The more I watch Avenida Brasil,
the angrier I get about Jorgito’s character… Now, this blog post will be more
about my expectations of a male protagonist over what the female protagonist
should act/look/be like.
Jorgito fits the bill of a hunky
perfect protagonist in every aspect: He has the most incredible smile, he is a
talented actor, and he has steamy chemistry with Nina. BUT: what do I not like?
I don’t like the character the writers made him out to be. Although I am still
watching and have not seen the dynamic change in the characters quite yet, all
I see thus far is what looks like a twenty-something-year-old, doing nothing
with his life. He drinks, he parties, he SOMEHOW has a girlfriend, he hates his
mom (and lets her know it in front of everyone at a party, and he also reminds
her of this all the time) and he simply acts like a little kid!
Now, I don’t know if anyone else
can agree with me, but no matter how hot he is, there needs to be more to a man
than just good looks. He needs to be passionate, driven, ambitious! The male
protagonists in telenovelas are usually rich and dumb for believing everything
people tell them. How is this not frustrating for everyone?! When it comes to
Jorgito, he still depends on his parents and is even a below par soccer player
on a small team somewhere: knowing he grew up in the home of the star soccer
player in Brazil.
So far this is driving me CRAZY!
I understand he is “lost” and trying to figure out his life, and his
mom-issues, and everything… and I also understand how extremely critical I am
being! But all I keep thinking when he throws his hissy fits is “COME ON!!! GET
IT TOGETHER JORGITO!!!” I am just ready to see him get his life together, not
drink anymore, figure out exactly what he wants, and go get Nina!
I say all these things in
frustration because I feel like Jorgito had all these incredible opportunities
from his transformation as “Batata” to “Jorgito” and he threw them away.
Although riches and fame PALE in comparison to a true family love, values and
morals, I get so angry seeing him do nothing and throwing his life away. I
wonder if anyone in Brazil, or worldwide, watching this novela ever felt the
same way; not everyone gets those chances to leave their difficult lives the
way he did. To me, Batata/Jorgito represents the struggle so many people face
and the rare opportunity Batata got… viewers (those living in poverty) of this
telenovela must have been so angry that their only representation ended up
doing nothing with his life!
Anyway, although this blog post
was critical of the character Jorgito was made out to be (so far!!!), I must
admit it does NOTHING to stop me from watching and LOVING him and fawning over
him every time the camera is on him. I completely fall under the “fan-girl” *
sigh * moments that any women feels when they are watching a telenovela!
From what we have covered in
class, I see how the “representation and identity” of the male protagonist in
this case, has NO EFFECT on my “consumption” as a viewer. I am literally dying
to watch each episode. Honestly, the importance of a good-looking cast is huge,
but on top of that Cauã Reymond
is hot AND talented! No wonder Avenida Brasil did so well!!
Also, when looking up pictures of Cauã, I came across these, and I don’t
know if they are COMPLETELY inappropriate! But I’ll take the risk to share with
you all his hotness:
Have you tried comparing the original Brazilian Portuguese version of Avenida Brazil with the dubbed Telemundo version? The original probably does Jorgito more justice in terms of character development. Also, remember that the dubbed version cuts out some scenes.
ReplyDeleteHey Valentina,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post especially because I am absolutely with you in the „fan girl“ section of Cauã Reymond. I can not stop watching him, including that he literally can stop me breathing with just a look. I understand your frustration and I have to admit that I did not see all of the scenes, because I was too impatient to see the love story unfold. So I skimmed a little.
I perceive his depiction and the points you mentioned in a very romantic way. He is lost, he is hurting and does not really know what he is missing, but it is obviously Nina (Rita). This is a very, very romantic interpretation on my part and it of course is not the whole picture, but I like to think it adds to the „epic love story“. Because thinking ahead in the story and especially from chapter 84 on... I was so impressed with him. He is a fighter and he is incredibly loyal.
You said you want him passionate, driven, ambitious. I promise you, the second he and Nina start to have a relationship (or something of that sort) the passionate part will be all taken care of, and in what a breathtaking way! I personally do not think I need a male protagonist to be driven and ambitious. For me the attraction of telenovelas still is the emotion. So what I am really looking for is a great relationship with the female protagonist. And I am not only talking about chemistry. I think the way he treats her is so important in terms of respect and admiration and not just desire. I think that is another aspect I like about Avenida Brasil. He really values her as her own person and when he makes decisions for the both of them, he does not automatically assume she will just do what he says. There is a chapter where he decides they should travel together and he presents it to her as a surprise. When she looks a little worried, he asks her, what the problem is and looks concerned. I like to compare that scene directly to a telenovela called "Sortilegio“ starring William Levy (not as, but also VERY attractive). There are similar situations in the novela when Alejandro (his character) makes decisions for him and Maria José (the protagonist) and he completely ignores if she looks worried or even voices her doubts. It is just this implicit way of assuming that ultimately she has no right to contradict his decisions. Similar behavior was visible in „La Tempestad“, his latest telenovela. So personally, for me, this more respectful and equal way a protagonist treats the woman, while obviously being very much in love with her, is the quality which I love and always look for. Of course it is very hard to find it in the telenovela rosa and a lot easier in telenovelas de ruptura. But with Jorgito, especially as the story continues, the way he treats Nina and fights for her, are what make me being irrevocably in love with him even more. Because he actually fights for her. He is not assuming that she is just going to feel like she won the lottery because he is with her. But he fights and convinces her and suffers. And crying gorgeous men... that is a whole other story! Wow this turned out to be a lot longer than planned, I’m curious to hear your opinion on my observations and if your frustration will get better as the show progresses.
Thank you for writing about him!
Lisa
Lisa, first of all- shame on you fir skipping episodes--- just kidding! But because of you I did think about skipping some episodes too- haha. You are so right that once they start dating the passion gets “taken care of”- cue my HEART RATE RISING. Also, I find it endearing that you also noticed the way he treats her- to me, Nina is ENFURIATING, and I can’t imagine being Jorgito with so much of my heart on the line feeling like she is messing with it. Regardless, he was always so good to her, clam, and so deeply in love. He always came back to her whether he wanted to or not. That is something about his character as a man, that I so admired- he was patient. A virtue many of us don’t have (specially me)! You are so right, the way he treats her is something I look for in an on-camera relationship as well- I will usually HATE a couple if I see there is any sort of neglect going on… I am now watching Jane the Virgin, and I am sooooo #teamMichael because he treats her so right and knows her very well. He is good for her- not only the “safe” option but the GOOD option! Then you have Rafael, that is super hot, and they fell in love very quickly, and it was a whirwind, but as soon as things got hard and bad in his life, he ran away from Jane instead of fighting for her and being there for her. I understand when life gets hard wanting to run away, but he did it at the expense of Jane’s heart, and he was cruel about it too! So I find myself rooting for the good guy, the guy that treats her right and loves her and shows her he loves her through his actions. This is the same for Nina and Jorgito… I still think he is immature, and I personally don’t think I would ever date Jorgito, BUT he does treat Nina with so much love and respect. You can SEE his love for her in his eyes. I am still warming up to them! Let’s see where they go!
DeleteMy opinion lives somewhere between both of your opinions, ladies!! It's interesting because I see what you're saying Valentina. I don't think I been frustrated by it as much as you have, but I notice it. He's a spoiled brat sometimes. But then he has these deep, emotional moments and you're like oh... all you need is the right girl (Nina) to whip you up into shape (cue Lisa's comment). I think that his "stupidity" if you will, or his selfishness and his portrayal of being "lost" is super intentional in the sense that they have to give Nina a mess to clean up. Does that make sense? I think they owe it to their chemistry and their history and he almost has to be like that in the beginning because if he was fine and perfect and had everything together, what would he need Nina for?
ReplyDeletea. Wow!!! I actually never thought about it being “Nina’s mess to clean up”. That makes a lot of sense to me when thinking of the “damsel in distress” plot used in many stories- be it film, theatre, or literature. I think the tables are turned in this case! Maybe that is why I am so weirded out and putt-off by it? That would make more sense to why Jorgito is a big mess that needs someone to come rescue him. This was definitely effective with everyone in Brasil considering the fact that it was extremely successful there! I do disagree in your last comment about if Jorgito was doing great in life, then what would he need Nina for? I might be a hopeless romantic, but my answer to that is just: love! Love should be enough for them problems or no problems! BUT this is telenovela-world and of course there needs to be more drama!
DeleteHahaha
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I really love this post. Yay, Valentina!
I agree with you that Jorginho at the beginning of Avenida Brasil is not really interesting to watch, except for his Cauã's hotness. But as Lisa mentioned his portrayal develops really well within some time as long as his relationship with Nina also develops, and their great chemistry steals the show.
I can't get over the final episode with him, Nina and Carminha. It was "lindo" :)
a. It has been such a big dela to me that I stopped watching for a while!! And the ONLY reason I kept watching was because I knew I needed to for class… I must confess I replaced Avenida Brasil with Jane the Virgin for about half the semester! –and Jane the Virgin is #AWESOME!!!! But the only real thing getting me through the boring parts in Avenida Brasil are the steamy, beautiful, gut wrenching moments in the clips we’ve seen in class! I look forward to those moments, and then when I do get to those moments I DIE! They are very great! One of my favorite moments was during the fake kidnapping! Totally uncalled for!! I still have not seen the final episode... i am soon saving that!! but I know what happens anyway- which is a good and really bad thing! i don't like spoilers:(
Delete