Telenovelas are Actually Inclusive

            I can remember as a child staying with my grandparents over night sometimes. For me, it felt like a

vacation. I LOVED spending time with them. After dinner and after I took a shower, my grandma and I

would snuggle up and watch Hallmark movies. My grandpa would watch sometimes, too, just because it

made us happy. For us, it was a part of our routine. For many individuals, Telenovelas, or Spanish dramas,

are a part of their routine and daily life, just like Hallmark movies were for us.

A telenovela is defined as a great love story delivered in installments. They usually air during prime time about 5-6 times per week. They are about a 50 minute to an hour long watch and composed of only a finite number of episodes. They are watched all over the world, but mainly produced in Latin America.  

Some watchers are so heavily invested in their favorite telenovela that they make it a part of their routine, like my grandma and her hallmark movies. For most, telenovelas allow people to escape their life for an hour or so each day. Some use telenovelas as a break from work, chores, or anything really. They allow the watcher to invest in a story without much brain power since they are fairly easy to keep up with, no matter what episode you pick up on. This is because the producers present enough information in each episode that people watching for the first time are able to understand enough to follow along. 

A stereotype of telenovelas is that they are only for Spanish speaking people. However, this is not true. Telenovelas are actually extremely inclusive. The majority of telenovelas include subtitles to which you can adjust to your language. As far as age goes, telenovelas reach a wide variety of ages. There are some for children, such as Carrusel, and even some for teenagers. Telenovelas have no age limit and anyone of any culture can enjoy them. Personally, I would love to be able to speak Spanish, but reading the subtitles in English is no big deal to me. I have never watched a “true” telenovela. I have only watched the Netflix “Jane the Virgin” series. Even though it is not really considered a telenovela by many, I could still understand how the producers would entice the watcher into playing the next episode with the use of a cliff hanger. I am extremely excited to begin watching a telenovela for this class. Before this class, I thought about the stereotype of how they are Spanish speakers, but now after learning more about them, I know that is not true and I am ready to learn more. I now know that telenovelas are for everyone, including me!