Looks like Schwarzenegger has killed his chances of ever starring on a telenovela. What will I watch if I can't watch "the Spanish television set"? Wait. I already speak English. Sort of. It might be nice if he did.
Showing posts with label Telenovelas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Telenovelas. Show all posts
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Don't Watch "Sabado Gigante"?
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Final Update
Welcome to Good Nonsense! Be sure to check out the Telenovela archives here and on the left sidebar. And don't be afraid to leave comments!
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Now that "Ugly Betty" (ABC's far superior homage to the classic "Betty La Fea" compared to Univision's way-off-the-tracks "La Fea Mas Bella") has finished its first year and "La Fea" has reached its "ultimos capitulos," I'm going to put an end to these updates with this 38th. (It takes a special person to write 38 of these.) First, let's give you a few links to some recent "Ugly Betty" stories and hope they're still up if you click them. Then we'll have our own final thoughts about the two series.
USA Today had a nice piece with "Ugly" cast members relating their ups and downs of the season. More sad than funny, but interesting insights into each actor. . . . A more detailed article on the cast comes from U of S CA's campus paper, believe it or not. (America Ferrera is still a student there.) You get a pretty good taste of how each actor sees his/her character. . . . This interview with America was in a bunch of papers, and it's yet another impressive presentation of the young star. You do hope she can keep her head this straight for the rest of her career, especially in a time when Lindsey Lohan is every male's ideal apparently. . . . Entertainment Weekly had its own interview with Ferrera here. Not as much context but different questions and quotes. . . . Tired of America interviews? Well, here's one with her counterpart, Eric Mabius. . . . Finally, a touch of "La Fea" in all the "Ugly Betty" stuff. A quick interview with Angelica Vale (the "La Fea") who did a cameo in the "Ugly" finale. Seems to have a brain in her head as well. Maybe that's a requirement for this part. It's a nice thought, anyway.
Now for final deep thoughts. The "Ugly Betty" finale really should be considered the last two episodes, not just the last one. The prior episode set up next season well. It appears that someone with a grudge against Betty's father, probably in the family of the man he killed, will play a major role, and the young guy who massaged Hilda's foot for her will likely be there to help her get over her grief from losing Santos. The best revenge would be to take someone Ignacio loves away from him, so I'm betting Hilda gets a bigger and different role next year.
The penultimate (!) episode also featured several motifs from the usual telenovela, including seers and signs and prophecies and the reunion of the child (sorta) with the parent who did her wrong before the parent departs the planet. This is all good telenovela tradition. One thing did strike me wrong, although it was a funny line. If telenovelas are constantly on the Suarez tv, why didn't Betty know that her "embarrasada" when she tried to say she was embarrassed would sound exactly like the Spanish for "pregnant"? If there's one word you learn from telenovelas, it's pregnant.
But the final episode, of course, also set up so much for next year amid telenovela conventions. Amanda's got a new mom, Christina has an abusive husband who's likely to show up, Claire's on the loose and with a mission to bring down Milhelwina, as Daniel called her while drunk. The old "using pregnancy by one guy to get the hero" trick is fully in play, and so is the vengeance of the "losing" heroine. As for the car crash, in a telenovela we would have seen the car flying through air at least. Since they're not going to kill off Daniel, they couldn't have it bursting into flame on new impact, a favorite convention, but I see this as the way to get Rebecca Romjin off the payroll and introduce new emotions and tensions into the Meade family members. Finally, one of the most common telenovela elements is the sudden and unexpected violence and the killing of cast when you don't expect it, a la Santos. The guy did go out with some class, and I wonder, given the way the camera focused on the masked shooter, if that shooter isn't going to show up again. That's the most speculative I'll get. In any case, very good finale, well played and making us all ready for the next season to already be here.
In the case of "La Fea," as I've made clear, I wanted that finale about 3 months ago and, had it remained true to the wonderful original, it would been then. Now it's got two or three weeks to get the leads together and send Aldo off to be noble elsewhere. They've drained all the pathos out of the initial characters. Betty would never have been "Aurora," Nicolas NOT getting the girl was the right and most believable thing in "Betty," and the resolutions of the other cast members' problems have now either vanished or aren't even on a back burner. I realize the show has gotten the networks good ratings through all, and Angelica and the others have really done nice work. But the story and its message were what was important and lasting in "Betty La Fea," and this remake has betrayed both. "Betty" will still be a classic a decade from now. Univision will likely be doing another remake by then. But that's all "La Fea" will ever be. A remake.
Friday, May 18, 2007
"Ugly Betty" Finale Recaps
I'll finish up the "Ugly Betty" updates over the weekend, but for now here are some of the recaps of last night's finale from various sites with comments, a few not idiotic.
www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20039428,00.html
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/05/ugly_betty_why_well_be_wearing.html
www.dailypressandargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070518/ENTERTAINMENT/70518002
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/05/18/070922.php
www.tvsquad.com/2007/05/18/ugly-betty-east-side-story-season-finale/
One thing, folks. If Santos were just wounded, Hilda would have been running to the hospital, not on the floor crying into her sister's arms. Oh, one more. Could the person who cut the brake lines on Bradford's car be the person Alexis paid to kill him? I swear, sometimes I think I'm coaching 7-8 year olds soccer again.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXVII
Saving my final thoughts on the ruination of "La Fea Mas Bella" for its finale, along with the finale of "Ugly Betty," which is fast approaching. In the meantime, some quick updates on some "Ugly Betty" news. It's apparently official that Salma (!!!!) won't be reappearing on the show, although would she really give up the telenovela within the show once in a while? As pregnant as she appears to be, that's a ways off in any case. . . . USA Today runs a fun story on Michael Urie, who plays Marc on the show. The guy's been good, but he's sketchy about his own love life. Is he trying to fake us that he's straight? That is good acting. . . . An "Ugly Betty" musical? The cast has been angling for an all song episode, a la "Buffy" and "Scrubs," and it looks like it might happen. . . . Becki Newton, who plays Amanda as well as Urie does Marc, has a good interview in TV Guide where she professes to have been a "Betty" in her real life but learned a lot about the Amandas from the pleasant young women she apparently met at auditions. She gave herself bowl cuts and wore Doc Martens. That is good acting. . . . You knew it would happen. "Betty"'s glasses have become fashionably hot in Britain. And to think, those folks once gave us the Beatles. . . . Finally, one good thing to say about "La Fea" and it's in the "Ugly Betty" context. Angelica Vale, "La Fea" herself, does a cameo on the season finale May 17. "La Fea" has also been careful to pay nice homage to the best of them all, "Betty La Fea," just before trashing the story and its meaning. Oops, promised to save that for my last "Update."
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXVI
Oscar-winner Rita Moreno is apparently coming on board as a Suarez aunt on "Ugly Betty" in a finale that pulls in a bunch of former series stars I've never heard of, in this news item. She's always been even better than an Oscar so this should be good, even at "Ugly" standards. . . . CNN is just now glomming onto the America Ferrera interview we clued you to a while back, but the same quotes except for this one on Salma (!!!!): "Honestly I never saw myself doing TV, but Salma [(!!!!)] was so convincing. . . . Salma is the kind of person who could sell you, like, a used stereo. She promised me that it would be done in the right way, and I just trusted her." Excuse me, I have to lie down a minute or two . . . . Okay, I'm back. With yet more deep thoughts on the difference in quality between the original "Betty La Fea" and what its remake "La Fea Mas Bella" has turned into, whether you want to hear them or not. I keep talking about how the new one has gone well beyond what quality and care in the show would warrant. Here's what I mean. The original was a story through and through about fea-ness, the heroine's external AND the hero's internal, and how they both change through each other to something beautiful together. That was the consistent theme throughout the show, telling Colombia, a nation obsessed with beauty a lesson it needed to hear, the lesson that "Ugly Betty" is telling in a lesser way in the US. And for a long while "La Fea" had the chance to do the same. But by extending its story to milk ratings, it's lost that theme and now just carries the usual telenovela "boy-girl-boy" melodrama. Still done better than most, with characters we came to relate to early on, but without that commitment to the important moral that have made "Betty La Fea" and "Ugly Betty" distinctive. It's a shame, like what "Friends" and "That's 70s Show" went through when they decided profits were more important than quality and consistent care. Okay, that's what I've been getting at. I'm done for a while.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Mini "Ugly Betty" News
Salma (!!!) has joined with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to form a production company that allows her to get out 2-4 films a year. Since she's already gotten out "Frida" as well as "Ugly Betty," it sounds to me like MGM is the one who's gotten lucky having her . . . well, those were sad words, even if she is pregnant now. Off to meditate.
Monday, April 09, 2007
What "Good Nonsense" Really Is
As I thought about our one-year anniversary of "Good Nonsense" and the eclectic mix of topics that we deal with, basically incapable of categorizing or predicting what comes next, I realized what we really are in blog terms. . . .
We're SABADO GIGANTE!!!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXV
We hear a lot about series that "jump the shark" by doing something so bizarre in a quest to renew slumping ratings. In some silly ways, those efforts are frequently entertaining, like watching an older woman still wearing short skirts or a guy with a comb-over. What I'd like to have is a phrase for when a series insists on going on past its natural life, the natural course of the story it's telling. You've heard me lament enough about "La Fea Mas Bella" to know that's what I'm talking about here with it. I won't repeat everything, just note that I'm not saying the series has jumped a marine creature (although Tomas' hair might qualify). But they've lost the economy and symetry of the much better told "Betty La Fea." "La Fea" still has its moments, but its characters have worn their acts about as far as they can, with weeks more to go, and some have even disappeared (where's Marcia's idiot sister lately?). If you didn't see "Betty" and don't mind the never-ending never-ending, then please feel free to write me off completely. I'm sure you don't see what I'm talking about, and you shouldn't let a purist like me spoil it for you. But I'm betting that you won't remember it as fondly when it's over as fans of "Betty" like me clearly do. It should have been over by now. When's somebody going to come up with a phrase for that? There's a dollar in it for you.
Some "Ugly Betty" news you may or may not have heard. The series won a George Foster Peabody Award not long ago for being "unmistakeably graced with wry intelligence and heart." Say amen. . . . A cute interview with America Ferrera that includes this quote about having been in her first movie (some Disney thing): "You know the way you think when you're a teenager: Disney Channel today, Oscars tomorrow. I had achieved my dream and it wasn't totally fulfilling. I still had school problems. I still had boy problems. My life was still my life. I guess I had been waiting to be turned into a swan." Uh, sound like some series she's in? Here are a couple of other good ones: "For a time I though I could be a lawyer. Once I saw what it really meant to be a lawyer, I realized that it wasn't for me." Smart, smart girl. And, "But I think I've developed a really good sense of when I'm doing something for myself as opposed to when I'm doing something because of other people's expectations of me. And honestly, even if I wanted to be anorexic, I just don't have what it takes. After four hours of being anorexic, I'd be like, 'It's been four whole hours! Feed me!'" . . . Weird proof that New Zealand's tv suits are as loony as ours. Despite good ratings, the station running "Ugly Betty" there is pulling it to run "Dancing with the Stars" which used to replace something called "Sunday Theatre." They're just strange there. Look at how they spell theater. . . . And finally, another article on the care and feeding of the sets on the series, especially "Mode" offices and the Suarez household. What I liked the most was finding out that some of the family pictures scattered around the latter actually came from America's own family. Nice.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXIII
I've dried my tears and can now report. Salma (!!!!) is pregnant. My wife is smiling. Guess I'll keep her anyhow. No point in dumping her now. . . . "La Fea" is still trumping some of the main networks' efforts. Last week, among the 18-49 year olds, "At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 10.9 for “American Idol,” followed by a 2.6 for CBS for a repeat of “NCIS.” Univision was third that hour with a 2.3 for “La Fea Mas Bella,” NBC fourth with a 2.2 for “Dateline,” CW fifth with a 2.0 for “Gilmore Girls” and ABC sixth with a 1.7 for a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Just imagine what "Betty La Fea" would have done the first time through. . . . For those of you who want a cross between "Jackass" and "Ugly Betty," go look at the contestants in an "Ugly Betty" contest. (Just a friendly tip--do not digest large amounts of alcohol or creamy food before viewing.) The one called "Alex" apparently won. I'm so proud of my nation. . . . Finally, I've avoided linking to some bitchy stories citing anonymous "Ugly Betty" sources saying that America Ferrara is an immature diva who can't get along with anyone on the set. Well, if that's true, then maybe it's the "anyone on the set" who has the problem. For her part, America is promoting independent Latino films and film festivals, continuing to give back and build her community. I'm taking her side until someone non-anonymous I trust tells me not to. In the meantime, please excuse me. I have to go get another kleenex. The thoughts of Salma . . . it's just too much . . . .
Monday, March 05, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXII
Just a couple of quick ones. The finale of "La Fea Mas Bella" has already run in Mexico . . . and outdrew the Oscars telecast, with 63% of the audience. And "La Fea" has led Univision's way in posting better numbers than the CW network this year (but is still struggling to pull in advertisers--one of the funniest things on tv is watching Anglo attorneys and private investigators doing ads in their fractured Spanish). In fact, "La Fea" is the only network show not to take a major hit from the return of "American Idol." (If only it hadn't jumped the shark and run off the rails--is that called mixing a metaphor? How would you say that in Spanish?) And not much "Ugly Betty" news, just this note that it lost its ratings lead in Australia, barely, to CSI. By 20,000 viewers. Hmm. Maybe ABC should consider a move here, too.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXXI
Not wasting time on "La Fea," as I've noted before. Maybe if and when it ever actually gets to the "Ultimos Capitulos." In the meantime, the transsexual laden "Ugly Betty" keeps throwing interesting things and good performances at us. Loved the way they let Walter leave with some honor and how Alexis looks like she's not immune to Betty's goodness. The whole "I didn't know people would react weird if I became a woman" thing is a little hard to swallow, as is equating this Alexis with the mysterious hard-ass from the start of the series. Still, they keep you guessing well, like how far Kristina will sell out before Betty saves her or how, if Rebecca Romjin isn't going to be full-time, they plan to exit her stage-left. No, it's not "Betty La Fea," but it's done a better job at making its mark in the same way than that bloated monstrosity that's covering Univision.
Want some updated news on "Ugly"? Well, here's a story on how it's moved its carrier in Australia to No. 1 in the ratings on that night there. This will give you an idea why it's so popular there. And here's one on the impact the series has had on Hispanic/Latino culture and its perceptions in the US. Worth mentioning is the news that Vanessa Williams is going nude in a magazine again. A little more tastefully in Allure this time apparently than her last venture in Penthouse (do you really need to be reminded the details???). And without that, you know, gross old lesbian stuff. Finally, you know when something has giant cultural impact when either they shave their heads bald or they have academic articles analyzing them. "Not So Ugly: Local Production, Global Franchise, Discursive Femininities, and the Ugly Betty Phenomenon." Yes!! "Discursive Femininities!!!!" Betty, you're golden now.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella
At a bookstore last night, saw a copy of the novel "Just Like Heaven" that Reese Witherspoon made a movie out of. Realized that explained as well as anything why I'm so pissed at the "La Fea Mas Bella" turn of events. What am I talking about?
I never bought the novel, not because it was a translation of a French thing, nor because its purchase would affirm my sissy boy status (that's been affirmed well back). It was just an interesting book and I thumbed through it (don't worry that I'm keeping bookstores from making a profit--I think I've built their last three buildings). Driven young female doctor is first in a wreck, then in a coma, and her spirit is confused and wandering around trying to figure out who she is and why she seems to be able to walk through walls. The guy who's subletting her apartment from her relatives until they can work up the guts to pull the plug on her ends up, after being convinced that's she's a real ghost(!), helping her rediscover her past and (spoiler) getting her spirit reunited with the body before they switch her off.
Here's what made the novel interesting, since you were probably yawning with familiarity by the end of that last paragraph. As you likely filled in, the ghost and the boarder also fell in love. But the finale of the novel was simply her waking up and, as close to reality as you could get in this, not recognizing him. He, however, upon realizing this, simply smiles and tells her something like "let me tell you what happened" and trusts that their feelings will regrow. That's it, the end. Nothing certain but the surprise that they didn't go for a mushy ending simply because it was easy and focus groups wanted it.
Think Hollywood trusted that the audience would be able to live with the novel's ending? That maybe it wouldn't pander to the easy, the focus group-driven? That leaving the audience wondering and hoping and never knowing might actually be something that affirms viewers' intelligence? No, no, and no? Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.
The novel was daring and taking a chance, producing a challenging but smart ending that didn't pander or go for the lowest common denominator simply to wring out a little more profit. The movie was pure formula and even Reese couldn't save it. It was like the US ending of the recent "Pride and Prejudice" that had Darcy and Elizabeth acting so completely out of character that one woman who saw it said that if they were going to screw up Austen so badly, they should have at least gotten them naked. And notice I said "the US ending." The British version ended at a spot that was logical and fitting with the original novel. But apparently we nitwits didn't like it in the test showings so, Poof, let's completely violate a treasured novel. (Sort of like that Demi Moore version of "The Scarlet Letter" that had a happy ending.)
There was a time in this country when we could understand and appreciate movies that were smart and didn't cop out to lowest common denominators. One of the greatest movies ever made was "Roman Holiday" (the Gregory Peck-Audrey Hepburn version, not that idiot made-for-tv thing they crapped a decade or so back). A young princess in the post-WWII period, tired of the trappings, sneaks away and ends up chaperoned by a reporter who recognizes her and sees the story of a lifetime. Except, of course, they fall in love. Only, she's a princess with obligations and he's a commoner reporter with no way to fit in. Today, the focus groups would require them to be together. Then, the ending went the way it should, and is still giving me goosebumps as I think about it while I type.
We used to be intelligent. We used to understand art and narrative and the human condition. Now it's all focus group endings and fear of not maxing profit. Which is why I'm hating where they're going with "La Fea Mas Bella." Yes, as some commenters have noted, it's still entertaining and better than the idiot telenovelas that bookend it now. But not in comparison to the original. They're doing to "Betty La Fea" what the producers of "Just Like Heaven" and "Pride and Prejudice" did. The result is just a shadow of the original (and "La Fea" going to get much worse in this). The ratings are high and the profit is apparently good. And the people who missed "Betty" will never know the difference.
But there was once a telenovela called "Betty La Fea" that captured a message and a feeling that transcended the usual telenovelas, even the occasional good one. That show was a classic, a Colombian "Pride and Prejudice," a "Roman Holiday." Now we have "La Fea Mas Bella." "Betty" is remembered a decade later and will have its status years from now. Does anyone really truly believe that "La Fea" will have that standing even a couple of years after it finishes its never-ending story?
Friday, January 26, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXIX
Not going to dwell on how "La Fea Mas Bella" in its neverending quest to drag out and pollute the story of "Betty La Fea" has completely ruined the return of the heroine and the reaction of her colleagues when they see her by only doing a part of her transformation. In the original, it was a complete recapitulation of her initial entrance to the firm, with people not recognizing her until she spoke. Now, they're just so happy, happy to see her, losing the cohesion. Fine, fine. Whatever. Ratings over narrative. We understand. Instead, thought I'd catch you up on a few items in the "Ugly Betty" world. For one thing, the show is now such an international hit that it is about to start in Asia Pacific and South Africa. For another, want more detail on the versions of "Betty La Fea" done in other nations? Well, try here and here. Finally, here's a recent and very good feature done on the show with a lot of interesting details and that gets the "class" element of the show very well. And it's got some nice quotes, including this concluding one from the star, America Ferrara: "Just last week, I got to read a letter from a young girl. She wrote into CosmoGirl. . . . She said, 'Thank you for putting America Ferrera on the cover.' She said, 'When I watched "Ugly Betty," it was the first time in my life that I felt beautiful.' . . . I knew then, if that was just one life, and I'm sure there were others that were affected by it, then ("Ugly Betty") definitely has done its job." God, I hope she doesn't go Britney or Lindsay.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXVVIII
Okay, I'll admit it. I had the whole "Alex" storyline on "Ugly Betty" being part of mystery for next year's season, to replace the whole "did the dad kill Fay?" mystery this year. I knew Rebecca Romjin was coming on, but I figured it was plastic surgery. It was, only not for Fay, as I assumed. Turns out the brother is now the sister (or do genes take priority over private parts? . . . not sure I ever thought I would write a sentence like that . . . .). It amused me to see someone so much taller than Vanessa Williams so I imagine the first time Romjin towers over Betty (America Ferrera), the effect will be milked for all its worth. So, I'll admit they got me. Salma (!!!) and the guy who did "Betty La Fea" as well as "Ugly Betty" have me hooked in enough to be trying to figure out exactly how they're going to work "Alexis" into the enterprise. Will they stretch the boundaries of tv into transsexual incest? (And I thought I would write a sentence like that???) If not, who will they be hooking Alexis up with because there's no point in bringing in someone with Romjin's body if they're not going to be thrusting it at someone. I've never really gotten that much into her, the old "do you want Loni Anderson or Jan Smithers?" conundrum from "WKRP in Cincinnati" days, but she's off to an interesting start. Looks like they've got me the rest of the season.
Speaking of the guy who did "Betty La Fea" and is doing "Ugly Betty" (I need to learn his name once and for all), do we think he's really still involved with the disappointment that "La Fea Mas Bella" is turning into? Can we mark its decline to his departure? Would they have sold out the original as much as they have if he had still been involved? Purely rhetorical, don't worry.
And speaking of Ferrera, did you catch this? Congresswoman Hilda Solis saluted her on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday for her Golden Globe win. The official reason? For "breaking down barriers for Latinos in prime-time television . . . . I commend America and everyone involved in Ugly Betty for helping break down stereotypes and provide a role model for young Latinas." Not to mention every warm, sweet, bright young fea of every type who can now blow off every slight and idiot comment or look with a quick "What Would Betty Do?" America can be proud, and America can be proud.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXVII
Well, in case you missed it, "Ugly Betty" won Best Comedy/Musical/Whatever last night at the Golden Globes, and star America Ferrera took the Best Actress in a, you know. I don't watch awards shows (God help us if the signals from these shows make it first to a more advanced civilization off in space somewhere), but I was in another room with a tv so my wife yelled to me when the winners were announced. I got to see Salma (!!!) and her crew accept the show award and then little (she really is little if you look close) America give that really authentic thanks, including words for her mom, whom I've heard her praise before. Time and the Lindsay Factor may eventually get America, but she's not there yet. She seems to take seriously the responsibility that the show and her role have placed on her, at least a little like what happened in Colombia with "Betty La Fea." Maybe I've already imbibed the notion of "real beauty is inside" so much that I remain more impressed with the sibling/friend chemistry and relationship between Betty and Daniel on the show. It was a good way to take it and I hope they resist screwing with it, even if/when Betty starts her American transformation (pun, get it??).
OTOH, if you're waiting for insightful commentary on the Televisa remake of the "Betty" original, "La Fea Mas Fea," you must have missed my last couple of comments. Acceptable as a typical telenovela (unlike that idiot thing they've put on just in front of it now or that debacle that follows it, even with Cesar Evora and Laura Flores), it's just a telenovela now. Draw ratings but lost the art, the novelty, the anticipation, the contribution, just like "Friends," "That 70s Show," "MASH," etc. "Ugly Betty" deserves the awards for being true to the vision if not the plot. "La Fea" is just a tv show.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXVI
"Ugly Betty" has jumped the pond, as they say, as this story on its premier in the UK indicates. Good ratings, but not beating "Soapstar Superstar," which I'd rather not know about. It'll be interesting to see what the people who gave us Monty Python think about the offspring of "Betty La Fea." And here's a funny story on the Scottish actress who plays Christina. She's got a good take on the actresses whose "caught in a wind chamber" look is all the same. Fun stuff. And finally, the NY Times does another piece on "Ugly" which, while it admits it is not a real telenovela, it calls a telenovela. Sorry, not even close. Borrowed parts of characters, did some permutations, hired a great young actress as the star and a slightly older guy to be her boss and match chemistry. Good show, which I enjoy, but not and never will be "Betty La Fea." Even manages to miss the way "Ugly" has already evolved its characters out of the caricatures that populate telenovelas but cudos to recognizing that "Ugly" dumped the "Mama" character because it would have been seen as too submissive for Americans. What the author didn't get was that "Betty" was a telenovela on its head, playing off the traditions and building its ultimately moral and political troubles into a true classic far beyond the normal range of the genre. What's made "La Fea Mas Bella" so hard to watch, as I've lamented, is that, to drag it out for ratings (just like the last year of "Friends") they had to contort and mangle the characters and situations, jumping the "Betty" shark with the very old and predictable "two guys are in love with the same woman," something that "Betty La Fea" managed to transcend. "Ugly Betty," not being a telenovela, wisely didn't pretend to try. It maintains the challenges to class and superficial image from the classic, but its impact is yet to be known and unlikely to be as great. Still, the article gets the concepts mostly right and out to a broader audience. I just wish someone would run "Betty La Fea" again now so people could see what they're missing in both its successors.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXV
No, no, no, and no. This "nueva etapa" on "La Fea Mas Bella" is nueva crapa. The joke about telenovelas is that the synposis of 99 out of 100 of them starts "Two [brothers, friends, rivals, cousins] fall in love with the same young woman." One of the saving graces of the original "Betty La Fea" was that it resisted the tired old formulas of telenovelas, including that hoary one. But now, on "La Fea" we're getting full-on, frontal cliche, Lety now pictured literally between Fernando and a new but long-time telenovela fave with a distractingly white overbite. Yes, "Betty" found a young man when she fled after the debacle at her company, but not one that anyone seriously believed she would fall for, and certainly not one with the emotional "turmoil" this one is apparently going to be carrying. This is just crap. People who didn't see the classic may find it okay, but it's not. It's just one more case of taking something that was intelligent and challenging and turning it into something dumbed down and safe. The actors may still be good, but this will just confirm that this show is a pale reflection of what it could have been, what its predecessor was. Too bad, but no, no, no, and no.
As for the other remake of the classic "Betty" on right now, ABC's "Ugly Betty," they're doing good things away from the camera, as this USA Today article shows. The character is being lauded for her presentation of real beauty and not the superficial ParisBritLindsay, "Girls Gone 'rexic" kind that too many dingdong females (and males unfortunately) buy into. Of course, the star, America Ferrera is helping to take the lead. It's good to see the show have the impact the original did in Colombia. Too bad the Mexican one had to become just another soap.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXIV
Okay, we've hit the peak, the story is now at full elevation and will shortly begin its descent to a landing sometime in 3-4 months by my calculation. A long time to resolve, I realize, but there's still the transformation of both leads, the return of Lety and Tomas to Conceptos, the re-winning of Lety by Fernando (with an intriguing sidelight), and the rescue of the company and the family. Will take some time. In the meantime, yes, Marcia and Ariel will pay for their comments about the lower class Lety, but Marcia still elicits a little sympathy. (Alicia never really will, sorry.) If any of this is shocking and "spoiling" for you, I apologize but how clueless are you?
The story does a couple of things that are unusual, which I've discussed before but which have been made clear by the break between Lety and Fernando. One is the very nice turn on the title that has been done. There are two "La Feas Mas Bellas" here. One, of course, is the ugly most beautiful, Lety. The other is the beautiful most ugly, Fernando. The crossing of their paths has left both of them smashed, what was beautiful about them turned on its head. Lety helped a man cheat on his fiancee, his family, and business. She has to break to recover. Fernando was superficial and amoral but is on a journey to redemption. He has to break to recover. His recovery will be more physically painful but both have to reform, not just him. Both are fea at this moment and will only be mas bella again when they reunite. Nicely done, even if it took a year to get here pretty much.
The other thing the story has done is to reemphasize the class distinction that was such a fundamental part of the superior original "Betty La Fea." "Clase" has come up overtly here unlike you see in the usual US story. I mean, Lety owns the company, owns the families, owns the women who are disparaging her class status, and yet neither they nor she acts as if this is possible. This will change, but it's been a great touch that the romance with Fernando had glossed over. The current best US show on class issues, not surprisingly, is "Ugly Betty," thanks no doubt to Salma (!!!!), but even there, it's the contrast between the two worlds Betty lives in, not so much the outright statements that we've just seen in "Mas Bella." We've covered up the class divisions in this country too long with too much damage to our democracy, our economy, and our future, and that the weaker version in "Ugly" is the best we can do right now says all we need to know. I've gotten to like "Ugly," primarily because of America Ferrara and her chemistry with, well, everyone, but it will never have the impact of "Mas Bella" and certainly not of "Betty La Fea" until it can stand completely for the same things. That would give it impact similar to the Colombian original. Maybe we can hope. In the meantime, enjoy as the class walls eventually come down.
3-4 months from now.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
SALMA!!!
TV Squad reports that Salma Hayek(!!), fresh from her success with "Ugly Betty," is planning another American telenovela. Surely she can guest appear. In any case, here's the reaction at the website:
Given the television industries knack for jumping on any bandwagon once it's proved there's an audience for it, one wonders what will happen if this new drama becomes as successful as Ugly Betty. It could be we're not too far away from a slew of shows all adapted from telenovelas and other foreign series. I saw a show on Univision the other day where a man dressed as a pink gorilla was chased by another man dressed as a baby. i think that would translate well to an American audience.
They must have read our live blogging of "Sabado Gigante" . . . wait, was that a cut?
Friday, November 17, 2006
Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) Mas Bella Update XXIV
The Chicago Tribune has some great posts up related to "Ugly Betty" that, if you like the show, you'll like the reading. Several good pieces, and none as snarky and critical as we get here. So enjoy.
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