Telenovelas: Consumption and Cosita Rica
Last week we learned about the consumption of telenovelas and the way the audience engages with them as well. The most notable thing to me was the enormous response to Cosita Rica. The story of how an entire city was enraged by the interruption from the president of their favorite show was completely new to me. I could not fathom if a television show or movie have ever elicited such a response here in America. I also began to wonder the how: how did one show garner the attention of an entire city, watching a broadcast at the same time?
This kind of question has no straight forward answer. Just as mentioned in class, if there were a secret key to success, then everyone would following it. The creators of Cosita Rica may not even know what led to such a wide success. What we do know, however, are the parts that contributed to such success. Beauty, storyline, mystery, drama, etc. were all factors that made an amazing show. Timing and environment, however, were factors the creators couldn't control.
Timing has to do with the time in which the show was aired: the political environment, the location, and much more all have to do with if the audience is watching or not. In example, Cosita Rica had a character that mirrored the Venezuelan president, something that would intrigue the audience. In addition, it was aired in the early 2000's, before streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu were available. This would contribute to the excitement of waiting for a broadcast and watching it live on one television with your family.
This brings me to something I think is key to telenovelas: watching it with a community or family. Such a simple action of gathering around a single TV to watch a show fosters connection between each other. Matching their energy and love for a show is something special and a unique kind of experience. Such unifying response to media reminded me of when Marvel's Avengers: End Game was released. Clips and recordings of entire movie theaters bursting with cheers were common, and the release of the movie was felt everywhere you could go.
Such community and fandom are reasons why people love shows and movies long after they are done: they bring about community and like minded people together.
Hi Lydia! I really liked how you illustrated that big productions like telenovelas and Marvel movies can connect families and communities of people altogether. It's crazy to think that an interruption of one broadcast caused an entire outrage. It just shows how captivating telenovelas are. All the factors that make a telenovela, such as beauty and drama like you said, somehow gathered a huge audience. I also like how you pointed out that having a live premiere of a show instead of live-streaming through services like Netflix built up excitement and mystery for the episodes to follow. For example, End Game was a highly anticipated movie for years. The movies of each character led up to the final moment. I vividly remember watching this movie in the theatre (when we could do that) and hearing cries and laughter from all around the room. It shows that even though we are all different and come from different places, the production brought us altogether.
ReplyDeleteHi Lydia, when you mentioned the crowd reactions to Avengers: Endgame, it reminded me of when I saw it. The theater was absolutely packed. Endgame was the culmination of basically 20 + movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so everyone was on pins and needles to see how it would conclude. The scene where Captain America and Thor were fighting Thanos had the theater on edge, everyone was wondering and worried that one of the two most beloved characters would die at the hands of Thanos. Just when it looked like Thor might bite it, Captain America summoned Thor's hammer and the theater erupted. I heard a few expletives and just general amazement. It was a moment I will never forget. I've similar experiences with Star Wars films but this one takes the cake for me. I have yet to really have a similar experience watching a telenovela, and its unlikely I ever will given my family has no real connection to them, but I'm sure I could try to get them into one.
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