IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: A conversation with writer Alberto Gómez

We had our second "Telenovela Conversation" with writer Alberto Gómez, who understands very well the commercial dimensions of the telenovela genre. When network executives and producers want an original or a remake of a telenovela rosa, Alberto Gómez is a name that always appears in their short list of possible writers. Hence, he has written telenovelas for a long list of networks and production companies, including: RCTV, Venevisión, Televisa, Fonovideo, Venevisión Productions and Telemundo. Alberto is the author of many telenovelas. Some of his recent successes include: Gata Salvaje, Angel Rebelde, Marina, Acorralada and Alma Indomable. He's currently writing Mar de Amor for Televisa, a remake of Delia Fiallo's María del Mar.

Alberto delighted my class with his sincerity and enthusiasm. Through him were were able to see better the telenovela rosa, we got closer to the daily writing effort that every telenovela requires, and we felt the happiness of someone who enjoys what he does.

Here is a video with excerpts from our class conversation. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did. I leave it here along with our thanks to Alberto Gómez for sharing with us his time, experience and passion for the telenovela rosa.

IN MY TELENOVELA CLASS: A conversation with Ruxi

My telenovelas class would be incomplete without the opportunity to talk to people involved with the telenovela world. In previous semesters we have talked to: Leonardo Padrón, Marisa Román, Valentina Párraga, TVVI's moderator, Julie Restifo, and Daniela Bascopé.

These exchanges, via phone or video conference, are always enriching form my students, and I appreciate them very much.

This week, the last of this semester, we're focused on these "Telenovela conversations." Our first guest was Ruxandra Ciobanu, who lives in Bucharest, Romania. I met "Ruxi" through a telenovela message board a few years ago. I also had the privilege of having her as a participant in one of my case studies. I invited Ruxi to my class because I wanted my students to meet her and to learn about telenovela consumption through the eyes of someone who's not from Latin America.

We loved our conversation with Ruxi. She's knowledgeable and has a warm personality. For me, it was truly special to have her in my class.

Following is a video with some excerpts from our "Telenovela conversation" with Ruxi. We appreciate her sharing her time and knowledge with us.

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.

MIT Communication Forum

I'm still in Caracas. Soon I'll return to Athens, GA and UGA, where I'll be able to write about my experiences during the last days of telenovela La Vida Entera.

My post today is short and related to a previous experience. Back in April I participated in the MIT Communications Forum, which was also the kickoff event of the Media in Transition Conference. The forum's topic was  "Global Media" and the panelists have expertise in different and fascinating areas: Bollywood, films, media consumption in Malawi and telenovelas. Here you can read a summary of the session and some of the Q&A.

Here you can watch the video of the whole session. The format was short presentations (10-15 minutes) of each panelist, followed by Q&A. My presentation is the second and you can find it approximately on minute 14. However, I highly recommend watching the complete forum because every  presentation and question is worthy of being watched. 

PASSION AND TELENOVELAS

Last Monday I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the radio show Más Que Palabras in the public radio (Radio Euskadi) of the Basque region of Spain.

The show has a section called "The Theme Hour" in which they explore one word from different angles. The word last Monday was "PASSION." Among the guests were a professor that explained the origins and meanings of the word and its relation to "suffering." Another professor analyzed the color of passion. There were readings of legends and reflections on fruits and flowers that represent passion.

My conversation with the show's conductors, Javier Vizcaino and Maider Martín, was in relation to the link between "passion" and telenovelas.  I was very pleased with the tone and content of their questions and enjoyed thoroughly our conversation. 

TELENOVELA: LATIN AMERICAN SENTIMENTAL CULTURE?

From March 23 to 31, Casa de América in Madrid celebrates the discussion conference:  TELENOVELA: ¿CULTURA SENTIMENTAL LATINOAMERICANA? 

The conference will present panels, roundtable discussions, music and films related to telenovelas. Guest speakers include writers, actors, producers and academic researchers. 

I highly recommend following the conference via its  activities calendar.

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.

ONE YEAR LATER: THE CLOSING OF RCTV

One year later:

• We're still mourning.
• We still have one eye closed.
• We lost the mechanism of internal competition, essential to the evolution of Venezuelan TV.
  
• Nobody watches the government network TVES.
• The job sources for actors, producers, directors and technical crew members have been severely diminished.
  
• Writers in RCTV are adapting classic works or remaking old telenovelas.
• Writers in Venevisión are being directed to write for an "universal" market, not for Venezuelans. This international market seems to like telenovelas made in Miami, and those produced by Televisa and Telemundo. 
• Telefutura has a say in the casts of RCTV telenovelas, but then moves those same productions to humiliating slots in its schedule.
• Actors have seen their few work sources invaded by political polarization.
• In a modern twist of the witch hunts, some Venezuelans decided to judge actors and writers not by their talent, but by their workplace. 
• The wound hasn't healed. It's a wound in our freedom of expression, a hole in our remote control, and in our Venezuelan essence.

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. 

TELEFUTURA MOVES MI PRIMA CIELA

Classes have ended and I'm in the midst of the delicate and difficult job of grading. This has kept me away from my blog for a whole week.

One of the recent happenings in the telenovela world that has stirred some commotion is that Telefutura has moved RCTV's telenovela Mi Prima Ciela from 5 p.m. to a half-hour slot at 9 a.m. This is a worse time and it also messes up the one-hour dramatic structure of each episode. In the place of Mi Prima Ciela, Telefutura is now broadcasting the decade-old version of La Usurpadora produced by Televisa. (An abridged version of this telenovela can be bought in DVD format).

In Univisón's message boards there were adverse reactions to this change as participants clamored that Mi Prima Ciela wouldn't be moved in the schedule: 1 y 2. Some bloggers, like Tania Azevedo also mentioned their unhappiness. Meanwhile, both in the message board TVVI and in Recordar es Vivir (1, 2, 3) participants theorized about the reasons behind Telefutura's decision. Some advanced conspiracy theories involving Cisneros, owner of Venevisión, RCTV's direct competitor in Venezuela.

Personally, I dislike both the change in the schedule and the treatment that Mi Prima Ciela has received in Telefutura. But, I'm not surprised at all. I disregard conspiracy theories about Venevisión having part on this, because Venevisión's telenovelas have also been victims of similar abuses in the Spanish-speaking TV here in the United States. The tendency by Univisión and its associated networks, (Telefutura and Galavisión), to treat Venezuelan telenovelas as second-class products is, by now, old. We know that prime time is reserved exclusively for Televisa telenovelas. But, through the years we have witnessed the invisibility of Brazilian telenovelas in their schedules and the rough and disrespectful way in which they have edited Venezuelan telenovelas such as El País de las Mujeres, Sueño con tu amor (Los Querendones), Amor a Palos and Amantes. We've also seen how Amantes de Luna Llena was broadcast in the humiliating 1 a.m. time slot. And, of course, we know they don't provide any space for any Venezuelan telenovela they classify as "localista". This fluid term is now equal to telenovelas made in Venezuela. (The main love story in Mi Prima Ciela is as universal as it gets--death as the antagonist--a plot we've seen and will keep seeing both in film and literature).

Of course, the background of this is the agreement between RCTV and Telefutura that allows the broadcasting in the latter of telenovelas produced by the former, albeit in the terrible conditions I'm discussing here.

Many will argue that if Mi Prima Ciela didn't garner good ratings at 5 p.m, it had to be taken out. However, I've seen my share of telenovelas at 5 p.m. with poor ratings that were never moved from that tiem slot. Of course, none of them were Venezuelan or Colombian. .

Mi Prima Ciela's schedule change is symptomatic of some of the worrisome trends I see in the market. In the U.S. there's a sort of re-education of the spectator in which audiences are only exposed to a particular type of telenovela. I know well that the Latinos of Mexican descent make up the majority of the Hispanic market. But, similarly to what happens in Mexico, these audiences only watch the same type of telenovela (and their remakes). Telenovelas deemed "different" are either stigmatized as "localistas", edited to the point of destroying their essence, or moved to terrible time slots, as in the case of Mi Prima Ciela.

This is not a good situation or a desirable one.

TELENOVELAS WATCHED IN THE AMERICAS AND SPAIN...WHERE ARE THEY FROM?

Frequently,  Produ.com publishes an  Excel file that is a database of all the telenovelas on the air in Spain and the Americas. The data in this file allows us to get a clear idea of which are the dominant producing countries in the international telenovela market. You can download the file by clicking the button NOVELAS AL AIRE, located in the left-hand column of Produ's webpage. 

As a visual communication's person, I believe that a chart can say more than 1,000 words. Hence, here are two charts I prepared with Produ's data. (If you want to see the charts more clearly, please click on them. Also, please forgive that their titles are in Spanish).

Consider the following when you look at the charts:

1.- The data file includes telenovelas broadcast in the Americas an Spain during the week of March1-7,  2008.

2.- I tallied the data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela because these are the countries that produce and sell more telenovelas. I didn't add Chile and/or other countries because according to Produ, their participation in the international telenovela market doesn't reach the levels of the countries I included. I decided to add network Telemundo (even though it isn't a country), because of its undeniable presence and influence in the market.

3.- The pie chart is organized by countries. 

4.- The second chart lists the most important telenovela producers in the countries mentioned in the pie chart.   

5.- If you would like to examine the data more in depth, I recommend you download the file from the Produ website.

The instant photograph that these charts give us is pretty clear. It's one more reason why I believe (and fear) that the globalization of telenovelas means their mexicanization. And, if we consider the undeniable dominance of Televisa in the international arena, and the fact that it has been producing only remakes...you can understand my concern that the fundamental ingredient of telenovelas--creativity--is being curtailed. (See my post about remakes). 

It would be very interesting to access the data for the rest of the world and see if it follows the same pattern.

VENEZUELA ES UNA TELENOVELA

Today I was planning to write about the latest in a string of new Venezuelan telenovelas, Torrente (Venevisión). However, I'm going to postpone my analysis for a few days because I must note a review about my book,  Venezuela es una Telenovela that was published today in Venezuela's most read newspaper, Ultimas Noticias.  The review's author is respected literature and performing arts critic E.A. Moreno-Uribe, who's also the author of one the blogs I visit and respect most, El Espectador.

I appreciate Moreno-Uribe's words towards Venezuela es una Telenovela  (story in Ultimas Noticias, blog El Espectador). More importantly, I appreciate his depiction of my research agenda, the significance of my continuous back and forth between the U.S. and Venezuela as I get closer and farther away from my object of study, and my determination to understand better the fascinating and (generally misunderstood) television genre of telenovelas:

Her tastebuds will never forget the flavors of black beans, arepas and plantains that she ate for decades with her family, even though she cooks them in her home in the United States--Athens, Georgia, where she has lived with her husband and children for the past 14 years. She comes periodically to Caracas, where she was born 50 years ago, to recharge her batteries, test her memories and also her feelings. More importantly, her research on telenovelas also keep her eyes fixed on this city.

...

She does not want to write a telenovela or to teach how to do it. She is a researcher interested in the links between media, culture and society, which she teaches in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Her book is a polished academic work in which she applies theoretical models to understand the production, representation, identity, consumption and regulation of telenovelas. She does not want to demonstrate anything, but to study the impact and social phenomenon that each telenovela is.

...

Fifteen months of fieldwork, plus two years of analysis and writing make her book, Venezuela es una telenovela. It is obligatory reading for those who want to know the truth of that fantastic entertainment genre.

BEYOND CINDERELLA?

Thanks to the invitation of LACSA (Latin American and Caribbean Studies Association), I did a presentation in honor of Women's History Month titled: Beyond Cinderella: The Representation(s) of Women in Telenovelas.

Preparing this presentation challenged me. First, I never know how much information my audience already has about telenovelas. Second, the presentation should mix description and analysis.



I decided that the best way to explain the many Cinderellas that have populated telenovelas was to show examples. Therefore, I showed clips of famous telenovela Cinderellas: different versions of Simplemente María, La Zulianita, Marimar, etc. Later I showed some recent variations on the Cinderella theme: Todos Quieren con Marilyn and Juana La Virgen. I also commented on telenovela women who broke the Cinderella mold, such as the protagonists of El País de las Mujeres. Finally, I reflected about the possible reasons for the global success of Cinderellas.



The presentation was a gratifying experience. The room was full with members of the University community: students, faculty and staff members. I was asked interesting questions that centered on the enigma of the continuous success of telenovela Cinderellas around the world. This is an important question. Its answer isn't easy to pinpoint in a genre with as many paradoxes as the telenovela has.

SUPER TUESDAY AND TELENOVELAS

Tomorrow, February 5, is Super Tuesday here in the U.S. This is the day in which 24 states, plus American Samoa, will hold caucuses or primary elections for one or both political parties. Fifty-two percent of the Democratic delegates and 41% of their Republican counterparts will be elected tomorrow. To say that it's a key date in the decision process to elect the next U.S. President is an understatement.

In several of these states the vote of Hispanic/Latinos/Latinas will play a crucial role. Therefore, some candidates (especially Democrats) have been courting their vote. It's fascinating to take a tour through the candidates websites and see how (and if) they assume the Latino vote as important:
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John McCain
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee.

Back in November I published a post about the intersections between telenovelas, politics and society in which I mentioned the three-episode pro-Barack Obama mini-telenovela prepared by Vote Hope targeting the Latino vote in California, a state that is Super Tuesday's juiciest prize.







This mini-telenovela has caught the attention of journalists, bloggers and immigration groups:

La Política
Comunidad
The Border Line
Hispanic Tips
The Huffington Post

But, this isn't the only telenovela related to the U.S. Presidential race. Voto Latino, an organization that seeks to empower the Latino community by encouraging its participation in all aspects of U.S. life, has an online spoof of a telenovela enticing Latinos to register and vote. Starring La Pasión de la Decisión are Rosario Dawson (co-founder of Voto Latino) and Wilmer Valderrama. So far, it has two episodes:





The question of whether these "telenovelas" will achieve their goals will take some time to be answered. Meanwhile, I'm very interested in finding out if these melodramas "feel" like telenovelas to those who have made of this TV genre a part of their everyday life.

ONE SURE THING: NO CONSENSUS REGARDING TASTE IN TELENOVELAS

(I apologize to my English-only readers because all the links in this post go to texts in Spanish).

Like most things in life, telenovelas generate a variety of opinions. What some think is great, others believe is awful. More so in a tv genre that represents a true paradox: It's watched all over the world, and is still despised by many. Complicating things even more is the fact that telenovelas come in different writing and acting styles/qualities. Their production values are also diverse and highly dependent on networks' budgets and countries' political and economic conditions.

Another factor that influences the different likes and dislikes regarding telenovelas is that not every country is exposed to the same telenovelas. The offer they receive depends on the distributors' assumptions about what the public wants to watch. And those assumptions are often laden with underestimation of the audience.

I must also mention that there is no consensus regarding the definition of "success": High ratings in the country of origin? Number of countries that bought the telenovela? Number of countries where it had high ratings? Number of countries where it's still remembered? Influence in the social formation? Influence in the telenovela genre?

We can find an excellent example of this diversity in the post (and comments it generated) in television blog Espoiler, associated to Spain's daily El Pais and written by Hernán Casciari.

And, of course, the Internet is the locus of incredible contrasts. See how interesting is the range of opinions and comments we can find about Venezuelan telenovela Arroz Con Leche:

Todotnv
TVVI

Plus the contrasts between negative opinions about this telenovela and the comments of those audience members who depend on youtube to be able to watch it.

The only sure thing about telenovelas is that there is no consensus about them.

A RADIO COMMENTARY ABOUT TELENOVELAS

A couple of months ago I was interviewed by Claudia Quintero from the radio show Nuevos Horizontes (New Horizons), which is supported by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In the show's webpage we read that "the purpose of this radio program is to provide critical information and educational orientation to the Latino immigrant population in the United States, and those audiences interested in learning more about emerging Latino issues and improving their Spanish language listening skills."

I was interviewed about telenovelas. Excerpts from the interview will appear in two separate editions of Nuevos Horizontes dedicated to this topic. The first edition just aired and the second one will be broadcast in February.

The first story touched on several important aspects of this paradoxical television genre that can be both changing and static at the same time: Why are there different styles of telenovelas depending on their producing country? Which is the style that currently dominates the market? Why are Cinderella-type stories still successful?

If you're interested in listening to the show, click here. (The show is in Spanish. It's eight minutes long, well organized and spiced with wonderful original audio from classic telenovelas from the 70s and 80s).

TELENOVELAS V. SOAP OPERAS I

Maybe the question that I've answered more times here in the U.S. is about the differences between soap operas and telenovelas. Until recently, it was unavoidable to begin my conference presentations by briefly explaining the similarities and differences between these shows.

In my telenovelas class I've also had to explain the different aspects of telenovelas by comparing them with soap operas, which are well known here in the U.S. I like watching people's faces when I explain that telenovelas have a finite number of episodes and an end. My U.S. interlocutors find this very strange.

Recently, however, I had the opposite experience: to define the soap opera before an audience that only knows telenovelas. For me, a Venezuelan in the U.S. academe who's used to having to "explain" her culture using comparisons and contrasts with the U.S. culture, it was fascinating to go through the inverse process. I discovered that for those who have grown watching and knowing telenovelas, the soap opera, with its unlimited number of episodes, is quite "exotic."

Following is the first of two installments of my version of the similarities and differences between telenovelas and soap operas.

Both telenovelas and soap operas are serial melodramatic genres pitched to popular audiences. In both emotions provide the basis of the spectacle. Also, both are broadcast daily during the week. They aren't governed by the "seasons" system like sitcoms and series are. Both have multiple trade publications, discussion boards, blogs and websites dedicated to them. More importantly, these genres share the paradox of being successful and disdained at the same time.

Nonetheless, there are important differences between them:

- Telenovelas have a finite number of episodes. Therefore, the audience expects a conclusion. The soap opera is designed without an end. For instance, General Hospital has been on the air, without interruption every day at 3 p.m. (ET) since 1963.

- Telenovelas are broadcast both in the afternoon block and in prime time. Soap operas are broadcast in the networks only in the afternoon block. Hence, telenovela audiences are comprised of women and men of all socioeconomic leveles, ages and occupations. While the soap opera audience is still mainly comprised of women who work at home. (For those who want to watch soap operas at night, there is a cabel channel that broadcasts them throughout the night).

-Telenovelas determine the "star system" in Latin America (see a related post). In the U.S. most soap opera actors are perceived as "second class" performers.

-In consequence, most of the Latin American actors that have made it to Hollywood come from the telenovela industry. In contrast, it's a rare event that a soap opera actor transitions well to Hollywood. (A few important exceptions are: Meg Ryan (As the World Turns), Mark Hamill (General Hospital), Demi Moore (General Hospital).





TO BE CONTINUED...

IN MY TELENOVELAS CLASS: LEONARDO PADRON

My telenovelas class is having some special experiences these days. This week we also had a phone conversation with writer Leonardo Padrón, author of the following telenovelas:

Ciudad Bendita (2006-2007)
Cosita Rica (2003-2004)
Amantes de Luna Llena (2000-2001)
El País de las Mujeres (1998-1999)
Contra Viento y Marea (1997)
Aguamarina (1997)
Amores de Fin de Siglo (1995)
Gardenia (1990).

His work goes beyond telenovelas. He's a well-regarded poet:

El Amor Tóxico (2005)
Boulevard (2002)
Tatuaje (2000)
Balada (1993)
La Orilla Encendida (1983)

And film writer:

Miranda (2006), dirigida por Diego Rísquez
Manuela Saenz (2000), dirigida por Diego Rísquez
La Primera Vez (1997), dirigida por Luis Alberto Lamata

In the last two years, Leonardo Padrón has also worked on radio with Los Imposibles, a show organized by seasons in which he interviews 20 personalities that are "impossible to ignore."



I must mention that Los Imposibles 1 and Los Imposibles 2, turned into books, are now editorial successes.

These recognized writer had a very interesting conversation with my students. Among the topics we discussed were:

1. The way he has explored the feminine through characters that break the traditional telenovela stereotype of the submissive and suffering woman who waits for, or needs, a Prince Charming who will rescue her from poverty, or from a loveless or senseless life. In contrast, Leonardo Padrón creates female characters that are warriors, with a will of their own, and who have agency over their destiny. (For example, Miranda in El País de las Mujeres).
2. How he constructed Olegario in Cosita Rica, a character allegorical to President Hugo Chávez. He shared with us his intention that this character would elicit reflection in the audience. We also discussed how the Venezuelan audience read this character, and how the "villain" was in their eyes the most charismatic character of this telenovela.
3. His reasons to choose Roque Valero as the male protagonist of Ciudad Bendita, and the calculated risk he took by having a protagonist that broke the stereotype of the traditional "galán" and a love story that transgressed the established telenovela codes.
4. His interpretation of how the U.S. Latino market is changing the telenovela genre. And his concern that this market, dominated by Mexican immigrants from the popular classes who are used to traditional telenovelas, is beginning to determine the way telenovelas are written and produced in countries like Colombia and Venezuela. (I share this concern as I've expressed before in this blog: 1, 2).

At the end of our conversation, Leonardo Padrón congratulated my students for the level of the questions they asked. My students and I thanked him for the honesty of his answers, and for visiting our classroom. Our telenovelas class would be incomplete without the voice and presence of this recognized author.

TELENOVELAS: WHEN THERE IS NO COMPETITION II

Recently, I wrote a post about my concern regarding the loss of local color and flavor in Venezuelan telenovelas due to the lack of competition, now that RCTV is out of the open airwaves.

An important aspect of this no-competition phenomenon is the definition of local "success" or "failure" of a telenovela under this particular conditions.

Traditionally, ratings and shares have been the currency of the television system. Of course, good ratings aren't always accompanied by quality television. But, these numbers are considered by the industry and by advertisers as the measure of tv consumption.

But, what happens with the perception of these numbers when there isn't competition, as in the Venezuelan television case?

I don't think there's a change in the advertisers' perceptions. They know well that now that RCTV is only on cable, Venevisión is the colossus and the most watched tv network in Venezuela. For them, ratings have the same meaning they've always had. It's business as usual.

This is possibly true also for the majority of people who watch telenovelas in Venezuela. Those who don't care about ratings, or who wins, but who just want to be entertained by their telenovela of choice. Their decision-making process every evening is still pretty much the same. They just have fewer options, courtesy of the Venezuelan government.

I note a change in perception, though, in those members of the audience that are most committed to the telenovela genre: bloggers and message board participants. In those spaces politics frequently color the perception of whatever is on the tv screen. Ratings, which are seldom made public, are interpreted, even when there hasn't been access to them. Opinions are created about this or that telenovela, and spirals of silence (Noelle-Neuman, 1974) appear among those who disagree, but who perceive themselves as being in the minority, even if they aren't.

Given Venezuela's intense political polarization and the soon-to-happen important constitutional reform referendum, I'm not surprised by most of what I read in blogs and boards. However, there are some arguments that intrigue me. For instance, there is the generalized assumption that if RCTV wasn't only on cable, that its telenovelas would win on primetime. This, of course, is impossible to know for sure. The most important thing I've learned in all these years studying telenovelas is that the audience is unpredictable. Therefore, RCTV could well win or lose.

There is an interesting paradox that has caught my attention. The most visited post in the Spanish version of my blog is the only one that mentions Venevisión's telenovela Arroz con Leche. (Here the post's version in English). However, participants in message boards frequently say that this telenovela is a failure. Some argue that its share is lower than Venevisión's average share...an intriguing and fascinating argument...That is, that since the telenovela has no competition, then it competes against the network that produces it.

This disparity between the number of hits to that particular post and the opinions expressed on the Internet made me look carefully at recent shares and ratings for the 9 p.m .slot.

Below, a graphic I prepared with the shares of the first two weeks of November. I didn't include Sundays (no telenovelas air on Sundays), or the days where baseball games preempted the telenovela's broadcast.

(Please click on the graphic so you can see it bigger):



A few reflections:

* Because RCTV isn't on the open airwaves anymore, the distance between Venevisión and the rest is immense, in terms of share.
* At 9 p.m., Televén and the Cable (aggregate share of all cable outlets) fight tooth and nail for second place.
* On most days, telenovela Arroz con Leche has a better share that its network average (green line).
* It's still impossible to predict who would win at 9 p.m. if RCTV was still on the commercial airwaves.

So, what can we say about the success or failure of Venevisión's telenovelas, now that there is no competition?

I don't believe we can clasify them as a failure, given the distance between them and the other options offered by Televén and the other commercial TV outlets.

At the same time, their success will always be tarnished by the absence of its traditional competitor, RCTV. It's like those baseball records with an asterisk.

On the other hand, what can we say about the success or failure of RCTV's telenovelas, now that they air only via cable?

We can't say they are successful or failures. We can only compare their numbers with the other options available by cable. Again, in baseball terms, this is like speculating whether an African American player who was never allowed to play in the Major Leagues would have been a record holder. Unfortunately, we can only speculate...

The most important thing is that by being assured (Venevisión) or incapacitated (RCTV) to hold the local market's supremacy, the focus of network executives and owners will shift to the international market. In this way, the terms of the game change. And, maybe, the way Venezuelan telenovelas will be written and produced from now on will change too.

TELENOVELAS: WHEN THERE IS NO COMPETITION

Last week we read the publication of the shares of Venezuelan television for the month of October:

Venevisión: 58,1%
Televen: 21,0%
VTV: 6,3%
Globovisión: 6,0%
RCTV International: 4,4%
Tves: 4,1%

Source: AGB. Medición nacional. Total televidentes ABCDE de 6 a 12am. Octubre 2007.

In the message board of Television Venezolana e Internacional (TVVI), the reactions (1, 2) have centered mainly on:

* The fact that, even though it is now on cable only, RCTV International, has a bigger share than the government channel that took over its frequency, TVES.

* Whether Venevisión has capitalized the absence of RCTV. In other words, whether it has increased its share now that RCTV is only on cable.

Since I'm completely opposed to the way the government did away with the opposition that RCTV represented (see my posts 1, 2 and 3), I'm happy that RCTV International has a better share than TVES.

As for Venevisión, the network has benefitted from RCTV's absence. Following are the approximate shares during April this year, (RCTV was closed at the end of May):

Venevisión: 35-40%
Televen: 10-15%%
VTV: 5-6%
Globovisión: 2-3%
RCTV: 23-28%

We should note too that both Televén and Globovisión have also increased their shares in the post-RCTV era.

However, and even though ratings and shares are the currency of the television business, I'm concerned tha the lack of competition will change the way television is made in Venezuela.

I'm particularly concerned about telenovelas. I worry that without internal competition, telenovelas will be produced with the sole purpose of international sales. We are seeing it already. Ciudad Bendita, my last case study, is probably the last telenovela broadcast by Venevisión which was designed to win the ratings war in Venezuela. As for RCTV International, it is now co-producing with Telemundo in order to survive and be sure of its international sales. I'm not sure yet what form their productions will take. The first one, Toda una Dama, a fair remake of the extraordinary telenovela Señora originally written by José Ignacio Cabrujas, has a cast in which talent is uneven.

I'm concerned that as priority is given to international sales over local success (which doesn't matter anymore given the lack of competition), Venezuelan telenovelas will lose their local color and flavor. Many believe that there is nothing wrong with this. Furthermore, they think that this is exactly what the Venezuelan industry needs to regain the top place it occupied once in the international market. I disagree. Firstly, because the political economy of the international telenovela business is different to the one that was in place when Cristal and Kassandra conquered the world. Today the global market is dominated by remakes and telenovelas that are both short and formulaic. There is no risk-taking these days. Secondly, because in Venezuela telenovelas and the social formation have a particularly strong dialogic relationship. Without losing the universality of melodrama, telenovelas have spoken to us, Venezuelans, about who we are, how we love and how we stop loving. If we take away the local flavor, we will be closing this important dialogue between television and culture, and we will diminish the space for autoanalysis. We will also ascertain that our local culture isn't good enough to be present in the international arena.

There was a time in which we enjoyed listening to the different accents, words and sayings present in the telenovelas of varied countries. It was a time in which the local conquered the global. We now live the inverse moment: the global imposes itself over the local. And the global is an imposed construction that implies uniformity, repetition and conformity. I believe these three elements are the mortal enemies of creativity, which is the key ingredient that will assure the health and perdurability of this television genre.