What I have learned in class and my all time favorite telenovela
What I have learned so far in class is that there is more than one kind of telenovela. Personally I have watched Latin American telenovelas but I never thought of other types like Korean, Turkish, and many more. During the past classes we have talked about what is a telenovela? You would look up on google for the definition which would be (in Latin America) a television soap opera. But, there is a slight difference between telenovelas and soap operas. Most telenovelas have no seasons, mix of exteriors/studios, and plots rarely in real time. However soap operas the plot is usually on real time, exteriors are very rare, and actors are considered second class.
Living in a Spanish household you are bound to watch a telenovela no matter your age. I remember my family and I would watch telenovelas no matter the time or day it was. Till this day every telenovela episode leaves with a cliffhanger before the commercials to engage you to come back after the commercial. A Telenovela that my family and I watched that my father and I enjoyed the most was Tierra de Reyes. This American telenovela premiered on Telemundo in 2014 and continued into 2015. Not only did this telenovela captivate the audience's heart but you could have felt the pain and happiness they would go through on every episode.
Because of the death of their sister, three hardworking and modest brothers seek vengeance against a wealthy family known as the del Juncos. The Gallardo's (three brothers) wanted to find out what happened to their sister the night she died, so they decided to work at the del Juncos family farm to investigate. But to their knowledge they were not thinking about falling in love with the three daughters of Cayetana. Not only did they fool everyone of who they were but they were very helpful around the house and would help Cayetana’s father around the house when they were not constructing the house for Cayetana’s oldest daughter and her fiancé. The fiancé of the oldest daughter was one of the antagonists in this telenovela because he would treat her and everyone who lived in the house horrible and he did not care who he had to go through to be able to get the fortune of the del Junco family. That is just one person but as the episodes go on so many things happen that you do not even expect coming. As you watch the episodes you get so caught up in them that you do not notice you have been sitting there for hours or staying up the whole night.
This seminar has displayed more types of telenovelas that I have not heard and seem interesting to watch. I am excited to learn more about telenovelas and how they impact different cultures.
Hello Yaires!
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to your post! Telenovelas have always been a big part of my life and childhood. Even now, I find myself turning on the tv to jump in on one I may not be fully following. Like you, I never thought of telenovelas in an academic sense, so it's nice to be able to put some academic information to them. I especially wasn't aware that telenovelas even existed outside of Latin America, much less how big they are in other countries as well. Though the telenovelas I would watch with my family were definitely not targeted for my age group, I do still believe a learning experience can form from watching telenovelas. Specifically, it may spark a conversation on a difficult topics, such as the one of racism and colorism that Noah pointed out in one of his blog posts. However, such topics need to be presented in order to be addressed - such as the one of racism - which is a flaw we have come to see in the productions with a lack of diverse casts. I diverged a bit, but overall I think it's important to note that not only did telenovelas form a part of our childhood, but I think there's a big opportunity for this medium to make a positive impact.
Loved reading your post, it was nice to feel relatable!