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.