How the Two Theme Song's for Rubí and the Rubí Remake Represent the Differences in the Telenovelas

    So one of my favorite parts of both of the Rubí’s was their theme songs. For being the same telenovela, their theme songs were wildly different. One is sung from the perspective of a man while the other is sung from the perspective of a woman. One is a more classic Latin pop song and one is a remake of a 1980s pop rock song. I find each song carries important implications for the plot of the show and reflects the main differences in the way each show is viewed.

I also took a look at the differences between the production of the theme song in both versions and found the differences intriguing. The original Rubí’s theme song is a 2004 song called “La Descarada” by Reyli Barba. “La Descarada” translates directly to “The Shameless.” I did some digging, but I could not find whether it was an original made for the telenovela or it was just used by the telenovela. I would guess it was written for the telenovela but the only reason I say that is because it won best theme song in the TVynovelas awards in 2005. 

It is a song about a captivating and dangerous woman written and sung by a man. Here are  some of the lyrics from the chorus: “ Mujer de nadie, mujer de todos, mujer que mata/ Mujer que duele, mujer que entrega y que arrebata/ Mujer tan cara, mujer ingrata…” The song feels mysterious, and it is important that it's sung from the perspective of a man. It’s almost like it's sung from the perspective of Alejandro or Hector. Another lyric that makes me say that is “En mi cartera guardo/ Su foto desgastada/ Es mi mayor fortuna/Y mi desdicha, la descarada…” This sounds like the laments of a heartbroken man. I find it really interesting that the show centers around the life of Rubí, a woman, but the theme song is sung by a man about how he feels about her. I think it reflects that the original show definitely portrays the male characters in a more angelic light that the remake. It really highlights how much a villain Rubí is. 

The new version of Rubí’s theme song is very different from the first. It's a remake of a song from 1986 called “A quien le importa” by Alaska y Dinarama. It's sung by a girl about her own life. It's a song about independence and doing whatever she wants. It’s as if Rubí is singing about herself. Here are some of the lyrics from the chorus: “¿A quién le importa lo que yo haga?/ ¿A quién le importa lo que yo diga?/ Yo soy así, y así seguiré, nunca cambiaré…” This song is much more empowering. I think this song is rather iconic in Latino culture because Thalia also made a remake of the same song in 2002.  I like the original 1980 version of the song the best; the remake for the telenovela has a technobeat added to the background.

I just love that this song is sung from the perspective of Rubí. I find that it fits the show perfectly, and it gets me hype every time. This is another one of my favorite lyrics “"Mi destino el que yo decido, el que yo elijo para mi.” Although Rubí does some things that are evil to get her “destino”, I think it's rather empowering to women to stand up for what they want (just hopefully not at the expense of others in the way Rubí does). It highlights why Rubí is a protagonist, and not so much how she is the villain which I would argue is the biggest difference in not only the theme songs but in the two shows themselves.