in my telenovela "Pasion de Gavilanes," because all of the female characters are deemed "attractive" due to their skinny waists and larger breast sizes. While these features generally are not natural or genetic, many female audience members find it necessary to embody and, in a sense, copy what is seen on the television. When we learned about this in class, I found it extremely interesting that plastic surgery is such a large part of Latin-American culture. What resonated with me the most about this, was the comment that Dr. A made about plastic surgery being as "common as getting braces in the United States." 

In contrast, the United States believes that vanity and appearance have turned from the focal point of culture, to the thing we should care about the least. With the intense rise of social media, women and girls have been constantly comparing themselves to the models and celebrities that post photos and videos. However, the movement of female empowerment has been fierce recently, and many songs, articles, and posts have been made reminding females to "stop comparing" and "love themselves." 

In telenovela culture, it is evident that women are supposed to simply look pretty and are very naive. The man does the work, the defending, and come home to his wife/girlfriend (who most often is beautiful with an immense amount of plastic surgery). However, in the US, the push for women's rights and social equality has been on the rise, and has yet to slow down. For example, the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, both of Latin-American descent, and both expressing their beliefs that women rule the world. In the photo below, Jennifer Lopez stands atop the Empire State Building, and later explained that this symbolized women being "on top." I found this to be extremely interesting and conflictual with the stereotypical telenovela ideals. 

source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/super-bowl/8549927/jennifer-lopez-super-bowl-2020-halftime-costume-details 

Tu individualidad no es conveniente para mi

No quiero decir mucho específicamente sobre representación e identidad, porque estamos escribiendo nuestros documentos sobre el mismo tema. Sin embargo, hay mucho de qué hablar sobre este tema, y no he podido dejar de pensar en una de nuestras discusiones en clase.

Obviamente, las afiliaciones raciales y sexuales están evolucionando y nunca han sido temas fáciles de discutir o presentar en el "ojo público". Sin embargo, todavía me sorprendió escuchar algunas de las reacciones de mentalidad cerrada de aquellos en la producción y consumo de telenovelas tempranas. Que si una chica se vestía un poco más masculina, automáticamente se suponía que era lesbiana. O si un hombre no era un "hombre" estereotipico según la definición de machismo, entonces debe ser gay porque usted "no es un hombre". En Estados Unidos, obviamente hemos estado luchando con problemas de racismo y estereotipos desde nuestra fundación como país. Pero mi mandíbula se abrió al escuchar los estereotipos intensos que es común decir en América Latina.

Estaba aplaudiendo mentalmente mientras veíamos el clip de Lino Ferrer en clase. Los escritores y productores utilizaron un intelecto tan detallado para usar a un hombre extravagante para romper su propio estereotipo. Su punto era que si alguien no encaja fácilmente en un cuadro de género o racial, parece inconveniente hacer que alguien cree una categoría completamente nueva.

No debería ser un inconveniente para otros que alguien sea ellos mismos. Como discutimos anteriormente este semestre, las telenovelas son un reflejo de la vida para algunos y un escape para otros. Los problemas de representación son un reflejo de los problemas de la sociedad. Es loca que podamos pasar por alto estas conversaciones importantes y aún así usar un episodio de una telenovela como un escape cuando se mencionan grandes temas como este...

Pero, de nuevo, ¿podemos o deberíamos poder tomar un descanso de estos problemas?

El patriarcado sí existe en telenovelas de ruptura

Desde mi último post, he seguido viendo “El señor de los cielos” a través de una lente más crítica que antes. Está claro que esta telenovela es de ruptura, debido a su tema principal que es el narcotráfico. De acuerdo con esta categoría está el hecho que no hay ningún personaje que parece como Cenicientas. El amor de Aurelio Casillas, que se llama Ximena, es de una familia muy respetada en el área del narcotráfico. Todavía no he visto la boda de Aurelio y Ximena, pero el padre de Ximena hizo un pacto de paz con los Robles, los enemigos de Aurelio, cuando les dio una invitación para este evento. Todo esto es decir que la familia de Ximena, al menos hasta el episodio 6, es muy similar a la de los Casillas.

Por otro lado, hay algunos aspectos tradicionales que refuerzan el patriarcado, lo que aparece más en las telenovelas rosas. Hasta ahora, el papel de Ximena solo he sido cuidar a la familia que está en mucho peligro mientras las muchas antagonistas intentan capturar su amor Aurelio. Cuando Aurelio y Ximena se reunieron por primera vez después de las malas noticias sobre su supuesta muerte en la explosión, ella le ruega a dejar todo el dinero y poder de su narcotráfico atrás para que juntos puedan vivir en paz para el resto de su futuro. La respuesta de Aurelio revela que solo quiere llegar a “la cima” de esta industria de drogas, poniendo su familia en más y más peligro. Esto me sorprendió porque su familia está y he estado en peligro por mucho tiempo. De hecho, su hija Rutila fue fusilada y todavía no quiere cambiar nada de su estilo de vida. Aquí Aurelio solo considera su opinión, y para él, la de Ximena no es tan importante como suya.

Aunque esta telenovela es de ruptura, siempre aparece el patriarcado de alguna manera. Solo Aurelio toma las decisiones importantes con respecto a su imperio y a su familia. Ximena tiene un papel más de apoyo a pesar de que su padre también tiene mucho poder.

De Trapos a Ruiquezas - La Impostora

SPANISH

Desde el primer episodio, está claro que esta telenovela va a ser del tipo "Cenicienta", lo que hace que caiga bajo el tipo "Rosa" o "Tradicional".

via GIPHY

Comienza con un hombre rico saliendo de un helicóptero en los Estados Unidos (¿quizás insinuando un alto costo de producción???), En busca de venganza. Luego salta de diferentes partes de México a España (note to self- podrían ser escenarios, pero si viajaran para el espectáculo aumentaría los costos de producción!) Al tiempo que abre nuevos puntos del cuento para diferentes personajes y los conecta lentamente a medida que avanza el episodio.

A medida de  que se introduce cada personaje principal, la música cambia un poco, lo que le da a la audiencia un poco de información sobre sus personalidades. Blanca Guerrero, también llamada "Blanca Nieve" (nuestra Cenicienta), se presenta con una canción romántica. Raquel Altamira (madrastra malvada), recibe una presentación dramática con su canción, y finalmente, Eduardo Altamira (nuestro príncipe azul) es presentado con una canción divertida y casual, mientras lo vemos manejando un coche sin techo con las ventanas bajas acompañado de su hija. Me di cuenta de que hay una gran tendencia de usar sonidos / música para acompañar las escenas durante todo la telenovela; sonidos dramáticos cuando se pasa un “plot twist” o un personaje realiza algo, música romántica cuando dos personajes que se enamorarán se ven por primera vez, música suave y feliz durante las escenas más relajadas / escenas “flirty”. La música ayuda a contar / vender la historia, lo que acentúa todo lo que la acompaña. Personalmente, encuentro que los sonidos son más molestos que útiles, especialmente porque ocurren con tanta frecuencia durante la telenovela, pero entiendo cómo pueden ayudar a dar forma a la perspectiva de la audiencia de un evento o personaje especifico.

La trama de la telenovela se desarrolla durante los primeros tres episodios, con Blanca yendo "de trapos a riquezas" de la noche a la mañana y asumiendo su nueva vida como Victoria. Hasta ahora, no se ha mostrado demasiado sobre raza, orientación sexual, etc. Sin embargo, debido a que es una historia tipo Cenicienta, explora las diferencias extremas en el estatus social de cada personaje, es decir, entre los ricos y los pobres. Una de las escenas que más me llamó la atención fue en el primer episodio, donde uno de los personajes dice algo como "los ricos organizan una fiesta en la noche de año nuevo, porque necesitan impresionar a la gente, mientras que nosotros los pobres lo pasamos con la familia porque tenemos todo lo que necesitamos” (parafraseado!!). Pensé que esa línea era impactante porque hace una clara distinción entre las diferentes clases sociales en México / diferentes países, al mostrar cómo los ricos valoran lo materialista mientras que las personas quienes tienen dificultades financialmente están felices con lo que tienen ellos y sus familias. Pequeños casos como estos ocurren durante los primeros episodios, pero otro que realmente me llamó la atención fue cuando Raquel le dice a su hijo (el doctor) "Oye, hueles a pobre ... como papas fritas". Pensé que esta escena fue interesante porque nunca había pensado realmente en una distinción con los olores, y que uno de los personajes principales asociara algo tan simple o común como las papas fritas como "comida para gente pobre" fue algo que me desanimó. Si bien estas instancias son pequeñas en este momento, espero ver cuántos más detalles se exploran a medida que avanza el programa.

ENGLISH

From the very first episode, it is clear that this telenovela is going to be  “Cinderella” type, making it fall unter the ‘Rosa’ or ‘Traditional’ type. It opens with a rich man getting out of a helicopter in the United States (maybe hinting towards high production costs??), looking for revenge. It then jumps around from different parts of Mexico to Spain (could be sets, but if they did travel for the show it would raise production costs!!) while opening up new plot points for different characters and slowly connecting them as the episode progresses. 

As each main character is introduced, the music changes a little giving the audience a little bit of insight as to their personality. Blanca Guerrero, also called “Blanca Nieve” (our Cinderella), is introduced with a romantic song. Raquel Aktamira (evil stepmother), gets a dramatic song introduction, and finally, Eduardo Altamira (our prince charming) is introduced with a fun and casual song, while we see him driving a convertible with the windows down accompanied by his daughter. I’ve noticed that there is a heavy trend of using sounds / music to accompany a scenes throughout the show; dramatic sounds when a plot twist is dropped or a character is scheeming, romantic music when two characters who will fall inlove see eachother for the first time, playful music during the more laid back / slightly romantic scenes. The music helps tell / sell the story, which accentuates everything going along with it. Personally, I find the sounds to be more annoying than helpful especially since they occur so often during the telenovela, but I understand how they can help shape the audience's perspective of a certain event or character. 

The plotline of the telenovela is developed over the first three episodes- with Blanca going “from rags to riches” overnight, and taking on her new life as Victoria. So far, there hasn’t been too much shown about race, sexual orientation, etc. However, because it is a Cinderella type story it does explore the extreme differences in each characters social status- meaning between the rich and the poor. One of the scenes that stood out to me the most was in the very first episode, where one of the characters says something along the lines of “rich people throw party on new years eve, because they need to impress people, while us poor people spend it with family because we have everything we need” (paraphrased). I thought that line was impactful because it makes a clear distinction between the different social classes in Mexico / different countries, by showing how the rich value the materialistsic while the people who struggle financially are happy with what they have, and their families. Small instances like these happen throughout the first few episodes, but another that really caught my attention was when Raquel says to her (doctor) son “Oye, hueles a pobre… como papas fritas”. I thought this one was interesting because I had never really though of a distinction with smells, and having one of the main characters associate something as simple or common as french fries as “poor people food” was something that threw me off. While these instances are small right now, I look forward to seeing how much more detail this is explored as the show goes on.

Setting the Scene for Romance

Is a moment romantic without setting the scene? 

Telenovelas say no.

At this point in the semester, I am on episode nineteen of Pasión de Gavilanes. As you can imagine, there have been plenty of romantic moments between the main characters in the story. I expected this. What I did not expect was how the production of the telenovela would so intentionally set the scene for romance between our characters not only with dialogue, but also with the audio and editing.

I’ve now heard the theme song nineteen times at the start of each episode. However, I do not know Spanish and Netflix does not translate the lyrics so I was unaware of what they were singing about. Regardless of me not understanding the lyrics, I noticed each time the protagonists looked into the eyes of their love interest, the theme song would play in the background. Just from the music, the audience could tell that this meant a love connection was happening between the characters. In Pasión de Gavilanes, this happens often between Juan and Norma in the first twenty episodes and helps emphasize to the audience their connection to each other.

Not to mention, when you do translate the lyrics into English, you see how fitting the song represents the relationship between Norma and Juan and their passion for each other - especially Juan's. From the video below you see some of the lyrics are: Your smile is the caress that moves me and makes me go crazy. He repeatedly tells his brothers that he cannot get Norma out of his brain and that she is driving him crazy. As their love progresses, he even tells their housekeeper that he would sacrifice anything for Norma - even his hate toward the Elizondo family.

Below you can find a link to a video where you can watch and listen to the song with English subtitles:

However, the music is not the only way the production sets the scene for romance. The scenes that are shot between love interests or are very key moments in their passion for each other intensifying have a specific filter. These scenes have almost a golden, warm color filter on the scene that helps heighten the loving emotions the actors are conveying. Even with no subtitles and the audio muted, you would be able to tell these scenes are key moments in the love plot line based on the visual addition of filters, no to mention the eye contact and body language of the actors. 

Golden Filter

Normal Filter

I think telenovelas catch a lot of hate for being overdramatic, but the over dramatization of these scenes are what has kept all the characters and different plot lines straight for me. If these writers and producers did decide to be subtle in their cues, I would miss it all together because of the amount of drama happening.

The intentionality of the producers in setting the scene for romance helps draw the audience into the scenes and emphasize the love timeline of the show. This emphasis also helps overcome language barriers in my case and I think works to create an even more global engagement of telenovelas. Other media (movies, tv shows, etc.) could learn from this concept and help gather an international audience through setting scenes in every aspect of the media consumption.

My Hips Don't Lie (So Please Pay Attention)

I know we only touched based on the Super Bowl halftime show as an introduction to our unit on Representation and Identity, but it is something that resonated with me when Dr. A analyzed it, even briefly. When I watched the performance on Youtube the morning after the game, I really enjoyed it. I had already seen snippets on Twitter with viral tweets especially the scene where Shakira does the, what seems out of place, tongue movement. I didn’t think much of it at all. Despite being a Mexican-American who very much is affected by the presidential policies of now and yesterday, I did not pick up on the subtleties of the performance. So much so, that for my COMM 3300 course which centers on choosing one (1) rhetorical act to criticize for the rest of the semester, I have chosen this moment. I am very interested in how a political act disguised in shiny, short, see-through outfits with voluminous hair and hips that don’t lie is able to infiltrate the homes of people. I have heard it before and I heard it again in this class that when people watch things for entertainment purposes, their guards are low. There is not much resistance on their part to absorb whatever they are seeing as opposed to watching the 5 o’clock news. It is a chance to attempt to leave an impact on viewers without them necessarily feeling like they’re being preached to.

For the assignment itself I will actually be in charge of doing a contextual analysis in which I have to lay the stage of two main things: the political climate that has led to the necessity to send the political messages and why the NFL’s halftime shows in recent years have turned into a platform to say them. (Though one could get too in depth on controversial things the NFL has done and then ask why they allow such acts, my professor is restricting me to only look at these exigencies rather than go down the rabbit-hole with it.) There are some shows that don’t say much (Maroon 5 last year for example) and others like this that create immediate reactions in the media (Beyoncé a few years ago.) Be it that the public was judging the way JLO and Shakira were dressed or the way they moved (as if they need to act in another way to be respected) or in how they bring forward the messages of kids in cages and the negligence of Puerto Rico to the safety of the homes of the viewers, JLO, Shakira and Roc Nation, who produced it, created a rhetorical act that was more than just a 14 minute performance behind bright lights.

This act is reflective of our society at the moment much like the telenovelas we have been discussing. The novelas are an opportunity for writers or creatives to mimic this strategy but with the art of knowing when too much is enough. For example in today’s class, we saw two instances where the novela reflected one case and then accurately depicted another case that happened in society. The audience reacted well to one, but not to the other meaning entertainment is consumed primarily as a distraction, and people do not want it to hit too close to home. If they’re seeing the same thing on the TV as they would see if they looked out the window, then the taste is a bit more sour. It’s extremely interesting how our perceptions of life are warped so much that those that watched the novela who stood with Chavez did not recognize his persona onscreen. I think it might be like when you have already been exposed to an optical illusion and the first time you didn’t see what the artist wants you to see, but the next time you are ready and are actively searching for it. This would be applied to the opposers of Chavez I believe. They were affected negatively by his administration thus it is easier for them to see in Olegario Pérez’s their president’s wrong-doings. The fine line between reality and what we assume is reality is difficult to navigate when we experience life through different lenses.

(I have been exposed to this image since maybe 3rd grade, and I always forget where the old lady is. I do not know if it is because I forget or because the young lady is who I see first (and remember) and neglect to look at the bigger picture once I have found what I am looking for. Chavez’s supporters might never see the old lady in the image.)

Daddy Issues and Amar a Muerte

This blog post is gonna be a spoiler alert if you are watching Amar a Muerte:

Last week (or the week before that), Dr. Acosta Alzuru talked about machismo and marianismo in Latin America. She commented about how men are not expected to be as involved in the family as the women. She talked about how the pillar of the family is the mom, if the dad leaves, everything is going to be fine because everything revolves around the mom. This is definitely true, most of my Hispanic friends at UGA and I talk about this a lot, sharing our experiences growing up and our 'daddy issues'.

The novela I picked was Amar a Muerte and something that caught my attention the most was the ending. The main plot of the novela is that these two characters were given a second chance in life. Leon thinks that he came back to get revenge on the people that killed him and maybe a second chance at love, but no, he came back for a second chance at being a better father. Leon, in his first life, was a very successful businessman and he had three kids. His kids grew up without a mother, and Leon always focused on his work because he believed that providing a lot of money and leaving a legacy was the definition of being a good father. The whole telenovela has many subplots and lots of love, but in the last episode, when you think you are going to end happily ever after love story, the female protagonist is killed. Then we see that the real message for Leon's reincarnation is to be a better father.
This was me, a hopeless romantic, not getting her romantic happy ever after:

But the more I thought about it, the more I liked that the novela was addressing this issue. In my mental health for Latinx Immigrants class last semester, we talked a lot about machismo and parental figures. How men are taught that showing their emotions is perceived as weak, how they are expected to provide well for the family, all these stereotypes that at the end do us no good. You can see all these stereotypes in Leon, he used to be a dad that wasn't very expressive with his kids, and he focused on work to give them the best life possible. He focused a lot on creating a legacy that they could follow rather than listening to what they wanted, and this messed them up a little bit rather than helping them.  When he came back to life in Chino's body, he got a chance to get to know his kids better without them knowing he was their father. He got to see what he needed to do for him to be a better father for his children.

I actually see a lot of Leon in my dad. He is a businessman in Venezuela and not a very sentimental man. He has given me an amazing life and everything I've ever asked for, but he is not very affectionate and that affected me a lot growing up. I have many half-siblings, and there are some of them that resent my dad a lot because of his lack of affection and it shows. They resent him just like Leon's older daughter resented him. But something I've gotten to understand in the past years, is that they are different love languages, words of affirmations and touch are not my dad's and that's ok... they are not mine either. My dad is the way he is because he grew up in the lower class and he always saw his dad trying to provide to his family. He grew up lacking many things, and he shows us his love by giving us everything he didn't get to have. I've talked to my dad about this a lot, and I am very lucky to have him as my dad... no second chance needed. But these stereotypes need to be broken and I am glad that this telenovela addressed that.