How Telenovelas Have Made an Impact on Society
After attending last week's class, where Dr. A discussed the consumption of telenovelas and epic love stories in telenovelas, I was surprised at the many things I learned.
Starting with the consumption of telenovelas, I never knew that a show could split an entire country in two. After Dona Barbara was released, people identified themselves as either the "Barbaritas" or the "Mariselitas"; I found this to be quite humorous. It's as if the "Barbaritas" and the "Mariselitas" were two political parties. If one side was satisfied with the result of the couple, then the other side will revolt causing the writer to be in great distress. Everybody was worried about the outcome because it could either benefit one side, benefit one side more than the other, or not even benefit anyone at all. Just like with political parties, one side might find that the other side's rules and regulations are not to their liking and will protest and riot.
With epic love stories in telenovelas, the guidelines for what makes a telenovela an epic love story could be applied to many romance television shows around the world. The female protagonist has to be beautiful, which means having long hair, a pretty face, and a beautiful smile, and it also means that she had to cry beautifully. The male protagonist has to be handsome, which means having a great smile. After seeing this analyzation, it made me realize that the beauty standards for lead characters in telenovelas are very similar to a lot of different shows around the world. A majority of the leads in romance shows look the same; the portrayal of each character is almost uncanny, though there are some telenovelas that break this stereotype. For example, in Avenida Brasil, it was refreshing to see that the main female protagonist did not have long hair. She might no have had long hair, but she was beautiful. Because so many of us are used to seeing a main female protagonist that has long hair, that has a beautiful smile, and that is literally so perfect, society has made a list of beauty standards that a lot of us has come to accept. Despite these standards, there are more and more shows nowadays that have a main female protagonist of a romance show that do not look like the typical female protagonist from past romance shows, which shows that many found other ways that portray beauty.
Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your post, and I think it sparks a great discussion about gender norms and societal standards. As you write above, there is a precise formula for these epic love stories. But my question is, are these strict beauty standards really necessary? You discuss the short hair of Rita in "Avenida Brasil", and how she is still beautiful while combating oppressive standards. This is of course a step in the right direction. But honestly, in my eyes this superficiality about the looks of the main characters is completely toxic and unnecessary. Why does every actor/actress have to adhere? For ratings? Will people refuse to watch if the main characters do not fit society's narrow standards (are we all that shallow)? This is not a healthy culture that should be continuing in novelas (and in television in general) as we move into the 2020s. We need to have more diversity and representation!
For example, "Yo soy Betty, la fea" entirely revolves around beauty standards and working to be beautiful and not ugly. This is a very unhealthy and toxic plot for such an influential show to carry. I think many young people may watch the show and feel as though they need to follow Betty's path and change to conform to beauty standards. What actually makes Betty so ugly in the first place? Why should she have to change? Overall, this is a terrible and conformist ideology to push on impressionable viewers!
Of course, I am sure there are some novelas that continue to break the norm, possibly even pushing the standards more than Avenida Brasil. But for now, the majority of TV in general remains glued to "ideal" beauty. And I personally believe that this narrow societal standard of beauty in television must be broken!
About your discussion on "Barbaritas" and "Mariselitas", you say that you were unaware a country could be so divided by a television show. However, I feel as though there are many shows and movies that have caused this kind of divide. For example, McSteamy/McDreamy in Grey's Anatomy and Team Edward/Team Jacob in Twilight both continue to spark hotly contested debates. Even Team Rafael/Team Michael from Jane the Virgin was a topic of argument in our first day of class! So while I disagree that it's unheard of for a show to tear a population apart, I will agree that it is impressive how large scale the Barbarita and Mariselita debate was. Overall, you wrote a great blog post that provided great discussion, and I would love to hear your further thoughts on the subjects. Great work and have a great afternoon!
Thanks so much,
Noah