Blog Post #3

Hola!

I am really sad that this class is almost over. It is one of the few classes this semester that I actually want to listen to. The telenovela I chose to analyze is called Siyah Beyaz Ask, it is one of the Turkish telenovelas Dr. Acosta-Alzuru has talked about in class. I finished watching it last month, as I was addicted to it and couldn't do anything else until I finished it. I fell in love with the main characters, so imagine my surprise when in the class about production Dr. Acosta-Alzuru showed us videos of the filming and a picture with the main character. I got really excited and I wasn't even the one that was in the set.

Siyah Beyaz Ask is a telenovela rosa. The guy is kind of a mafia man and she is a surgeon. There is a lot of drama, violence, and love. It was not the first Turkish drama that I have seen, so I knew there are restrictions with 'love scenes' but I still hoped that they would show us a bit more. It still doesn't go past kissing.

Even though they don't show us a lot of passion, the telenovela shows love through other actions. For example, he is extremely protective of her (sometimes it made me mad, sometimes I loved it). He is a very serious man, doesn't show his emotions to anybody (he doesn't even cry when he has a bullet in his leg) but he shows his emotions to her. There are also little gestures that they do that show that they really love each other.

The telenovela that I am addicted to right now is La Mujer Perfecta. When the telenovela first came out, my nanny was addicted to it, she never missed an episode. We also talked a lot about it during class, so I knew it was good. But let me tell you, it is amazing! It is interesting to see how a person with Asperger's growths up in the Venezuelan society, how everybody calls her crazy or "frita" just because she is different. The telenovela educates you about this condition, and how to treat people that have it. It also educates you about other things, like beauty standards, the age gaps in relationships, cancer, homosexuality, different social classes, corruption, and more. Even though it is a telenovela rosa, it is unique in its own way, as it is mature and informative. The novela has the couple and the antagonist, and the main character is naive because she has Asperger Syndrome, but she is actually really intelligent. She grows as the telenovela progresses, and overcomes the obstacles thrown to her with so a lot of maturity and poise.

As Dr. Acosta-Alzuru has said in class, Leonardo Padrón is an amazing writer and he manages to send messages about the situation in Venezuela through the telenovela. The scene that stuck to me the most is when the owner of the modeling academy fires one of the best professors. All the students and the rest of the professors do not agree with her decision and they start a riot.  In the end, because of the riot, the professor is allowed to come back. The characters say "There is nothing more persuasive than a riot. Democracy always wins" I was like:

This scene was a subtle way to send a message to the country. If the country unifies, starts a riot, and does not give up, we will be able to take the government down. Another thing I think is interesting is that the telenovela is videotaped and some episodes only last 30 minutes because a national message of the president started playing. You can see how the episode is suddenly interrupted with our national anthem, which meant that Hugo Chavez had something to say.

He also shows the current situation in the country by having many robberies and when people say things are too expensive. One of the social issues that is most talked in the telenovela is beauty standards and our addiction to plastic surgery. It is called La Mujer Perfecta after all and the question "what is the perfect woman?" comes up multiple times. I believe that the wife (eventually ex) of the main character represents what Venezuelan people would say is the perfect woman according to our beauty standards. She has been through many plastic surgeries, and every time she feels like she is getting fat, old or she grew uncomfortable with her boobs, she gets a retouch. The telenovela shows how common it is to have plastic surgery in Venezuela. I even had plastic surgery when I was 16 as it is considered something so normal. Is it right? No, but our society believes that you always have something to fix in order to become the perfect woman. In the end, you learn that none of us are perfect, but you are perfect in the eyes of the people who love you. 

 "Tú eres la mujer perfecta para mí

Y yo he nacido para amarte

Y esperarte

Tú la mujer perfecta"

The soundtrack of this telenovela is amazing, I 100% recommend it, here is a link to the youtube playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjN02GmGvXE&list=PLLrtEeKaTVlUUlRoq7m6rM7hnR8jyeTR9

I remember people used to party to one of the songs when I was 12, that's how popular the songs were. 

La Mujer Perfecta sends a lot of beautiful messages that hopefully have a great impact on the viewer, I know it definitely impacted me. Also, it filled me with pride to know that it is a Venezuelan telenovela, and it made me miss my country even more. Hopefully, we will get out of this dictatorship very soon and Venezuelan telenovelas start being produced again (especially because Juan Guiado said that he is bringing RCTV back)!

Love & Light,

Nicole García