Over It: Why Does It Take A Telenovela To Get A Message Out To Latinos?
11 September 2009, 6:20 PM. By Alex Alvarez
Argh! We were looking forward to a nice, calm Friday full of cheap beer and self-loathing but, no. Of course we have to find a bit of news at the very end of the day that sets us to Angry Latina Mode. We’ve learned that Colorado officials decided that the best way to reach out to Latinos and teach them about different health-related resources available to them is through…
A telenovela.
We’ve seen this before. So many times. We saw this with Declare Yourself’s satirical (Hm. Is it still satire if it isn’t humorous or thought-provoking? Is it still a telenovela without fake breasts?) novela La Pasión de la Decisión and with Amigos de Obama’s similar series of novelas getting us to vote for their preferred candidate. And while, originally, it was a cute idea (and if we ever decide to do a novela here at Guanabee then, yes, it’s still a cute idea) at this point it feels like every organization uses a telenovela as a means of reaching a Latino audience because they are too lazy and uninterested to do something else. It appeals to the lowest common denominator, it shows a lack of effort or research, and it works to reduce Latinos to people who are dramatic and over-the-top and obsessed with television. In fact, it inspires the same reaction in us as whenever we saw ads or PSAs aimed at the black community that HAD be presented in the form of a hip-hop song. It’s silly, and it gives the impression that these organizations believe we’re all one type of person or aren’t informed enough about our culture to realize there’s something beyond stereotypical interests.
Not that the messages in this particular telenovela aren’t positive:
An expecting but bickering couple is encouraged to seek prenatal care. The uncle of a boy injured in a car wreck caused by a drunk teenager learns about state-funded health insurance. A character who doesn’t like her figure gets some advice from a health care adviser: Stop eating so many tamales.
God. Like we all eat tamales and watch telenovelas, right? Because we LOVE fattening food and drama. IT’S ENOUGH TO MAKE US BEAT SOMEONE TO DEATH WITH A TOSTON!
Anyway: Please no more telenovelas. And please no more reggaeton. Try to find some other interests we may have, ok? Try to work a little for our vote or our attention.
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AHH! YES… I agree…Novelas have a crazy impact though ..they’re watched since people are little kids until they’re old…i’ve always wanted to produce a novela though. Except mine would focus on the girls that are always relegated to the sidekick or comedic relief role and would not have any zoom shots.
“It appeals to the lowest common denominator” I don’t know how may things are wrong with that statement, I’m not going to even bother. I get your point, I agree they lack imagination, but that statement is ignorant–because reading gossip sites is so highbrow.
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!
Seriously, my entire family, including my damn father, loves his telenovelas (I even got hooked on that dumb-as-hell “Cuidado con el Angel!”). I once visited my grandmother, who I hadn’t seen since I was a toddler, and the woman literally shoved my ass aside because I had stepped in front of the TV during her “chow.”
I agree on the reggaeton
But will there be eyepatches?
I didn’t mean it as in “stupid people watch telenovelas.” I meant the use of telenovelas is a pretty simple and uninformed way of appealing to a demographic. I’m not saying it doesn’t work or that the fans are unsophisticated, just that there is more to us than watching soaps and I wish advertisers would try a little harder to get our attention / vote / money.
I had previously read your reply, and hadn’t had a chance to post. I apreciate you taking the time to clear it up. Perhaps you hit a sore spot with me, my brain and heart are at odds. My grandmother (who truthfully couldn’t stand my dad) sat side-by side when their novela came on, and now that she’s passed; it’s one of the sweetest memories I have. To have ANYONE (experts, critics, organizations etc..) suggest that there’s a link between novelas and the uneducated, culture-less viewer is incorrect. My granmother was not US born, a widow, and a business owner–in an era where it was UN-heard-of, and when I visited her back home over vacations, she read everything and anything, I’m amazed, knowing what I know now, how much I learned from her; about the Holocaust (wtf?), Cuba, (not Cuban) American culture and so much more. Maybe this isn’t so much a reply to you, but a tribute to her memory.