Sunday, September 12, 2010

La Fea Más Bella #1-2 9/13/10 Two Women, One Job.

Welcome, Everyone, to El Club de la Fea! We’re in for a wild ride. I’ll link to the original recap each day. After you read that, come back here to comment and enjoy the current discussion. I’ll include a VERY abbreviated list of major scenes here to help your memory as you’re posting your comments. I’ll also include a Spanish lesson each day; more about that below. I always welcome corrections. Always.

Chris Ferro wrote all the earliest recaps for Fea, and he wrote the first two weeks from memory. I cannot EVEN imagine recapping from memory! Much less, as a brand new recapper. Great job, Chris! Some very funny memorable lines.

Read Chris's original recap
at this link. Remember, read it there, but come back HERE to comment.

Capitulo 1
1. Lety and a dancer arrive at the same time. We see the huge contrasts in everyone’s reactions.

2. Olarte and Lopez interview Alicia and Lety together. Alicia has no skills, she’s never worked, and she dropped out of college. Both men drool over her, and both are stunned by Lety’s qualifications.

3. Lopez chooses Alicia for his playboy boss, so he dismisses Lety and the rest of the candidates.

4. We meet the cuartel and find out their quirks. Lola gets in trouble for bringing her daughter to work because her ex had some excuse.

5. Papa Humberto is retiring and Fernando will be the new president. He moves into his father’s old office. Fernando is eager to move in, and Humberto is reluctant to let go.

6. Mama asks Lety about her interview. Lety and Tomás commiserate. All their university classmates have promising jobs, but no one will hire Lety and Tomás because of their looks. It’s why she lost her last job.

7. Fernando refuses Lopez’s choice because Alicia would spy for Marcia. Lopez already dismissed the other candidates. The only one interviewed was Lety, well qualified but FEA! As his only alternative, Fernando wants to interview her.

8. Lety and Tomás look at the Caras article, and we get flashbacks to the events in the photos as a tool to introduce Conceptos’ owners.

9. Fernando and Ariel spat in the conference room. See the transcript below. Ariel says Fernando proposed just two days before the meeting, he did it to get Marcia’s vote for the presidency, and he doubts the wedding will happen.

10. At a location shoot. Marcia will make Alicia Fernando’s secretary. Marcia catches Fernando with one of the models, and she accuses him of proposing to her only to win her vote. He counterattacks by announcing their engagement.

11. Conceptos calls Lety to set up a second interview.

Spanish LessonI’m going to try something new on this board, since I don’t need to write recaps. Back in 2007, I learned Spanish by reading the Caray recap then replaying my tape until I could match the spoken words to the recap. Within two months of this exercise, my Spanish ability had doubled!! To help others do the same, I intend to transcribe one scene each day. It’s a bit of work, but if it helps people study Spanish, I’ll continue. If it doesn’t seem to pay off, I’ll quit doing it. So here is today’s Spanish lesson. I suggest that you watch the scene without captions. There were two words I couldn’t understand. I would welcome a correction.
In the conference room. Fernando, Humberto, and Ariel
F: Ariel, now I understand your unexpected visit. You knew they’d be doing the article and you wanted to be in the photo, huh?
A: No, you’re wrong. I wanted to enjoy this company’s final moment of glory, because in your hands, very soon it will crash to the ground.
H: How can you expect me to leave (huir: flee) without worries, if you two are going to fight all the time?
F: Dad, you need to understand. Ariel will never recover from the news. To not get the presidency is too much for him to bear.
H: (to Ariel) My son can’t count on victory yet. If he can’t achieve the goals he promised by the end of the first year, YOU (Ariel) will get the presidency.
A: If only that were true. If only something would be left to administer, because I want to manage usable capital, not its ashes. The ashes of this company that you leave, I will put next to the urn where I have my parents’ ashes. Because with you as president, the inheritance from MY family is in jeopardy.
H: Enough. You can air your differences in the next meeting, when Fernando assumes the presidency. Not now. Understood?



Capitulo 2

Read Chris's original recap at this link. Note, that recap covers Episodes 2 and 3. If you don’t want to read ahead, stop at the paragraph that begins, “Marcia is determined that Alicia get inside Fernando’s private zone.” That marks the beginning of Cap 3. Remember, read the recap there, but come back HERE to comment.
1. In a bar, Fernando tells Omar that he can’t let Alicia be Marcia’s spy. The only alternative is an applicant that is well qualified but fea. He wants a beautiful secretary, but not Alicia.

2. See transcript. The three executives interview Lety. Fernando says she’s perfect; Marcia says she’s too ugly. Marcia presents it as a test of his fidelity. She and Alicia gossip cruelly in front of Lety. Fernando tells her she’s hired.

3. Humberto turns over the office keys and shows Fernando the “mystery room.”

4. Lety tells her family that she got the job as assistant. RoboPop warns her that some bosses take advantage of female employees. Lety tells Tom she was hired, and better yet, Fernando defended her.

5. Omar tells Fernando that he’s a fool to hire the fea, and a fool to announce his engagement publicly. Now his other women will stay away.

6. At the photo booth, Lety tells Tom she’ll never have plastic surgery. She jokes that when she’s the boss, she’ll hire Tomas.

7. Lety begins her first day of work. Fernando assigns Alicia to the desk in the “vortex” (the big room) and installs Lety in the storage room. He gets her name wrong, and she corrects him, but he doesn’t pay attention.

8. The cuartel gossips about Fernando hiring two secretaries.

9. Fernando tells his parents that the “cave” is his other secretary’s office. His mother thinks he wants the second one to hide his andanzas. Humberto says Fern defended la fea because he’s changing.

Spanish lesson
You get two transcripts today because I had already written this one when I found out about the double episodes.

Lety’s interview in the board room. Fernando, Marcia, Humberto, and Lety.
F: I won’t let you force Alicia on me.
M: I’m not forcing you to do anything. To the contrary. I just asked her to bring her resume and interview, to show you that she has the qualities to be your secretary.
F: No, what you want is fix her financial problems, and police me here. To tell you what I do, who I talk to, who I leave with.
M: No, that’s not true. And if it was, so what? Didn’t you promise me you would change? Didn’t you ask me to stop worrying about you? Weren’t you going to be faithful and judicious? So what are you afraid of?
F: I’m not afraid of anything. I just don’t want to be under surveillance.
Marcia says Alicia is the best choice. Fernando says that Lety is better qualified. He proposes that if Lety is not qualified, he’ll hire Alicia. They call in Lety. Humberto describes their company. Lety is grateful for the information and offers to help with financial functions.

F interrupts: That’s okay. I just have one more question. Are you SURE you want to be a secretary?
L: I want to learn this sector of the economy. I know that with you I can learn a lot, Don Fernando (boy howdy!). .
Fernando is excited because she’s perfect for the job. Marcia says she’s too ugly to be the president’s secretary. Beauty is important for the company’s image. She calls in Lety and Alicia to demonstrate. Fernando quickly hustles them out.

F: (to Alicia.) That’s the least of your worries. Nobody imposes anything on me.
(to Marcia.) Was that necessary, Marcia? It seemed like casting models for a commercial. And it’s not like that. You humiliated the girl, Marcia, de verdad. That wasn’t necessary.
M: Moi? I just wanted to let you compare, and you saw the results.
F: It seems incredible to me that we’re fighting about this, because I want an ugly secretary. I thought it would bother you if I hired a beauty. But if you want a secretary from Casting.. Somebody call the modeling agency!
M: It’s not necessary. You already have Alicia. Look, Fernando. Speaking as a stockholder of the company. Other than the fea, Alicia is your best option. Now I’ll talk to you as your fiancé. If you don’t accept Alicia, I’ll take it as something personal. Why? Are you afraid of me observing your intimate life? That means that you’re hiding something because you don’t plan to change. Make whatever decision you want. I’m not going to pressure you.

Labels:


Comments:
Paula thanks for setting this up and thanks to Chris for providing the recaps. This show was so much fun for me. When I watched it the first time around I didn't know about Caray Caray or CCs.


Wed. night Angélica Vale was on Don Francisco Presenta with Cesar Millan (Encantador de Perros). She had a Bichon Frise (named Lety) with her that was very sweet until a Boston Terrier was brought out and then she went BSC.Cesar of course chamed her and AV as well.

Chris'recaps hold up very well. Neat.

Carlos
 

I intend to transcribe one scene each day. It’s a bit of work ... you think???
let me rewatch tonight's ep and I will try to clear up the two words...
good translations!
 

at least here they don't talk like speedy gonzalez a.k.a. JEA...
 

I can't believe I did that from memory either! My life was a little less hectic those days. Now I don't even know what day it is half the time.
 

my fav parts of Chris' summary...
Papa Padilla is convinced that the whole world is just waiting to take sexual advantage of Lety
He fills the villian role nicely, in spite of being named after The Little Mermaid.
Lety and Jessica Rabbit arriving simultaneously to interview for the job. The contrast couldn't be greater, JR is taller and has long blonde hair, a dress that starts about two inches above her navel and ends about two inches below, while Lety is dressed like one of the women waiting in line for radishes or cheese in a WWII-era photo from Russia.
Marcia is conniving and apparently a little dumb… (marta i: I have to TA with that)
The funniest reaction is that of Luigi Lombardi, the in-house talent scout/photographer/videographer and all around 'light in the loafers' guy. He turns around and is face to face with Lety and says "Oh my God!" in English, with a great accent. The actor here is obviously not gay in real life, he plays the stereotypical gay creative type so well, I think a real gay actor wouldn't be so over the top. He's hilarious and a great character. (marta I … ITA on Sergio Mayer being perfect here… and a funny comment about real life. Sergio Mayer (playing Luigi) is married to Jaime’s sister (Isabella, who we see later doing a commercial for Conceptos), in YSBLF Ana (Betty) was married to Julian Arango (Luigi here) and JEA (Armando/Fernando) was the best man and their best friend…)
 

notes on 2nd cap recap by chris...
Lety’s spastic facial tics. Any time she’s nervous, which is most of the time, she gets this one eye squinting/blinking and one corner of her mouth twitching violently thing. Basically, she looks like she’s having some kind of seizure. When Fernando imitates her right in her face and the does the “what the hell?” gesture, it’s good comedy. I think the actress who plays Lety got the part due to her ability to make this seizure face.
(marta I, another note in real life. LFMB was directed by Don Sergio Jimenez, you will see a picture of him toward the end of the novela, since he died during its filming… he was great as an actor and then as director, when he was talking to Angelica Vale for the character, she slipped her ‘laugh’ (ji-ji-ji-ji) and suggested/demo-ed the ‘nervous tics of the eyes’, both of which Don Sergio loved and asked her to use them in the novela…)

She plans to buy some new clothes, perhaps to look like simply a fashion victim, rather than a victim of a heartless Communist regime.

Fernando gives Lety his personal phone book, which is not so little and brown, but still technically his ‘little black book.’ Alicia and Marcia seethe, maxing out their shared brain cell to see how to get their hands on that book. Why? Who knows. Again, if Fernando running around is such a problem, dump his ass. You’re hot and rich. Go find someone else. (marta I could not agree more, but marcia here is a bit more ‘dumb’ than marcela in BLF, and Fernando here does not work as hard in ‘hiding’ his ‘adventures’ as well as Armando did in BLF… The counterparts of Fernando and Omar had a ‘system’ in the beginning of BLF and were much more smooth at sneaking their ‘other life’, at least were able to keep it less noticeable/evident/obvious … )
 

It's great to see comments pop up already. Thanks!

Les presento Marta I. who usually hangs out on TNW. She's fluent in Spanish, and she knows almost as much about YSBLF as Sr. Gaitán himself! Marta, yeah, no one knows better than you, the work involved in transcribing scenes. I realized that my question is about Cap 3. Someone is in a restaurant, and the band is playing music that sounds to me like what we heard in Colombian Betty. Is it? Is it a tip of the hat to YSBLF?

The early Fea episodes are PACKED with foreshadows. If we Fea veterans point to them, we run the risk of spoilers. But for the Fea virgins among us, see if you spot any probably foreshadows, and tell us what you think. I will point to just one foreshadow though. In Cap 1, Scene 8, Fernando's parents are in Humberto's old office, just before he retires. Behind them is a large painting of the fall of Troy. The Spanish phrase, "Troy is burning," means, "a complete catastrophe is coming."

In Cap 1, Scene 6, Lety's mom sings a few bars of something. Click here to hear her sing the whole song. Dig that groovy purple suit! As Chris mentioned, Julieta and Lety are real-life mother and daughter. Angélica María was a big-name singer and actress in her time. She was in two versions of Corazon Salvaje.

On tomorrow's show, watch for a cameo appearance of Jaime Camil's long-term girlfriend, Heidi Balvanera. You'll see her in an outdoor scene; check their interaction.
 

Did you notice which characters we meet first? Fernando? NO! It's Lety and Alicia TOGETHER. They are in the very first substantial scene. They end up with the same job, literally. Two women filling a single position. But Lety tells Tomás, "Alicia is the total opposite of me." Yes, I AM getting at something. More on that later. And what about Fernando? What’s he doing when we first meet him? Trying to pick up a dancer!

Did you notice how thrilled Lety was because Don Fernando defended her? There's more there than meets the eye.

The Patron / Client theme is VERY strong in LFMB, and once you start looking for it, you'll see a ton of examples that help you understand the relationships. The Patron / Client system was a social and economic foundation of the Hellenistic Greeks and later the Feudal system. Don't think of "client" as "customer." Instead, a client is someone who has a patron. The patron's primary function in society is to protect and provide for his client. The client's primary job is to support his patron. To not fill your role would be as despicable as a father who does not feed his children.

Marcia's duty, as patron, was to get her client Alicia a job. Alicia's duty, as client, was to support Marcia by spying on Fernando.

When Fernando defended Lety against Marcia, she read it as, "He's willing to be my patron." To have someone that rich and powerful as your patron puts you in an enviable position. Did you notice how surprised Omar and Humberto were, that Fernando defended la fea? He is protecting her as his client, when she hasn't yet done anything to prove herself.

So. Thus far we have two clients, Lety and Alicia. Let's see if they are good clients or bad clients. Remember: the primary duty of a patron is to protect and provide for his clients. The primary duty of a client is to support his patron.
 

PaulaH: I found your effort fascinating and think it just might work!
 

MartaI: ¡Hola! I always wondered what that I was for! Great to see you on this site! Doris and Jeri hang around here, too! Hope you peek in on some of the other novelas also, amiga!
 

Thanks, Jardinera. But I'm confused. Do you mean the "Spanish Lesson"? Or something in my follow-up posts? I'm sorry to be so dense.
 

ok, paula, got your answer. what Ariel said was:
quiero manejar un capital rentable, no sus cenizas.. las cenizas que tu dejes las voy a poner junto a la urna de la de mis padres.
I want to manage a usable capital, not its ashes. The ashes you leave I will put next to the urn where I have my parents' (ashes).
 

Thank you, Marta. I fixed it. That section really "beat my lips." That's an old Army linguist idiom meaning, "it was impossible to understand."

Did Marcia seem surprised when Ariel suggested that Fernando proposed to secure her vote? As if the idea had never occurred to her, even though the proposal was two days before the meeting? If so, can you spell "dumm"?
 

Paula, Thank you so much for all the coordinating, embellishing, teaching and clever linking you are doing to maximize the wonderful older postings by Ferro (so far) with new observations. WHAT A GREAT JOB. This is so much fun after just one day albeit double dipping for now. I have seen a number of major telenovelas rerun like this and many of them started out for a month or so with double episodes.

When I first started watching Alborada I actually had more of an outside life and could not think about watching two tn's (now I am regularly following 4 or 5 and think nothing of it). I also did not find CarayCaray until after Alborada ended.

It is also fun to see so many prominent telenovela stars in this one whom I would not have known when it ran the first time. It is fun to recognize so many people. It is so like living in a town for several years and being delighted that you recognize so many people at the post office.

Ferro's characterization of Lety and her WWII refugee still trapped in eastern Europe is so perfect. Angelica's acting skills are even more impressive since I have mostly seen her looking pretty and intelligent. I can see parallels with America Ferrara who does a good job of appearing other than she really is.
 

I certainly did not mean to suggest that later postings of Ferro's might not be as wonderful as the early ones, It reads wrong. I was trying to say that later postings might be by other recappers which I think is true. It's late, I'm tired, the late financial reports are not a good way to end the day. Having fun iwth my friends here is. Sweet dreams mis amigos.
 

Wow, what a labor of love! This is great, the way you're doing this seems wonderful and a new leap for Caray Caray. Thanks!
 

Fantastic recap Paula. I love how you incorporate the original recaps and add the educational twists. The trivia details that everyone adds are a hoot and add so much more to the experience.

What a great youtube link! Fun stuff.
 

plus last night we got the premonition of all premonitions!! not only the ones you and I had already noticed, Paula, but when Lety and Tomas are leaving the house before the conversation about Erasmo's car comes up, as they are going through the door Lety tells Tomas 'Pienso quedarme con Don Fernando por el resto de mis dias!' which could be interpreted as 'I plan on staying by Don Fernando (by his side) for the rest of my days' or 'I plan on keeping Don Fernando (for myself) for the rest of my days!' ... take your pick! lol!
 

Hi Paula, Thank you for this delightful sight. I started watching La fea the first time when it was half way over and didn't know about closed captions nor Caray. I was able to find the complete DVD but it doesn't have closed captions either. So this will be such a treat to watch it again with CCS, recaps and great comments from all the experts.

And Chris, what a great job with the recaps. I wish I had your memory.
 

Thank you all for your super hard work. I'm a huge fan and a lover of Jaime, so I decided to watch it again. This time, from the beginning. I came in a little late during the first run. After watching at least 11 other telenovelas, this is still my favorite. I found myself smiling last night while I was watching it. It reminds me how I used to look forward to watching it every night. J Lots of smiles last night. At least they inject a little humor, something STUD is totally lacking and I find myself getting behind on episodes. I wonder how long they'll run it at two hours?
 

What fun! Thanks for setting up this sight so we can enjoy Ferro's funny recap and Paula's and everyones' insights and comments. I enjoyed a long two hour lunch yesterday. My husband who usually makes faces when I watch novelas, seemed to be enjoying this one as well.

Isn't Jaime Camile gorgeous. He is one of TMBMOE or whatever the the initials are. And a great comedic actor as well. He was chewing out the secretary for bringing her daughter to work at the same time he was so wonderful to the little girl.

Having that little broom closet/storage room as an office is all the better for Lety to be close and indispensable to her boss, Fernando. However, I would be suffering claustrophobia without a window.

Ariel The Mermaid, good one Ferro, along with comparing Lety to a Communist woman in a bread line. All she needs is a babushka.

GinCA
 

Paula, thanks for this labor of love!

"La Fea" was my first novela and got me hooked! It also resurrected my Spanish skills from moribund to "I can understand what they're saying and even talk back!".

So, the painting is "The Fall of Troy"; I didn't know that, and what a foreshadowing that is!

I missed the first 3-4 weeks of the original run of Fea,and am soaking this up!
I loved seeing Lety's first utterance of "Don Fernando, tan divino". He is!!
 

Thank you, Marta, I missed the "quedarme con Don Fernando" line. I've added it to my LFMB Foreshadows List. Let me know if you spot any others that are not on the list.

GinCA, my husband also enjoys Fea despite himself. In fact he's the one who first discovered it and suggested it to me. And the rest is history!

One more small observation from Cap 2. Marcia's face when she found out Lety would be handling financial matters. She didn't like that one bit.
 

Wow, Paula - what a superb idea, to provide "value-added" material for each episode! Thanks for doing this.

As I sped through yesterday's stuff at lightspeed, I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was that my first telenovela had such a great cast of actors, in roles that suited them. After the agony of FELS, for example, I had forgotten that Elizabeth Alvarez (Marcia) is actually very actress when she's given a decent role!

I also had some flashbacks... like remembering just how tiresome I found the cuartel's endless scenes, and how much I enjoyed Ariel's scenes because he spoke clearly and was easy to understand (especially before I had captions).
 

Julie, re: Ariel, de acuerdo. He speaks very clearly (and Humberto even better!). I thoroughly enjoy his character. His cruelty to one character was sadistic, but in his conflicts with Fernando, you can see his reasons for feeling that way. I just love his confrontations with Lety - fantastic scenes, every one of them.

I almost regret that Fea was my first TN. Just like, the first croissant I ever ate was in Paris. I thought they were all that good. I've been disappointed with every croissant ever since.
 

Wow, this is a fun show! I am hooked already. I'm not so sure about Don Fernando so far, but Jaime Camil, tan divino!

Having a private office rather than being out in the bullpen doesn't seem terrible to me at all. Closer to Fernando, more privacy. It isn't like Lety really aspires to be a secretary anyway; she wants to be an executive and this is way closer to that, sitting in her own little office and dealing with financial stuff.

Okay, Lety might dress like a downtrodden old lady in a Communist regime, but Alicia was even less office-appropriate. Were those little figure-skating costumes she was wearing? How does that not get you a lecture on proper business dress?
 

One more small observation from Cap 2. Marcia's face when she found out Lety would be handling financial matters

you mean today (ep 3,4), right? Fer has not told Lety/Alicia what their duties are yet. Or did I miss that scene last night?
 

Julia, totally agree on...
but Alicia was even less office-appropriate. Were those little figure-skating costumes she was wearing?
 

there are a couple of things I loved in LFMB that were not there in BLF since it was more 'serious/drama focused'. and that is that every time Lety smiles and shows her braces, we hear a 'ding!' like an old manual typewriter going to the next line.
 

I also agree with Ferro that Omar...
contributes mainly by looking at girls bodies and making faces like he’s constipated, I think it’s supposed to be uncontainable lust making him look that way but I think he just needs a box of prunes. Then he’ll be able to stop looking so pained.

I dont want to make it a habit to compare with BLF, but the Omar counterpart in BLF was more developed, self-standing as a character, Yes he was as much a 'commitment-fearing player' as Omar... but with more brains and backbone...

And another sound effect I love is one that sounds like a record player being stopped, for example, when Betty goes in a place she is not supposed to or expected to be.

Paula, did you catch last night the argument between Ariel and Marcia right after the words you did not get? it could be another foreshadowing...
 

I also liked the analogy that in the little 'bodega/closet' in Fernando's office, lety is the man behind the curtain while Alicia is the Wizard of Oz... we all know who is actually the one in charge/getting things done, don't we?
 

Paula and everybody....my apologies. This week has just been a blur so far. Have only gotten to see part of the episodes and no time to read the recaps but am enjoying the blog comments. And still dazzled by the show. It has lost none of its luster and Jaime Camil is still the man I fell madly in love with right along with Lety. The sweet theme music that plays every time she looks at him....ay yi yi, that's MY song!
 

The last time Fea ran, we called him, "Omar the Imbecile." He's really dumb. In fact, you'll notice that Augustine Arana (the Omar actor) blows his line A LOT. Then he just stands there with his teeth in his mouth, waiting for Camil to rescue him. Most of the time Camil rescues him seamlessly so you hardly notice the error.
 

Paula, thank you so much. With LFMB being my first novela, it feels like coming home. I understand a lot more. Today (Wed) I turned on the captions in places. Ferro's caps with your additions and all the comments are wonderful. LFMB makes me smile with the over the top acting and sound effects.

dpd
 

Thank you so much for your hard work! What a wonderful, ind and thoughtful gesture!

I was led to this site because while I have studied spanish for years I still don't seem to have a great handle on it. I jumped into the end of Mi Pecado and loved the well written and often really funny recaps. Since I am not surrounded by spanish speakers I was told this might be the next best thing.

But this is even better because it will help me to see if I not only get the gist of what they are saying but the actual words. (I don't have captions so I can never really tell) Such a big help!!

Thanks so much again!
 

La, I don't know if you'll see this. People usually only check the most recent post. If you want to actually STUDY by telenovelas, go to this page and click on the link, Learning Spanish by Telenovelas.

I'm taking a break from transcribing scenes right now. With two cap's per day it's just too hard to keep up, and it seemed like nobody was using it as a Spanish lesson. When they cut back to one cap per day, I might go back to transcribing scenes, if it seems like people are using it for study.
 

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