Caray, Caray!

betty

So far, I've been rather disappointed in Betty en NY. And the absence of much discussion suggests that other people may feel similarly. I can put up with the mindlessness of the main story, but I am driven up the wall with the side issues--her father's stupidity in choosing a lawyer (makes me wonder about his judgment as an accountant), and the bit with the co-worker's husband who leaves her for some bimbo who isn't exactly delighted that he plans to move in. (I think there was a third side issue as well that I hated, but my memory is trying to keep me sane by forgetting it.)

I haven't decided whether I'm going to continue to watch Betty. I may, just to keep hearing some Spanish. But I don't see any point in recapping. Perhaps if others are watching, each of us can post a paragraph or two from time to time. I really enjoy seeing what other people think about what I'm watching.
 

Oh my.
I watched the Colombian original "Yo Soy Betty La Fea" made in 2000, written by Fernando Gaitan. This version is closer to the original, in essance and tone. Tonight's episode captured the style of the original. And as a bonus, there was a cameo by the original Armando: Jorge Enrique Abello. If you haven't watched the original or sequel "Eco Moda" the story lines are still relevant. It has been updated and the geography has changed,but the essence of the original Armando, Patricita, Marcia and Betty are there. I felt it and a bit of nostalgia.
 

OT to Novelera—
Por Amar Sin Ley starts MARCH 20. Sorry to have misled you. Not sure why they need to start advertising this early. It might even be in the 10 o’clock slot.
 

SFChicaBonita
I saw the cameo too! I couldn't help looking up "Yo Soy Betty La Fea" on youtube. It's easy to see why it sparked so many imitations around the world.

Denise
 

"BETTY":

Juanita: I was NOT impressed either.
 

I loved “La fea más bella”, copy that it was of “Betty la fea” which I never saw. LFMB is my all time favorite novela. Now, I want to see something new not just another makeover. I read somewhere that Televisa is supposed to be doing shorter version remakes of classic novelas. Why not just write some new plots? Read some novels that havent’t been turned into novelas yet and convert them? It isn’t just novela land. All of tv/movie industry is suffering from “remake fever”. Yawn!
 

Juanita: Well, it sounds like I'm not missing much. I never got past the first episode, although the DVR keeps chugging along. If I get much more recorded, I'll probably have to dump Betty. But thanks for putting something up, Juanita. One thing I've learned, though, if I put off catching up on episodes, I never do.

Anita: Thanks for the update on Por Amar sin Ley. David Zepeda doesn't make my heart go pitty-pat, but I don't actively dislike him. I just miss tuning into sudsy plots and the camaraderie of commenting. So I'll probably give Amar a try unless, by some miracle La Reina del Sur 2 comes on before March 20.

Jarifa: AMEN! I loathe remakes. I refused to watch the remake Televisa made of Amor Real, my number one, all time favorite. And Telemundo insists on doing these super series in the 10:00 hour, all narconovelas. I have seen three novelas made from novels, all quite good, in my estimation. Doña Bárbara from the novel of the same name by Rómulo Gallegos; La Reina del Sur from the novel of the same name by Arturo Pérez-Reverte; and Flor Salvaje from the novel La Novia Oscura by Laura Restrepo.

There are SO many great novels in Spanish. Why can't they use these plots? Is it because they're too cheap to pay the author?
 

I didn't like LFMB at all and have mixed feelings about the Colombian original.

[All my comments refer to the original Colombian novela Yo soy betty, la fea. I have no idea how much, if any, of the things that happened in that novela will happen in Betty en NY]

On the positive side, YSBLF was a unique novela in many ways but especially in its lack of almost every novela trope and the focus on an actual business. The actors were uniformly superb. I thoroughly enjoyed it, would watch it again.

On the negative side, it required a very, very, very tight beanie. Betty, having graduated from college and, possibly, grad school (?) was still wearing the braces she began wearing as a youngster. Nobody wears braces for that long. In addition, Gaitan did a kind of switch on a novela trope: if you saw any of Thalia's Marias, she began as a dirty-faced, ill-mannered imp whose family members, while poor, all managed to dress neatly & eat with knife and fork. In Betty's case, it isn't her speech or her table manners but her manner of dress. Her parents, of a modest income class, dress appropriately for their "class". Betty looks as if she did her shopping not only in a used-clothes store but in one that had stopped adding to its inventory 20 years before. Betty is very smart, she reads, she must have noticed at some point in her growing up how other women dressed. I'm not suggesting that a woman who thought herself ugly might, under the best of circumstances, not have great fashion sense, but, well, even the worst of the "feas" in the office dress better than Betty. Also not one of them tried to help her. Then there was the first "make-over" scenario (hope you don't consider this to be a spoiler): pure Thalia/Maria disaster.

Final reason for a beanie: Eco Moda is a fashion business. Fashionistas understand bone structure. Almost anybody in that business who looked at Betty would see the quality of her facial structure and know that she was not "ugly", that she simply needed more attractive glasses, some makeup, a different hairstyle and better clothes.

In short, Betty's appearance and the way those at Eco Moda respond to her appearance make no sense at all ... without a very, very, tight beanie.

I also remember an interesting interview with Ramirez, who played the boss's girlfriend Marcela, in which she pointed out that Betty was the "other woman", the person who is not normally the heroine.

But, as I said at the top, it is a very good novela;however, I think the American remake showed what could be done with the storyline without turning the heroine into a caricature of the ugly girl.