Consumption Issues

Alright, so I'll be honest... as we've been talking about consumption these past couple of class periods, my mind's been wandering about what I'm going to talk about for my presentation and how the telenovela that I watched is going to play into consumption issues.

My first question was discussed a bit by Dr. A in class- I asked how fans of telenovelas react to their protagonists in other telenovelas. For instance, I watched how Edith Gonzalez stole the heart of Juan del Diablo and the entire audience of Corazon Salvaje in that specific telenovela. As Dr. A discussed Edith's new telenovela, Doña Bárbara, I found myself relating to the "Barbaritas." I haven't even watched the telenovela yet!!!! So I'm safely assuming that this will play into other telenovelas and the audience consumption. Once they relate to a character in one telenovela, it'll be hard to go against them in another. We all have our favorites.. let's face it. And at this point in the semester, I'm pretty sure we're all hooked onto the protagonists in the telenovela we've watched. I'm looking forward to purchasing Doña Bárbara and seeing how I react to Marisela and Santos. Not very highly, I'm already thinking....

I wonder if that's what I should talk about in my consumption presentation, though I've already got an issue in Corazon Salvaje that Dr. A and I discussed. She's talked about this in class too, but apparently Juan del Diablo isn't the typical "hunk" for a protagonist in the telenovela. I'll admit- when I first started watching, I wasn't that into him either. By the end of the telenovela, I thought he was just perfect- especially for Monica. But apparently I'm not the only one with initial apprehension about Eduardo Palomo playing Juan del Diablo- other people had the same hesitations too! I've been looking it up online (through blogs, message boards, etc.) and I've been interested to see that people only starting thinking Juan del Diablo was attractive further along into the telenovela, once he showed his soft side and his love for Monica. Interesting....

The last topic I might discuss for my consumption presentation is the upcoming remake of Corazon Salvaje. People have made SUCH a big deal about the casting for the new show, and I'll be interested to see how that perspective changes once the telenovela is aired. So maybe I can do some research about all those hesitations now and compare it to what people thought when the 1993 version came out and then make predictions about how this new consumption issue will play out...

So many things to choose from... So little time...

Men Cry Too

A few days ago, I was watching an episode of my telenovela, Verano de Amor. As I watched, I was searching for something unusual within the episode. During my search, I was surprised to find a scene where one of the lead characters, Federico, was crying. In between the time that I had first begun to watch the noveela and that particular episode I had seen tons of "masculine" behavior. For example, one character, Vito, is a wealthy elderly man. He has a wife, Aura and two grandchildren, Enzo and Isa, that are staying with him and his wife for the summer. Although Vito and Aura are very loving towards each other, it is clear who has the more masculine role in the family. The Aura is a stay at home wife and basically does everything that involves taking care of the house, while Vito takes care of business outside of the home. Aura is always crying about a problem that is going on in the community or with her son. On the other hand, Vito seems more like the level headed one who is there to comfort Aura in these "intense" moments. These are the kinds of scenes that are frequently a part of the show.
This particular episode was interesting because in class, we've talked about the different roles that are portrayed by men and women in telenovelas. However, this scene did not fit the script. Dylan, the son of a seemingly happy couple, finds his father, Federico, outside crying right before he and his wife are to go to Miami for a vacation. In this couple, both the husband and wife are working, however, the wife, Frida, takes her work much more seriously. When Dylan asks his father what is wrong, his father explains to him that things are not going well between him and Dylan's mother. The father feels that the mother values her job over their marriage and that he suspects that there may be someone else. This is a totally untypical view of the male's role in the relationship. So far, I had seen nothing but men who either felt nothing about the women they were with, or men who were portrayed as the leader of the household. I feel that most of the time, the woman is the one that is fretting over the future of the relationship. However, I like how the show portrays the other side of the coin. Although women may cry more, it's nice to know that men cry too.

Powerful Influences

Looking at consumption, I thought it was so interesting that Dona Barbara had the power to separate an audience. The audience was so strongly connected to these fictional characters that it actually affected real life for them, and that is mind-boggling to me. Then in class today, the effect of telenovelas on people came up again when we talked about using telenovelas as mediums for social messages (like the census topic).

Telenovelas are obviously very effective in influencing the Latin population. If this is so, can't that also reinforce negative aspects? For example, if children as young as 4 years old are watching telenovelas, do they start believing in that type of "fairy tale" love story? I understand that most people use telenovelas as an escape from reality, but if these telenovelas are starting to affect reality then how is that line defined?

And why isn't something like telenovelas so prevalent in American culture? What makes a telenovela so addictive and significant in Latin American society?

A Less Controversial Love Triangle

Doña Barbara had a key element that was represented in Sin Tetas no hay Paraíso: the mother- daughter love triangle. In the case of Doña Barbara, everyone took a side and took a liking to either the mother or daughter. The "Barbaritas", whom supported the mother, saw her as a strong woman who has been through a lot and deserved this man. The opposing side, the "Mariselitas", saw the mother as evil and wanted the daughter to find true love. The feud was intense.

In the story of Sin Tetas, the main character (Catalina) has a boyfriend, and they are in love. In the first few episodes everything is going well, and they are happy. However, as she begins to become more involved in prostitution, their love changes. She disappears for days at a time, leaving her boyfriend alone. (This is a side note, but I did think it was weird how much the boyfriend hung out at the house, even when Catalina was not at home. I understand that he had a difficult home life, but none the less it weirded me out. Maybe it's a cultural thing, I do not know). So while Catalina is gone, the boyfriend and mother begin to form a bond. They both need each other and slowly begin to fall in love. Although Catalina continues to enter the picture, sleeping with Albeiro and upsetting the mother, Hilda and Albeiro remain a couple in the end. They even discover that they have a baby on the way in the final episodes.

I was not sure if there were the same kind of feelings as in Doña Barabara. Were there "Catalinistas" and "Hildists"? Did the audience have a strong feeling for who should be with Albeiro and hate the other?

I went on the Sin Tetas facebook to find my answer. Among the comments about how beautiful the women are and how great the novel was, I found some information. I did not see any fighting or any direct hatred toward either Catalina or the mother. In the comments I read, it was not really mentioned. I did see, however, a lot of people use words like "triste" or "pobre" to describe Catalina. A lot of the comments revolved around her beauty, and an overall love for her; they wanted her to succeed. They thought her tragic ending was a "lastima" and wanted it all to turn out better for her. Some people were sad that the love story between Catalina and Alberio did not work out; she never found her Prince charming. In telenovelas a happy ending for the protagonist is something to look forward to, but Sin Tetas did not provide this for the viewers. I definitely agree with the majority of viewers in that the ending was very sad, and I felt for Catalina. She had good intentions and was a sweet girl, and her downfall was indeed saddening.

Personally, I was in favor of the relationship between Hilda and Alberio. At first, yes, it was weird. It was her daughter's boyfriend, why would she think sleeping with him would be ok? But as the televnovela progressed, the feelings between Catalina and Alberio declined. She was off sleeping with other men and being unfaithful. That is not love. After awhile, every time she would come back home and back into the picture I got angry. She was deceiving Albeiro and not taking the relationship seriously. The mother, on the other hand, really cared for Albeiro and never strayed.

"Of Mice and Men" as a Telenovela?

Imagine you step into Lit class and your professor says, "We are going to start studying Of Mice and Men." Immediately, you are excited that you are going to be watching a Telenovela, but wait, Of Mice and Men is a novel.

Doña Bárbara is a Venezuelan novel, just like Of Mice and Men, which students read while in high school. A small difference is that Doña Bárbara was made into a Telenovela. For some younger Venezuelans, they only know Doña Bárbara as a telenovela. How do this affect the education system, and what does it say about the culture that comes with Telenovelas?

Now, it's obvious that many novels have been made into films, but a film generally follows the main storyline, and it doesn't have too much time to add multiple subplots to dilute the heart of the novel. If anything, novels made into films can't fit enough into of their storyline.

By adapting a classic novel into a Telenovela, what category does it fall into? Can we analyze it as an adaption? Should we analyze it as an adaption? Is it its own entity? These are hard questions to answer, but the fact is, all of the above are important aspects and need to be looked at. It is a one-of-a-kind telenovela. It has done something others haven't. Also, it may be a little too soon to determine how this could affect young minds, but it will definitely be an interesting study.

The cultural aspect is an intriguing one. The first page to come up when searching for Doña Bárbara through Google is the Telenovela, followed by the novel. Also, the amount of time people devote to telenovelas through the years is amazing. They hang on every episode and make it their top priority.

Is this demonstrating a strong emphasis of Telenovelas in the Venezuelan culture? Does this show an emphasis on Telenovelas over classic novels?

...It sure seems that way.

We're Addicts!

Sometimes I wonder how we get addicted to TV shows. It is the strangest phenomenon to me. All we know is that when it's 8pm...we have "our shows."
Take this Telenovelas class, for instance. A large majority of us had never seen telenovelas before. In addition, I think it is safe to say we had stereotypical telenovela ideas in our minds. We get into this class, learn about telenovelas, watch one on our own, and boom! We're addicted. When I went home to Atlanta one weekend, I only brought discs 1 and 2 (out of 4) with me. What a mistake! I finished the first two so quickly and couldn't wait to get back to Athens and finish the rest.
As I have mentioned before in an earlier post, I love TV. I can watch marathons like a pro! I don't know what it is about TV shows and series that keep us wanting more. But I feel like having a commitment to a specific show is comforting. Similarly, a person with an addiction to smoking cigarettes probably feels better after a smoke break.
I love listening to everyone in class talk about "their" telenovelas. It's so great and amusing to see the impact this class has had. One person even has a telenovela DVD set on her Christmas wish list. So at least our parents are probably much happier knowing our drug of choice is telenovelas.

My Issues with Consumption

We have recently started our discussion on consumption and so far I have found this topic to be one of the most interesting topics that we have discussed. I enjoy reading about the telenovela audience just as much as I enjoy actually learning about the telenovelas themselves.

There are several aspects of consumption that intrigue me. For example, it’s extremely hard for me to wrap my head around the thought of a man watching a telenovela everyday and being just as consumed and wrapped up in it as women are. In the States, men who watch soap operas are thought to either be homosexual or "in the closet." Simply watching a soap opera makes people view you as less of a man.

Now, I am one of those people who is very against stereotypes. I understand that we all, in some form or fashion, are guilty of stereotyping others but I try very hard to see people for who they are and not who society tells me they are. I think this comes from people stereotyping me so much—people assume that because I’m a black woman that I am loud, from the ghetto (or know someone from the ghetto), and that I like to say things like “What’s up my home skillet,” so I really try to go out of my way to look past stereotypes. I am also an equal rights advocate. I despise the double standards between men and women that exist in our culture, and I know that as a double minority I have to work twice as hard to get half as far as my Caucasian counterparts. I am kind of going on a tangent now but I suppose equality between the sexes could make for another blog topic…

All that being said, for some reason I still have a hard time picturing guys gossiping about the most recent episode of the telenovela they’ve been watching. I know that this is society keeping me from grasping this idea but I’m working on overcoming it. Maybe if I actually spoke with a group of guys and included myself in the conversation then it wouldn’t be so hard for me to picture. All in all I guess that I’m glad that men are free to engage in deep conversation about telenovelas if they want to. Equality between the sexes, whoop whoop!

Something else that I find interesting about the consumption of telenovels is that although everyone has an opinion about what they like and dislike about a telenovela, they still write their thoughts anonymously. Message boards dedicated to dialogue concerning telenovelas rarely display someone’s actual name. If so many people are openly voicing their opinions in everyday conversation, I don’t understand why the need to hide online? The beauty of the internet is that it has the ability to connect people from all over and allows them to communicate according to their interests.

For some people, participating in discussions under a pseudonym may be in their best interest (let’s say for researchers, directors, and actors this would be appropriate) but I do not see the need for the general public to hide their identities as well. Is it because they are afraid of what their governments will do? Or do people simply feel like they can be more candid if they use a pseudonym?

Maybe some of you have thoughts on why so many people hide their identities because I just don’t get it.

Rubí vs. Bárbara

After watching my telenovela, Rubí, I understand how viewers of telenovelas often have a hard time separating actors from the characters they play. In my telenovela, the main character, Rubí, is outrageously evil. Bárbara Mori, the actress who plays her, is magnificent in her role and perfectly embodies the cruelty of the character. By the final episode, I was so disgusted with Rubí, that I found it difficult to look at her.

Even after researching for my consumption presentation and finding Bárbara Mori in her other roles, I still can’t imagine her as anything but evil, and I know that if I watch another telenovela with her in it, I am going to automatically dislike her. These actors assume their roles to such a great extent, it seems impossible that they would be able to shed the character and assume a new, and often completely opposite role; but they do. And this is where I have to express my admiration for actors. It makes me think of what Marisa Román said about the process of assuming new roles: it takes a long time and a lot of preparation, and sometimes she becomes invested in the character so completely that she has to make a conscious effort to separate fiction from reality.

Contemporary Issues

Last Wednesday’s class about the representation of certain contemporary issues really made me realize how a telenovela can connect with the hearts and minds of its audiences. We discussed the issues of domestic abuse, alzheimers disease, and plastic surgery.The issue that really struck in my heart was Peligrina’s story of alzheimers from Ciudad Bendita. One of my grandmothers in the past five years has struggled with her memory. About five years ago, my grandmother started to forget minute things, like how to cook certain dishes she had been preparing for the past fifty or sixty years, or forgetting to turn the stove off , or turn the water in the washer on but forget to add the clothes. My grandfather started to get a little frustrated with her forgetfulness. But, about a year ago my grandmother’s memory really began to fade away. She has trouble remembering and identifying her own husband and children. Maybe she knows the names of people close to her, and she says she remembers after she is told, but the same lack of recollecting occurs about every day.

I can tell that it hurts my grandfather, my mom and her siblings the most. Even as a one of ten grandchildren, it hurts that a grandmother who I only get to see every few years probably does not even know I exist anymore. Peligrina's action of getting a tatoo with the names of her loved ones, was a great idea.

This past summer I wrote a poem thinking of my grandmother.

If one day I may lose my memory

Please still sit and stand by me.

I can’t remember now.

So, if I hurt you , just say “ow”.

The pain I don’t feel,

To those around me it will seem surreal.

The detailed memories all seem so vague

Everyday to me you might say:

Have you me forgotten?

Is your past now rotten?

My words and actions are unintentional

My memories have become alloy and therefore null.

But you are my life and will always be.

Please don’t let my life leave me.

Deep down I do remember

In my heart you will be forever.

The Perfect Imperfection

Advertising creates identity. This does not necessarily mean the actual advertisements in the media, but the way in which they portray our society today. The media has a heavy influence on people’s behaviors and actions, and within the popular culture, meanings are fighting with each other and giving off different vibes and motives.

For many young adults who are still learning about themselves and the world, this could be an extremely frustrating thing. For example, young adults---whether it be from their parents, professors, peers, or the modern culture in general---are offered a wide-range of opportunities. They are taught to “Make good grades. Do everything. Be Involved. Get a top job when you graduate.” While these are all ambitious and encouraging messages, they are also taught to “Be yourself. Have fun. Don’t work too hard.” Clearly, these are contradictory messages. Both pieces of advice are beneficial on their own, but not when they are put together.

Media and advertising are also throwing out clashing messages by showcasing flawless perfect women, while at the same time, warning against the dangers of eating disorders and being obsessed with appearances.

As we wrap up our discussions on representation and identity, I think this concept applies to many of the characters in telenovelas. The more that the characters are influenced by contradictory culture ambitions, the more they become someone they are not. The antagonist in La Mentira, Virginia, goes through this process as she changes from what appears to be a sweet, innocent woman, to an evil vengeful liar. She is influenced by the terrible pressures of the outside world, which ultimately cause her to lose her identity. She goes so far, that eventually her family does not want to associate with her.

The bar for achievement continues to rise for each generation, and so do the hypocritical pressures of the media world. We must be stable with who we are so we are not susceptible to these negative changes.