The Venezuelan Telenovela Industry
I had no idea the Venezuelan telenovela industry was no more until Dr. A brought it up in class. Learning about this and the state of the Venezuelan government was incredibly shocking and saddening. In addition to learning about this in class, I also looked into the paper “From Riches to Rags: The Decline of Venezuelan Telenovelas” by Dr. A. The Venezuelan telenovela industry was once one of the biggest telenovela industries in Latin America producing 4 to 6 telenovelas a year from each of the production houses.
The industry’s downfall was due to the government instating strict guidelines and rules that the telenovelas had to follow. In addition to the government’s strict rules and regulations affecting the telenovela industry, Dr. A states that it was also the overly cautious decisions made by the executives of the networks and the global market becoming more cutthroat that contributed to the industry’s downfall.
These rules started to come into play after Cosita Rica, a popular Venezuelan telenovela, finished airing. This telenovela, in specific, was extremely problematic with the government as the plot was similar to the governmental activities and events occurring in the country. Though they didn’t directly say that their show was meant to represent the Presidential referendum, the plot of the show made it apparent that they were talking about it. The character on the show that was meant to represent President Chavez was Olegario Perez. Olegario Perez eventually turns into one of the most important and dominant people in the company in the show. This was meant to represent Chavez becoming the most important and powerful person in Venezuela.
Due to this show being a tool by which people were mocking and going against the government, Chavez and the rest of the government decided to instate rules that made telenovelas omit any content that was related to any idea alluding to the government and the politics of Venezuela. This censorship and inability to defy the government caused some production houses to close and some production houses to produce content that was terrible due to the content not being that popular with its audience. This was due to the network executives being on the safer side when it came to the content, to avoid legal issues. These choices made by the network executives, the decreased viewership due to “worsened” content, lower production budgets, and the controlling government all contributed to the Venezuelan telenovela industry’s decline and eventual demise.
I didn’t realize the extent to which the Venezuelan government worsened the state of all lines of work and the state of living in Venezuela until Dr. A brought it up in class and in her article. In addition to the telenovela industry being affected, the newspapers, other news channels, etc. were also silenced. The production of other things were also severely hurt by the government’s actions.
The telenovela I’m watching for this class, Juana La Virgen, is a telenovela that was produced by RCTV, a former Venezuelan production house. Juana La Virgen was produced a couple years prior to the permanent closure of RCTV. RCTV closed down due to the government refusing to renew their license. I compared this telenovela to a telenovela by the name of Calle Luna, Calle Sol, which was a telenovela that was produced by RCTV towards the end of their career. I feel as though I can see a difference in production quality. I think that I can see that they were low on money for Calle Luna, Calle Sol due to multiple different factors that make the telenovela look like a low-budget telenovela.
This Class
I have whole-heartedly and thoroughly enjoyed being in this class. It was absolutely incredible learning all of this information about telenovelas that I was oblivious to before. There are so many different complexities and layers to the telenovela industries of Latin America. Though I was a little bit sad to learn that one of my most favorite tv shows in the world, Jane the Virgin, is not a telenovela, I am so happy that this class gave me the opportunity to explore the world of telenovelas and has introduced me to so many amazing shows and writers. In addition to watching Juana La Virgen, I am also planning on watching “Camino de Indias”. It seems like such an interesting show, and I can’t wait to start watching it! I’m extremely sad to be leaving this absolutely amazing class, but I’m so glad I got to experience it. Thank you Dr. A!
Acosta-Alzuru, Carolina. “From Riches to Rags: The Decline of Venezuelan Telenovelas.” Ebrary, ebrary.net/155464/sociology/riches_rags_decline_venezuelan_telenovelas. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.
Hearing about Venezuela was definitely heartbreaking. For me, I knew that Venezuela was struggling under its new leader and there was an inflation problem but I had never heard about how the telenovela industry had died. It was really sad to hear about how everyone in the telenovela industry had to leave their home country. On a more lighthearted note, I loved hearing about Cosita Rica. I thought it was hilarious that it mocked Chavez and his policies. I definitely want to watch a Venezuelan telenovela like Calle Luna, Calle Sol where the budget was lower just to experience the impact no money had.
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