Why Are We So Obsessed With Heartbreak?

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    The concept and popularity of telenovelas has always intrigued me. Though not all telenovelas are the "rosa," romance and feel-good type, they do all have one thing in common: heartbreak. At some point in every telenovela, at least one character gets their heart broken, and usually, it's multiple characters going through heartbreak. Why, as viewers, are we so drawn to watching such plots?

     It's entertaining, yes, to form an attachment to a character and root for their relationship during the lifecycle of a show, but why is it that telenovelas are so successful because of the heartbreak aspect of their plots? What does that say about everyone that looks forward to watching a girl or boy get their heart broken or go through a turbulent relationship?! It kind of makes us look crazy.

    When I was going through my break-up with my ex-boyfriend, I wanted to sulk and rot the days away watching romantic movies in spite of the way I was feeling. That, I will say, I think is at least somewhat normal and acceptable. Every girl likes to make themself more sad when they're going through a breakup - for whatever reason. But not every viewer of a telenovela is a brokenhearted teenage girl that misses or hates her ex. 

    Telenovelas, whether you're from Latin America or a Spanish-speaking country or not, are well-known and extremely popular. When I told my friends I was taking this class, they all knew what a telenovela was, despite the fact that none of them are hispanic or even speak Spanish. Telenovelas are just that well known. Not only are they well-known as a genre, but telenovelas have been extremely successful since they originated. So many original telenovelas have been remade once, twice, even three times. Why? Because the plot was a hit and another production team wanted to try their own version of it. I used to look forward to coming home from school everyday to watch another episode of Rebelde with my nanny in 2010, and now Netflix is streaming it's third (?) remake. 

    Why is it that so many shows, with so many different plots, remade so many times, still thrive because of their common theme of heartbreak? If telenovelas weren't melodramatic and full of relationship turbulence, would they still be as popular? Would they still be as well-known?

    I'm all for a crazy, up and down telenovela filled with drama and heartbreak, I won't lie. But every time I look forward to a new episode, I ask myself why I'm so obsessed with the characters getting their hearts broken. 

Comments

  1. Anna WallerSeptember 11, 2022 at 4:37 PM

    Este es un buen punto. Me encontré volviendo a ver Jane the Virgin (aunque ahora entiendo que ni siquiera es una telenovela). Pero estaba tan intrigado principalmente porque quería saber con quién terminaría Jane porque ella estaba constantemente entre Rafael y Michael. Luego, cuando volví a verla, fue porque me olvidé de las pequeñas cosas y de todos los eventos que sucedieron hasta el punto en que quería volver a ver toda la serie. Me gustaba el drama con las relaciones, aunque personalmente no podía relacionar con eso. Particularmente no creo que quisiera ver el programa porque quería ver una ruptura y angustia, quería ver drama y acción. Y definitivamente obtuve muchas de esas cosas en cada episodio.

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  2. Ashley GalantiSeptember 17, 2022 at 1:54 PM

    Creo que la respuesta a tu pregunta de por qué disfrutamos viendo la angustia de las telenovelas es que nosotros como humanos disfrutamos viendo programas con los que podemos relacionarnos. A esta edad, diría que muchos de nosotros hemos experimentado nuestro primer desgarro verdadero. Lo sé por mí, esto sucedió durante mi último año de secundaria cuando experimenté un desgarro tan malo que no he estado involucrado románticamente con nadie desde entonces. Las telenovelas nos permiten revivir este viaje de angustia para ver a otra persona pasar por lo que tenemos (con 10 veces más drama). Siento que nos proporciona el cierre de alguna manera. Podemos experimentar las cosas que pasamos mientras miramos el programa para procesar lo que pasó. A medida que el espectáculo avanza, nos vemos en ciertos personajes y ciertas relaciones y aprendemos lecciones para restaurar nuestras ideas de amor. Casi necesitamos ver a alguien pasando por algo mucho peor que nosotros para que nuestra situación se sienta mejor.

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  3. Elizabeth BrougherNovember 29, 2022 at 8:22 PM

    I think that sometimes we find parts of ourselves in the characters we watch. This, or the parts of ourselves that we wish we could portray when society tells us not to, or just to "move on." In my life, when I've experienced heartbreak, I've wanted to scream from the rooftops just how sad I really am. But there is a time and a place to be sad, and as we have busy lives as students or with a career, it is rare to find an outlet where we can authentically be as sad as characters in a telenovela. They are also especially relatable, and being able to transport to a different world for the duration of an episode can be relieving, especially to watch people who typically have much larger (or more obscure) problems than our own. Maybe it makes people feel less alone in their craziness?

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