Caray, Caray!

Carlos,
Are you sure that's not a photo from TDA?
 

I really feel so sorry for Esperanza, she doesn't have a friend in the world except Mirtha. Her husband doesn't want her, her brother has abandoned her, Juana pays no attention to her, she was raped & now her competition has moved in. Pobrecita
 

Thanks, Paula. THanks also to Carlos for that dark study of Dona Juana doing her queenly wave. CAPTION : ''Taxi.''
 

Thanks to Paula and Carlos. What a haunting photo you chose today Carlos, they are all compelling but these scenes with Juana showing at last some vulnerability iwth the tiny boy were touching if a little distubring. She dotes on the innocent child as the grandson she assumes she will never have but is so hateful to Luis his father and would just as soon have his mother dead. Powerful telenovela, this one. The revelations about Marina's heritage are so intriguing too.
 

Such an intriguing shot of Juana hailing her colonial taxi. Thanks Carlos.

The conversation between Juana and Isabel was very interesting. Funny how Juana 1) never mentioned her debt to Isa (surely she knew?), and 2) tried to get Isa to forgive most of the debt. I'm glad Isa told her to shove it.

Sometimes side plots have very little to do with the main story line, but the side plots in Alborada are key to the main plot and characters. I agree that the story about Marina being Victoria's daughter is fascinating. Of course Victoria wants her daughter NOW, but from Marina's standpoint she never had a mother, now the wonderful Isabel wants to adopt her, her life feels stable at last, and long-lost mommy shows up? Sara is right, Victoria should be cautious for a number of reasons.

That Cristobal is a calm guy. He's got a duel coming up and he's still riding around town on his fact-finding missions.
 

Thanks Paula and Carlos.

Carlos, today's screen shot was wonderful, especially with that flame behind her - portends of things to come.

Susanlynn, your caption is LOL funny.

Tia is the best, nothing gets by her. She is a joy to watch. I wonder why she never married.

Rosemary
 

Maybe she didn't want the control of her fortune to go to her husband.
 

I think she was in love with the conde, Luis's father.
 

Love the photo and the caption...Carlos and Susanlynn...you make a good team. With Paula of course!
 

Judyb~~~It's so nice to be here with the old gang reliving and reloving Alborada. Feels like our glory days. [Shout out to Bruce.] Are you sharing our hot summer weather ? Bizarre, right ?
 

I propose a game for this weekend.

If you were making a telenovela with all the clichés and overused plot devices, what would you name the characters? Let's put together a roster of all the standard characters, and assign them names from the best example from that character type. I think I'm not explaining myself well, so I'll give you an example. We could name our galán Juan (del Diablo, from CS-93). The doddering, well-intentioned but incompetent patriarch would be named Gonzalo (MEPS).

Okay, so here are the standard TN characters. You can probably think of others. Assign classic names to them.

* galán
* sweet young thing (SYT)

* evil villian, young male
* galán's b!#chy novia
* rival for SYT's affection
* wicked matriarch
* doddering, incompetent patriarch
* evil, powerful corporate head

* galán's ever-supportive best friend
* SYT's wicked, backstabbing supposed friend
* wise, angelic old woman
* wise, kindly priest

Who have I missed?
 

My worst pesadilla, Victoria Ruffo & Adela Noriega in the same novela.

I refuse to put FC in this, it's so Mejia.
 

I'm not looking for actors. That's been done too many times. I'm looking for character names. Like, when you hear "Matilde," you'll always think of Amor Real.
 

Paula- The SYT would have to be Maria-something. The ex-gf would have a snooty sounding name like Leticia. And at least one of the rich families would be named Lombardo/Lombardi.
 

I liked the name María Fernanda, from Lazos de Amor, she was a sweetie and my favorite of the triplets.

Strong consonants are often used for strong leading ladies, like Julia or Regina (think of those in Spanish, the air has to come from the chest when you pronounce them). Also, long names that start with a vowel and the stressed syllable is not at the end (Ángela, Elena, Estela). Those are names that you have to make more of an effort when you scream them and it makes them sound melodramatic.

The names that always make me remember a leading character from a novela are Yulissa, from Te Sigo Amando and Alondra from Alondra. And while she is not a leading lady, Aimée can never be used for a character that isn't the antagonist of Corazón Salvaje.

Jarocha
 

Paula

My favorite TN name ever is Fafy Cuenca. I'd like to suggest Padre Fafy as the wise priest.

My favorite male Villain ever was from Mujer de Madera. He was evil, eccentric, funny, lovable, gentlemanly, brutal, scary, cultured, and refined with a fondness for Mexican Trio music. He was called el Perico (the Parakeet). He was older but had a taste for young beautiful women. I hope we can fit someone like this in... maybe el Hámster.


For the loyal friend, what better than Fidel?

Carlos
 

Jarocha, thank you for the very interesting analysis of the construction of names. I also was thinking about Aimée as a memorable character's name. But maybe you're right - they've "retired the jersey" for her.

To my ears, Spanish men's names with soft consonants always sounded wimpy - Joel, Julio, Juan. Anything with just Js, L, Ms, Ns. I think a strong name needs hard sounds - Francisco, Roberto, Fernando, Santiago.

Carlos, now you've made me curious. I've never watched Mujer de Madera because I'm such a Camil fan. Does that sound like a contradiction. It's that I love his work so much, I can't stand seeing him in something awful. And I've heard that Madera is really, really awful.
 

For the villain, I like Demetrio (La Madrastra) o Damián (MEPS).

Remember the movie The Omen, Damien was the evil kid. I always associate that name with evil.
 

For some reason, I like the name Matilde for the heroine. Perhaps because I loved Amor Real or perhaps because Matilda is not a common name now in the U.S. I've noticed that many of my Latino students have names that are no longer common here...for example Gladys, Fanny. [My poor , dear student Fanny came to me one day saying that I should call her Stephanie from then on because she was a school bus driver and the kids were teasing her about her name. Her boss had to explain to her why they were making fun of her. ] Years ago, I had a student from D.R. named Altagracia. I think that's beautiful. For a hero, I am fond of Luis, and I especially like when someone uses his complete name. I also like when the heroes have two names. I also loved when Manuel in Amor Real ALWAYS referred to his competition by both his first and surnamesw as if they were one name ''ADOLFOSOLIS !!!'' Well, back in t5he pool for me.
 

Paula--I'm up to playing your game. Here are my nominations:

* galán = Luis Miguel or Alejandro

* sweet young thing (SYT) = Shoot, Maria always has to be in it, although I prefer just Fernanda by itself; have we ever had a Susana?

* evil villain, young male = BRUNO

* galán's b!#chy novia = Victoria

* rival for SYT's affection = Enrique (for no good reason--I haven't heard it used), Alonso

* wicked matriarch = Marta, Carlota, Bertha (as in Heridas)

* doddering, incompetent patriarch = Federico, Emiliano, Heriberto, Ernesto or, I like Gonzalo, too

* evil, powerful corporate head = Anibal, Adolfo, Horacio

* galán's ever-supportive best friend = Mauricio, Carlos, Luci, Alicia (yes, he could have a female confidant)

* SYT's wicked, backstabbing supposed friend = Jessica, Justina

* wise, angelic old woman = Isabel, there can only be one of her stature

* wise, kindly priest = Juan Cristobal, Jesus Maria (what could be more appropriate)

We left out the servidumbre:
There always seems to be a Blanca or a Tomasa. And for the guys, Vicente or Vincente, Martin, Marcos or Roberto

What about the children? Rafael, Chuy, Teresita, etc.

Geesh, can you tell which tn's I've been watching???
Dona Nube (aka NOK
 

Thanks for playing the game, friends. That was fun. Doña Nube, I get the impression that you like singing galáns! (Luis Miguel, Alejandro)
 

I like the name Andres for a galan, and Cristina or Maria Cristina for the SYT. What about Amanda? Has that name been used.The patriarch could be Agustin. Rafael is a nice best friend name. I would call one of the maids Milady or Usmari. Josefina is a great wicked matriarch name, so is Heriberta. I agree with Anibal Adolfo and Horacio for the fat cats. I like the last name Calatrava for a ritzy last name.

After we decide on the names we should write the TN.

Chuchi
 

I like the name Andres for a galan, and Cristina or Maria Cristina for the SYT. What about Amanda? Has that name been used.The patriarch could be Agustin. Rafael is a nice best friend name. I would call one of the maids Milady or Usmari. Josefina is a great wicked matriarch name, so is Heriberta. I agree with Anibal Adolfo and Horacio for the fat cats. I like the last name Calatrava for a ritzy last name.

After we decide on the names we should write the TN.

Chuchi
 

I remember the name Fafy Cuenca and also loved it. Where was that from?

Chuchi
 

Chuchi- Fafy Cuenca was from Querida Enemiga. What a great character. Every time I see those Dos Equis beer comercials for the Most Interesting Man in the World, I think about Fafy Cuenca.
 

Wicked matriarch: Bernarda. Not just because of TdA or even La Otra but for Bernarda Alba, the classic toxic matriarch.

Evil corporate head: Nicolas, or Enrique

Young, evil male villain: Ricardo
Rival for SYT: Sebastian

Can we carry this discussion into this afternoon's thread?
 

Paula, I really enjoyed Mujer de Madera. By no stretch can I say it was good, but it had some memorable engaging characters, especially the bad guys. I thought Jaime Camil was good though I liked him much more in LFMB. I also enjoyed Edith González. I didn't care much for Gabriel Soto or Ana Patricia Rojo. There was lots of entertaining silliness. If it's out on DVD I'll bet it would be fun to watch since the the original begged to be shortened.

Vivi, Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World... yes.

I loved his friend's disbelief, "You've never heard of Fafy Cuenca?"

I like Perla for swt and I really like both Pepa and Fina both of which are currently squandered on the evil character in CME.

Carlos
 

Ah yes, Fafy Cuenca. We had some good times over that particular name. His little sidekick was determined to spread the word about his [supposedly] charismatic friend at every turn. I also remember using his name as a verb...as in..''Have you Fafy Cuencaed today ? '' or '' Doesn't she just fafy your cuenca ?'' Good times. By the way, is Fafy a real name or a nickname like Cookie ?
 

Thanks Vivi, I had forgotten about Querida Enemiga. One thing I like about Mexican TN's is that one can recognize so many of the characters from other TN's and can compare their acting. I think the actor that played Fafy is the movie director in Zacatillo. Not sure, couldn't find his name.

Chuchi
 

Fafy Cuenca, Fafy Cuenca, Fafy Cuenca! I love to say it three times.

Sorry I missed the fun weekend game. The suggestions are all great. I used to work with a guy named Bolívar which I thought was a very masculine-sounding name.

I also like the name Damian for the bad guy.
 

Sure, we can continue this game on Monday's board! I just posted the new page.
 

I think she was in love with the conde, Luis's father.