When I signed up for this class, I didn't quite know what to expect. I had known that I loved melodramatic TV shows, some of my favorites being Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, and of course like everybody else in this class... Jane the Virgin. But I didn't actually know the components that distinguished a telenovela from a regular melodrama. I've learned about the key characteristics of telenovelas such as there being a finite number of episodes, love stories, hour-long episodes, and how they vary slightly from country to country.
As I listened to Dr. A speak in class the thought kept coming to my mind that I was currently and unknowingly already watching a telenovela. Over the summer I started watching a show called Madre de Aquiler ("The Surrogacy" in English). The show had all the components of a telenovela that we had talked about in class, and it has one of the basic tropes of a rich man and a poor girl falling in love, but having multiple obstacles in their way that stop them from being together. I stopped watching it over the summer for no particular reason, so I am excited that this class is giving me the opportunity to go back and continue to watch this telenovela.
Hey Chichi! I also chose this class after being absolutely obsessed with Jane the Virgin. I feel like that show is so comforting and also has so much drama. I only realized that this show wasn’t a telenovela when I came to this class. Over the course of this class, I also started watching the telenovela Juana La Virgen (the telenovela that Jane the Virgin was based off of). I realized that there were so many elements that differentiated the two, and I could clearly see why Jane the Virgin wouldn’t necessarily be considered a telenovela. I feel that I like Jane the Virgin better, but that could be me being biased because I watched Jane the Virgin first and I found it more relatable. Also, are you team Rafael or team Michael? (Me personally, I am forever team Rafael!).
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