LATIN TELENOVELAS WE'D ALWAYS REMEMBER

 Telenovelas People Couldn’t Just Get Enough Of

We started a throwback series, and the first post in this series is on telenovelas, Mexican telenovelas. Anyone who lived in Lagos, Nigeria, in the first two decades of the 21^st century, was especially treated to classics of Mexican soaps, or telenovelas. They were characterised by a love affair of a couple, usually the central figures, and the twist and turns their lives take, as a result of their love for each other.

Their love is usually met by opposition from families, who often have a bitter feud with each other (your classic Mexican Romeo and Juliet-esque Montague and Capulet relationship). The couple fight through all opposition to be together, enduring heartbreak, torture, kidnaps, faked deaths, and murder attempts, among other things. The themes were around love, romance, suspense, thriller, drama, and the occasional comedy here and there.

Most notable for bringing these movies to Nigerian screens was African independent Television (AIT). The telenovelas featured on Mondays to Fridays, from 8 pm – 9 pm, then subsequently from 9 pm – 10 pm.

As much as the series were not expressly safe for children to view, as scenes could turn sexual for a significant period, with a lot of choreographed intimacy, it was still a common practice in homes to have the movies accompany family dinner, with parents trying to avert the eyes of children when things went 18+. These children, even in primary and early secondary schools, made the soaps their topic for discussion during breaks at school. I know because I was one of them, no further comment.

So, let’s look at four of such telenovelas, and let’s see how many you probably saw back then or much later.

1. Catalina y Sebastian

Translated in English as Catalina and Sebastian is a Mexican telenovela that for the first time, featured Silvia Navarro and Sergio Basanez as the main characters. Silvia played the role of Catalina, while Sergio played the role of Sebastian.

Catalina Negrete is the eldest daughter of a family that appears to have a good economic position. Her mother Adela de Ella is an ambitious and interested woman, so much so that she forces Catalina to marry Sebastián Mendoza, a handsome and wealthy young man, despite the fact that she loves her boyfriend Eduardo de Ella. However, Eduardo leaves Catalina to marry Silvia, a wealthy woman.

Catalina decides to forget that love exists and agrees to marry Sebastián. However, Catalina and her family are in for a big surprise when they discover that the ranch where Sebastián lives is not their property, but that the young man is only the foreman, Sebastián lied to them about his economic position to find out why she was really marrying him. When he discovers that she didn’t actually love him, he becomes furious and denies Catalina a divorce, forcing her to live with him in a shack so that she can truly feel what it is like to be poor.

Eventually, Sebastián truly falls in love with his wife, and he confesses the truth to his wife: in reality he is the owner of the Mendoza ranch, he only pretended to be a foreman to find out if Catalina's love was sincere. For this, he exchanged his role with the real foreman, Carmelo, who believes he is the biological son of Guadalupe Mendoza, Sebastián's father.

In the end, they reclaim the wealth and settle down together.

Did you know?

It was the success of this soap that birthed Cuando seas mia

2. Cuando seas mia

Translated in English as When You are Mine, was popularly referred to as Paloma and Diego, after the main characters. The setting is in Veracruz, Mexico, where a lady, Paloma, works as a collector for the Sánchez Serrano family, a family headed by Don Lorenzo, who has a lot of coffee plantations.

Don Lorenzo dies, and at his wake, Paloma meets Diego, his grandson, and their love affair begins. They fall in love and Paloma gets pregnant. Before she finds out, Diego returns to London to finish his studies, and Paloma goes looking for him. She doesn’t find him but gets stuck in Paris, after she was tricked by a white slave.

Diego returns to the Casa Blanca hacienda after he learns of his parents’ death, and is told that Paloma went to prostitute herself in Europe. He hates her and marries another woman.

That is where the drama and imtrigue begins. From love affair to love affair, from scandal to scandal, from set up to jail, forgery claims and much more, the two lovers fight for their love.

In the end, they get married, have three kids, and begin to grow the hacienda again.

Happily ever after!

Did you know?

Paloma’s actual name in the movie was Teresa, not Paloma

3. La mujer de mi vida

A Venezuela-American soap set in the city of Florida; this is a complicated love story of a simple girl caught in the web of a wealthy family.

Barbarita Ruiz, a demure sewing assistant in an important fashion boutique in Miami is sent to fit a dress for the well-known millionaire Ricarda Thompson. Little does she know that this will be the beginning of a stormy relationship between her and that renowned family.

At the residence of Ricarda, she meets Valentino, her eldest son, who is a young bachelor, cheater and womanizer who is used to always getting his way. Valentino insists on conquering the beautiful Barbarita at all costs, and he achieves it in a short time. However, for the first time in his life, Valentino feels something other than attraction, and realizes that he has truly fallen in love.

He declares his love for Barbarita, which annoys his mother greatly, as she feels that Barbarita isn’t good enough to be her daughter-in-law. Valentino and Barbarita marry in an intimate ceremony, but Barbarita's happiness is short-lived: the night of her wedding, when she and Valentino take their honeymoon trip by road, they have a terrible accident in which he dies and she leaves practically unharmed.

Ricarda blames Barbarita for her son's death; full of hatred and pain, she manages to convince her youngest son, Antonio Adolfo, to carry out a cruel revenge against the young woman: fall in love with her, seduce her and then humiliate her and abandon her. This is how love enters Barbarita's life for the second time, and she accepts his love. Antonio initially follows his mother's plan to the letter, but along the way he realizes that he has fallen in love with Barbarita, her tenderness, kindness and beauty has awakened a great love in him, just as it happened with his brother. And now he also decides to confront his mother and make Barbarita his legitimate wife.

Everything seems to indicate that Barbarita will finally be able to be happy, until Valentino reappears. He had faked his death to prevent his embezzlement from the family business from being discovered, and now returns to claim his wife and his fortune.

As he returns, so does Antonio’s ex-lover, who insists on getting him back for herself. The story then becomes more dramatic; faked deaths, prison, family feud, lawsuits etc.

In the end, Barbarita returns, after the Thompson family goes bankrupt and are surprised to see her alive.

4. El Cuerpo del Deseo

Translated as The Body of Desire, but popularly called Second Chance, this was the most watched telenovela on the list.

It told the story of a rich man, Don Pedro Jose Donoso, who was suspected to have been poisoned by his new wife, the gorgeous Isabel Aroyo (lorena rojas). As this was part of a plan conceived by his trusted assistant, Andrei corona (Martin carpan), Andrei and Isabel get married and live in the mansion, to the consternation of loyalists and the family of don pedro; his staff and his daughter, angela (Vanessa Villela)

Unknown to them, at the same time don pedro died, his soul was transferred to an illiterate farmer in the outback, Salvador Sorenzo (Mario cimaro), who is about to be buried ny his village, led by his wife and son. The soul of don pedro possesses salvadors body, and he begins to act all sophisticated, to the surprise of his family who he disowns.

Salvador returns to the mansion of Don Pedro, on a mission to find out why he died and see how his estate is run. He returns under the guise of a chauffeur, and eventually uncovers secrets he previously never conceived; the betrayal he suffered, and the revelation of his true loyalists.

After his mission is completed, Don Pedro’s soul leaves Salvador’s body, and he returns back to his village to be with his family.

Did you know?

Lorena rojas (Isabel) is now dead. She died from cancer.

Did these soaps bring any tear to your eyes, any fond recollection? We won’t go further because that goes against our standard post length guide, but I’ll list other notable mentions and if there is a popular demand, I’ll do a piece on that soap. So, other notable mentions are:

5. The Gardener’s Daughter
6. Corazon Salvaje
7. Sunset Beach
8. Generations

Till we talk movies again, stay smart!

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