Can we ever give up on Latinos?

In a jam, you curse, wondering, when will I get home to give in to the addictive tele novela pleasure?

This is something which used to go through Judy’s mind the Nation Media Groups canteen lady, on days when she got off work late.  Meeting a jam on a telenovela day used to give her stomac upsets and cowering in self inflicted pain is the only thing that kept her from screaming at the driver to wade his way through the jam.  “On such days, I wished for once that cars would fly,” she reminisced with pleasure on her face, those days when she used to rush home for a glimpse of even the last part.

And she is not the only one crazy over these latinos.  Most ladies have a “thing” about telenovelas where they get to see heartthrob guys and feel taken to a different land.  It is a fantasy world for most.

Saum a Lab collegue just gets this sparkle in her eyes when she talks of Latinos.  They are a revenge on men who leave us to go for football all the time; the characters are well chosen to keep us glued on TV.  My best are Paco in Shades of Sin, Salvador in Second Chance and Facundo in LaLola.

Flavia also a colleague, says they keep her going for the week, like  Marimar, Love spell which air for 4days and La Tormenta on Saturday and Sunday. “It is a special daily date which I may never get from my boy friend,” she sighs in gleeful wonderment.  As if the daily shows are not enough, there comes the reruns, long for awaited by those who miss because of tight weekday schedules.

So what are these hypnotising telenovelas? They are essentially soap operas in miniseries format popular in Latin America and the Philippines which have been adopted in all continents. The first global telenovela was Los ricos tambien lloran (“The Rich Cry Too”, Mexico, 1979), which was exported to Russia, China, the United States and other countries, indeed it got to Uganda and was the talk of the season when it aired.

They are romance packed, and it is not a surprise because South Americans are assumed to be definition of the word love.  They have a touch of possessiveness in tittles; La mujer de mi vida (woman of my life), Cuendo seas mia (When you are mine).  They are done translated into English from own languages.

Is there plot?  Yes, there is always a plot, “very predictable at that,” says Angel a friend back in Uganda. They end up in weddings, the wicked dead, mad or imprisoned.” She likens them to Mills and Boons fiction love books.  “A telenovela is all about a couple who wants to kiss and a scriptwriter who stands in their way for 150 episodes.” Patricio Wills, head of development at Telemundo a producer of telenovelas once commented.

The first were in Brazil, Cuba and Mexico in 1950. The girls can’t help falling for the lead men.  One favourite of the ladies is Mario Cimarro, a Cuban who acted as Salvador in El Cuerpo del Deseo (Second chance).Judy beams when she refers to him as my Salvador, his charater name.  Ladies are indeed not ashamed to admit to falling in love with these characters, Angel admits to being jealousy when she sees “her man” kiss other ladies.

Where are the men in this?  Some are taken up by these soaps but will not admit to it.

Ladies out there….and gents, is it an addiction?  Judy thinks so and is recovering, praying never to watch any more.  Well reformists, you are missing out on your Salvador playing as Juan in Pasion de gavilantes airing on NTV Kenya and Uganda et al.