As we have analyzed the portrayals and representations of different types of people throughout this class, I started thinking about the portrayal of the family unit in telenovelas. Almost anyone who has taken a Spanish class knows the importance of the family in Latin culture. Often times people grow up in the same household as there grandparents. Respect of elders is deemed highly important. An example of this would be beginning a phone call with your mother by asking for a simple blessing. Our professor of ‘Telenovelas, Culture, and Society’ mentioned she does this every time she calls her mother in Venezuela. From previous classes I have also learned religion plays a huge part in the strength and unity of family in this culture. Catholicism greatly values the sanctity of marriage and divorce rates in Spanish speaking countries tend to be much lower than in other countries.
Additionally, the portrayal of gender roles plays a huge part in this familial representation. In the telenovela I am analyzing, Pasion de Gavilanes, the writer makes it almost aggressively evident the roll family plays in this story from the start of the series. The entire plot is tied up in the relationship between two families and focuses on the major theme of how far familiar love will go. The idea of the man as the head of the household is reinforced through the characterization of men like Bernardo Elizondo and Juan Reyes. They are both very masculine and dominant characters. Within the first few episodes we see Barnardo as the primary bread winner and decision maker for his household. Juan Reyes is the eldest brother and takes on a fatherly roll for his siblings. Juan is portrayed as aggressive, quite impulsive, and very protective. These masculine depictions are juxtaposed with the feminine traits of characters like Libia Reyes. Libia serves as a Cinderella archetypal character in the story; she is beautiful, a bit naive, pure, obedient, and kind. In Pasion de Gavilanes the writers are able to successfully explore and explain the family unit through the use of gender representation.
I think it's interesting that you focused on the portrayal of family in telenovelas, because I feel like since there are so many more examples of romantic relationships and characterizing those. Looking at the portrayal of families offers an interesting perspective that we definitely have not discussed as in depth. I also think it's something pretty unique to the telenovela you are watching that the the writer makes the role of family extremely evident in the telenovela. I am watching La Reina del Sur, and the plot and even many backstories rarely focus on the role that family plays. I also think that the stereotypical family structure that you describe is probably more common in Rosa telenovelas, not De Ruptura like the one that I am watching.
ReplyDeletePrimero, disfruté mucho leyendo tu publicación y aprendiendo más sobre la telenovela que viste este semestre. También me parece interesante cómo mencionas que los roles de género juegan un papel importante en la dinámica familiar porque creo que esto es muy importante no solo en las culturas latinoamericanas sino también en nuestra cultura. Nuestras ideas sobre cómo se supone que es una familia están todas muy arraigadas en ideologías heteronormativas y sexistas que crean estructuras de poder que a menudo son desiguales. Aunque creo que la idea estadounidense de familia es muy diferente porque somos muy individualistas en comparación con muchas culturas, incluidas las culturas latinoamericanas, como mencionaste que es común vivir más tiempo con tus familias. Me gustaría aprender más sobre un análisis interseccional sobre la dinámica familiar en la cultura latinoamericana, ¡así que gracias por inspirar esta investigación!
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