Thursday, April 20, 2006
Barrera de Amor - Wednesay April 19
I watched Wednesday’s episode of Barrera de Amor. Here’s what I’ve got so far. Thanks to Melinama for the cast list and plot summary.
Well, we’re on familiar territory here with an evil mother. Our heroine, Maite, is in bed all dopey while a wet nurse breast feeds her baby. Jacinta, her evil mother in law comes in and gives her a cup of tea in which she has put something (presumably a drug of some kind). The baby girl is to be baptized the next day. Maite wants to name her Eloisa after her mother and Jacinta wants to name her Valeria. Maite dozes off and Jacinta tells Adolfo, her son, Maite’s husband (and rapist) that Maite has agreed to name the baby Valeria. Adolfo is surprised but he believes his mother.
Next morning, the day of the baptism, Jacinta drugs Maite yet again. She advises Adolfo not to leave the baby alone with Maite or let her carry her child because of some incident in the past where Maite fell carrying the baby or something – doubtless because she was drugged. Adolfo defends his wife’s right to be with her child. Jacinta does not want Maite to come to the baptism.
Meanwhile Luis Antonio (LA for short), a vet, Maite’s true love who lives somewhere else, calls her on the phone. Maite says that she doesn’t want to talk to him but then tells Adolfo that she was pretending and she will love LA forever.
A woman, who I think is named Magdalena, is scared of spiders and somebody leaves a spider on her dressing table.
At the baptism, Maite shows up late, dressed inappropriately and acting like she is drunk although we know that she is drugged. She objects to having the baby named Valeria but is overruled by Jacinta. (This is the third novela I’ve seen in which the actor who plays the priest has appeared – as a priest. He’s a professional priest.) Some bitchy friends of Jacinta decide that she is drunk and say nasty things about her mother. A woman, who I think is Maite’s aunt and who works in Jacinta’s house, defends Maite’s mother.
We see Federico and Manola lurking around but they don’t seem to be contributing the plot at this point.
A blind woman gets a rabies shot for her seeing-eye dog from LA.
Well, we’re on familiar territory here with an evil mother. Our heroine, Maite, is in bed all dopey while a wet nurse breast feeds her baby. Jacinta, her evil mother in law comes in and gives her a cup of tea in which she has put something (presumably a drug of some kind). The baby girl is to be baptized the next day. Maite wants to name her Eloisa after her mother and Jacinta wants to name her Valeria. Maite dozes off and Jacinta tells Adolfo, her son, Maite’s husband (and rapist) that Maite has agreed to name the baby Valeria. Adolfo is surprised but he believes his mother.
Next morning, the day of the baptism, Jacinta drugs Maite yet again. She advises Adolfo not to leave the baby alone with Maite or let her carry her child because of some incident in the past where Maite fell carrying the baby or something – doubtless because she was drugged. Adolfo defends his wife’s right to be with her child. Jacinta does not want Maite to come to the baptism.
Meanwhile Luis Antonio (LA for short), a vet, Maite’s true love who lives somewhere else, calls her on the phone. Maite says that she doesn’t want to talk to him but then tells Adolfo that she was pretending and she will love LA forever.
A woman, who I think is named Magdalena, is scared of spiders and somebody leaves a spider on her dressing table.
At the baptism, Maite shows up late, dressed inappropriately and acting like she is drunk although we know that she is drugged. She objects to having the baby named Valeria but is overruled by Jacinta. (This is the third novela I’ve seen in which the actor who plays the priest has appeared – as a priest. He’s a professional priest.) Some bitchy friends of Jacinta decide that she is drunk and say nasty things about her mother. A woman, who I think is Maite’s aunt and who works in Jacinta’s house, defends Maite’s mother.
We see Federico and Manola lurking around but they don’t seem to be contributing the plot at this point.
A blind woman gets a rabies shot for her seeing-eye dog from LA.
Labels: barrera
Barrera de Amor: Cast of Characters
Catching up to this novela is going to be a challenge. There's no time to be subtle. So:
Maite (Maria Teresa): GOOD. She is our heroine. She was in love with Unibrow, the pudgy veterinarian, and always will be. She lived with her aunt Griselda (GOOD) until being raped by Adolfo. She married Adolfo so he would not send her great love, Unibrow, off to Sing-Sing forever. She has projectile breasts. She has given birth to Adolfo's daughter and is currently always nauseated because her mother-in-law Jacinta is assiduously poisoning her afternoon tea. This caused her to fall down the stairs with her baby in her arms. Now she is afraid to pick up her daughter.
Luis Antonio. GOOD. This is Unibrow. You get two pictures of this guy because it's unbelievable how unattractive he is. Tell me, WHY is he the love interest? Why isn't he the uncle who is a secret pederast? And there was a pudgy veterinarian love interest in the first telenovela I ever watched ("Niña Amada Mia") too. Every time he got to catch the gorgeous young heroine in a clinch I snorted with indignation and disbelief. What's with these old goats?
The site says: "A real man - intelligent, hard-working, strong and decisive - he does not fear to show his tender side. He doesn't tolerate lies. After his spouse died, the most important thing in his life - his two sons. Destiny gives him a second chance at love when he meets Maite."
Jacinta: THE WORST. "A hard, arrogant woman for whom prestige is the most important thing. Even though she is known in the town for being charitable and religious, at heart she is hypocritical and rancorous. She venerates the memory of her father-in-law, and dominates her son. Her husband never loved her. She pretends to be an aristocrat and hides her true origin."
Remedios: GOOD. "She was the true love of Jacinta's husband, Pedro Valladolid. She is a noble woman who was a schoolteacher. Now she works at the Valladolid hacienda and tolerates the arrogance of Jacinto so as not to endanger the inheritance of her son Federico, from whom she has always hidden the fact that Pedro was his father."
Manola: BAD. "An unscrupulous woman, vain and superficial, who cares about appearances. She betrays Adolfo with Federico, she doesn't love either of them. She wanted to marry Adolfo to get his hacienda." Her mother is still mad that her husband Nicolas (Manola's father) was in love with Eloisa (Maite's mother).
Federico: BAD. He has a low and scary voice. "He is Remedios's son, an astute and ambitious man who manipulates his mother and is servile with Jacinta and Adolfo, even though he despises them. He has secret relations with Manola, for whom he feels an obsessive passion. He is a treacherous and very dangerous man."
Adolfo: WAS BAD, NOW POSSIBLY BEING REHABILITATED. He is under the thumb of his awful mother Jacinta, who runs the hacienda with an iron fist and loses no opportunity to tell everybody "My Will is Law!" He raped Maite and then married her. Now he is trying to be nice. Maite constantly tells him she will never love him as her heart belongs to Unibrow.
Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Barrera de Amor
Maite (Maria Teresa): GOOD. She is our heroine. She was in love with Unibrow, the pudgy veterinarian, and always will be. She lived with her aunt Griselda (GOOD) until being raped by Adolfo. She married Adolfo so he would not send her great love, Unibrow, off to Sing-Sing forever. She has projectile breasts. She has given birth to Adolfo's daughter and is currently always nauseated because her mother-in-law Jacinta is assiduously poisoning her afternoon tea. This caused her to fall down the stairs with her baby in her arms. Now she is afraid to pick up her daughter.
Luis Antonio. GOOD. This is Unibrow. You get two pictures of this guy because it's unbelievable how unattractive he is. Tell me, WHY is he the love interest? Why isn't he the uncle who is a secret pederast? And there was a pudgy veterinarian love interest in the first telenovela I ever watched ("Niña Amada Mia") too. Every time he got to catch the gorgeous young heroine in a clinch I snorted with indignation and disbelief. What's with these old goats?
The site says: "A real man - intelligent, hard-working, strong and decisive - he does not fear to show his tender side. He doesn't tolerate lies. After his spouse died, the most important thing in his life - his two sons. Destiny gives him a second chance at love when he meets Maite."
Jacinta: THE WORST. "A hard, arrogant woman for whom prestige is the most important thing. Even though she is known in the town for being charitable and religious, at heart she is hypocritical and rancorous. She venerates the memory of her father-in-law, and dominates her son. Her husband never loved her. She pretends to be an aristocrat and hides her true origin."
Remedios: GOOD. "She was the true love of Jacinta's husband, Pedro Valladolid. She is a noble woman who was a schoolteacher. Now she works at the Valladolid hacienda and tolerates the arrogance of Jacinto so as not to endanger the inheritance of her son Federico, from whom she has always hidden the fact that Pedro was his father."
Manola: BAD. "An unscrupulous woman, vain and superficial, who cares about appearances. She betrays Adolfo with Federico, she doesn't love either of them. She wanted to marry Adolfo to get his hacienda." Her mother is still mad that her husband Nicolas (Manola's father) was in love with Eloisa (Maite's mother).
Federico: BAD. He has a low and scary voice. "He is Remedios's son, an astute and ambitious man who manipulates his mother and is servile with Jacinta and Adolfo, even though he despises them. He has secret relations with Manola, for whom he feels an obsessive passion. He is a treacherous and very dangerous man."
Adolfo: WAS BAD, NOW POSSIBLY BEING REHABILITATED. He is under the thumb of his awful mother Jacinta, who runs the hacienda with an iron fist and loses no opportunity to tell everybody "My Will is Law!" He raped Maite and then married her. Now he is trying to be nice. Maite constantly tells him she will never love him as her heart belongs to Unibrow.Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Barrera de Amor
Labels: barrera
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Alborada cast on the Cristina show
This was sent to me by one of our faithful readers! (Click picture for a larger view.)
On Friday the protagonists of Alborada will be presented on the Cristina show: Lucero, Fernando Colunga, Daniela Roma [Juana], Luis Roberto Guzmán [Diego], Mónica Miguel [Modesta] and Arturo Peniche [Antonio].
An hour full of laughs, pranks, dances, anecdotes, and many revelations. You'll learn how Manuel Mijares reacted to the incandescent love scenes between his wife Lucero [Hipólita], and Fernando Colungo [Luis Manrique], and what Colunga has to say about his two pornographic videos which are selling like hotcakes. [!!!!]
Fernando, according to Mexican psychologists, is the actor who provokes the most fantasies in women.
If you like the character Doña Juana, you'll be delighted to learn who inspired Daniela Romo, and about her true relationship with Luis Roberto Guzmán, who gives life to the character of Diego, her son in the telenovela.
Arturo Peniche and Mónica Miguel open a Pandora's box when they reveal secrets and private matters which took place during the series' production.
Carla Estrada, producer, arrives with the most daring and spicy out-takes, never seen on screen during Alborada.
You'll enjoy the pranks of Daniela Romo and Lucero, who dance the mambo with Colungo. There will be a lot to talk about.
Technorati Tags: Alborada, Cristina
On Friday the protagonists of Alborada will be presented on the Cristina show: Lucero, Fernando Colunga, Daniela Roma [Juana], Luis Roberto Guzmán [Diego], Mónica Miguel [Modesta] and Arturo Peniche [Antonio].
An hour full of laughs, pranks, dances, anecdotes, and many revelations. You'll learn how Manuel Mijares reacted to the incandescent love scenes between his wife Lucero [Hipólita], and Fernando Colungo [Luis Manrique], and what Colunga has to say about his two pornographic videos which are selling like hotcakes. [!!!!]
Fernando, according to Mexican psychologists, is the actor who provokes the most fantasies in women.
If you like the character Doña Juana, you'll be delighted to learn who inspired Daniela Romo, and about her true relationship with Luis Roberto Guzmán, who gives life to the character of Diego, her son in the telenovela.
Arturo Peniche and Mónica Miguel open a Pandora's box when they reveal secrets and private matters which took place during the series' production.
Carla Estrada, producer, arrives with the most daring and spicy out-takes, never seen on screen during Alborada.
You'll enjoy the pranks of Daniela Romo and Lucero, who dance the mambo with Colungo. There will be a lot to talk about.
Technorati Tags: Alborada, Cristina
Labels: Alborada
Alborada-index
Monday, April 17, 2006
Synopsis of "Barrera del Amor"
Maite Galvan lives in Santa Maria, a town in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes. She is in love with Luis Antonio Romero, an older widower whose two small children adore Maite. Luis Antonio is the vet at the Valladolid hacienda and is about to marry Maite, but their happiness is crushed when Adolfo Valladolid, who pretends to be his best friend, brutally rapes Maite. In a blind rage, Luis Antonio beats him up and is sent to jail by Adolfo’s mother, doña Jacinta, the all-powerful matriarch of the Valladolid family. Maite’s efforts to help him are useless.
Maite realizes that she is pregnant because of the rape. She fears for Luis Atonio’s life and begs Adolfo to drop the charges against him. He agrees, but in exchange, she has to marry him. She decides to sacrifice herself for her love and accepts his terms. When Luis Antonio is released, he thinks that Maite is marrying Adolfo for his money. Filled with despair, he leaves town and moves to northern Mexico.
Remedios Gomez is the housekeeper of the Valladolid hacienda. She lives there with her son Federico, the bastard son of the late Pedro Valladolid, and Adolfo’s half brother. Federico is two-faced, sly and greedy, and he is obsessed with Manola Linares, Adolfo’s fiancee. Manola is a possessive woman; she does not love Adolfo but wants his fortune, and her passionate liaison with Federico is only a passing fancy. Manola owns the adjoining hacienda, and Jacinta despises Maite for ruining her plans to have her marry Adolfo.
When Manola hears that Adolfo has married Maite, out of spite she weds Adolfo Zamora, a millionaire as old as her father. Adolfo and his mother treat Maite with contempt and won’t allow her near her daughter, Valeria, arguing that she is incapable of raising her properly. Maite tries to run away with her child but is found out by Federico. Jacinta takes legal action against her for deserting her spouse and throws her out of the hacienda.
Heartbroken for having to leave her daughter, Maite goes to Mexico City, where she finds work as a cook in a small cafe located across the street from a bordello. Shortly after, Jacinta sends Valeria to a boarding school in Canada.
Life has embittered Luis Antonio’s character. He lives in Baja California with his sons Andres and Daniel and now has a veterinary clinic. The years have gone by, but Luis Antonio has not forgotten Maite, who is also still in love with him.
Maite has tried to get her daughter back with the aid of Victor, the owner of the cafe, but her efforts have been in vain.
In Mexico City, Maite runs into Magdalena, whom she met in Santa Maria. Magdalena was once Adolfo’s girlfriend, but doña Jacinta would not let him marry her. Now she works in the bordello as a prostitute and has a daughter called Veronica, whose father is Adolfo. When Magdalena dies, Maite takes charge of Veronica and works tirelessly to get her a scholarship to study in Canada. There, at the boarding school, Veronica and Valeria become good friends, never suspecting that they are sisters.
In Aguascalientes, the girls meet Daniel and Andres, Luis Antonio’s sons. The two young men help their father in the clinic, but Andres dreams of being a bullfighter. Luis Antonio does not approve, so the boy practices in secret.
Veronica has psychological problems and suffers from multiple personalities. Doña Jacinta has made Valeria think that her mother is a slut who left her father for another man.
Only love can break through the barriers of time, and a love as deep as that which joins Luis Antonio and Maite - even after so many years of being apart - now binds Andres and Valeria’s hearts. However, this young love seems fated to the same suffering that their parents have endured, since greed, jealousy and intrigue threaten them like a dark cloud of hatred and doubt, like a raging storm that might shatter their "Barrier of Love".
Maite realizes that she is pregnant because of the rape. She fears for Luis Atonio’s life and begs Adolfo to drop the charges against him. He agrees, but in exchange, she has to marry him. She decides to sacrifice herself for her love and accepts his terms. When Luis Antonio is released, he thinks that Maite is marrying Adolfo for his money. Filled with despair, he leaves town and moves to northern Mexico.
Remedios Gomez is the housekeeper of the Valladolid hacienda. She lives there with her son Federico, the bastard son of the late Pedro Valladolid, and Adolfo’s half brother. Federico is two-faced, sly and greedy, and he is obsessed with Manola Linares, Adolfo’s fiancee. Manola is a possessive woman; she does not love Adolfo but wants his fortune, and her passionate liaison with Federico is only a passing fancy. Manola owns the adjoining hacienda, and Jacinta despises Maite for ruining her plans to have her marry Adolfo.
When Manola hears that Adolfo has married Maite, out of spite she weds Adolfo Zamora, a millionaire as old as her father. Adolfo and his mother treat Maite with contempt and won’t allow her near her daughter, Valeria, arguing that she is incapable of raising her properly. Maite tries to run away with her child but is found out by Federico. Jacinta takes legal action against her for deserting her spouse and throws her out of the hacienda.
Heartbroken for having to leave her daughter, Maite goes to Mexico City, where she finds work as a cook in a small cafe located across the street from a bordello. Shortly after, Jacinta sends Valeria to a boarding school in Canada.
Life has embittered Luis Antonio’s character. He lives in Baja California with his sons Andres and Daniel and now has a veterinary clinic. The years have gone by, but Luis Antonio has not forgotten Maite, who is also still in love with him.
Maite has tried to get her daughter back with the aid of Victor, the owner of the cafe, but her efforts have been in vain.
In Mexico City, Maite runs into Magdalena, whom she met in Santa Maria. Magdalena was once Adolfo’s girlfriend, but doña Jacinta would not let him marry her. Now she works in the bordello as a prostitute and has a daughter called Veronica, whose father is Adolfo. When Magdalena dies, Maite takes charge of Veronica and works tirelessly to get her a scholarship to study in Canada. There, at the boarding school, Veronica and Valeria become good friends, never suspecting that they are sisters.
In Aguascalientes, the girls meet Daniel and Andres, Luis Antonio’s sons. The two young men help their father in the clinic, but Andres dreams of being a bullfighter. Luis Antonio does not approve, so the boy practices in secret.
Veronica has psychological problems and suffers from multiple personalities. Doña Jacinta has made Valeria think that her mother is a slut who left her father for another man.
Only love can break through the barriers of time, and a love as deep as that which joins Luis Antonio and Maite - even after so many years of being apart - now binds Andres and Valeria’s hearts. However, this young love seems fated to the same suffering that their parents have endured, since greed, jealousy and intrigue threaten them like a dark cloud of hatred and doubt, like a raging storm that might shatter their "Barrier of Love".
Labels: barrera
Barrera de Amor-Index
Sunday, April 09, 2006
"La Fea Más Bella" synopsis trans. by Kathleen
UPDATE: For new visitors to our site, we have been recapping this show from its beginning - look at the sidebar on the left and click on "La Fea recaps" to see the chapter summaries. It is being done in batches though, not day by day.
La fea más bella could be translated as "The Ugly Duckling". It is an amusing store of love and triumph over adversity in which Lety, the heroine, shows intelligence, will power and a positive attitude in overcoming obstacles, developing professionally and finding true love.
Lety is modest, shy, romantic and intelligent, but not good looking. With her parents' help (Erasmo and Julieta) she has managed to study economics and has earned a graduate degree with honors in finance. Her only friend and confidant is Tomás, with whom she shares her troubles and her joys. They offer each other mutual support.
For Lety, being unattractive has never been an obstacle in her determination to get ahead. Sadly, she discovers that all her university achievements are not enough; she is rejected as an executive because of her looks. But she needs to work, and she accepts a job she is overqualified for — as a secretary at "Conceptos," a prominent fashion house.
"Conceptos" was founded by two good friends, Humberto Mendiola and Julián Villaroel. Soon afterwards, unfortunately, Mrs. and Mrs. Villaroel were killed in an accident, and Humberto and his wife Teresita (Fernando's parents) have taken over the upbringing of their orphaned children: Ariel, Marcia and Ana Leticia Villaroel, part heirs of the successful company.
Now that Humberto is about to retire, Ariel and Fernando are vying for the presidency of "Conceptos." Fernando is a young, brilliant and sophisticated executive who wins by the vote of only one stockholder, Marcia, his fiancée.
The project that Fernando presents to show his suitability for the post is ambitious, but not totally practical, and could risk the future of the business. Besides, the intelligent and arrogant Ariel watches him closely for any chance to wrest the coveted post from him.
Lety is competing with the beautiful Alicia Ferreira for the secretarial job. Alicia is very attractive, but frivolous and totally lacking in job experience. However, she is a close friend of Marcia, who needs her to keep an eye on her wayward fiancée.
Fernando refuses to be pressured, and expresses his preference for Lety. Lety is the best candidate, but Marcia insists on Alicia, since Lety does not have the looks for the job. Finally, both women are hired; Alicia, at triple Lety's salary, will work in public relations in the reception area, and Lety will have a tiny cubicle located in Fernando's own offices, managing the computer, the phones, the files, etc., and especially Fernando's schedule and private matters.
Lety, captivated by Fernando because of his defense of her against the others, becomes his unconditional ally in covering up his private pecadillos, which brings down the wrath of Marcia and Alicia.
Lety will endure mockery and disdain with the support of her fellow secretaries of "The Ugly Club." ("El Club de las Feas"): Irmita, the oldest and wisest; Sara, the skinny old maid; Paula María, a single mother; Lola, a woman abandoned by her husband; Martha, the fat girl, and Simón the messenger boy, unconditional friend of the girls of the Club. They all share funny adventures among the lights, the cameras, the gorgeous models and the glamour of the place.
But Lety's job at "Conceptos" has barely begun and, although she has her boss' complete trust, her future there is already in doubt, because she has secretly fallen in love with him. She will have to decide whether to continue supporting him by helping him manage very complicated financial matters.
Fernando, on the other hand, will begin to doubt her true feelings and her ambitions for power.
As we will see, there will be many surprises, and an unexpected change will turn the ugly duckling into a dream of beauty.
With a stellar cast and an atmosphere of fun, "La fea más bella" is refreshing in its positive approach to meeting challenges and overcoming obstacles.
Labels: fea-e, synopsis-cast
La Fea Más Bella-index
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Telenovelas for English-Speakers
If you have excellent Spanish language skills and love telenovelas, you can sign up to be a member of the recapping team.
Labels: announcements, recappers-needed
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