The Article “Sex, soap and society: telenovela noir in Alvaro Uribe’s Colombia” by Nick Morgan is very informative in terms of explaining the rise of telenovelas; in particular narconovelas in the early 2000’s in Colombia. To be honest right off the bat after reading the introduction seeing the word ‘narco’ ingrained in narconovelas it drew me to conclude that their popularity might have arisen also just due to what the people of Colombia were experiencing at this time. With a rise in terms of crimes connected to the production and trafficking of narcotics this may have done something to do with the popularity of these tv shows because people could either directly or indirectly relate to them.
This rise in popularity had an impact on everyone; but in particular those who were wanting to portray a squeaky clean image of what Colombia stood for and what was really happening. As Morgan states “Many critics, especially in the country’s agenda setting media, attacked them for presenting a distorted and degrading image of Colombian society, and the widespread fascination with their sensationalist story lines was interpreted as confirming a general decline in the nation’s values” (54). With this being said one can see that in the process of these novelas becoming as popular as they did, some people may have not been as favourable to them because it might have not had the greatest light on Colombian society at the time.
When I think about a similar situation to this I think back to Narcos. The very popular netflix show on Pablo Escobar and other drug cartels in Colombia. Which is yes unfortunately based on true events however so much of it is made to be more dramatic for the factor that people wanted to hook the audience in and make them watch more. What people fail to see is the actual destruction that the drug trade has on already poor suburbs in Colombia in terms of violence and crime. Yes, some of this is displayed in the show however not nearly to the extent that it is experienced by every day civilians.
As Morgan says “I argue that alongside its obvious sensationalism, the success of the form has to do with its dramatisation of the most pessimistic aspects of a social imaginary marked by suspicion and distrust” (54). From this we can see that perhaps a lot to do with the success of these novelas in the fact that these crimes and wrongdoings are sensationalized and made to look glamorous and fun. Whereas, the real everyday civilizations are the people who are suffering the most at the mercy of those on top.
Question: Besides narcos are there any other popular tv shows that display the drug trade on major platforms?
The cocaine drug trade seems to have gotten a lot more attention over the past few years precisely because of shows like Narcos, and many of the other spinoffs and shows about el Chapo as well. Which I think brings up the possible glamorization that some people believe these shows take, however, I’m not so sure if I agree with that analysis for narcos in particular. But I think we often only see a certain part of the trade and miss out on the impact it has on the farmers who grow and make the product, which I think the reading on coca leaves really brought to attention.
Hi!
Great Post 🙂
I’m glad you mentioned Narcos. Being Colombian, my family has not seen the show and doesn’t intend to. They lived through the time of Escobar and experienced its effects. They do not appreciate the pain of Colombia being glamourized and profited, especially for the entertainment of audiences from the Global North. And I think it does glamourize it, I have had a white Canadian girl at a party, after finding out I am Colombian, tell me she wants to buy a shirt with Escobar’s face on it because she loves the show. I find those kinds of attitudes extremely insensitive to the violence faced by countless Colombians.
Hi! Oh definitely, there are so many shows. Monarca on Netflix kind of deals with it somewhat, but also Queen of the South and Hache. Outside of shows in Spanish, there’s Ozark, El Chapo, Breaking Bad, Drug Lords, Weeds, and Mayans M.C. Those are just the ones I can think of. I wrote a paper about TV representations of the drug trade once, haha. I think this reflects the fascination have with not just drugs, but violence. Through these TV shows, you can kind of vicariously live an alternate lifestyle as you can imagine what it’d be like to be like the characters involved in the drug trade.