5 Key Elements of a Telenovela

 In one of the first lectures of this class, I was told that every telenovela had a rags to riches story, revenge story, identical twins, family feud, and a transformation. I was a bit skeptical about that. How can one of the broadest genres of entertainment contain those five components every time, without fail and without feeling repetitive? 

The answer could be evolution. The telenovela that I've been watching, La Reina del Flow, is really modern. It came out fairly recently, and while it doesn't look like the same telenovelas that were airing in the early 1900s, it still has those five key components of a telenovela. 

I thought it would be a fun idea to go through these five elements and point out the examples that you can fin in La Reina del Flow. So, without further ado, let's begin!

1. Rags to Riches

For this one, we are going to look at our antagonist, Charly Flow. We first meet Charly as a kid in a rough area of Medellin with some really big dreams. His father is heavily invested in narcotrafficking, and wants his nephew to follow in his shady footsteps. But Charly dreams of becoming a reggaeton star, which he achieves. His ascent from rags to riches isn't really seen as a good thing, however. He loses his best friend, Juancho (right of young Charly in the picture above), and takes advantage the novela's protagonist Yeimy to get his way. The fame he earns as a result is just as sour. He becomes rich, but incredibly miserable too. Rags to riches is usually seen as a good thing, and usually happens to the protagonist. However, this telenovela diverged from that a bit with this. 

2. Identical Twins

To the left of the picture is a young Charly Flow. To the right is Erik, his "adopted" brother (it's complicated, don't worry about it). As you can see, the same actor was used to portray these different characters. They may not be identical twins, but they certainly look identical. But in this case, the use of identical characters isn't to show identical twins, but to juxtapose two related characters. Erik is used as a reflection of Charly. Erik has the same dreams as Charly, and is dealing with the same evil uncle, but he has a good heart. Watching Erik's storyline is like imagining what would have happened if Charly was good, which makes his storyline fascinating to watch. 

3. Family Feud

Manin is definitely a huge villan in this story, and there'a reason for that. This man is pure evil, and terrorizes his own neighborhood. That includes Yeimy and her family. Manin's group and Yeimy's family  share a strong hatred from each other. Yeimy's parents even stand up to Manin by refusing to pay him for "protecting" the neighborhood. While it's not in a typical Montague vs. Capulet style rivalry, it is still a pretty fierce hatred between families that ends with blood. 

4. Transformation

The protagonist of the show, Yeimy Montoya, gets a huge transformation in the show. After she is released from prison (I'll explain in a second), she is trained by a music producer named Jack. She learns how to act like a famous producer, and compose music in a really short amount of time. This isn't a traditional transformation because its focused more on personality and skill than appearance, but it's an important and dramatic transformation. 

5. Revenge

Remember how I said that Yeimy got sent to prison? Well, that would be Charly and Manin's fault. Yeimy is especially angry at Charly when she's released from prison, and her burn for revenge is one of her biggest motivations. As angry as she is, however, she can't act on her emotions. She is helping the DEA take down Manin's narcotraffic operations undercover, and revealing her lust for revenge would reveal her true identity. 

So, La Reina del Flow might seem like a completely modern telenovela, but it still has the same 5 components that you can find in every telenovela since the beginning. However, each of these components are interpreted in a very different and modern way. Entertainment is constantly changing and evolving, and telenovelas are no exception. I think it's incredible that so many modern telenovelas have been able to keep the 5 components while still feeling unique in their storytelling. 

I can't wait to see how the genre continues to adapt and change while still holding onto its roots.  This class has truly taught me a lot about telenovelas, and I'm completely hooked. Not only am I enjoying La Reina del Flow, I'm open to watching and experiencing more telenovelas after this class ends.