Weeds is my absolutely 100% my favorite show ever.
For those who don't know, Weeds is a story about a housewife whose husband died suddenly and had no source of income, so what better way of making money than selling drugs? She becomes a weed dealer, and the drama escalates from there. Season 5 just ended last Monday, and it seems like a different show than it was at the beginning. Now, instead of worrying about the DEA ransacking her house, she is concerned about a man running for the Mexican government- who is also her baby's daddy and husband. He has threatened to kill her on numerous occasions. There are numerous crazy love stories-- does the drug dealer's son help save the potential governor's daughter when she overdoses on heroin because he has a crush on her? The brother of the dead husband was (and still might be) in love with the drug dealer. The brother of the dead husband also took the youngest son (when he was in FIFTH grade) to a "massage parlor" (whore house) to experience his first sexual experience.
The drama with weeds never ends. Each episode leads in a cliffhanger- season finales are always a bigger one than the ends of each episode. You can sometimes catch on by watching a single episode, but each episode leads into the story of the next episode.
My question is this: How is this really different from a telenovela, other than the logistics? I mean, Weeds is aired only once a week, whereas telenovelas are daily. Weeds is also separated into seasons, and is potentially never ending, unlike telenovelas. But is the DRAMA truly any different? It's extremely melodramatic. Love stories that seem improbable are always bound to happen. Is the only difference between the two the length of the show?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think drama is present both in Weeds and telenovelas. But, the daily delivery (as in telenovelas) establishes a different relationship between the audience and the show (and its characters), than the weekly delivery (Weeds). So, even though melodrama feels universal, the pace dictates different storylines and a different brand of attachment between the show and its followers. Both can be strong, but it's different when a show is part of your daily life, not just once a week.
ReplyDeleteCould it also be the standard in which we have been told to watch television. Does America have television shows that air everyday (non news based? Not unless you count soap operas, which are only aired in the middle of the day, when most people are at work or school.
ReplyDeleteTelevision shows have become a weekly event for us. While we may follow them as closely as someone who follows a telenovela, the networks have made us learn to wait a week for the next episode, and then after the season is done, several months.
The drama seems to be the same, but the method of delivery is quite different, which also helps represent how different cultures consume media. Most people will watch the news everyday, to catch up on current events, and this timetable mimics that of a telenovela.
It would be interesting to survey telenovela watchers to see if they could only watch an hour of the news or an hour of telenovelas each day, which one would they choose.