As I started watching my telenovela, Rosario Tijeras, I started noticing how it fits into the typology of a traditional telenovela and other elements where it didn’t. While Rosario, the main protagonist, wasn’t naive like Cinderella, she fit the other traits of “Cinderella” because she is poor, rural, beautiful, good, and seems to be on a socioeconomic ascent. Rosario’s full name is Maria del Rosario which fits into how the main character in several telenovelas is also called Maria. Even in the show itself, one of the characters even mentions “Maria, like the virgin” after learning Rosario’s name. The guy protagonist, Antonio, also fits into the key characteristics of “the prince.”He is a good-looking man that comes from a wealthy family in a nicer neighborhood. The other guy protagonist, Emilio, also fits into the characteristics of “the prince.” Emilio and Antonio are best friends and it will be very interesting to see how the love triangle grows. Love triangles seem very prevalent in telenovelas and I got to see a glimpse of the love triangle between Rosario, Antonio, and Emilio. It is very interesting because Rosario Tijeras actually goes out of order. In the first scene, I saw how Rosario got shot and her relationship with Antonio and Emilio. The telenovela then goes back to the beginning and starts the story off with when they all met.
Since starting Rosario Tijeras, I’ve also started to notice the telenovela structure that we talked about in class. There is a cliffhanger after each episode that makes me want to watch more to find out what happens next. Now I understand how people can get so hooked on telenovelas. It is very fast-paced and it keeps you interested. One second they could just be calmly having dinner and the next second people are getting arrested. As the love story of Antonio and Rosario begins to develop, I can already notice the obstacles that stand in their way. For example, the best friend of Antonio’s sister is already trying to get Antonio to forget about, and whenever the main protagonists meet they are quickly pulled apart by their different backgrounds and circumstances.
After today’s class, I realized that there is so much more to telenovela production. Telenovela has to get to the viewers on schedule and there are so many episodes. It is impressive how the crew can work at such a fast pace. After learning about the scripts, I’m going to look carefully at my telenovela and see if I can notice any sequencing errors. I am excited to see what I can notice in my telenovela as I continue to watch it and learn more about telenovelas in the class.
Hey! Great post! That is really cool how you are watching a pretty traditional telenovela. It's so interesting how in the "Cinderella" storyline centers around the girl being poor and innocent to a point of stupidity. I wonder how the story would differ if Maria was smart or clever.
ReplyDeleteI think you also bring up the ever prominent love triangles in the traditional telenovela. I cannot help but think what the storyline would be like without them. Love Triangles bring an astonishing amount of drama into the story and are one of the main reasons I am drawn into the storyline. Overall, the cinderella storyline is very interesting to think about and analyze.
Hey Bettina,
ReplyDeleteYour analysis on Rosario Tijeras is very interesting, specifically on how you comment on the roles of the characters. In a traditional Cinderella story, there is one main love interest for the protagonist, but it’s interesting how the writers chose to create a love triangle—especially with the two guys being best friends.
As someone who has not seen the show, it makes me wonder how they differentiate the two loves. Because they are best friends, neither one is your typical “antagonist”, and therefore it’s more difficult to totally pick a side without seeing the good in the other one. Although I am positive people decided to be “Team Antonio” or “Team Emilio”, having two genuine options as love interests adds depth and reality to a typical fairytale-like story.
Although the typical Cinderella story is a big seller, I really think that recently, the stories with rounder characters have been more popular. Although everyone wants a feel-good story with a lot of drama they can get sucked into, there’s also something to be said for a drama that has no real “bad guy” and forces you to see the humanity in everyone, no matter what kind of unfortunate situation they’re put in. Yes, it is unfortunate that two best friends fall in love with the same girl, but those are the kind of situations that build character and build who we are, and I think people are more drawn to that than they realize.