yo soy betty la fea final post

The last episode of my telenovela was bittersweet. It was sad because I was finally done watching it but happy because it was so good. I did not expect to enjoy my telenovela as much as I did. It was such a Cinderella moment to watch Betty transform into someone so beautiful and everyone's response to this. Betty's success in the workplace and with her love life made me very happy for her in the end, even if she is a fictional character. However, despite her being a fictional character, I feel as though everyone can relate to Betty on some level or another. Betty, like Cinderella, ended the show finding happiness.

Eva Luna Final Blog Post

It is official: I have become addicted to Eva Luna. I watch it in my free time when I do not need too. This addiction has made this course so enjoyable and much easier to complete the assignments. One of the things that I first noticed about Eva Luna was the music. The theme song is extremely catchy even though I do not speak spanish and have no idea what they are saying. As I mentioned in a previous blog, whenever Eva and Daniel have a romantic moment the theme song plays in the background. I also noticed that there was a new song introduced towards the end of the series. This song is titled Eva Luna and was obviously written specifically for this telenovela. I have also experienced many instances of of incidental music. My favorite of these types of music is the suspense incidental music. It makes the scenes much more dramatic and intense. While Victoria does not have specific character music, she always seems to have suspense music following her which is most likely because she is the most dramatic character on the series. I still have one episode left to watch and I cannot wait to see what happens!

Una Maid en Manhattan - 3

Since this Freshman Seminar began, I have learned so much about the wonderful world of telenovelas. The first time I watched a telenovela I just lagged through it. I didn't pay it any mind, I just saw a group of people acting like mad men with extreme facial expressions and reactions, but there is so much more. At this point, I am so hooked. Even after this class ends I may still be curled up catching up on my show on the weekends. You don't even need to understand the language to see the complexity of these productions. So much thought and planning goes on to produce every single episode. You may think they chose threw in a random song for the scene you just watched, but no. That song was specifically chosen to send your mind a message of what's happening with the characters and the emotions. It may have even been personally made for that very scene. I am watching Una Maid en Manhattan. This is no longer just an assignment for me, I am emotionally involved. It is just so gripping! Many girls from my hall even started watching it with me. However, when we watch, I know it isn't the same thing. They see a complex and compelling melodrama; I see actors, producers, writers, cameramen, and so many others who are working just out of the camera's eye, striving for perfection. So much to lose, but so much to gain as well. I'm glad they risked it.

blog Post 3: Finale

All in all, I am very glad that I decided to take this class. I've learned a lot about Latin American culture through watching Telenovela. It is interesting because I used to watch Korean dramas when I was in Korea, and I also watched many Television shows in America. And now I had an opportunity to watch Telenovela, a Hispanic version of melodrama. I find myself more of a well-rounded person now. Watching my Telenovela made me wanting to learn more Spanish. It made me regret not fully learning spanish when I was in high school. Watching Telenovela gave me a constant desire to be a part of the Latin American culture.

In terms of the Grand Finale of Rubi, I have to admit that it was not so predictable like other episodes. At one point, my jaw literally dropped from being surprised. What kills me the most was that the ending was not clear. It left the audience hanging. It made me wonder what would Rubi do as she was seducing the main guy character once again in the hospital office. As she winked at the camera, the scene faded, and it was over. It was a bitter, sweet and glorious moment. It's kind of similar to how I feel as this Odyssey class is ending. I hope I will give more love and respect to Latin American culture and the Telenovela.

Por favor, ¡bésala!

One of the most intriguing yet most frustrating part of my telenovela, Dame Chocolate, is the main love story. At the beginning, Bruce touches Rosita's special holy birthmark, which means they are destined to be together. So, throughout the whole telenovela, you know that they are going to end up together at the end. The frustrating thing is that they never both love each other at the same time until the very end! They keep going back and forth. First, Rosita loves Bruce, but Bruce just uses her. Then Bruce does fall for her, but Rosita runs away because she thinks that he doesn't love her. Rosita comes back with a new face and calls herself Violeta. Bruce falls for Violeta, but Rosita/Violeta is just seeking revenge. Then she does fall in love with him, but Bruce is angry when he finds out that she was just using his love for revenge. So for a while Bruce hates her and marries someone else, but then he starts falling for Rosita again. It's a convoluted love story, that can be so frustrating at times. You just want the two of them to get their acts together and just love each other because they're destined to be together! 

In general, the main love story is much more interesting than the other side stories. My DVD is an abridged version, so sometimes it will randomly skip to the middle of a side story scene, which can be confusing. It is also harder to feel attached to the other characters because you don't see them as much. One side character that we actually can come to love is Fabian. He came from España to visit his father, Mauricio who is Rosita's lawyer, and then fell in love with Rosita/Violeta. He is a very caring man, who is a good friend to Rosita. He even has his own song! Although I miss pieces of his relationship with Rosita because of the editing, I still can get a good gist of how it is. 

Overall, I do like my telenovela. It was a little more rosa than I wanted, but it turned out to be a good one, with a male protagonist that is muy guapo!

The Team that Makes a Telenovela

    Many of the themes and structural elements of telenovelas Dr. A discusses in our First Year Odyssey Seminar appear in Una Maid en Manhattan. Una Maid en Manhattan is currently airs on Telemundo from Monday to Friday at 8/7 central. With just 67 episodes, a little over half of the average number of episodes per telenovela, the plot has already begun to twist and turn even in the first episode.
    I am amazed at how fast Telemundo can produce the episodes for Una Maid en Manhattan. In class we learned about all the people involved in making a telenovela a success. From the writing team and the directing team, to the cast and the viewers at home, without all of the parties involved, a telenovela can not survive.
    So far I have identified the main protagonists to be Marisa, Lalo, Cristóbal, Lucas, and Belinda and the main antagonists to be Miguel and his accomplices, Victor, Sara, Ronnie and Estanislao. Marisa’s character continues surprise me. Even though she is supposed to embody the typical ‘Rosa’ character, she does not strike me as the stereotypical female in peril. The more I observe her, the more she seems to almost be the anti-Rosa. Marisa is smart not naïve. She is beautiful, but is not the traditional thin and fair skinned telenovela beauty. The fierce bond and she shares with her son Lalo is incredible. The way she calls him “mi amor” with all the tenderness in the world sends shivers up my spine. For my final paper, I think I want to take Marisa’s character and focus on the ways she shakes up the stereotypical telenovela heroine.
    Another element of telenovela production I have observed in Una Maid en Manhattan is the use of music. The opening song of the telenovela is the song “Amor sin final” sung by Litzy and Eugenio Siller, who are the actor and actress that play Marisa and Cristóbal, and who are both famous Mexican singers. In the scene where Miguel is holding Lalo and Marisa hostage in the house with the police and swat team outside the music is filled with loud, heavy notes signaling danger. Yet at times when Marisa and Lalo are have an affectionate mother-son moment the music is filled with the light and airy strumming of a guitar.
    The interior and exterior scenes make Una Maid en Manhattan more recognizable to viewers. The opening credits include random shots of New York City’s bustling Times Square. The exteriors shots make the telenovela seem more realistic. These outside scenes include when Lalo is giving tours at the hotel, when Lalo and Marisa are in the cab leaving Michoacán for Los Angeles and the location of Marisa and Victor’s wedding. The construction site where Cristóbal, Lucas and Ronnie all work also looks more realistic. The interior shots appear to have been shot on a set, like the inside of the hotel in Michoacán, Belinda’s apartment, Marisa’s mom’s apartment and Cristóbal’s office. However, not all of the exterior shots are deceiving in their realism. Though the scene where Estanislao stops Marisa on the street is supposed to appear to be outside, there is not enough noise and filth to truly imitate the real life New York City streets. Here the budget available to produce the telenovela could probably not cover the cost to close down a part of the city to shot this scene. This one scene proves that a lot of effort and compromise is needed make keep a telenovela entertaining.

Esa Hembra Es Mala

..that's the name of the theme/opening song for the telenovela Teresa. And as we learned in class, there's much to get and learn from just the song title itself. Straightaway, you can already assume that "esa hembra", referring to the main female protagonist, is "mala" or evil. The song is written in a third-person point-of-view that goes on to say :

        "..ella esta tan bonita/ que hasta parce bendita/ pero es un angel caido/ ella es una maldicion.." 
   lyrics in Enlish: "..she is so beautiful/ she even appears holy/ but she is a fallen angel/ she is a curse.."

These few lines, I think, are the most defining of the telenovela's protagonist, Teresa. If you skip about 20 seconds into the video I have linked, you see Teresa. She is very attractive--an expected standard from the telenovela world. She is, however, somewhat of a "fallen angel" as it says in the opening song. Viewers at home can see that side of her more; characters in the novela cannot. Or better said, they are more prone to being ignorant of Teresa's greedy and manipulative nature. With her pretty face and acting skills, Teresa is particularly able to fool guys from realizing her true goals. The theme song makes it a point to say that Teresa is evil despite that she would "..give up her own life/ just to make you happy..". Because, really, making "you" happy will most likely means Teresa gets what she desires from you.

                                     




 

Las Letras No Mienten

A couple of class sessions ago, we discussed the music of telenovelas.  After that class, I have noticed the significant role that music plays in a telenovela.  In my telenovela, Univision's "Eva Luna," I see that the music plays a crucial role.  In many scenes, I observed the dialogue of the people, and the music that was played over it.  In one scene I recall Victoria, Daniel's "future wife," asked Daniel to speak in front of a group of people at a party.  At first I thought this was a normal question, but when the suspenseful music came into the background, Victoria's simple request became a tense moment in the episode.  The music immediately gave me the feeling that Daniel's words to the group would be a defining moment for him because of his secret love for Eva Gonzalez.

This is an example of how music, whether we realize or not, can totally change the meaning of a scene.  Music has meaning elsewhere as well.  The opening credits to Eva Luna include a catchy, romantic sounding song, which is suitable for the romantic story.  I looked up the theme song, and it is called "El" or "Him" by Jenni Rivera.  And although I do understand many Spanish words from my high school and current Spanish classes(the telenovela is helping me learn Spanish as well), I used Google Translate to find out the entire meaning of the lyrics.  Here is the opening verse:

"Appeared when not expected, Any change in her sweet eyes
What I felt when I saw, I can not express in words
But the untimely under our lives, As someone else already shares his day
And although he would not live without, I do not want a love hidden
Give me patience to wait, Give me hope to fight
God give me strength and a signal"

This lyrics, not surprisingly, match the story.  This is the classic Cinderella story.  Eva, the poor girl, even though she is forbidden by Doña Marcela, Daniel's girlfriend's mother, she falls in love with Daniel.  Because she is forbidden, their love is un amor escondidas or, "a love hidden," and Eva needs the patience to wait for him, and overcome obstacles. Even when they kiss, and even when they have intimate moments, Daniel and Eva continue to face misunderstandings which prevent them from being together.  As I watch, these obstacles are frustrating me, but I guess this is what makes a telenovela "hooking."  I am becoming impatient to see the couple finally get together, so please Eva Luna, dame paciencia para esperar.

FYO Experience

In my final blog post I would like to discuss my overall experience with this FYO. I am so happy that I chose to take this mini-course because it has really opened my eyes to a new culture and has brought a new appreciation for learning about other cultures into my life. I never understood why my mom is so hooked to her soap operas, but now that's a different story. I talked to my mom about my telenovela and how I couldn't stop watching at that I want to buy more off of Amazon once I'm done with Corazon Salvaje. I must admit that in the first class I was really skeptical about watching a Telenovela because I did not think I would like it but as the saying goes "Don't judge a book by its cover", and to my surprise I have literally fell in love! I thought that telenovelas were the exact same as soap operas except they were from Latin American countries, but boy was I wrong! Soap Operas have no central story line while Telenovlas have a main plot and sub plots and I can literally tell the diffference now when I watch Soaps with my mom.  Learning about the different components and aspects of different cultural Telenovelas helped me better analyze my Telenovela for my paper. I think that my telenovela in particular used a lens to magnify the issues that the upper class face when it comes to family values and morals, but it also distorted other things such as what type of government was in place at the time. The discussions in class have been really interesting and helpful in me writing my paper. On a final note I would like to say I am really going to miss having this class on Mondays. I'm going to miss the in-class discussions as well. I am extremely excited that I will be able to take this new learning experience with me for the rest of my life and hopefully I can take a full-length course of this class before I graduate from the University of Georgia.

Defining Music

Something that I have been contemplating while watching Ugly Betty is why she is so relatable. Despite the obvious, her endearing naiveté and nerdiness, Betty emanates a sort of relativity that enables the audience to fall in love with her. Now that I have seen how the telenovela unravels, it has become obvious that Betty is just your average underdog story with a twist. Since it is a Columbian production, the humor of it all allows this character to glide through her transformation making it seem almost natural, a growing into self process. This journey to self discovery is aided greatly by music. The music that accompanies Betty's development, at first was a mere cruel reminder of Betty's faults and what she has to go through. Later in the plot however it becomes an empowering element for the character and portrays her as a strong, opinionated woman. The transition between scenes always play "se dice de mi", which at first i believe was almost for comic relief. However when Betty comes back from her second employment, the transition song is almost a comparison of what she used to be and what she has become. It reflects how differently she handles situations with Don Armando now that her confidence has peaked and she is in full control of herself. I find it interesting how much music can contribute to a character's attributes and how it can help the audience understand the character on a deeper level.

Post #3 - La Madestra

La Madestra has got me hooked! I cannot stop watching it. I actually cut down study time just to watch this telenovela. I tell myself to only watch an hour of it, but I end up watching like two or three hours instead. Before I started watching it, I was like I will never get hooked because I barely watch television to begin with. At first it was a little hard to keep up with all the characters in my telenovela, but when I did I got even more hooked. Im almost ashamed to admit it. Last class we talked about music in telenovelas, so I focused a lot on the music that was being play throughout the telenovela while I was watching it. I noticed that the music that was being played had no lyrics. Most of the music was produced from a piano. Depending on the scene the piano was manipulated to match the mood. It was interesting to pay attention to the music carefully.