Background Information
El Reina del Sur had the highest rated premiere for a telenovela while bringing more than 4 million viewers during the broadcast of the final episode. With a budget of $10 million, El Reina del Sur was the most expensive Telemundo-produced telenovela to date.
The Telemundo broadcast of El Patron del Mal averaged roughly 2.2 million viewers while ranking as the #2 Novela Premiere in Telemundo’s History Among Adults 18-49.
International Appeal
Similar to El Reina del Sur, El Patron del Mal was also made available to stream on Netflix, making it just that much more accessible to international audiences.With the more recent premiere of Narcos and a USA Network adaptation of El Reina del Sur ( "Queen Of The South") on its way, it is safe to say that the appeal of these cartel-focused crime dramas are not specific to Latin American audiences.
Longevity
Although the reasons behind the success of these two narco novelas could be debated at length, it is still too soon to say whether or not these telenovelas will continue to maintain popularity in years to come. As discussed in class, market saturation of related telenovelas could pose a threat to the appeal these shows and make way for a new hot topic. What will be interesting to see is whether narco novelas will take on the same tongue-in-cheek sensation, which younger generations tend to associate with rosa telenovelas, some 50 years down the line.
From a personal perspective, I think this could go one of two ways. Either the audiences will demand more variation in the depiction of characters portrayed in narco novelas or the sub genre will simply fall to the wayside. Keeping in mind the fact that audiences have a much wider range of entertainment to choose from in the 21st century, I can't imagine why the largely redundant storyline of the self-made, anarchist drug lord would maintain its appeal. Nevertheless, it is certainly worth noting that with the success of these telenovelas thus far—not to mention the sub-genre as a whole—they must be doing something right.
Moving forward: Expert POV
Professor at the University of California-Berkeley, Lupe Gallegos-Díaz, feels that narco novelas serve as a detriment to women.
"Most of the time it's about a sexual objectification of women," said Gallegos-Díaz.
While this argument could be used outside of the realm of telenovelas and rather the entertainment industry as a whole, many share a similar sentiment. With the popularity of third wave feminism on the rise, the industry may have to take into consideration the changing demands of female viewers and adapt accordingly. However, seeing as El Reina del Sur was the first telenovela to feature a female drug lord, it may not be entirely fair to say that the sole objective of all narco novelas is to only sexualize and objectify women.
President of production for Caracol TV assured listeners on NPR that these telenovelas will be moving in the direction of innovation.
"The next dimension of what we're going to talk about ... is the
dimension of the victims ... Up until now, all these
productions have been taking a look into the reality of narcos and their
relationships," said Garcia.
Good question! I agree with the "expert POV" - the genre will give into innovation but it won't be driven out.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the way younger audiences view the "Rosa" novela, and I can see that kind of teasing attitude developing toward today's narconovelas when they become out-dated. But I don't think that means that the subgenre will disappear.
I'll draw a parallel between narconovelas and gangster films, because I think narconovelas seem like an adaptation of the "gangster subgenre" already. Audiences look back with fondness on the original mafia movies, like The Godfather, as classics. Scarface, Goodfellas. But they don't make mob movies like that anymore.
Is it because the intrigue of organized crime is no longer appealing? Probably not. It's because the meaning of organized crime in real life has changed. In film, drug lords are the new mob bosses because in reality, drug lords are the new mob bosses. I have a feeling that we could adapt a version of The Godfather in which Vito Corleone is el senor de los cielos.
Or maybe there hasn't even been that much innovation at all. Maybe drug lords and mob bosses are the same thing with a new title. The mafia were known for gambling and money laundering, but they also moved narcotics into and around the country. The Godfather brought drugs in.
I seem to be contradicting myself, but my main point is that, either in innovated forms or not, I don't think the subgenre is going away. Drugs are a part of life - my telenovela is far from a narconovela but it still touches on drug use and trafficking. Plus audiences are intrigued by organized crime. There are so many sides of it...I think the "expert POV" idea about focusing on the stories of the victims would be a very interesting topic that hasn't been deeply explored, but I think the quintessential narconovela won't lose its place on prime time any time soon.