Although I have never seen a narconovela in my life, I have had my share of telenovelas that were an essential part of dinner/lunch tables (whenever there wasn’t football) and siestas of most days. I’m not going to lie, they have always confused me. In my perspective, they had clumsy acting, chaotic plot twists and a weird style of filming, like excessively zooming into the facial expressions etc. However, while I was amused by the novelas, my argentine counterparts were immersed into the shows and their dramatic plot twists. I remember asking how they could take them seriously since they were so chaotic, but they thought that was exactly what made them entertaining. Morgan states: “[…] the schoolboy’s delivery was insufficiently dramatic, thereby highlighting the fact that much of the novela audience expects theatricality and melodrama, something overblown and larger than life. From this perspective, reality was seen to be intruding on artifice rather than the other way round. (p. 72)”, which made me realize that they aren’t even supposed to be realistic, but rather extremely dramatic. However, I still wonder why is this essential in novelas to be “credible” but not in other types of films or series?
Moreover, while reading Nick Morgans article I was reminded about the narco corridos we studied in the beginning of the course. The people he interviewed at the end of his article had similar reactions to the novelas as people would have with the corridos: a mixture of shame and enjoyment. In both cases people would acknowledge (although some more vaguely than others) that they represented an aspect of their reality, but at the same time they would feel this urge to resign from it by saying they didn’t enjoy them, or that they were only “stories”. On the other hand, some would state that they were super entertaining or that they accurately portrayed their country and its flaws. I wonder what are some similarities/differences between narcocorridos & narconovelas, and why do you think they evoke contradictory feelings in people despite their popularity?
Hey there,
Great questions! To try and answer them, I guess I would say what bonds narcorridos and narconovelas is their ability to sensationalize or popularize otherwise rather cynical and pessimistic aspects of society. I also find the element of shame interesting when considering many people’s reactions to admitting to listening or watching them- it’s sort of like an expression of self-awareness for a ‘bad habit’. Of course, these two popular culture phenomena aren’t necessarily synonymous, but it’s undeniably fascinating how forms of media and entertainment that adopt a focus on corruption and ‘darkness’ amass the popularity they do. Their drama and, often, surrealism, is what seems to attract many and deter some…
Hey there! Great post! When I was reading about narconovelas, I was also reminded of corridos as I think they achieve similar effects on the general public (which excludes other narcos). I think that narcocorridos and narconovelas both reflect the appealing and unappealing sides of narco lifestyles. For example, both forms of entertainment show the lavish and high-status lifestyles of the narcos, while also showing the great amount of violence and conflict that is a part of those same lifestyles. This kind of contrast, which seems to be accurate of narco-state societies, is probably a source of the conflicting feelings you talk about in this post.