Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Last week of classes & a bit of "Novelas Mexicanas" in Brazil.

The last week of classes was filled with a series of special episodes in our telenovelas class, including a happy ending with a delicious tres leches dessert cooked by our lovely Dr. A and the happy (and not so happy) ending of several telenovelas.
  I also enjoyed learning about the all those people we interviewed, they were all so nice and eager to answer our questions. At first I was worried they would be snobs or not really interested in talking to a bunch of students. I am so glad I was wrong.  I got impressed with Marisa Roman’s and Gledys Ibarra’s great charisma and Leonardo Padrón who, besides being a talented writer, seems to be a sweet person to be friends with.  Gracias, Dr. A!

To finish my last post in our blog,  I will talk about a little of reception of international telenovelas in Brazil.

We all know at this point that most Brazilians are “noveleiros” (i.e: addicted to telenovelas) and this passion also includes being fans of imported telenovelas. Mexican telenovelas, for instance, are the most watched international telenovelas in Brazil.
Novelas Mexicanas are always associated with SBT network because it has exhibited these serials on its schedule since the 80’s, and most of the these novelas became very popular to even threat Globo’s productions. As we learned during the semester, the structure of Mexican telenovelas is different from Brazilian ones which are most exclusively in - de ruptura - side of the spectrum. Being a little shorter, with fewer actors, and focusing on great but overly dramatic love stories, and super evil villains; the Rosa formula has won millions of viewers worldwide and Brazil is not an exception. Many people in Brazil associate the Rosa style with Mexican telenovelas, and it is interesting that they even use the saying “drama de novela mexicana” to reinforce the differences between novelas done in Brazil and in Spanish-speaking countries (even for productions not made in Mexico).

Several novelas mexicanas were broadcast in SBT channel, and below I will talk about some of the most popular ones in Brazil:

The first Mexican telenovela broadcast by SBT was Los Ricos Tambien Lloram in 1982. In 2005 the novela was remade in SBT, starring Brazilian actors.
  
The Mexican version of the novela "Carrosel", originally shown in 1989,  was one of the most successful novelas of SBT, which was exhibited in Brazil in 1991. The story has captured the attention of children and adults of all ages and registered over 20 rating points, even competing with the Globo telenovela "O Dono do Mundo".

The famous "trilogia das Marias," starring the actress and Mexican singer Thalia was a bit hit in Brazil. These telenovelas became the most-rerun by SBT and are still broadcast nowadays with great ratings in the station's afternoon slot. The current rerun is "María la del Barrio" shown in Mexico in 1995 and Brazil in 1997, and the most successful of the trilogy. Look at the fun advertising they made for the current rerun (I love it!):



Rebelde was also famous in Brazil, but the most beloved Mexican telenovela by the Brazilian audience is La Usurpadora. Broadcast in Mexico in 1998 and Brazil in 1999, the novela has been rerun three times in the SBT so far, the last time in 2007, but the fans dream of a new reprise to be done soon. Gabriela Spanic’s character – Paola – is simply LOVED in Brazil. There are several pages in facebook dedicated to her and people even create events to learn how to be like Paola. She is the biggest DIVA from telenovelas. 

                                       (Fan made video with Brazilian funk song - Ela é top)

In the last few years Turkish telenovelas are also getting good ratings in Brazil, and some critics think they will be soon a threat to Mexican productions in Brazil. In this article you can read more about it. 

Well, that's all, amigos! It was a pleasure to work with you! Feel free to contact me if you wanna talk about telenovelas. For sure I will enjoy the conversation. :)
Tchau, tchau!

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If you want to read more about the topic you can see the links below (in Portuguese)

Here you can see a complete list of the 10 most famous Mexican telenovelas in Brazil. 

And below  you can watch a show made for 30 years anniversary of SBT and a celebration on the success of Mexican telenovelas in the network during all these years.





1 comment:

  1. All right, as the sole watcher of La Usurpadora this semester, I had to add my two cents here because however generic this show might be in terms of conventions like the Cinderella story, the traditional music, and the dramatic mini-cliffhangers at every commercial break, I honestly think Paola Bracho is one of a kind. Maybe I just don't have enough experience with telenovela villains, but this woman is so heartless and conniving -- as in, I don't think she's had a single redeeming moment on the show, so far as I've watched -- that it's truly remarkable. I think it's clear why Mexican audiences, with their traditional love for telenovelas rosas, love her so much (love to hate her, really). She is definitely the ultimate diva.

    But despite La Usurpadora's widespread success, I find it really interesting that the show is so popular in Brazil, especially in the past few years. I had no idea they'd run it as recently as 2007! And in all the consumption research I've done, I found only minimal presence for this show on social media, so I love hearing about these Facebook pages and events. Maybe it's a sign that the true classics never really go out of style, or maybe Paola is such a special brand of evil (and beautiful) that she transcends time and cultural trends. Either way, I'd love to look more into why Brazilians love Paola Bracho.

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