Santa Diabla At First Glance

    For my telenovela report, I have chosen to watch Santa Diabla. It is my first telenovela I have ever watched, and I am not ashamed to say that I am already hooked! I didn't expect to become so invested in just one episode, but then again I suppose one of the main goals of telenovela writers is to captivate the audience. And though I've only seen the beginning episode, the typology and representation is clear. 

    

    I believe that Santa Diabla is absolutely a telenovela rosa. The two protagonists, Santiago and Santa, met in the first episode, fell in love instantly, and I assume they will have a happy ending albeit many obstacles. And there are MANY obstacles already - Santiago's family (the Canos) killed Santa's husband, and Santa is now engaged to Santiago's brother! The show's villain is another classic trope in telenovelas - the evil mother-in-law. While I have not seen her in action much, I can tell she will create many difficulties for the protagonists. Overall, this telenovela is quite traditional to the genre, with one exception.

    What is the exception? Well, I found that Santa Diabla presents an interesting representation of the leading woman character. Santa is a Cinderella, but with a bit of a twist - she is out for revenge. While Santa is very poor, yes, she is not an innocent and pure woman. She is hoping to destroy the Cano family as revenge for what they did to her husband - and to do this she schemes and seduces her way in. But I don't see Santa as a realist character instead of Cinderella. Because she is a poor woman who will end up with a rich man, I see her simply as a darker take on Cinderella. Clearly this is a deviation from the innocent Cinderella/telenovela rosa plot, and I think it brings a new level to this telenovela.

    While I cannot say much else about the tropes and characteristics of Santa Diabla (since I need to watch more), I can say that I am on the edge of my seat to see just how Santa will juggle Santiago along with her revenge on Santiago's family. In fact, I'm about to watch several more episodes of this telenovela as soon as I submit this post!