When Attempts at Social Good Can Get Annoying

                                                     Photo Credit: Schmilblick (Flickr)

Yes, novelas do reach millions of viewers every day. Yes, this gives them the opportunity to influence their viewers in a positive way. But when novela writers take it upon themselves to solve the world or teach their viewers moral lesson time and time again, that’s where I draw the line.

While I have no problem seeing novelas dealing with real issues as a means to educate their audiences, I do have a problem when their good intentions ruin the plot. In the past, I have watched as novelas deal with homophobia, addictions, interracial relationships and adoption, but Telemundo’s El Clon has reached new heights with their obsession with Natalia's drug addiction.

Being an adaptation of Gloria Perez’s Brazilian novela O Clone, I was very excited about the promise of seeing something different on Hispanic television. The idea of taking an issues as controversial as cloning and interracial dating and bringing it to the (Hispanic) masses was refreshing—especially considering that most novelas still follow the traditional pattern of poor girl/guy falls in love with rich girl/guy but they can’t be together because of class differences or inter-family hatred.

However, recently, El Clon has focused on showing us, the viewers, the negative effects of drug addiction. Natalia, a supporting character in the plot, has recently become the focus of the novela as we are constantly exposed to her struggles living as a drug addict. Not only that, but we also constantly hear the Don Enrique’s words of wisdom on the topic, as he has become some sort of spokesperson for the novela’s addicts (Natlia and her group of friends), narrating the struggles that are common to people with such condition. The irony is that he is also an alcoholic who is struggling to overcome his addiction.

I do not mean to delegitimize the condition or the struggles faced by real-life addicts. Addictions must be very damaging not only to the addicts themselves to but also to their friends and family members. However, seeing it repeatedly on my television screen is annoying.

Although I support the potential television has to start serious discussions, I am annoyed at the way novelas can become obsessed with certain issues and make them an increasingly important part of the plot. What’s worse is that they try to portray these issues so seriously that they end up being unnecessarily dramatic to the point where it becomes annoying. For example, not once, not twice, but multiple times I’ve had to watch Natalia promise her boyfriend and parents that she doesn’t have a problem while listening to Don Enrique’s voice-over that describes the denial addicts live in. Yes, it must be hard for someone going through an addiction problem, but I thought the novela was about Lucas, Jade and the clone. Why must we sit through an entire episode and watch Natalia suffer?

As writers attempt to educate their audiences about the realities of social issues through the television screen, they must seriously consider the impact those portrayals will actually have. Will they present a serious issue with respect and the necessary level of gravity or will they exaggerate to the point where viewers will want to hurl something at the tv screen?

The Latest Poll: New Direction for Hispanic TV?

Photo Credit: National Archief (Flickr)

If you haven't already read somewhere, the latest poll conducted by the Associated Press and Univision shows that young Hispanic Americans tend to identify less as Catholics (and slightly less conservative) than their older counterparts. While I could use this blog to talk about the cultural or religious identity of my peers, the more interesting issue for this blog is the meaning these findings may have in relation to television programming. 

If we think about the current state of Hispanic prime time programming, such findings could significantly influence the content that becomes available in the future. While the recent trend, particularly in Telemundo's line-up, has been to push the envelope and explore contemporary themes in relatively fresh ways, the truth of the matter is that some its content is still traditional in many ways. 

For example, take the Final episode of Donde Esta Elisa? which aired Aug. 10, 2010. Anyone who would have randomly stubled upon the alst episode by mistake would have assumed that this was your typical novela. After all, the last scene consists of a happy family portrait. What the viewer would have ignored is the unconventional themes that were explored in this production: a death orchestrated by family member, an extra-marital affair between a college professor and a minor (who, by the way happens to be his niece), as well as the internal turmoil of a mother dealing with a kidnapping and death of her daughter who wants to leave with her her lover but must keep her family together. In other words, the final episode represented a return to the traditional values once upheld by the predominantly conservative, Catholic audience--an audience that loves happy endings.  

But the findings of the study mentioned above may bring us some hope. Catering to this new generation of (18-29 year olds) that will continue to watch Hispanic TV networks may be a something producers and network executives might do. If this is the case, then there is hope that television programing may be less conservative and a little more provocative. Unless of course, my age-peers grow up, become more conservative and the content that is now popular continues to be popular then. 

What will happen, I can't predict. Until then, we'll have to do with innovative productions that settle for the happy ending.

Ghosts on Telemundo?

Two Elenas, a wandering ghost and a man that morphs into a horse...What more could we ask for from a telenovela? 

For the last couple of weeks, Telemundo aired for the first time its latest production: El Fantasma de Elena. Featuring an international cast, the trailers leading up to its premiere promised a fresh take on the rather corny genre of the telenovela. Its premise: two women (both named Elena) will fight for the love of the male protagonist--one is alive and one is dead.

Thinking about the premise of the novela, I started to wonder why the writers would conceive of the antagonist as a dead bride. Being that audiences are expecting more and more reality from television, a trend which Hispanic audiences are not exempt from, wouldn't a corpse bride just seem plain dumb?

Perhaps, the answer is no. I can only speak from personal experience, but I have observed how superstitious Mexican Hispanics can be. I remember conversations around our American dinner table that could have actually been heard in a small Mexican town as well. My parents and uncles would talk about espíritus (ghosts) that would sometimes show up in the backseat of cars when passing through a certain road or of ghosts that would wake you up in the middle of the night taking your ability to scream for help. I don't think any of them believed those stories, but like I'm doing now, these are stories they heard and passed on to others.

Whether audiences will believe it or not, the more important question is whether such superstition will resonate with the mothers, fathers and their children who sit around the living room watching Elena every night. 

Thus far, El Fantasma de Elena, has tapped into our collective superstition.  Although most of us may not believe in ghosts, fantasmas or espíritus, we may remember our parents and grandparents talking about what so and so said happened to them in the old country.

As the novela unfolds, I will continue watching to see whether this topic is treated with subtlety or outright silliness.