Today, when we were watching remakes of telenovelas in other countries, I began to question how much of an influence cultures would have on telenovelas.
You see, in the telenovela I'm watching, La Mujer Perfecta, there hasn't really been too much mentionings of any culture, besides Nene being a "Ms.Venezuela". Or maybe I'm just not recognizing anything because I'm not Venezuelan? So for context, this post will only be discussing the comparisons I've seen in class today.
Okay, I really liked the transition between the culture of Colombia to Mexican culture in Cafe con Aroma de Mujer. While it is just smaller details such as the setting, there is still a lot of world building that can be done. There are areas of Mexico that are completely different from Colombia, one of these being the climate. Furthermore, the intros with the music was incredibly interesting to me as well. Lately, I've been listening to a lot of cumbia, so when the Cafe con Aroma de Mujer came on, I instantly recognized where it could be from. But I also really enjoyed Destilando Amor intro as well, I'm a fan of mariachi. From the couple of times I've heard it, it's gorgeous.
However, sometimes I feel that remakes can be somewhat useless. Unless there is going to be some twist to a remake, why bother recreating it? I enjoyed the cultural remakes because they took something that was already good, and had the potential to make it better. An example of this would be, from the clips I've seen, was Breaking Bad and Metastasis. I was wondering, if they were essentially only changing the drugs used in the show, why bother remaking it? Wouldn't it had been easier to produce a Spanish dub? Maybe there is a Spanish dub, but finding a network to air it might have been difficult.
Another example that I thought was interesting was The Good Doctor. I had no idea that it originated in Korea! Looking at it, with the rise of popularity in K-Dramas, I was surprised that the Korean version wasn't popularized in the U.S. Or at least not marketed here, but this was back in 2013. I don't remember Netflix being that popular back then, so it makes some sense why they just remade it for the U.S. But still, why couldn't they also have produce an English dub for it? Now, the only one I can understand a bit is the Turkish remake. This is because of the heavy censorship that takes place in Turkey, whereas the U.S doesn't have many censorship problems that I'm aware of...
Overall, I'd say remakes are very hit or miss. Unless there is a remaster, or a twist of a remake, I'd stick to watching the original telenovelas.
Hi Nicole! I really like your blog and I think that is a very interesting take on remakes. I feel like sometimes remakes happen because the original telenovela happened so long ago and by remaking it the overall quality of the telenovela could be better and more enjoyable. The telenovela I'm watching is actually a remake of the Colombian telenovela with the same name that was aired 6 years earlier. But I do understand how they can seem useless having the same exact material just repeated again in a different language. I agree with your opinion on the change in the Mexican remake of Cafe con Aroma de Mujer. The switch from using coffee to agave is really cool and differentiates itself from the original version so that it is not just the same thing repeated again.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole! I too am often skeptical of remakes. One that came to my mind is Jane the Virgin. I think the remake was a hit, I sure loved it! However, I believe it targeted a different audience than the first one most likely. This could definitely be a factor for producers who are looking to remake a story: the audience. However, I personally feel whenever I see a show and I hear a remake it coming out- I am not interested in it. It is almost like nothing can ever beat the original because that is what we know and love. If there is a great amount of time set between the two it may be possible however because the remake will be the "original" to its new audience most likely. So I agree with you, remakes can definitely be hit or miss!
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