IS THE VENEZUELAN TELENOVELA DEAD? PART 2

There has never been so much time in-between posts in my blog. But, this semester has been particularly tough given my teaching schedule and my current case study, La Mujer Perfecta.

Last June, I wrote a post titled Is the Venezuelan telenovela dead? Today, December 17, we can say that it isn't dead and that it fights tooth and nail amidst an increasingly difficult and complex context:

• La Mujer Perfecta is the only Venezuelan telenovela on air in Venezuela. (Canal i broadcasts two older telenovelas: Abigaíl and Señora).
• La Mujer Perfecta has done an admirable job of recuperating the audience for the Venezuelan telenovela. Even though it competes with telenovelas produced by Telemundo that have a more expensive and sophisticated production. Furthermore, the latter are not subject to the Venezuelan restrictions of exchange controls and media content laws. .
• In addition to La Mujer Perfecta, Venevisión is producing La Viuda Joven written by Martín Hahn.
• According to reports, Televén has bought Que el cielo me explique written by Cristina Policastro, the last telenovela produced by RCTV Internacional. Its broadcast hasn't been announced yet.
• Meanwhile, Televén's program grid is a catalog of telenovelas made outside Venezuela. In some cases, Telemundo telenovelas have premiered first on Televen's screen than in the rest of the world. (Ojo por Ojo is the most recent example).
• The Venezuelan government has prohibited the broadcast of the so-called "narconovelas".
• President Hugo Chávez has requested extraordinary powers that would allow him to bypass the new National Assembly's approval. (He won't enjoy absolute majority in that new NA).
• The government has introduced in the current lame duck, all-chavista National Assembly a revised Media Content Law that would have important consequences for the telenovela industry. (If you read Spanish, you can read the full text here. Note, in particular: Artículo 7, numeral 3. Artículo 29, numeral 3, literal d. Artículo 35, disposiciones transitorias primera y segunda).
• Frequently, the government interrupts telenovelas to impose a cadena (mandatory broadcast of the government's signal on all radio and TV outlets). This makes more difficult the audience's followup of the dramatic structure. It also interferes with one of the most important characteristics of telenovela consumption: its inclusion in everyday life.

The situation is complicated and worrisome. If you understand Spanish, I recommend you listen to the following interview of Leonardo Padrón, author of La Mujer Perfecta. The interview was done by a Colombian radio station and his words explain the current situation:

LA DOÑA'S END

Doña Bárbara is over. This is a telenovela that brought many "hits" to a post I wrote in this blog, (particularly to its version in  English). This telenovela was very interesting to me for several reasons:

1. It's the adaptation in long format(191 episodes) of a literary novel that doesn't have enough dramatic situations for such lenght. Hence, writer Valentina Párraga did magic in her immense effort to reign the storylines of her telenovela. 
   
2. The telenovela was particularly successful in the U.S. market as it gathered loyal fans who followed every episode.
3. It was the perfect telenovela to watch at the same time I was studying Venezuelan telenovela  La Vida Entera. Both provided fodder for constant comparisons among them, which were very productive for my research process. Both telenovelas included women in positions of power and authority in environments dominated and defined by men.  Both telenovelas developed well a number of secondary plots. 
4. Doña Bárbara has high production values and is an excellent example of the "Telemundo model."  

I wrote in this blog about the difference between the "Doña" that lives in my mind and the one personifed by actor Edith González. This discrepancy was always present. Telemundo's Doña never had the face of Gallegos' guaricha. However, Edith González's performance had such nuances and strenght that I learned to see her Doña Bárbara as a different woman, not Rómulo Gallegos', but one that had a life of her own and a particular magnetism. Even though she was never "my" Doña, Edith's Bárbara made me reflect on the issues of women and power, the definition of the feminine, and the place that betrayal, revenge and sensuality occupy in every telenovela. Edith González managed to project correctly each of her Doña's vital relationships; both the negative ones (her rapists), and the positive ones (Marisela, Eustaquia, el Brujeador y Juan Primito). I believed all of them and all of her.

In Doña Bárbara I was reassured once again that one of the most productive dramatic situations is: mother and daughter in love with the same man. There's always much to tell since it's really three complicated love stories in parallel: Santos-Bárbara, Santos-Marisela and Bárbara-Marisela.

The final episode used all the tools of the genre to remind us why we care about these characters and their resolutions and why THAT is the resolution:  flashbacks, time ellipses, characters talking directly to the camera and special events, such as the wedding of  Pajarote and Genoveva.

The final image was the one I expected: a bongo, the river Arauca heading to the infinite, and the Doña and her beloved dead. It's a Doña redeemed by a new, more luminous, life, and by her ultimate sacrifice for her daughter's happiness. 

A fitting end for a telenovela.

LOOKING FOR THE "INTERNATIONAL" TELENOVELA IN MIAMI

I haven't been able to write in my blog in many days. The reasons are mainly two: 

1. The semester presses on with classes to be prepared, exams to be graded, etc.
   
2. I went to Miami on a short, but fruitful research trip.

Miami is now a key destination in the telenovela world. This is where most Latin American production companies have their "international" branch. It's also the place where decision making occurs for the two largest Spanish-speaking networks in the U.S.:  Telemundo and  Univisión. I went to Miami in search for answers to the main question:

What are the requirements for a telenovela to be successful in the international market?

To explore this and other related questions, I chose key people who have worked successfully both inside and outside Venezuela. My gratitude goes to all of them for the time they spent with me. I want to thank particularly Mr.  Arquímedes Rivero and writers Perla Farías, Alberto Gómez, Vivel Nouel and Valentina Párraga for their generosity as they answered my many questions.

Now, it's time to analyze and deepen what I learned in Miami...and to prepare my next research trip to Caracas, where I'll go back to the set and locations of telenovela La Vida Entera.

VALENTINA PARRAGA IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS

Last week writer Valentina Párraga visited my telenovelas seminar. She is an intelligent and charming guest who shared with us her experience writing telenovelas in Venezuela  (Viva la Pepa and Trapos Intimos, just to name the two most recent ones) and now in Telemundo (Anita no te rajes and Doña Bárbara). These two groups of telenovelas represent a contrast in style that is determined by the undeniable differences between the Venezuelan and the U.S. audience. 

It's always interesting for me to confirm once again that there is an immense distance between the public's perception (as expressed in message boards and gathered in my research) and the tough reality of writing a telenovela. This distance is encouraged by the entertainment press' trivialization of the telenovela writing job and its emphasis on gossip and rumors. 

From a teaching perspective, I believe that it's important for my students to understand the difficulties and stress involved in the everyday life of telenovela writing, a job that takes over the lives of its makers. They spend many hours at their computer keyboards at a time in their lives that is dominated by their telenovela characters and plots, while they try to win the ratings war. 

Following is a brief video where you can hear Valentina Párraga describing her daily routine as she writes Doña Bárbara:

We thank Valentina for her time, warmth and honesty.

DOÑA BARBARA'S EFFECT ON THIS BLOG

A few months ago I wrote a post about the effect of the final episodes of telenovela Arroz Con Leche on the Spanish version of this blog. 

Today I write on the effect that telenovela Doña Bárbara (Telemundo) is having on this blog in English. The blog in Spanish is not being affected in the same way. This indicates the existence of a significant public whose primary language is English who is particularly interested in Doña Bárbara. We might see in the future a similar effect in the blog in Spanish, once the telenovela airs in Spanish-speaking countries. For the moment, Doña Bárbara seems to be responsible for a "first" in my blogs: Currently, the blog in English is more read than the blog in Spanish.

Below are numbers and charts for both blogs organized in two time periods (click on the graphics to enlarge them):

• July 4-August 3, 2008: The month before Doña Bárbara's premiere
  
• August 4-September 4, 2008: Doña Bárbara's first month on the air in Telemundo
  

For every comparison, I place first the graphs for the blog in Spanish, followed by the equivalent graphics for the blog in English. 

BLOG IN SPANISH-NUMBER OF VISITS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR:





BLOG IN  ENGLISH-NUMBER OF VISITS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




A continuación información de los posts más visitados del blog en ambos períodos.

BLOG IN SPANISH-MOST VISITED ENTRIES-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN ENGLISH-MOST VISITED ENTRIES-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN SPANISH-MOST USED KEYWORDS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR




BLOG IN ENGLISH-MOST USED KEYWORDS-BEFORE AND DURING DOÑA BARBARA'S FIRST MONTH ON THE AIR

DOÑA BARBARA AND "THE PICTURE IN MY HEAD"

 Doña Bárbara premiered last night in  Telemundo. I write these lines after watching only the first episode. My purpose isn't to analyze the telenovela. Instead, I want to reflect on the distance between what Walter Lippmann called “the pictures in our heads” and what's outside our heads. 

Like many Venezuelans, I grew up reading Rómulo Gallegos. His novels are an essential ingredient of any school curriculum. This is why there's a picture in my head of  “my” Doña Bárbara. She's not María Félix or Marina Baura.


She's “my” "devoradora de hombres", the one I built in my mind throughout the many readings of Doña Bárbara I've done in different stages of my life. 

There's always distance between "the pictures in our head," when these come from reading a book, and the image we see on a movie or tv screen. There's always negotiation between these images, until we either accept or reject the on-screen one. 

Last night I had trouble reconciling “my” Doña Bárbara and Doña Bárbara/Edith González. I should mention that she only appeared in the last 10 minutes, but I acknowledge thatI had difficulty accepting her. This isn't a reflection on González's talent or the way the character is written. It's a product of the strength of that picture I have in my head which doesn't match González physique and Mexican accent. It's also the consequence of the unavoidable conflation between my Venezuelan identity an my reading of this audiovisual text that is written and produced using the so-called "international" telenovela codes, where we're never told the particular country where action takes place, even though the Arauca River is an important element.  I'm sure that I'm not an isolated case. Probably, many Venezuelans will experience the same difficulties, while viewers from other nations won't have this problem. 

Interestingly enough, I walked seamlessly the distance between  “my” Santos Luzardo and Santos Luzardo/Christian Meier. Maybe because the emblematic character is her, not him. The relationship between "the pictures in our head" and the outside world is complex. It's also a fascinating facet of media consumption: the relationship between identity and media reception.   

I will continue watching Doña Bárbara while I observe myself as I negotiate the distance between "the pictures in my head" and the ones I see on the television screen.  

WITHOUT "TETAS" THERE'S NO TITLE, BUT ONLY IN SPANISH

Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso, based on the book authored by Colombian investigative reporter Gustavo Bolívar, tells the story of siblings Catalina and Byron, who chose the paths of prostitution and sicariato (paid hit man) to escape from poverty. Both paths are inextricably linked to narco traffic. This mini-series (I think it's too short to be called a telenovela) was originally produced by  Caracol in Colombia. Sin Tetas is a  show with a clear lesson dispensed after its "The End:" 



Translation: One may think that just by being pretty or by having a gun you can reach paradise. That money makes you somebody, that a kiss is a coin, and a checkbook is a hug. That to study is a waste of time. As if becoming a prostitute and becoming someone else's merchandise, or living from killing others, were better than finding an honest job. The truth is that to be somebody in life, you don't have to be rich. To be somebody is to be, increasingly, owner of our own destiny. To read, write, substract, add, to study, to understand. To be able to fly and be proud of ourselves, of the struggles and triumphs that we have lived through without damaging others. The truth is that to be somebody in life you need to love, love yourself and be loved. To be somebody you don't need to elicit envy because you have money. No, to be somebody means to walk straight with your head up and without the need to hide. It means too live without nightmares and to be able to sleep soundly. The truth is that one can believe that just by being pretty, of by having a gun, you can reach paradise. But, money isn't paradise. And for paradise there aren't any shortcuts.

In similar fashion as the case of Yo soy Betty, la fea, the international market has fallen in love with this story, which has been broadcast in many countries. Its rights have also been acquired to produce several remakes. Each country that has broadcast Sin Tetas, or one of its remakes, has had to decide whether to leave the title unchanged or not since the word "tetas" ("tits") is considered vulgar in several Spanish-speaking cultures. For example,  here's a promotional for the series in Puerto Rico. The word "tetas" is never said. In its place, there's a graphic:



Here, in the United States, Telemundo (owned by NBC) bought the rights for Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso with the idea of producing it in Spanish with English sub-titles for the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences.

How do you handle the title of this novela when Latinos in the United States come from a number of countries in which the acceptance of the word "tetas" varies? 

What title do you use in English? "Without Tits, There's No Paradise"? Or, "Without Breasts, There's No Paradise"?

Look at the teaser from Telemundo productions. It's narrated in English and uses English sub-titles:



In this teaser, we can read the title in Spanish,  "Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso" without the narrator ever saying it (0:51). At the end of the teaser, (2:40) author Gustavo Bolívar, himself says: "Llámalas como las quieras llamar, pero ya basta de tabúes. Tetas son Tetas y ya". The sub-titles read:  "No more taboos! 'tetas' are 'tetas'". In this way,  "tits" (a word that I don't think is acceptable for the average U.S. network television viewer) is never mentioned. The word "tetas" is shown and said only in Spanish, while the author instructs Spanish-speaking audiences to dispose of the "taboo" associated with the word "tetas."

It's going to be really interesting to follow the case of Sin Tetas No Hay Paraíso in the United States. 

TELENOVELAS, HEALTH AND SOCIETY

One of the aspects regarding telenovelas that fascinates me the most is the way these shows can be used to deliver health messages and/or messages related to sociocultural problems and issues, such as domestic violence. In my class we've studied with interest some instances in which telenovelas have presented such topics (see my post FROM MY RESEARCH TO MY CLASSROOM: TELENOVELA RECEPTION)

Recently, the Red & Black, UGA's student newspaper, published an article about doctoral student in Public Health, Leslie Rodríguez, who is focusing on how telenovelas can deliver health messages.

The article underscores the importance of telenovelas for communicating health content to immigrant populations. In particular, it mentions the case of the Telemundo telenovela Amarte Así, which included an overweight male character whose untreated diabetes renders him impotent: Don Pedro personified by Mexican actor Edgar Vivar (Sr. Barriga and Ñoño in famous sit com series El Chavo).


Conscious of the role that telenovelas play in the culture of Latino immigrants, health organizations in the U.S. are using the melodramatic serialized format to educate and promote healthy behavior. For instance, in Boston, the prestigious Joslin Diabetes Center produced Rosa's Story/La Historia de Rosa, an audionovela that teaches basic information about diabetes and its treatment, and dispels myths and misconceptions about this condition that affects Latinos in a disproportionate way.


Another example is Esperanza's Story/La Historia de Esperanza, audionovela that targets Latinas as it delivers empowering anti-domestic violence messages. This novela, recorded in Spanish, was produced by Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication's doctoral student Lenette Golding.


In my next post: The use of telenovelas for political messages .

TELENOVELAS IN THE CLASSROOM: MY STUDENTS' TIME TO PRESENT V

This is the fifth and last installment related to my students' presentations regarding the topic of telenovela reception. We will focus our attention first on La Mentira. Then we will move on to Telemundo's Dame Chocolate, and we will finish the cycle with one of the telenovelas we examined in the first installment: Pasión de Gavilanes.


Presenter: Ashley Davis

Topic: La Mentira and the evolution of consumption.

Sources: Blogs, message boards and http://tunovela.net/

Objective: To analyzde the reception of La Mentira, and explore the conceptualization of interactive telenovelas via Internet.

Findings and conclusions:
- La Mentira has been sold to more than 90 countries. At this time it's being broadcast in Greece.
- Some episodes won the ratings in L.A. and Chicago.
- There are more messages objectifying the male actors than the women in the telenovela.
- Interestingly, the director, Carlos Sotomayor, responds to messages in boards and blogs.
- Carlos Sotomayor, Kate del Castillo and Guy Ecker have a new project: interactive telenovelas on the Internet. In these mininovelas (5 minutes daily for 3 weeks), audience members can provide their opinion regarding the direction of a particular plot or twist.
- They also organize live chats with these actors and director.
- However, their webpage hasn't been updated since the beginning of October.

My thoughts: Telenovelas have influenced other genres. For instance, in Venezuela there is a serialized TV ad for a detergent in telenovela format and starring actor Roque Valero. In addition, there have been several attempts to broadcast mini-telenovelas via cell phones. Melodrama sells. Here in the United States we find melodrama not only in soap operas. But also in the tv coverage of the Olympics and in the press' political beat. The question remains: Why is melodrama universal?








Presenter: Felicia Hylton

Topic: The consumption of Dame Chocolate

Sources: Telemundo Yahoo message boards, Facebook

Objective: To explore the reception of Dame Chocolate

Findings and conclustions:
- For audience members who watched Dame Chocolate, Carlos Ponce and Génesis Rodríguez were "the perfect couple".
- The public's loyalty was manifest in the number of episodes they uploaded, their messages requesting a sequel, and their fascination with the transformation of Rosita (Génesis Rodríguez), who becomes Violeta Hurtado.
- Product placement--Clorox and Ikea--were present in this telenovela.

My thoughts: While studying telenovelas I've often come across the success (audience-wise) of the physical transformation of a "good" character. The audience gets hooked particularly when they know or anticipate that such transformation will revindicate or redeem a character they consider "good." It's the other side of the principle of "crime and punishment," in which the "good" person is rewarded and, many times, her/his transformation will allow her/him to get revenge from those that wronged her/him (yes, like the Count of Montecristo).

Another theme that comes to mind when we examine Telemundo productions like Dame Chocolate, is how (at least up until now), Telemundo's telenovelas are more successful abroad than in the U.S., where the demographics of the Latino population keep Univisión and its Mexican Televisa telenovelas on top.








Presenter: Christine Bassett

Topic: The consumption of Rosario in Pasión de Gavilanes

Sources: Blogs and message boards

Objective: To understand the reception of the triangles involving the character of Rosario in telenovela Pasión de Gavilanes

Findings and conclusions:
- Rosario is involved in two hot relationships. First, with Franco Reyes and then she falls for, and marries, her manager Armando.
- Both relationships have a good deal of ambiguity re: Rosario's real feelings. In particular, her relationship with Armando is love-hate.
- At the same time, the audience established a parallel love-hate relationship with this couple: Rosario-Armando.

My thoughts: Just like there are characters we love to hate, there are couples that capture our attention precisely because of their ambiguity, which, in turn, generates ambiguous feelings in us. Among the many paradoxes present in the telenovela genre stands out the fact that the public likes the traditional codes because they know well how to decode them. (For instance, a man and a woman fall in love, overcome obstacles, only to end up happy everafter). At the same time, it is now frequent to see the public hooked by a story in which ambiguity reigns and the traditional code has been broken. Such is the case of Rosario and Armando's, in which there is no redemption or happy end.