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[brazilian-telenovelas]

Critical Reception

Here is a link to a video which mentions some other popular Brazilian Telenovelas that you can get on Netflix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpTXzqi-Y3A

Here is a link to a full episode of popular telenovela series called Paixão that I had mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPVz1syI-Pw

Finally, below is another link to a video about how telenovelas can portray race and gender to people in different countries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yl7ReSbJrg

In the country of Brazil there are many ways in which people relax or unwind after a long day at work. Most commonly many people will sit down on the couch after finishing their late night dinner, as typical Brazilians do, and turn on the television. In Brazil there are many popular television series, which are all referred to as Telenovelas, which are usually full of drama and are similarly referred to as soap operas here in America. The word novela means a shorter story, especially that of a longer play or classical long story. However, before they were known as soap operas and broadcasted on television, they were actually broadcasted, or played through the local radio station, where people could listen to them, as they were going through their everyday lives, exercising, doing household chores etc.. However, novelas were still written outside of Brazil, until about the 1950′s, then certain Brazilian playwrights began to write certain telenovelas to familiarize themselves with these new scripts and plots.  There are many different kinds, with many different actors and directors, therefore there are many different takes and perceptions on these shows, whether those may be positive or negative perceptions! Many people may either really dislike a show or really love a show, an example was stated in this popular source article which shows the intense demand by the people for the popular telenovela paixão. “Paixao ranks in the 89.5% in the drama genre in Brazil” (Paixão). This was a telenovela that was immensely loved by the public, for its intriguing and mysterious plot, the beautiful and picturesque settings where certain scenes were shot, which gives foreigners and idea of what the area looks like, hence what makes it so popular. The people of Brazil became incredibly passionate about these shows and have watch parties or gatherings to watch or talk about these shows together. On one of the final days of airing of a popular Brazilian Telenovela, there was a big celebration in the town of São Paulo in Brazil, everyone gathered into the cities soccer stadium, and filled it up which just reflected the immense power that these directors whom created these very popular telenovelas had on the people of Brazil. On this day they all gathered to cry, and chant the names of the characters of the telenovela. However, like I mentioned there are some downfalls to these telenovelas and there are some people who are not too fond of them, like mentioned in this other popular source article, “Both studies analyze the role of television and soap operas in influencing dramatic changes in both fertility and divorce rates in Brazil in the past three decades” (Brazilian Soap Operas). Both of these studies focused on the expansion of the one very popular media group in Brazil called Rede Globo, since it grew so quickly many people became to grow suspicious, about this company as well as the directors. These telenovelas are mostly loved by women, which means they at the end of the day or during the day they watch it as well, they technically get very well invested in these shows, which tends to make or change their own opinions or lifestyle views. These shows have been known to change women's perceptions about marriage and children, in general. This is a way that it might make husbands complain or be upset with the directors. While I was also researching the topic of telenovelas I also came across some scholarly articles that also mentioned the intense amount of gender roles and evolution. However, just like anyone when you get critical feedback, people do tend to get upset and some people tend to listen, and change it or others may take it to heart and have it determine them, and not let it switch. However, most of these popular Brazilian directors, are wanting to draw in a typical Brazilian audience who wants the show to portray a storyline typical to their own life or lifestyles, therefore some directors stay with the storyline of women being in the kitchen to help portray the common Brazilian household structure. Although, some directors wanted to go down the feminism route and switch things up and change the storylines to have strong, independent women who work jobs, who provide for themselves, and find love lives that way. Finally, I am not too surprised about these critical receptions of these Brazilian Telenovelas, we live in a world nowadays where anyone can do anything, so we should not stick to generalizing the role of women or specific races, and should use telenovelas as a way to enhance our own knowledge and maybe even language skills regarding another culture, unique to our own. 

                                                          Sources

“Brazilian Soap Operas Shown to Impact Social Behaviors.” IADB, https://www.iadb.org/en/news/brazilian-soap-operas-shown-impact-social-behaviors.

“Paixão (Sic): Brazil Daily TV Audience Insights for Smarter Content Decisions - Parrot Analytics.” Paixão (SIC): Brazil Daily TV Audience Insights for Smarter Content Decisions - Parrot Analytics, https://tv.parrotanalytics.com/BR/paixao-sic.

Pereira, Márcio Ferreira Rodrigues. “Telenovela Brasileira e Indústria Cultural: Um Breve Ensaio Sobre o Personagem De Reynaldo Gianecchini Em Sete Pecados.” Estudos De Sociologia, https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/estudos/article/view/1151.

Rêgo, Cacilda M. “Novelas, Novelinhas, Noveloes: The Evolution of the (Tele)Novela in Brazil.” Global Media Journal, Research and Reviews, 30 Dec. 2014, https://www.globalmediajournal.com/open-access/novelas-novelinhas-noveloesthe-evolution-of-the-telenovela-in-brazil.php?aid=35082.

Ronsini, Veneza Mayora, et al. “Brazilian Telenovelas, Elite Women and the Modern Tradition of Gender/ Telenovelas Brasileiras, Mulheres Da Classe Dominante e a Moderna Tradicao de Genero.” Comunicacao, Midia E Consumo, vol. 16, no. 46, May 2019, p. 333. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.18568/CMC.V16146.1880.

[brazilian-telenovelas]

Os Dez Mandamentos- O Filme

Here is a link to the movie trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XmFHzHuup4

The movie Os Dez Mandamentos- O Filme, which means the Ten Commandments- the film, in English, was directed by one of the previous Directors we had mentioned in an earlier blog, which was Alexandre Avancini. He first created this as a show, and then made it as a movie which came out in 2016, and was rated PG-13 and has a run time of about two hours. This is a movie that is very dramatic, and since it was created by the Brazilian director Alexandre Avancini who was used to creating Telenovelas, so he had to adjust his typical style of creating shorter one hour summaries to complete and entire season, rather than creating an entire movie where the whole storyline is told. To me this movie was very interesting, because I as a Christian was able to follow the storyline of this movie as it was similar to the story of Moses in the bible. The storyline behind the very intense movie directed by Alexandre Avancini follows the story of the book of Exodus, as the very first chapter, in the beginning of the Old Testament of the bible. The movie follows the story of the main character Moses and how he undergoes the task of taking the Hebrew people out of the slavery they were experiencing in Egypt, towards a way and lifestyle of finally accomplishing freedom. It was very interesting watching it play out in the movie, because typically when you read something you visualize it in your own way, however the way that Avancini created his film, and played out the storyline with specific character's allowed me to formulate my views into the way that he viewed the character's and portrayed the story. 

Two Websites:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5431016/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moses_and_the_ten_commandments_the_movie

[brazilian-telenovelas]

Brazilian Directors & Their Impact on Other Aspects of Media

[brazilian-telenovelas]

Paixão (Living Passion) 2017 Brazilian Telenovela

Below is a link to the trailer of the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ9Vg3x-eZI

Works Cited: 

“Paixão.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 18 Sept. 2017, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6976178/.

Seara.com. “Living Passion Productions.” SP Televisão, https://www.sptelevisao.pt/en/productions/telenovela/living-passion/.

[brazilian-telenovelas]

Blog Post #1

Every country has their specific unique cultural elements and aspects that make up their culture. Television is a specific cultural phenomenon that is popular for many different people as it shows what your country is like, as well as showing what specific shows your country likes to watch, whether that be romance shows, sporting events that are broadcasted, comedy skits, or dramatic shows, like telenovelas. Telenovelas are very popular in the country of Brazil; they are a country that thrives on drama shows. Telenovelas are similar to American soap operas, “similar to a soap opera in plot development but having a broader audience and airing during prime time rather than daytime” (Telenovela). Telenovelas have a permanent cast which is another reason as to why so many people get attached to them, not to mention their incredibly melodramatic storyline, which also helps keep viewers entertained. These programs originally started out as something called radionovelas, which were the radio versions of these original dramatic stories, however they were shortened into 15-minute segments, instead of the long, one-hour pieces that are typical on television nowadays. These radionovelas begun broadcasting in Latin America around the 1930’s. However, another interesting fact is that these shows were traditionally created for typically middle-aged viewers, they were also created to specifically be early programs that were shown on television during the daytime, unlike the nighttime like they are shown now. What allowed them to switch to nighttime was the increase of, “they had begun to include overblown plots, overt sexual content (usually including nudity), and subjects chosen for controversy and scandal, such as deception, incest, murder, and adultery” (Telenovela).

A popular Brazilian telenovela that was released around the 1970’s was the telenovela called “Escrava Isaura”, which stands for the slave Isaura. This show is focused on the main story of an enslaved girl, who works on a popular Brazilian coffee plant. As well as following, “The difficulties faced by a gentle-hearted young white slave targeted by the obsession of her lord in the Brazilian colonial period” (Isaura: Slave Girl). It aired many different cast members from, Rubens de Falco, Gilberto Martinho, Lùceila Santos, and Markus Kónka. Lùceila Santos actually won an award for Best Foreign Actress in this telenovela at the Golden Eagle Awards, that take place in China. The show first aired on October 11th or 1976, and one of its downfalls was that since it was broadcasted in Brazil, it was broadcasted in the Portuguese language. This made it harder for people of other countries in Latin America to watch it, because most of the other nearby countries only spoke Spanish. The production company that it was broadcasted on was the company called Rede Globo De Televisão. In English it is referred to as TV Globo, which is a popular free to air television network, it began airing shows on April 26th in the year 1965.  It was then shown in many other countries besides Brazil, like Argentina, France, Poland, West Germany, and the Soviet Union. Overall, Brazil has produced many popular telenovelas over the past decade that have become immensely popular not only among people of Brazil, but also people of nearby countries.

Works Cited

“Isaura: Slave Girl.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142036/releaseinfo?ref_=ttfc_ql_2.

“Telenovela.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/telenovela.

[brazilian-telenovelas]

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to my Blog, all about popular Brazilian Telenovelas, which make up a BIG part of the Brazilian culture!