Telenovelas, Culture & Society - Fall 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from all the amazing writers, producers, and actors we’ve met over the last few weeks. It’s amazing how much and how quickly the industry is changing at the spur of the streaming age. It was so interesting to me to hear all the nuances in the Telenovela world today.  Particularly, one of the things I found most intriguing was how Roberto Stopello and El Chascas explained that a new model that many production teams are shifting into is to place writers in the showrunner role as well. As an Entertainment and Media Studies major, I’ve never thought about this before, but it makes so much sense. Everything El Chascas explained is so true. Having the writer double as showrunner really does open up the way for creative solutions and plot driven innovations that someone who does not know the characters inside and out can’t quite replicate.  I really enjoyed hearing from the writers in specific, as they all sounded so passionate and invested about the stories they

     Me encanta aprender cosas de diferentes culturas. Creo que es muy importante ser informada sobre los artes del mundo para apreciar a las cosas que son importantes para nuestros amigos. Por eso creo que la clase de Telenovelas fue tan interesante para mi. Estar en una clase donde todos los estudiantes quieren saber mas sobre mi cultura fue muy alegrante. Las telenovelas siempre han sido una parte de mi vida, y me gusto mucho que aunque unos estudiantes nunca han visto telenovelas, estuvieron en clase con preguntas y oídos listos para aprender.       A veces en las clases de español me siento un poco incómoda, especialmente cuando hablamos sobre mi cultura. Nunca se como mis alumnos van a responder o si les importa aprender. Pero, en esta clase, todos los estudiantes eran tan atentos y entusiasmos, y se podía ver que les importo aprender. Especialmente en mi grupo de presentaciones, mis alumnos hicieron muy buen trabajo en saber mucho de las telenovelas y hicieron buenos investigaci

      Telenovelas have been very successful and followed for many years. I'm 21-years-old, and I remember watching telenovelas when I got home from school in 2010. My mom grew up watching telenovelas in the 1980's. But the world has changed a lot since the beginning of telenovelas - how much longer will they be around?     When telenovelas first started airing on television in the 1950's, the world was a much simpler place. It made sense for the concept of a telenovela to do well, because there wasn't as much going on. It was common for women and children to be at home while men worked, and the women and children needed something to fill their time. Scheduled programming with an exciting and turbulent plot was sure to do well when there was a huge audience ready to watch. And given that women and children were spending so much time at home, they could devote enough time to watch the great deal of episodes each telenovela would put out.      Today, it's far less comm

      I have to say that I absolutely loved the telenovela conversations that we got to have with people who are so accomplished in the industry. I told so many of my friends about the people we would get to speak to as a class and I'd consider those two classes as one of the highlights of my academic experience at UGA. One of the specific things I enjoyed that intrigued me was noticing connections between our speakers — there were common themes.      Today, Leonardo Padrón spoke about how he incorporates reality into fiction extensively. Other than his very first telenovela, Padrón did lots of originals until he was asked to reinterpret the telenovela that was the foundation for Amar a Muerte. He said the tricky thing about reinterpretations is that it can be difficult to connect to the work. So, he used reality as a tool that opened doors in the creative process resulting in him feeling more connected, invested, and passionate. (Side note: I found this point very interesting to h

     Para empezar, volviendo a la investigación que mi equipo descubrió para la presentación de “Los Diferentes," la mayoría de las respuestas negativas de la audiencia para El Clon se relacionan con la decepción del final de la telenovela. Hay muchas comparaciones con la telenovela original, O Clon, y declaraciones sobre cómo el final fue inconcluso y insatisfactorio. Muchas telenovelas, después de todo el amor, la muerte, las peleas y los engaños, terminarán en una gran boda feliz.       Después de 183 episodios, hay mucho énfasis en con quién termina con Jade. Daniel y Lucas están en la boda del tío Ali (ahí está esa boda) y Daniel casi encuentra a Jade, pero termina escapando con Albieri para que no lo encuentren y lo lleven a prisión por crear un clon. Aquí es donde se vuelve confuso. Dora se queda esperando al regreso de su hijo, Daniel, pero no sabemos qué pasará. Al menos podemos ver a Lucas y Jade juntos al final, como se predijo. Puedo ver que esta es una televenola r

  Throughout this semester, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the art of telenovelas. The foreign thought prior to this course has allowed me to learn of cultures and the differences in production from Colombia, to Turkey, to Brazil, and all over the world. However, above all, I’ve gotten to know more about my classmates and what telenovelas mean to them.   I didn’t grow up watching telenovelas. In fact, I barely learned of any culture other than my own until high school. My community did not have a strong emphasis on cultural appreciation, a regret I hold deeply from my upbringing. When I was in first grade, I elected to take a Spanish class. It quickly became my favorite subject. I carried on until my senior year of high school, where the advanced classes took weekly trips to a a strip mall north of Atlanta, called “Plaza Fiesta.” This was by far the highlight of my week. We met with many of the vendors in the mart, who cooked us authentic Mexican meals and conversed about the

     The timing is perfect for this final blogpost and my telenovela coinciding with real life events. As the World Cup group stage nears its end, we have witnessed passion for peoples' nations that can only truly be experienced at the World Cup. The Olympics don't even instill this much nationalism anymore, yet the World Cup brings everyone together from all over the world to connect more than ever. This is ironic especially this year as the World Cup has unified many countries to speak out against the host, Qatar.      The main connection to my telenovela I've witnessed, however, is the true intense passion that the game brings to players for the country. In my telenovela, the main players constantly emphasize their need to play for the Colombian international team. They care about playing soccer, but more than anything they strive for the chance to represent their country; the greatest honor there is.     My telenovela is defined as a bionovela; telling the stories of re

Nuestro conversación hoy con el escritor venezolano, Leonardo Padrón, estaba lleno de mucha inspiración y conocimientos sobre  sus obras y el mundo de la producción de telenovelas. En este blog, quiero mencionar algunos temas de conversación que Padrón habló sobre su vida y obras.  Primero, Padrón mencionó que mientras escribía Amar a muerte (2018) , inicialmente tenía miedo de la recepción de incluir a una pareja gay en la telenovela porque la cadena era muy conservadora. Sin embargo, describió que la recepción de la pareja era buena, y que su propósito era escribir sobre dos personas enamoradas, independientemente del género, y contar su historia de una manera elegante y delicado. Pienso que es muy interesante para ver este proceso emocional en la escritura de Padrón y reconocer que arriesgarse y atreverse a desafiar las normas del pasado dio sus frutos con el éxito de Juliana y Valentina como una pareja en una telenovela.  Otra tema que Padrón habló sobre es los dos lenguajes narrat

  En un ambiente que gira sobre la creatividad, ideas novedosas, y historias que tocan el corazón es muy común pensar sobre la inspiración y en donde un escritor encuentra esta inspiración. En una conversación con José Ignacio “El Chascas” Valenzuela, un escritor, él dijo que para él la inspiración no existe. Decidió de joven que sí uno cree en la inspiración, el tiempo lo va pasar mientras esperan que les llegue, pero si uno no la espera, la creatividad se encuentra en lo que pasa alrededor de uno.  Igualmente, al hablar con Leonardo Padrón, un escritor Venezolano, le preguntaron sobre el bloqueo de escritor y cómo lo supera. Dijo que como escritor profesional, la única opción es poner una pistola a la cabeza de la inspiración y decirle que hay que trabajar hoy.Hablo sobre cómo un escritor puede tomar sus experiencias, sus adversidades, y transformarlas a un maravillo para una historia importante para uno mismo.  De hecho, la inspiración es diferente para cada persona. La inspiración

  For me, one of the most provocative things Dr. A mentioned in class was near the beginning of this semester when we were talking about representation and identity: “Telenovelas are mirrors of reality, and they make some issues bigger and others smaller.” This thought was always on my mind throughout the semester, and I used it as a lens to critique my telenovela, Rubí, and much of what we watched/talked about in class. I tried to pay attention to which parts of reality the original Rubí made big and which parts it made small. I did the same with the 2019 Rubí remake.  During our conversation with Chascas, he mentioned another idea that I thought went perfectly with this. From his perspective as a writer, he thinks one shouldn’t write about what makes oneself happy, but rather he should write about topics and themes which he is wrestling with. He teaches his students to write about what frustrates them: la piedra en el zapato. Write about it, and through writing, one can wrestle with

Nowadays, when people talk about watching TV, they aren't watching cable. Streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and countless others are slowly but surely taking over. This year, streaming took up a record-breaking 34.8% share of total television consumption , exceeding cable at 34.4% and broadcasting at 21.6%.  When we spoke to Robert Stopello in class, we learned that he worked for Telemundo for 16 years before moving over to Netflix. This is kind of shocking, considering that Telemundo is massively popular for their telenovelas. However, Netflix has really stepped up their game when it comes to foreign-language shows and films.  Who Killed Sara ,  Money Heist , and  Squid Games  are just three examples that come to mind when thinking of foreign-language shows that blew up the internet.  How does this affect telenovelas? Well, they are surely going to be watched more by Millennials and Gen Z, the two generations that seem to stream the most. Telenovelas weren't

 I never truly know how much I know over a topic until I am put in a position where I can illustrate my knowledge. This moment happened to me the Monday I came home from break. I was laying on the couch reading as my dad sat down to watch a telenovela. And thats when I look up and think "where have I seen her before?" It kept bugging me that I could not remember where I had seen the actress before, but not enough to think more than five minutes about it. Then I heard the familiar tune. And I realized I was hearing the song dedicated for Omer and Elif. I was able to sit down and explain the importance of music choice is to my dad. I pulled up several of my own examples such as the snapping song when Wednesday snaps (it's not a telenovela but a solid example). I continued even further to talk about the strict rules Turkey places on telenovelas when it comes to sexual scenes and how Turkish dramas are taking the world by storm. I was able to talk for over an hour with my dad

In class, we have discussed some important factors for determining if a telenovela will be successful in international sales. These factors are as follows:       1. Will the story travel?       2. Is the cast easily replaceable? How well-liked are they?       3. Production values (is the quality of the telenovela good?)       4. What is the production model of the country who made the telenovela versus the country buying the telenovela?       5. Increasingly knowledgeable buyers make it more difficult to sell ‘bad products’.  My telenovela, El fantasma de Elena , is a remake of a Venezuelan telenovela from the 1980s called Julia . El fantasma de Elena is from the network Telemundo, while Julia was originally broadcast by Venevisión. Despite being on Hulu now, El fantasma de Elena was broadcast on the Telemundo network from 2010 until 2011. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t appear that is has since been remade by another country.  I thought it would be interesting to analyze how this t

Después de hablar con nuestros invitados la semana pasada, me intrigó la información privilegiada proporcionada por Roberto Stopello sobre Netflix. Netflix es conocida como esta plataforma global que ha tomado el control de la industria de streaming, pero reflexionar sobre su transformación de enviar DVD a proporcionar una colección completa de películas y programas de televisión con el clic de un botón trae muchas preguntas. Muchas preguntas para las que Stopello pudo dar respuestas. Una pregunta clave que me interesaba era la diferencia en la creación de contenido entre la televisión lineal y las plataformas de streaming. Las telenovelas son conocidas por sus finales dramáticos al final de cada episodio y antes de cada descanso comercial. Estos finales mantienen a los espectadores pegados a sus asientos para la totalidad de cada episodio y ansiosos por el siguiente episodio para estrenar ya sea al día siguiente o la semana. Plataformas de streaming como Netflix se llevan este descans

As it is the case for most Brazilian productions, A Favorita foregrounds realism and addresses current issues of Brazilian society. In my previous entries, I discussed how the telenovela addresses LGBTQ+ representation and the line between reality and fiction . In this analysis, I discuss racial representation in the light of social status. A Favorita introduces an innovative factor when addressing the matter of race and social status. Differently from other productions from the early 2000s, it does not introduce black characters as tokens of race: these are not underdeveloped characters who either exist as comic relief or to motivate the white. In A Favorita , these are multifaceted individuals placed in an environment that transcends poverty. The key characters in this scenario are Romildo Rosa (Milton Gonçalves) and his children, Alícia (Taís Araújo) and Didu (Fabrício Boliveira). Romildo is a widower and the head of the Rosa family. His story breaks with the traditional journey

We are aware that telenovelas have a heavy influence on audiences and culture. We see in Cosita Rica  that Maria Suspiro dresses in bright, camp outfits. The telenovela had influenced Venezuela viewers to incorporate the character's style into their personal style.  The same can be true for  La Reina del Sur. The telenovela has had a major impact on Buchona Culture. "Buchona" is slang for the glamorous  life of a narco's girlfriend. The narco boyfriends are referred to as "buch ó n." The term originated in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, the same state that the protagonist of La Reina del Sur  originates from.  Some influencers have made Buchoa culture their brand. Jenny 69 is famously known for saying, "Yo no estoy faking, asi soy yo. Me encanta ser buchona vibes. Me encanta ese estillo de vida. Me encanta dinero." Her song, La 69 , went viral on TikTok and was used to showcase a flamboyant lifestyle which included women with long hair and nails, he

La Importancia De La Musica: De Niña La música es un elemento crucial para hacer el ambiente de una escena. Las telenovelas usan la música para indicar momentos diferentes, como el miedo o la sorpresa, y también durante unos elementos transicionales. Como aprendimos en clase, las telenovelas usan las mismas canciones y efectos de sonidos para que los espectadores puedan asociar los sonidos con lo que pasa en la pantalla. Los productores usan estos trucos para que las personas sienten emociones apropiadas durante estas escenas. Hablamos sobre la música ‘incidental’ que ocurre en seis escenarios: el fin de un episodio, en un transición a los comerciales, transición entre escenas, durante diferentes emociones, para la intriga, y para el suspenso. Estos seis tipos de música incidental se usan mucho en las telenovelas, pero también en otros tipos de medios. Yo recuerdo de niña que yo mire mucho “Hannah Montana” y en este programa de televisión, había muchas transiciones entre escenas que

El Opinión de Los Espectadores Las telenovelas están hechas para los espectadores. Es muy importante que todos los aspectos de las telenovelas sean analizados para confirmar que la gente está feliz con lo que están viendo en la televisión. Las telenovelas más populares y con muchos seguidores son las que ponen atención a sus espectadores y cambian cosas en las telenovelas para que sigan interesantes y relevantes. Hay muchas maneras de medir la popularidad y atención de las telenovelas. Una de estas es observar la actividad en las redes sociales y cómo los espectadores hablan de la telenovela. En la telenovela, “La Reina del Sur”, las páginas de Twitter y Instagram son muy activas, con muchas publicaciones en las páginas de perfiles. Es interesante ver cómo la gente interactúa con estos perfiles y otros seguidores de la telenovela. También es importante notar los elementos de las telenovelas exitosas en la televisión. Todas las telenovelas necesitan un tema interesante que cautive al p

En clase, hemos hablado sobre la censura en las telenovelas, y quiero explorar la idea de la censura en el país de Turquía más. Primero, el sector del gobierno en Turquía que supervisa el contenido es RTUK (que significa "Radio and Television Supreme Council") y controla y censura todos los medios turcos que transmiten. Este es verdad especialmente con las políticas en el país, donde cualquier noticia o información política de una periodista podría ser considerada "terrorist propaganda." Y además, es peligroso porque esa periodista podría ser considerada como un traidor o encarcelado por sus palabras.  También, hay la censura en los dizis del Turquía. La hemos visto en varios ejemplos con las escenas de amor o besos que son muy breves y modestas. RTUK implementa esta censura porque estos elementos más sensuales son considerados obscenos y contra de sus valores morales. En mi investigación por ejemplo, en el dizi que se llama "Cukur," hay una escena con bes

Talking about the regulations and the globalization behind telenovelas made me curious about how much television really affects us. Almost everyone watches some kind of show it seems, whether it be a telenovela, or a series, or a soap opera -- there's something for everyone. When watching something every single day, it's very likely that it is affecting you without you even realizing it. For one, they have a strong ability to affect trends around us. When Katniss wore a side braid in the Hunger Games, everyone wore a side braid, and when María Suspiro wore a headband in Cosita Rica, everyone wore a headband! Telenovelas have even touched upon more serious subjects, such as the US Census and Hugo Chávez. In Más sabe el Diablo, one of the characters plays a Census bureau worker. The purpose behind this plot was purely to get Hispanics living in the US to participate in the Census. Some said this wasn't a good thing, but I believe as long as people make sure to do their own re

It is no doubt that Telenovelas hold a resounding cultural impact on Latin America, however, it is not always that they transcend Latin borders to resonate internationally. Maria La Del Barrio not only spun across the globe, being translated in over 25 languages, but it broke the internet in modern day through its iconographic villain, Soroya Montenegro. Soroya is regarded as one of the most famous and recognizable novela villains due to the intensity of her character. She was no stranger to violent outbursts, fake pregnancies, witchcraft, and even murder. Soroya’s obsession with Luis Fernando and with getting rid of Maria drove her to her witt’s end, characterized by her conniving plans that always ended in screams, tears, or both. The one sentence that cemented Soroya’s place in telenovela villain history was “Maldita Lisiada”as it denoted her most identifiable moment in which she discovered her step daughter was kissed on the cheek by the boy Soroya also liked (who was half her age)

What makes a successful remake of a telenovela? Throughout the history of the series, there have been several successful shows, beloved by millions of fans across the world, some of which are remade, to continue the excitement surrounding the original show for years to come. We know that Yo soy Betty, La Fea has been remade many times, in many countries. Some remakes have been successful, and some have not. But what differentiates success and failure?  Another telenovela remake in 2021 based on the original series, Café con Aroma de Mujer, was not reviewed well. However, this is most likely because the original is perceived as a classic. People especially from Colombia love the original. The problem with this is people begin to base the value of the remake off of how successful the original is. People are loyal to the original actors, and if new cast members do not align significantly with the original cast, viewers are quick to write them off. An example of this is a remake of Ni