Friday, July 18, 2014

Que Pobres tan Ricos #138 18 July 2014. The RP finally say goodbye to Menchaca manor. They get back home but with credit limits / budgets. Plus 2 pregnancy tests, one positive.. whose 'prize' is it anyway?

Refrito: Lupe ‘telling’ MA this will be last time I have to see you.


At Salomon’s, AS and Leo are there. She wants all her stuff back. She will pay him every cent. Salomon asks if this is the ‘dia de los inocentes’ (april fools day?) he will find boxes and newspapers to wrap her ‘trickets’ in LOL! Leo wants to excuse himself, but she won’t let him go. She says you will have time to say goodbye to your cheeky friend. (Cacheton) AS says Leo should go back to school in NY.

Saul and MA at fonda. MA tells Saul he will continue pursuing the juices business, but he will NEVER go back to the Editorial business. Leo comes in. wants MA to go get Frida, she is crying in bathroom, according to Leo she will be missing La Nopalera. She is in bathroom checking her pregnancy test. (was that positive? I missed it.)

At kitchen, AS, as a grateful gesture, wants to leave Carm and Lupe her culinary recipes book/scrapbook. Beef Stroganoff, minestrone, tortellinis (love the way Carm pronounced it as ‘y’). AS recommends they use cognac to elevate the taste of dishes. Use the best ingredients always. Chuy thanks her for all the advice. Lupe also thanks her. AS repeats that it is an act of charity now that she is leaving. AS says later will send someone to pick up their belongings.

It is Lupe’s turn to lock herself in bathroom to use a pregnancy test.

At fonda, Chuy is saying farewell to AS and Leo. Leo says thank you very much, good luck and ‘todo cool’. Perla is happy to see them go. MA says even through all we got through, all these months have been the best part of his life. MA says will be watching for them. Chuy says thanks but better keep your distance. MA wants them to know they can count on him for ANYTHING. One last ‘sunshine’ sharing embrace. MA whispers to Carm that he is leaving, thank you for all the support. She will not stop trying to vow for him with Lupita. AS has waited enough, urges MA to wrap it up. Finally will say goodbye to La Nopalera. Arrivederci!!

At Alejo’s house, Mini and Isela are laughing at how bad Chuy left Alejo’s face. Mini says he gets it for having tangled himself with Catwoman. A-hole brushes them off. Isela demands 50% of the value of the house. A-hole says being with me is part of the transaction to get the Corporate control. Meanwhile you can go to an apartment or a hotel. Isela says prefer a 5 star hotel. But you better not try to double trick us.

Back at Fonda, Emiliano comes down, wants to say goodbye too. You are family after all. MA is going to hug him but he runs over to Frida. AS again urges to wrap up the farewells… and again… Arrivederci!! C’iao!!
MA waves his hand in goodbye to Carm and lifts both his hands in the signature gesture to Chuy.

Outside, Frida says she will miss their time here. AS asks her not to be silly. Welcome our new life! Leo tells Frida he can understand her but he agrees with mom. Nothing like going back to our easy life. MA comes to Fri, and Fri is not in mood, tells him he doesn’t understand either.

Frida looks up to the balcony/penthouse. Gets in car. It is MA’s turn to look up to penthouse. Saul has to come get him to move on. (well, MA is driving so I guess he bought a family car.)

Inside Fonda, Chuy says they thought the day would never come that the RP would leave. But the day is here. Carm says the house will feel empty without them. She comments he will miss AS. Chuy: ‘que paso??’ Chuy asks Lupe if she is alright. Lupe says she will clean the room upstairs. Perla offers to help disinfect the penthouse. Chuy laughs it off. DA comes in. Asks for Leo. He is excited because he got tickets for a movie Leo wanted to see… The Menchacas don’t seem in a hurry to tell him they left.

MA has taken AS and family back to their house. AS is praying thanks. ‘At last we returned to our beloved existence!’ She even kisses the floor. Frida wants her to stop. Leo does same, kiss the floor. Frida asks him not to be clown. Leo asks ‘don’t you feel happy to have your own room and shower?’ AS adds ‘ Never again eat in clay plates or plastic cups? Not to have to share anything with the Menchacas?’ AS is the happiest woman in the world. Leo thanks Jesus Christ Superstar, thank you very much!.

MA apologizes for interrupting. He has to remind them a few points/things. So please pay attention!!

At fonda, they have finally told DA about Leo leaving. Chuy can understand his feelings. Emi makes another A-holish comment about comparing houses, maybe their house now looks like his dad’s. DA calls Leo’s cel and leaves him a message to call him back.

Isela and Mini want to discuss what are the pros and cons in letting A-hole keep his house. Mini says the house has bad memories for her. Isela says they will let him keep the house only until he fulfills the ‘stinky’ clause. When he does, he will be more millionaire than he is. What he has given us is crumbs compared to that. Maybe we need to blackmail him into giving us a piece of that too.

DA is trapped, the men moving AS’ things from the Menchaca attic are blocking his car.

Lupe talks to Emi in his room, you need to realize you have been behaving bad, responding nasty to your granddad, to me. Emi says when he sees his dad he gets happy. What he would like is that she marry his dad and them all live together. But you will marry MA. Lupe tells him she won’t marry MA, but she won’t marry A-hole either. She also tells him she won’t change him from one school to another. Emi protests but she says she decides where he goes to school.

MA tells his family that from now on their credit cards are reinstated… BUT they have credit limits because he does not want them to splurge all the money. If I lied it was to keep you from splurging all the money, but you discovered it… but in any case, you have limited expense limits and I will keep maintaining the RP fortune. AS says she has ‘urgent’ expenses. Like spa, nails, etc. MA says urgent? All I can say is you won’t be splurging money out in the air as before. Welcome to your house, family! MA leaves, AS tells Frida and Leo she will find the way for them not to be ‘limited’.

At penthouse Perla is cleaning… with an egg? Does she mean an egg is better than Lysol or Febreeze? Lol!

At the RP house… AS’ stuff is back, she is yelling at the moving guys to be careful! AS tells Frida she has a list of things for Frida to do. Leo comes asking for his goose feather bedding… Leo is looking for his cel. AS threw it away. Leo protests, he had DA’s phone number there, in these days no one memorizes phone numbers. AS says you have to get with the times, technology is great. (seems she will buy him a new cell so he can’t talk to DA).

DA tells Gwendy that Leo left and didn’t even say goodbye (or kiss) him. Gwendy tries to lift him from his depression… He asks what was all the fighting my dad about being gay for?? What’s the use? Gwendy says with or without Leo, it was worth it to be truthful and open with your father.

AS still is caressing her things (piano) at her house… recovering my things is so sweet. To be so great. To be in the top social circles in Mex. To get there have to go back to lead spot in the charity group. She is swinging a tablecloth or curtain around… bella fortuna!!

Tizoc is cleaning the windows at penthouse and singing a new song. Tizoc tells Perla that Frida wanted him to go back to his origins in the music… Perla tells him that Frida was acting up a bit the last few days. Perhaps she is even pregnant. Tizoc and her end up fighting with the broom stick.

Chuy comes down and asks Carm why she is looking away every time she sees him. She wants him to go collect the trash from all bedrooms and bathrooms. He says no prob. You just call him toad and I will jump.

AS on phone with others. Seems she is retaking her social leader roles… she says she has no reprieves on others who did not contact her… Frida comes down. She is heading out. Don’t worry about money. MA gave her some money. She will take a public bus… AS says she will take that habit off her soon.

Chuy is picking up the trash in the bathroom (oopsie! The pregnancy test is there! … well, actually, two of them!..) he gets a bit upset, and says ‘this is all I needed now!’ (no mas esto me faltaba!)

Lupe is still reprimanding Emiliano, asking him to help out with the cleaning, but he just runs away. Perla says Emi is behaving worse each day.

Chuy comes down with the two pregnancy tests. He asks which one of you two is pregnant? (one of the tests is positive, one is negative).

Saul and MA are heading to see Agent Chavez (TOP COP). Saul mocks MA being depressed about having his money back but not being able to share it with the love of his life. Saul warns MA that his mom could legally force him to give them their money. Saul also tells MA that A-hole could fulfill the clause.

MA says there is no way.

Lupe tells Chuy that she is not pregnant. Chuy asks are you sure? Lupe is sure. But what business did you have in the bathroom trash? Chuy says one of the tests ‘has prize’ in it. Lupe and Chuy stare at Perla. She asks ‘why are you looking at me?’

Saul suggests to MA to find a girl and fulfill the clause with her. MA says no. Saul says you are a good prospect. MA says all he wants is to form a family with Lupe. Even if they can’t have more family is not important. He can have just Emi. MA also says he belongs at La Nopalera. And he will make sure the corporate won’t take the house from the Menchacas, and for that they have to find Mati.

Chuy asks Perla why she behaves so strange recently. First fainting at Leo’s wedding, and later on with Tomas. Perla says that doesn’t mean I stuck all four legs in… Chuy says if Lupe did it, why not you, who wants to be famous and all that? Lupe protests that Perla Ivette does not have to follow her steps… Perla gets upset that he told her that. Chuy asks then whose test is this? Tizoc comes by. Perla asks Chuy why don’t you ask the idol of the quinceaneras(15 year olds)?

At school nurse, Frida is trying to get them to help her with a pregnancy test.

Back at Fonda, Tizoc is confused, what are you all talking about? Lupe tells him none of your bidness. Lupe and Chuy end up alone, she tells him he was very rough with Perla Ivette. Chuy says he thought she had come up with another crisis for them. Lupe tells him the one in the hot pot could very well be his son. Chuy admits the one that screwed it big was him. Lupe suggests he go talk to Perla.

MA and Saul talk to Top Cop. MA is desperate to find his grandma. He is sure A-hole has her kidnapped. Saul does not believe it. MA says then where is she? Top cop says they are about to locate the nurse who brought her to the home. The same nurse who took care of her 5 yrs ago. MA gets worried.

Chuy talks to Perla in her room. He tells her she should take care of herself. It is not for distrust or to offend her. Perla asks is it about what happened with Lupita? Chuy says when Lupita told him she was pregnant he got real sad because he knew that day would change Lupe’s life forever. Not because of the baby, that is a blessing, but it would make her life tough forever. Chuy is so proud of Lupe, even if she had to become mother and woman all overnight. Lupe did get through it all without any support from a man (she had her family but…). Perla hugs him. (did we ever hear the word apology?)

Saul and MA hope that eventually A-hole’s wrongdoings will come to surface. MA wonders how long Vilma will cover him up. MA and Saul get in the car at same time, turns out Saul got in drivers seat because of habit, but it was MA that should have.

Perla tells Chuy she can understand his concern. But she has not even been with a man yet. She wants a relationship like telenovelas, with a huge wedding with white gown and all the bells and whistles… Chuy says she should take care of herself and demand that her boyfriend respect her as she deserves. Perla says she gets blushed of talking these things with Chuy. Chuy says if we talked more confidently and trusting each other then we would have less fights/arguments. Please forgive me. (there it is!) Perla says don’t even remember any of it.

Nurse brings Frida her pregnancy test. Frida reads it, seems it was positive because her eyes are teary.

Previews: A-hole tells someone that he will force Lupe to marry him before MA can reconcile with her. MA tries to convince Lupe that he loves her and they should get back together. Lupe receives another legal paper delivery, this time it is A-hole requesting the custody of Emiliano.

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Comments:
Thank you for your wonderful and hilarious recaps! I've been enjoying this blog for years now and have only commented a couple of times. Just wanted to let you know that I'm out here reading and laughing and sometimes crying...I know, I know just a bunch of television shows, but still!
Thanks to all the recappers for their dedication and skill and most of all their sense of humor.

Barbara in San Anselmo, California
 

Thank you for the recap, martaivett!

AS continues to have no dignity or class, groveling to her old "friends" so she can go back to being in the top social circles. She has of course learned nothing about true friendship.
She had one nice gesture in giving the recipes to Lupe and Carmela, but she was still completely tacky in rejoicing about leaving La Nopalera. I just hate her. I don't care how much comic relief she provides, she's despicable. She's already thinking up ways to undermine MA and throwing out Leo's cell phone so he couldn't talk to DA was just awful.

I don't know why they made us wait on Frida's test results since it seems she's definitely pregnant based on the pregnancy test and her recent symptoms, but maybe the pregnancy test was wrong. I appreciated that as expected, Lupe is not pregnant (I didn't think they'd have her be a single mom two times).


 

Thanks Marta, I live how quick you are to get the recaps up.

A budget? Really? If they go over the limit, does anyone think that MA wouldn't pay it anyway?

Lupita certainly replied quickly that she's not pregnant. But we didn't see anything but her taking out the test. Could she be pulling our legs? As far as happy outcomes go, I would think that they would progress this story with her being the pregnant one since we all know that she will end up with MA in the end. And Frida's tears could be tears of joy that she's not pregnant. We don't know the test results yet.

It's odd that the one who will end up with control of the business will have any of the money. The other will have nothing.

Leo needs to get on a bus and go see Diego ASAP.

 

For all their snobby glee about returning to the good life I wonder if it is possible that Leo and especially AS will become lonely and recognize that the their life in the barrio was more fun and exciting and that they had found true friends there. I live in hope.

Lupe was very defensive when saying she wasn't pregnant, after the last time she knew better and poor Frieda if she really is the one I feel sorry for her. AS will croak, Tizoc will be a flake and she will be a single mother with no coping skills.

Several times last night i just wanted to reach through the screen and smack Emihole. The RP's are leaving so he wants to say good bye because they are family but walks right past MA who is waiting to hug him. I keep remembering how sweet MA was to him back in the beginning when he talked to him about the polo stick but the little snot is now ignoring him. I get that he is probably jealous and doesn't want MA and his mother together, coming between his mother and his adored papa (sarcasm intended). He was also a little snot when he tossed the napkin and stalked off and when Lupe told him she would be making the decision about his school.

I was glad to see Lupe finally taking the bull by the horns and talking seriously to him about his behavior. He is ignoring it of course and is due for an unpleasant come uppance. I do wish she would ship him off to Ahole for a few days where he might learn something.


 

Thanks for the thorough and enjoyable recap, Marta (considering the sad story line, the enjoyable part is quite a feat of skill). One of the Anon's mentioned just hating ASofia now. I totally agree, the actress is doing a good job but what a disgusting human being she is. She has learned nothing and has no redeeming values. She has still not been called out on stealling Lupe's money has she? So she is a thief, a bigot both of economic class and personal sexual preference issues. She manipulates all of her children for her selfish priggish aims. I can't wait for the elite of Mexico to reject her attempt to return to their midst. Maybe she will just turn back to her only friends (Jose Cuervo or Jim Beam) and slide away to her luxurious bedroom. I am thoroughly sick of her.

It will be interesting to see if Leo and Frida stay semi-real after their life experiences of being human beings who understand how the rich and snooty have dealt with them. They deserve that much after their horrid mother has spewed her caustic venom on them for so long.

I hope Gwendy sticks to Saul and gives up on also awful Nepo. What interesting character studies we have had of prejudice and ignorance through Nepo and AnaSofia, no?

Welcome Barbara in San Anselmo, it is always fun to know that friends are lurking in the edges of this wonderful community. I am glad you enjoy the sublime efforts of the recappers. Having been one many times, I am totally grateful for their hard work in making us laugh and cry together.
 

It will interesting to see how the writers can redeem AS by the conclusion of the TN. Currently she is hopeless.

Rob


 

Thank you, Marta, for the marvelous recap. It was a fun read!

AS was in her most obnoxious and funny form. First when you think she was giving her recipe book as a gift she has to be sure to ruin the moment by making sure the Menchacas and Carmelita know it is "an act of charity."

Then, the worst was when Emiliano is talking about how they are all family and AS says: "Santa Madonna, where is Herod when you need him?" Yikes!!!!

The funniest was AS saying "Ciao, porca miseria, I will never see you again." while dancing with her throw.

Poor MA putting all his faith in Lupe not marrying Alejp so he can hang on to his family's fortune. Knowing what we know that could come back to bite him big time.

So, it looks like Frida is pregnant and Lupe not. So is something wrong with Lupe or were her symptoms merely there to complicate the pregnancy issue?

The scene between don Chuy and Perla was very well done.

Decie Girl, ITA about Emiliano.

Jarifa





 

Thanks Marta. This such an excellent recap. I haven't abandoned his show. I've watched all the episodes and read all the recaps and comments but unfortunately, I'm usually a day or so behind. I've managed to catch up today and wanted you all to know that I'm still around and really enjoying this TN.

Hi Cheryl, so good to see that you're watching and commenting. You called Ana S:

"...a bigot both of economic class and personal sexual preference issues."

and certainly you are correct on the first count, but actually she is quite tolerant of Leo's sexual orientation, it's his choice of Diego that she finds disturbing because of his social and ethnic background. This is of course hypocritical considering her recent admission about her own mother's humble origin.

I was a little disturbed a few days ago at the disappointment that seemed to be expressed by some here when Tomás suggested that Perla give thought to being a wife and mother as if there was a lack of tolerance and diversity in suggesting such a choice. I hope I misinterpreted those comments. Most of the women in my life happen to be wives and mothers.

Carlos
 

I was out of touch for several days and now I'm confused: did we only have 4 episodes last week? If so, why?
 

There was an awards show on Thursday, so no novelas.
 

Thanks for your recap, Marta.

Welcome Barbara, I hope you comment again soon.

Cheryl, so nice to hear from you. Please keep us updated on the latest pics from your travels.

Carlos, though I cannot speak for Julie & Julia but feel they would agree with me, our concern was not a woman being a wife and mother. Our concern was that Perla has not shown a great deal of competence in most areas of her life in addition to not being that bright. Tomas is a great guy and we think he could choose a stronger candidate to be his wife and mother of his children.
 

Leo gets a big NAUGHTY BOY from me for leaving without saying goodbye to Diego. He is so weak. He still lets his mother pull his strings and he is still so enchanted by the high life. I think they tried to make Frida's expression very noncommittal so as to be a cliffhanger. I personally guess she is not pregnant. I wish Mati would hurry up and get found. I wish Emi would just leave and go live with his dad.

 

Marta- Thank you for the wonderful detailed recap. I am just about to watch the show, but wanted to read and comment first.

Like the rest of you, I am appalled by how little AS has learned in her time in "porca miseria." It's really amazing how ungrateful she is, and that getting found out by her family as a thief and suffering alcohol poisoning did nothing to change her in the least bit.

So Frida's pregnant, but Lupe's not? Neither would have been good, but I prefer Frida to Lupe. In Por Ella Soy Eva, the heroine was also a single mother of a son, who DID get pregnant unexpectedly by the hero (Jaime Camil), so it would not be unusual for these writers to have the same character make the same mistake twice.
 

I think what also bothers me about AS is that I get the feeling that we're just supposed to see her as comic relief and just kind of find her ridiculous, but not root for her comeuppance. A sort of "oh shucks, that's AS for you!"
Because let's face it, she's been through a lot and remains unrepentant. I thought The Maca scandal would be the turning point for her and it had no effect whatsoever.
I mean I hope I'm wrong, but I'm just not getting the sense that the writers are going to give her the necessary smack down for her awfulness.
 

Thank you for the recap Marta!

It's funny how Ana Sofía can't see that she's better off without her "friends". The Ruizpalacios are supposed to be richer than them and that's why she was their leader before all this began, I'm not supporting her behavior but I would imagine that on her way again to the top she could try to make her own club and exclude Chabelita and Genoveva to make THEM beg for her acceptance again. Maybe AS is supposed to be seen as pathetic at the moment.

Jarocha
 

Also, tv characters handle pregnancy tests in careless ways that weird me out. Those tests had pee on them Don Chuy!

Jarocha
 

Marta, Thanks for a marvelous recap - I love all the detail. The RP's returning home with credit limits made me laugh.

I felt for Frida this week. I hope she is not pregnant but I'm afraid she is. Though I think Tizoc could be a good husband and father in several years when he has matured, he definitely not ready now. And, Frida will need to look elsewhere for any kind of intellectual or philosophical reflection.

Wasn't DaVinci so little and adorable as he wandered around the room at the empty RP mansion? He just looked so tiny. I have to admit that even though I think AS is a horrible person, I find myself enjoying her character a good part of the time. It occurred to me tonight that I'm not sure I would even "like" her as much as I do if she wasn't usually holding DaVinci in her arms.

Mini trading insults with Ahole still makes me giggle even though I think I have heard Alejo's witches and tarantula insults and Mini's eunuch taunts beyond multiple times. Mini also still makes me laugh when she lets out those squeals of happiness.

I don't think Guendy belongs with Saul. She is too high-spirited for him. She may buoy his personality up some now but in the long run I think he would find it tiresome and embarrassing. I like Guendy too much too see her coupled together with someone who doesn't appreciate her for who she is.

Earlier this week, whoever decided to stick Emi in the suit and have him act almost deadpan to everyone in his family was inspired. It was as if he had been subjected to an Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Welcome Barbara. Hope you stick around to comment more. There can never be too many of us!

Barbara
 

Welcome, Barbara in SA. we have a big patio party here 24/7 and the more the merrier...

Jarifa, thanks for that line i missed of AS calling for Herod!! LOL!

About Sylvia Pasquel and her character of AS... we have to draw the line... the actress should receive standing ov kudos for her performance while we could think of 234 ways to cook/fry/torture her character AS. The more we talk about AS the more kudos SP deserves.
Personally, I think AS needs some major opportunity for reivindication, like eventually saving her chidren's lives by choosing the right side when brought to another fork in the road by A-hole...
whether the writers will give us a satisfying 'reivindication' for her I don't know... but it has to be significant enough and non-reversible ... imo.
Yes, Leo should hop on a bus and go see DA...
I sort of agree that Gwendy and Saul would not last long, even though in the short term they would be great for each other, he grounds her and she could 'buoy' his personality... but in the end i agree that he would be embarrased by her and she would feel slowed down/caged by him.
 

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so what phrases/moments will we remember when this is over?
i can think of two... one mentioned by Barbara, Mini's squeals of happiness... so funny!
and Saul's farewell stamp message:
'Quedo de Ud, atentamente, Licenciado Saul Ballesteros...' which we heard quite a few times last friday... lol
and maybe A-hole comparing himself to Napoleon. (have to say MT has impressed me as a comic villain).


 

and Leo finishing anything he is describing with 'uki'.
 

Opción A y opción B.
Porca miseria
jipinais (sp?)
Yabadabu
 

That should be yabadabadu.
 

Henceforth, I shall describe handsome galanes as "bien yabadabadu". :)

I also like the Ruizpalacios refrain and think it could be adapted for our own use: "Ponte cool, ponte nice, ponte Caray Caray!"

Leo should be back in his own car any hour now, so he should be able to zip right on back to La Nopalera and get Diego's number for his new phone in person. I will be very angry at him if he doesn't go see Diego soon. I'm already mad at him for not even telling Diego about AS's demands and why he's been avoiding him.

I think Frida probably is pregnant. She's been so upset. And I don't think Lupita would lie to her dad about something like that, so if she says she isn't pregnant, I believe it. Certainly she doesn't seem worried about it, and Frida is very upset. I was surprised when Frida just threw that positive test in the wastebasket without even trying to hide it, and super grossed out when Chuy was waving them around.

Carlos, to answer your question, I don't have any problem with a woman choosing to be a wife and/or mother. I do have a big problem with someone else telling her that that is all she should be. Tomas was suggesting she give up her career ambitions. I think that is a huge mistake. (although in this case, I think Perla would be wise to choose a different career.)

Presumably Tomas wants to be a husband and father, but no one is telling him he should give up his career or outside interests to do it. So why should she, if that isn't what she wants?

And even if a woman does want to be a stay-at-home mom and has a husband who will support her in that, I think it is way too big a risk for a woman to have children and not have any marketable skills. What if her husband dies young, or gets sick or injured and his income is gone or severely reduced? What if he turns out to be abusive or a philander, and she wants to leave but feels trapped because she can't support herself and the kids? What if he just up and leaves, and she has to care for the kids on her own?

I know too many women who have bought into the "traditional" family idea and had kids with the idea they would never have to work for money, and then ended up in dire conditions when things went bad and they weren't able to earn much more than minimum wage.

In Perla's case, I also think she's just way too immature for marriage and child-rearing.
 

Thank you Marta!! Real quick before I go into a meeting:

I'm stunned that AS left Carmelita her cookbook.

AS throwing away Leo's phone - not stunning at all. Exactly what I would expect of her. I don't quite see how this is supposed to irrevokably break up Leo and Diego - I'm pretty sure Leo can find his way back to La Nopalera if he wants to.

Emi snubbing MA - ugh.

I could not believe Chuy thought one of the tests was Perla's. When has Perla been on a date with anyone?? Chuy always seems to expect the worst of her when he pays any attention to her at all. Any time there was a disagreement involving her and the RPs, Chuy NEVER sided with Perla!

Carlos, if some of us were disgusted with Tomas's comment to Perla last week, for me it's because he seemed to be discouraging her from doing anything else. If Perla wants to be a wife and mother she can, but that doesn't mean she can't or shouldn't do anything else.

There's also what Karen said: If Tomas is in such a hurry to start a family he should probably find a woman who's more on the ball. Maybe Perla will be mother material someday but right now she's foolish and immature.
 

It's just like AS to think her recipe book is such a secret treasure, and that the gift of it is an enormous act of charity. Like anyone can't find great recipes for stroganoff or Spanish tortilla on the internet.

Julie, I agree with you about how Chuy always assumes the worst of Perla, but I can also kind of see why. He always catches her trying to flirt with men, like when they went to the beach, or lapping up the sort of catcalls and similar attention that most women would find gross or annoying. So I don't think it would be a HUGE leap for him to believe that his naive daughter could have had a little fling with some guy, perhaps during the beach vacation. He shouldn't have been so harsh with her or outright accused her of being pregnant when he didn't know, though.

I think Saul could stand to let loose a bit, and I think he wants to. So I think he and Guendy could be suitable for each other. Mostly I just really don't want her with Nepo unless he has a major personality transplant.
 

ITA with Julia on... I don't have any problem with a woman choosing to be a wife and/or mother. I do have a big problem with someone else telling her that that is all she should be.
i also agree with others that Perla should find another daytime job and also that she is not ready, she is immature and way too foolish and childish to be ready for motherhood or even a serious relationship.
I agree too that women should try to build their career before having kids, esp. multiple kids. they should strive to be independent from the 'man's wages' before they build a family around them and risk a split-up.
 

Karen, Julia, Julie, and Marta,

Thanks for addressing the concern I expressed in my comment with such thoughtful and wise responses. I must say I whole-heartedly agree with everything each of you said about young women preparing themselves for life without needing to rely on having the good fortune to marry happily and well.

By the way, in addition to being wives and mothers, most of the women in my life also have or had successful careers (or at the least dependable jobs) prior to marriage so I suppose my viewpoint is colored by that fact. I probably would not have made that comment if not for Salvador's comment:

"Tomas’ remark suggesting that she could be happy marrying and having kids (ugh). That really blindsided me when the clear message of this novella is diversity and tolerance."

which I (perhaps wrongly) interpreted as almost derisive of those who might choose marriage and motherhood. Maybe it was the inclusion of the (ugh) in his remark.

As it is, Perla's dream of becoming a supermodel is not exactly realistic and it would certainly be wise of her to follow the advice and insistence of her dad and the rest of her family to pursue and complete her education. While I think that she is both too young as well as too immature to consider marrying or having children, I certainly don't think that there was any malicious or even misguided intent in Tomás' observation. I doubt that he was proposing marriage.

As for a pregnancy, I think as a practical matter, it would be much better if it were Guadalupe who is pregnant rather than Frida. She is already a successful mother and except for some misunderstandings she and MA are much better prepared to be married and parents than Tizoc and Frida.

I almost choked when AS invoked the memory of Herod as she did. Maybe politically (or would it be religiously?) incorrect?

Carlos
 

It would take forever to list all of the politically incorrect stuff in this TN, but one that really jumps out at me is "chino," which is how these characters describe anything out of the ordinary, confusing, nonsensical, or dubious.

I suppose you could compare it to the expression "it's all Greek to me," except I don't hear that very often any more. Certainly I don't hear it as often in a full year as as I hear Lupita and Carmelita say it in one hour.

(And we already had that conversation way back in the beginning about naming a loan shark "Salomon Ladino." Ack!)
 

I have a hard time watching DQTQTQ in the summer with the windows open because Carmen keeps hollering "Negro! Negro!" and I'm like "what must my neighbors think of me?!"
 

Julie, I agree. The "chino" is especially hard to hear because it is the "good" characters saying it. It's one thing for AS or Ahole to spew their racist crap, because they are supposed to be bad and unsympathetic, and those kind of comments show how nasty they are. When it's the characters who are supposed to be nice and empathetic and egalitarian who let those words roll off their tongues, it's jarring.
 

Julia- LOL about Carmen and "Negro." I give that one a bit of a pass because at least she isn't calling him or her mixed race son "El Negro." Something about making it an object that just makes it so much worse.

I agree about chino (e.g. "cuentos chinos") and have always wondered what the history of that expression was. Perhaps because China seemed so far away that anything fantastical seemed like it must come from there?
 

Vivi, I think that's it. I grew up with a lot of crazy notions about China's culture and people. These notions came mostly from fairy tales, old cartoons, etc. Long story short, there were a lot of gongs and pigtails.

But I am older now, and the world is so much smaller. It's very easy to find something in my house that came from China, and it's not exotic in the least. Seeing Chinese people is hardly a novel experience, either.

So I would feel really wrong about referring to all things Chinese as if they were... well... Martian.

(No offense to any Martians reading this, but seriously, Martians, you should see some of the stories we've heard about YOU!)
 

So my embarrassing story about racism/exoticism is this:

In my early elementary school years, there was a big campaign in the schools to combat racism. So we had all these talks about "people of other races" and "minorities" and how they weren't so different after all, in spite of [list of superficial differences], and you might in fact find that they have [whatever good traits]. So the way they talked about minorities, my little-kid brain got the idea that they were in fact different. They sounded so exotic! I really wanted to meet some of these awesome people!

It wasn't until a few years later that it occurred to me that these "minorities" were the same kids I already knew, and had never thought of as being different.
 


Hi all, as they say better late than never.

Carlos: I agree with Julia, “I do have a big problem with someone else telling her that that is all she should be.” That was exactly my problem. It wasn’t so much what Thomas said, but rather how he said it implying exactly what Julia mentions.

Can I join the “Choke AS club”? I hear it is it in the highest social circle on an international level. Gawd, I can’t stand her either, but just can’t bring myself to hate her because of Sylvia Pasquel. I just hope the story gives her a worthy comeuppance and change of heart and not one of those instant ON “good guy” personas at the end because she got struck by lightning or because her brain was swapped out by extraterrestrials. In just this episode alone I lost count of the times when I just could choke her.

Yeah, when I saw Mister Chuy handling the pregnancy tests I wondered about the pee too, but found out that we are all wrong! There is no pee involved in telenovela pregnancy tests. It works like this: Then character goes to the bathroom and sits on the toilet (with the lid down of course since toilets are not known for their comfort when the lid is up). She then removes the tester from its box/wrapper. Then the character stares at it for about 2 scenes and voilá, done! The result shortly comes up, but for some reason the tester is always out of frame, out of focus or something similar that does not let use see the results even though we already know!

This novella has three fainters: Fri, Perla and Lupita. In novella land you can expect for sure a future baby. In this novella Perla’s fainting is probably due to her neglecting to eat properly, Fri’s fainting (or dizziness since we have not actually seen her kiss the canvas) is most likely due to pregnancy, but Lupita’s? Hmmm. That has to be something else. Maybe the stress, maybe just thinking of Alejo the Hun is enough for her to loose her balance and perhaps this is affecting her physically. It seems a bit late in the story for it to be something horribly tragic like .

I really thought Emiliano look adorable dressed up as Alejo’s Mini me. I would have wished that Emi would have been MA’s Mini me instead. I can understand why Emi has won the title of Emihole as a previous commenter, but I still don’t think it is fair because in a way Emi is being expertly manipulated and being used as a weapon of mini destruction to tear the Machacas apart and specifically Lupe and Miguel Angel. Even Emperor Palpatine could take lessons from Alejo. But as others have said, Emi needs to find out for himself what a horrible person his Daddy Dearest really is and this god-like, heroic and noble hero that Emi makes him out to be. But for this Alejo is not the only one to blame as Emi is kept in the dark about everything. This lack of information makes him particularly vulnerable to Alejo’s vemon.

Barbara, the one thing I enjoy about watching these novellas is that I have a venue of friends that I have ever met where I can share thoughts and fantasies about these stories. For the most part these TV shows are ridiculous and silly. In fact, in Spanish many call them taranovellas which loosely translated implies that watching them turns the viewer ship into idiots. Yet, we have found a way to use them as a tool to bring a community together. The value in these shows is what we see in the characters and how we perceive them then how we share those perceptions with others. This novella in particular treads new ground because aside from it being a silly show it also tries to educate and provide a moral. I sometimes compare it to an “After School Special” (a very long one at that!) as it has touched on various social issues. I just wonder how many people watching this novella in Mexico actually got something out of it.

 

Salvador, you're right. I always forget how far Telenovelalandia is ahead of us in medical technology. Their pregnancy tests work by merely holding them and thinking "am I pregnant?"; no need to involve any bodily fluids.
 

I think the notion that something "está en chino" means "está escrito en chino". It's a reference to the Chinese characters, which is impossible to understand for those who are born here. It never occurred to me that the popular saying might be racist, I have used it in real life since it's so common but I don't have anything against the Chinese and nobody had explained me how wrong it sounded, in that same way I don't think the characters here have anything against the Chinese either.

Also, my dad calls my mother negra, she is not black but that's a nickname he uses for her in a loving way. Like Carmen uses it with Eleazar in DQTQTQ.

Jarocha
 

Julia, that's a funny story - something similar happened to me. It was around when I started going to school and my father wanted to prepare me for the possibility that I might see people who looked different than I was used to. I wasn't sure what he had in mind, but eventually I realized he meant people like Gordon and Susan on Sesame Street. It's not as though I hadn't realized that they didn't look like Bob or Maria, but on the other hand none of them looked like Mr. Hooper or Cinderella either, so what was the big deal?

It was like being brought in on a big secret that I would have been happier not to know about.

Salvador, thanks for explaining how the pregnancy tests work. That makes a lot of sense. Or at any rate it doesn't make LESS sense. :-)

Recap tonight? Tomorrow. I'll put up a header now.
 

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