Tuesday, September 13, 2011
TELENOVELA CONVENTIONS
Novelera found this list somewhere 'on the internet' so we don't know to whom to credit it. It was posted on TW in 2010 by Enoch, see, here. It's quite amusing but I'm sure our experienced novela watchers could add some more and since I'm posting, I'll add mine in blue.
TELENOVELA CONVENTIONS
· Impossible magic is an acceptable part of the plot (e.g., there are magic mirrors; a person dies and his spirit steals somebody else's body to live in; a magic broach attracts a bullet shot at someone, so the bullet is blocked from entering the body); people with terrible burns or disfigurement are completely cured sometimes by magic.
Another common type of impossible magic is when the main protagonists sense that the other one is in danger or in trouble. This sense never works all the time. It depends on the plot.
· A man drinks himself silly over unrequited love.
· The hospitals have no security. A person who was recently shot in an attempted murder has no protection against the villain going into the hospital to finish the job.
· The hospital beds have no call button, so a villain can go to the person's bed and abuse them, but the patient has no way to call the nurse.
· The story ends with a wedding.
· Prostitutes in a whorehouse are sympathetic figures.
· The pregnant protagonists have fainting spells.
Put another way, fainting of a protagonist usually means pregnancy or sometimes a serious or fatal disease.
· The hero is shot or seriously stabbed or run over and/or beaten until nearly dead.
· No matter what degree of physical intimacy is involved, the doors are not locked, permitting intrusion.
· Major developments in the story depend upon persons overhearing conversations.
Conversations disclosing secrets are frequently held in large open areas where it is easy for a concealed person to listen.
Conversations disclosing secrets are frequently held in large open areas where it is easy for a concealed person to listen.
· Sympathetic characters are unjustly put in prison, likely because of the machinations of a villain or because the imprisoned hero wants to protect someone else from prison.
· A villain, as part of his or her villainy, gets someone committed to the nuthouse (manicomio) who is not crazy. Possibly some nurse at the manicomio will be bribed to inject harmful drugs into the victim.
· An unmarried woman gets pregnant and seems excessively happy about it.
· A child is kidnapped.
· At birth a child will be kidnapped or swapped, leading to the mother having the wrong baby or no baby at all.
· At least one of the protagonists is rich and has servants.
· There is an evil old woman; e.g., a suegra.
· Incest or threatened incest is a major theme. (A couple who love each other find out they’re really brother and sister.) Or a couple who love each other think they are brother and sister but really aren't.
· A protagonist marries someone and then fails to consummate the marriage. The (non-)pareja may live together for years and sleep in the same bed, but "nothing will happen" between them.
· A villain woman gets a protagonist man into bed with her by drugging him. The morning after she claims that he had relations with her; thus he must marry her.
· A woman gets pregnant and tells some man that the child is his, although it is not, specially in conjunction with the preceding situation.
· Automatic knee-jerk reaction to some negative event with "Swear that you won't tell … my novio … that I have cancer."
· A favorite variation on the above: a woman insists on keeping her pregnancy, and the resulting child, a secret from the man responsible (because she is in a snit about something).
· No characters have any qualms about telling lies.
· Tiresome repeating of stock words and phrases: Júrame – tranquilo - déjame en paz – suéltame - que haces aquí.
· Unknown/mistaken parentage
Also, persons who are related but don't know it often feel something for the other person but don't know why - blood talks.
Similar is when a person finds out that someone they thought was a parent or sibling is not in fact a blood relation, they question whether they could love that person as if years of shared experience and affection meant nothing.
· Person believed dead, isn’t
· Two brothers pursue the same woman
· Two sisters pursue the same man
· Both of the above two at once
· There’s no middle class, only rich people and downtrodden servants.
Many of the rich people have incredibly outmoded ideas about class and try to stop the protagonist from getting involved with a poor person.
· Deux ex machina solutions to problems (or end of novela) Corazon Salvaje has earthquake; Mujer en Espejo has dead aunt appear and tells protagonist where her man is.
· Cinderella gets rich man, despite rich novia and old female relative.
· There’s a significant event to the plot that is followed by a dozen scenes where secondary characters discover that event and comment on it ad nauseum.
· Wasting time by showing the hero or heroine remembering what happened (We already saw it!) and showing the event again, possibly in black and white.
· The good guys never call the police or 911 when a simple phone call would solve the problem.
· The hero is shot or seriously injured and the heroine does not call an ambulance but whines and cries and shakes his body.
· Females act extravagantly like aggressive nymphomaniacs
· The "cachetada": It is OK for females to slap males in the face (out of style since the 1930's in American movies) A favorite variation on this is that a guy grabs a girl and kisses her; she kisses back with enjoyment. Then, at the end of this prolonged kiss, the girl slaps the guy in the face.
· The "almost spill the beans" routine: instead of just coming out with it, the character says that he/she has something very important to tell another character. "OK, I'm all ears." “But first I must warn you that it is shocking.” “OK, I can take it.” “I wanted to tell you this for years, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.” “Yes, so now you will; I'm glad you got the courage.” This goes on and on, and we know it will not come out, at least not in today's episode. Then someone walks in and interrupts, or the person loses nerve, or the phone rings telling them they have to leave to save their brother’s life. In the old cowboy movies an arm could appear through a window with a gun and the teller gets shot just before he spills the beans.
· The idea that with "genuine love" one cannot love someone as the product of a logical decision, but only as the result of uncontrollable magic.
· Excess talk without enough action
· Sex is always a major theme, as if no story could be interesting without this.
from Novela Maven: the protagonists are so incredibly attractive that most of the men characters fall for the woman protagonist and most of the women characters fall for the male protagonist.
· Physical intimacy nearly always leads to pregnancy. This is possibly a more realistic variation on Hollywood’s idea of fornication not leading either to pregnancy or STD's.
A woman has unprotected sex and is always astonished to find out that she is pregnant.
Labels: telenovelas
Comments:
<< Home
Great list. May I add to it?
-- At least one of the villains is related to at least one of the protagonists.
-- Femme Fatale villanas always end up disfigured; it's their karma.
-- All females wear chandelier earrings regardless of time of day.
-- Mother superiors and gypsy fortune tellers are always right.
-- If there is a priest, either or both of the villains will abuse the confessional to boast of their crimes, leaving the good Padre in a state of anxiety for at least 50 episodes.
-- Except for homicide detectives, all cops are believed to be corrupt.
-- At least one of the villains is related to at least one of the protagonists.
-- Femme Fatale villanas always end up disfigured; it's their karma.
-- All females wear chandelier earrings regardless of time of day.
-- Mother superiors and gypsy fortune tellers are always right.
-- If there is a priest, either or both of the villains will abuse the confessional to boast of their crimes, leaving the good Padre in a state of anxiety for at least 50 episodes.
-- Except for homicide detectives, all cops are believed to be corrupt.
I guess my question would be: 1) Is there a tn that had NONE of these conventions, and 2) Is there a tn that had ALL of these conventions (because that would be a pretty wacky or terrible tn!)?
TdA probably came the closest to that, but still didn't.
I have never heard of a novela that lacked all of these points.
And I just thought of a few more:
-- The illegitimate son always bears a stronger physical resemblance to the father than his favored first-born legitimate one.
-- If there is an animal in the story like a horse or a dog, s/he can always spot evil before the humans do.
-- Servants are always with their patrons for life.
-- Nannies can be any race while an ama de llaves is always white.
I have never heard of a novela that lacked all of these points.
And I just thought of a few more:
-- The illegitimate son always bears a stronger physical resemblance to the father than his favored first-born legitimate one.
-- If there is an animal in the story like a horse or a dog, s/he can always spot evil before the humans do.
-- Servants are always with their patrons for life.
-- Nannies can be any race while an ama de llaves is always white.
Jean and NovelaMaven, thanks for list.
I can think of an addition that was in CME's recap for Monday. There was something about seeing the wedding dress before the wedding.
There is also convention about a change of hairstyle indicating a turning point in a character's life.
Rosemary
I can think of an addition that was in CME's recap for Monday. There was something about seeing the wedding dress before the wedding.
There is also convention about a change of hairstyle indicating a turning point in a character's life.
Rosemary
Permalink posted by 
: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 11:32:00 PM EDT
: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 11:32:00 PM EDT
"-- Except for homicide detectives, all cops are believed to be corrupt."
This works in real life too.
Jarocha
This works in real life too.
Jarocha
Permalink posted by : Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 12:05:00 AM EDT
: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 12:05:00 AM EDT
This is fun. Thanks for the posting Jean.
One overall quality to the telenovelas is the lack of effective communication. This is caused because people don't listen to each other or they hear but don't believe, or someone interrupts just before essential information is to be given. It's like the Greek myth about Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba who was favored by Apollo with the gift of prophecy but later he cursed her so she would never be believed.
One overall quality to the telenovelas is the lack of effective communication. This is caused because people don't listen to each other or they hear but don't believe, or someone interrupts just before essential information is to be given. It's like the Greek myth about Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba who was favored by Apollo with the gift of prophecy but later he cursed her so she would never be believed.
Another rule:
Someone is going to fall down the stairs.
Also, when the protagonists have a misunderstanding, the one supposedly in the wrong will keep sputtering, "Wait! Listen to me! Let me explain! I can explain all of this, I swear!" instead of just spitting out whatever would clear the whole thing up.
Someone is going to fall down the stairs.
Also, when the protagonists have a misunderstanding, the one supposedly in the wrong will keep sputtering, "Wait! Listen to me! Let me explain! I can explain all of this, I swear!" instead of just spitting out whatever would clear the whole thing up.
A veritable style guide for TN writers. This should be an elective class for college Spanish majors.
Also: Villains ALWAYS talk to themselves out loud, threatening their victims with a faraway look in their eyes.
Permalink posted by : Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 10:06:00 AM EDT
: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 10:06:00 AM EDT
Villains also fess up to everything when they think they're going to kill the protagonists.
Small-town sheriffs are usually honest. This is contrary to the US drama cliche about them being corrupt. Examples: Sheriff Muttonchops in FELS and Hernan in Abrazame Muy Fuerte
Novela heroes always have full heads of hair and fabulous physiques.
Gringos always speak Spanish badly unless they are white-haired corporate CEOS or genius doctors.
In Britain it's tea that fixes everything; in novelas it's tequila.
Jarocha: Thanks for the clarification. Por favor, see my question in today's Teresa discussion.
Small-town sheriffs are usually honest. This is contrary to the US drama cliche about them being corrupt. Examples: Sheriff Muttonchops in FELS and Hernan in Abrazame Muy Fuerte
Novela heroes always have full heads of hair and fabulous physiques.
Gringos always speak Spanish badly unless they are white-haired corporate CEOS or genius doctors.
In Britain it's tea that fixes everything; in novelas it's tequila.
Jarocha: Thanks for the clarification. Por favor, see my question in today's Teresa discussion.
How about, bad guys always drink whiskey, good guys always drink tequila. Also, while the good guys (and gals) often get completely drunk while drowning their sorrows, the bad guys, although they drink all the time, are rarely affected.
Almost all lawyers are corrupt.
Almost all doctors are corrupt, and many of them will fake a diagnosis for money. Even the good ones do it if threatened.
All characters wear a different outfit every single day. This is not true in period novelas, but most modern ones have this.
Young women wear high heels all the time, even at home while just lounging around, doing housework, or taking care of kids.
Almost all lawyers are corrupt.
Almost all doctors are corrupt, and many of them will fake a diagnosis for money. Even the good ones do it if threatened.
All characters wear a different outfit every single day. This is not true in period novelas, but most modern ones have this.
Young women wear high heels all the time, even at home while just lounging around, doing housework, or taking care of kids.
Nurses still wear those outdated caps and if they have long hair (as most female characters under 50 do) they always leave it loose, contrary to medical regulations.
The wealthiest character will experience a temporary financial crisis somewhere in the middle of the story.
If the hero is a Cinderfella, he has some talent that is useful toward becoming rich. Math genius seems to be the most popular of these.
The wealthiest character will experience a temporary financial crisis somewhere in the middle of the story.
If the hero is a Cinderfella, he has some talent that is useful toward becoming rich. Math genius seems to be the most popular of these.
Oh, and let's not forget that all the women sleep in FULL makeup.
Permalink posted by : Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 1:24:00 PM EDT
: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 1:24:00 PM EDT
... women sleep in FULL makeup.
Except when they're sick. When women are sick, they don't wear lipstick, neither at home nor away.
Except when they're sick. When women are sick, they don't wear lipstick, neither at home nor away.
Everyone, especially villains, walks right into the protagonist's house to mess with them some more. They never knock - they just appear.
The swapped baby problem is solved by the discovery of a mole on the back, or a scar from an injury on the right kid. Unfortunately, no one notices this until the kid is 35 years old. The usual result of finding this identifying physical feature is a boatload of money changing hands.
Novelera and Jean,
Thanks for getting this conversation going!
Mike,
Speaking of a style guide for TN writers, when we were blogging on La Reina del Sur over on the Telemundo page, I came across a news story about a workshop that Roberto Stopello (that novela's chief writer) was giving, a few years back, for aspiring TN writers. Stopello described the usual framework for a novela: two people meet, want to er... kiss... , and then spend the next 130 or so episodes overcoming the obstacles to their doing so.
Thanks for getting this conversation going!
Mike,
Speaking of a style guide for TN writers, when we were blogging on La Reina del Sur over on the Telemundo page, I came across a news story about a workshop that Roberto Stopello (that novela's chief writer) was giving, a few years back, for aspiring TN writers. Stopello described the usual framework for a novela: two people meet, want to er... kiss... , and then spend the next 130 or so episodes overcoming the obstacles to their doing so.
"two people meet, want to er... kiss... , and then spend the next 130 or so episodes overcoming the obstacles to their doing so"
Isn't that every love story out there?
Teresa does go against that convention if we are talking about the main protagonist. But Teresa isn't a love story like most other tns.
Post a Comment
Isn't that every love story out there?
Teresa does go against that convention if we are talking about the main protagonist. But Teresa isn't a love story like most other tns.
<< Home
© Caray, Caray! 2006-2022. Duplication of this material for use on any other site is strictly prohibited.
