Blog Post #2 La Casa de las Flores

Hola!

In the last few weeks, we talked about Representation, Identity, and Consumption in Telenovelas. It is impressive how telenovelas used to set certain stereotypes like women could only be either a virgin or a whore, how homosexuals are supposed to behave, and black people are always looking for money.  In Consumption, we talked about how telenovelas can be used to make a change or educate society.

A new telenovela that is trying to change and educate society is 'La Casa de las Flores.' Now, it is a Netflix show, so many argue that it is not a telenovela, but it has the love triangle and lots of drama, so I am going to call it a telenovela for now. It was created by Manolo Caro and the main actress is Verónica Castro, a very famous telenovela actress.

Veronica Castro

The show is about a rich family that cares more about what society thinks of them than the actual things happening in the family. It addresses things such as keeping appearances, racism, money, weed, transexuals and homosexuals, infidelity, etc. These subjects are hard to address in Latin America and for people to talk about them. It is easier to talk about these controversial topics with telenovelas because people are being entertained, they do not go in thinking that the show is going to send a message about such topics. 'La Casa de las Flores' shows problems that are so integrated into Latin American society that we no longer see them as problems, but they do need to be solved.

Ever since I was little my mom told me "las cosas de la casa no se dicen" which could translate to "You don't tell the things that happen at home." She always told me not to tell anybody, not even my friends because the image we portray into our social circle is very important, it has to be perfect. This Telenovela shows the extreme in which a family would go to maintain their image and how that is extremely hard and exhausting. Every family has their issues, and sometimes solving those issues should be the priority instead of hiding them from everybody.

Another issue they addressed is racism. One of the daughters is studying abroad and she is engaged to this very handsome guy. She brings him home and decides to hide the engagement because he is black. Her mom asks her if this is something momentary because, god forbid, you can't marry a guy of color. This reminded me of my own mom. I used to have a boyfriend of color. He was very handsome and smart, my mom approved. But I remember her and my dad telling me I could not get married to a guy of color because they didn't want colored grandchildren. Which is pretty ironic as my mom is white, with green eyes and red hair, but her aunt is black. Racism is something Hispanics overlook, but it is definitely there.

They also represent the LGBT+ community in the telenovela. The only son of the family is gay, but he tries really hard to hide it. The whole telenovela we see him trying to figure out how to tell his family, and his mom is in denial about it. She believes this is something she can solve, and tries to push him to get married to a girl. The reaction that Virginia has towards her son coming out of the closet is a similar reaction to the one that many other moms in Latin America have. Such reactions do not provide the best support as a mother. Everything is handled with lots of drama, but it is interesting to see the journey of how she was angry and in denial, to acceptance and love. There is also a drag queen club and the ex-husband of one of the daughters realizes he is transexual.

Weed is a very sensitive topic. If you smoke weed, you would be considered a person with no future, a junkie. In the telenovela, we see the main character, Virginia, constantly smoking weed for her stress. You would never expect a woman of her age smoking weed so often, but she hides it really well. She is a successful woman of a prestigious family, she isn't supposed to be smoking weed. But she is, and she sends the message that you can be successful and normal, even if you smoke weed.

There is also cheating in the telenovela. The husband of Virginia had been cheating on her for years and even had a daughter with his now dead lover. In some telenovelas, the main character would have forgiven him, but she decides to separate, as she is a strong woman.  The whole telenovela goes around her trying to cope with the infidelity and the things that have come up to light because of it. 'La Casa de las Flores' does not fit into the Cinderella story, Virginia is an older woman (still beautiful) and she is not looking for a prince charming at all, she is actually trying to get away from the one that used to be her prince charming.

I think it is funny that I told my mom she should watch this telenovela because it is really good and modern. But my mom hated it, she didn't like that the main character smoked weed, that there were drag queens, the cheating, any of it. These are topics that my mom (and most of her generation) doesn't like to talk about.  They called 'La Casa de las Flores' the millennials telenovela as we are more open to discussing such topics. The telenovela was a success and the second season is coming soon!

Love & Light,
Nicole