HOTTEST TELENOVELAS UPDATE SUMMER 2006

by R. Ángel Arce
Alrighty friends, this is what’s hot in the world of telenovelas right now for June 2006. The trailer above to the left, and the opening sequence above to the right, are for Gabriela Spanic's fantastic new telenovela, Tierra de Pasiones, for which she's reteaming up with Saul Lisazo (I guess you could call it like a love team reunion if put in Philippine context). In Latin America, there are exactly three queens of telenovelas, one is Thalia (now 34 years old), the other is Lucero (Lazos de Amor, now 37 years old), and the other is the beautiful woman above, 32-year-old Gabriela Spanic, who is also the youngest and has never looked more beautiful. Today Gabriela Spanic is the highest paid Latin American telenovela actress, and the most popular, and according to the Mira magazine that I hold in my hands right now, she's about to make her cinematic debut in Hollywood as well in her first English-speaking role as producers for the new film about salsa legend Hector Lavoe chose her over now 36-year-old Jennifer Lopez to star in the film alongside John Leguizamo, which has Jennifer reportedly all upset because she really wanted to do that role, so if there's one queen that's currently ruling with hit after hit, with her last telenovela Prisionera showing in over 150 countries worldwide, just like La Usurpadora (Paulina) which was also shown in over 150 countries worldwide, it's definitely her.

Gabriela Spanic telenovelas:

La Usurpadora (Paulina)
If you want to see a larger version of the video, just click anywhere on the video while it's playing. This applies to all videos on the website. I was told that this telenovela was hugely popular and loved in the Philippines, and fans were anxious to see the new telenovelas that Gaby Spanic did, well here's your sneak preview:

Prisionera
I loved this telenovela, this was so popular, it reached #1 in ratings on it's 8:00 p.m. timeslot here in the US, Spain, and all over South America beating out Televisa's Mariana de La Noche. And let me tell you, Gabriela kicks BUTT in this telenovela, seriously, she took up martial arts training for her role in this, this was so unique as a telenovela because it's like an action/suspense telenovela, and the martial arts that this beautiful woman does is amazing. And do you see her arms? She became buffed up and muscular, like Madonna, for this telenovela, with a six-pack and everything. See, that's what I'm talkin about, not all Latinovelas are about mush mush love stories. This was shown in the Philippines on TV Española, cable TV Ch. 77.

I remember this scene, she was maneuvering a boat in the swamp and it was like this helicopter chasing her, and then she jumped off the boat, and right when she jumped off, the boat exploded. God, it was just like watching an action movie, it was so cool and it was like a real explosion, Gabriela is so cool in this show, and watch the clip above, did you see that martial arts move she did where she jumped up and kicked that girl in the face? My God, Gaby Spanic, the public loved her so much before during Paulina/La Usurpadora, and she did the one thing that telenovela actresses have a hard time doing after a hit telenovela which is to top herself, the public already loved her from her past telenovelas, but wow, she kicked up her coolness factor, to the stars and beyond with her performance in this one. I mean can you imagine, remember all those women in those telenovelas, like Thalia or Lucero or Kristine Hermosa or Jennylyn Mercado (or any lead Filipina actress on a teleserye really) or any actress on any Asianovela, and they're ALWAYS CRYING CRYING CRYING. Waa waa waa! And then here comes Gabriela Spanic, and she's gonna come, do some kung fu, and kick your BUTT! HAHAHA, LOVE HER!!! And she's STILL KICKING BUTT in Tierra de Pasiones, you gotta watch it. No wonder she's the #1 actress in South America, even more popular now than Thalia or Barbara Mori.

Pilar Montenegro - Prisionera
This was the theme song to Gabriela Spanic's #1-rated telenovela of the same title that reached #1 on the Billboard Singles Chart. This song is bangin, loves it.

Tierra de Pasiones
Opening of Telenovela where Gabriela Spanic sings the theme song.

But good news Thalia fans, I was watching one of the Spanish gossip shows last week, and they interviewed Thalia about her new album Sexto Sentido and asked her if she was ever going to return to telenovelas, and she said that she's actually looking over a few scripts right now, but she said that when she comes back, she wants the story to be really really good, preferably a historical piece, because she wants to come back with a bang. So a new Thalia telenovela is in the works my Pinoys!

Paola Rey and Michel Brown’s newest telenovela called “Amores de Mercado” just debuted, taking the 9:00 p.m. timeslot of their Pasion friend Danna Garcia’s telenovela Corazon Partido, which is one of my faves and just ended. I think everyone in the world goes through a withdrawal phase when one of their favorite telenovelas or shows ends, diba? Even European friends of mine said they go through it too.

Remember when Gabriela Spanic visited the Philippines with Fernando Carillo during the success of Maria Del Cielo?

This is the way the telenovela world and the studios work in Latin America. I think because of our shared Spanish heritage, the TV networks in Latin America work in very much the same way that the networks in the Philippines work, in that they differ from the American system in that their studios have their own set of actors on contract which they hire solely for their own shows and telenovelas.

By the way, try the new Garnier haircolor, says Danna Garcia, Norma of Pasion de Amor, the newest spokemodel for this popular brand. Pasion de Amor stars Danna Garcia and Paola Rey are the two most popular female actresses today, and they are the two with the most product endorsements (Paola Rey is the spokesmodel for Revlon andNeutrogena), and if you noticed the opening credits (which they don't show you there unfortunately in the Philippines), the three actors that received TOP BILLING (as in their names appeared first, usually meaning who are the biggest stars) for this Pasion de Gavilanes (Pasion de Amor) are Danna Garcia, Mario Cimarro, and Paola Rey, which is obvious because they are the most popular and well known celebrities in the Americas. JUST ONE of these 3 celebrities is enough to bring in a huge TV viewing audience, which is obvious because each one after the success of Pasion de Gavilanes received top billing on their new shows:

To see the larger version, click on the video while it's playing.
First after Pasion was Paola Rey, who was the most successful after Pasion receiving top billing immediately afterwards for her most popular telenovela La Mujer en el Espejo (THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR), which was one of the highest rated telenovelas in 2005, which I absolutely loved. The story reminds of Kampanering Kuba for some reason, but this story is different because it takes place in the city, and not in the province like Kampanerang Kuba, in a cosmetics company, and instead of a candle that turns her from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, it's a magical mirror, hence the title.

Then Mario Cimarro with El Cuerpo del Deseo (BODY OF DESIRE)

Then Danna Garcia with Te Voy a Enseñar a Querer (I'm Going to Make You Love Me) and Corazon Partido (BROKENHEARTED)

There’s this thing called the Televisa Escuela de Estrellas (Televisa School of Stars), and they have their child actors enrolled and they train them how to become an actor, and all that. Telemundo has network stamps where they feature their network stars and they’re like “Dentro del Corazon, para ti” (From the heart, for you), so it’s like each TV network is a family in itself, and the actors in each network appear on the TV shows, telenovelas, comedy programs, or talk shows of the corresponding network. However, I don’t think they’re as psychotic or possessive about their stars as they are in the Philippines. For example, Barbara Mori went back and forth between three networks one time, she did two telenovelas for TV Azteca: Azul Tequila and Subete a mi Moto (Wheels of Love in the Philippines), then she did Amor Descarado (Dos Amores) for Telemundo, then right afterwards she did Rubi for Televisa. And now, she belongs to all of Latin America as her star grew, and belongs to all of the networks as her movie career grows.

Doesn't Colombian beauty Paola Rey look Filipina?

There are two main telenovela networks that dominate all the other smaller networks, and those two are TELEMUNDO and TELEVISA. Televisa is owned by and was purchased by American-based network Univision, and Telemundo, being the first and foremost popular Spanish language network for more than half a century (ask anybody from anywhere in the world, and Telemundo is automatically a synonym for Spanish television), was a self standing conglomerate in itself for a long time, which is the main reason for why it was recently purchased by American-based network NBC to gain the Latin American market, which in itself is a smart move. And even though it’s now owned by NBC, it’s still the same multi-million dollar conglomerate that it was before it was purchased. These two networks are in direct competition with one another. Sometimes one network will come out with a show that’s the highest rated show, and then the other network will come out with an even bigger blockbuster, but these two networks are the main source of entertainment for the Spanish-language populations of the Americas and Spain. These are also the two networks that export the most telenovelas worldwide, as you can see from Rubi (Televisa) and Pasion de Gavilanes/Amor (Telemundo).

TELEMUNDO obviously has more money and spends more money on their telenovelas because the production values of their telenovelas are AMAZING. The scenery, the scriptwriting, the stories, the actors, it’s all high quality, high class all the way. Also, many times they use movie-studio type film to shoot their telenovelas, in comparison to the normal type of cinematography that all telenovela-type shows are shot in. Like, Filipino teleseryes use the same technology as Asianovelas as Latin telenovelas, where it has that look of a telenovela, but Telemundo’s telenovelas are partially shot on film, which is what’s used to shoot motion pictures, which is why the picture is of a higher quality than your normal telenovela, it looks like a movie sometimes, and some of Telemundo’s telenovelas have been for me just like I was watching a movie, that’s how captivating the shows are and how much work they put into it, like El Clon and Pasion de Gavilanes.

TELEMUNDO had recent worldwide hits with the phenomenal EL CLON, Pasion de Gavilanes, El Cuerpo Del Deseo, and Prisionera. TELEVISA had recent worldwide hits with Rubi, Contra Viento y El Marea, and Rebelde.

Televisa is owned by the American based TV network Univision, Ch. 12, which also owns Telefutura Ch.26 and Galavision Ch.44. In fact, these 3 TV networks comprise one big company, and Televisa’s stars roam freely among the 3 networks shows, because basically it’s one network in three different TV channels, that’s all.

TELEMUNDO is also one large network divided into three TV stations, Telemundo obviously is the main TV station, and it owns KDEX Ch. 22 and Mun2 (Mundos, get it?), which is like the Myx channel in the Philippines, which is an all-music channel that shows music videos all day, with their network stars making appearances on the shows.

Gabriela Spanic had a contract with Televisa, during which she filmed La Usurpadora, which became a hit in more than 150 countries worldwide and propelled her into superstar status. It expired, and now she has a contract with Telemundo, for which she had another worldwide hit with the phenomenal Prisionera, and now the groundbreaking Tierra de Pasiones, which is the first Spanish language telenovela in history to feature a same-sex love story. The Brazilian network Globo had one of the first Portuguese language telenovelas to feature a same-sex love story, with their worldwide hit “America”:

Brazil 'to stop' for possible TV gay kiss

By Lia Bock In Sao Paulo Everybody in Brazil is talking about it - in pubs, in the media and around the dinner table: will there be a gay kiss on television on Friday night? Brazil is expected to come to a standstill at 2100 (2300 GMT) in anticipation. Will they, won't they? The author will not say if Junior and Zeca kiss If, as expected, Junior and Zeca do kiss passionately in the finale of the soap opera America - it will be a first for Brazilian TV. Whatever happens, this telenovela - which this week was watched by up to 80% of the country's viewers - has certainly got people discussing the issue of homosexuality and Brazil's not-always liberal attitudes towards it. Brazilians have seen the young and blue-eyed Junior, son of a powerful ranch owner, struggling to accept his homosexuality and agonising over how to tell his family and friends about it. Then he meets Zeca, a young man who works for his mother on the farm. Since then, Brazil has witnessed a growing atmosphere of love between the characters - discreet, but not unnoticeable. It is not the first time that this scenario has cropped up in a telenovela in Brazil, where nightly soap operas are followed almost religiously by tens of millions of viewers. In 1981, two men ended up as a couple but did not even hug. It took 14 years for another homosexual couple to make its appearance in soapland. On this occasion, the two men went a bit further and finished living under the same roof, but in terms of physical contact, holding hands was as far as they went. When Junior's mother found out about her son's sexual orientation, she proposed he undergo treatment... It would have been funny if the situation was not so common in Brazil By the end of the soap opera, most of the audience was reported to approve of the relationship. However, in 1998, the stable relationship that two women had in the telenovela Torre de Babel (Tower of Babel) reportedly proved too much for the viewers, and the couple was killed in an explosion. After that, there were two more lesbian storylines - there was one kiss, but only a chaste one when the two characters played Romeo and Juliet in a school play. Surprise All these soaps were extensively discussed in the media, and the America series has been no different. There is now more awareness of gay issues in Brazil Its author, Gloria Perez, has given many interviews. She refuses to reveal if Junior and Zeca will finally kiss, but insists that that is what people want. "I think this strict country is changing. I was expecting lots of protests against this kiss. I am very surprised," she has said. In real life, Brazil appears to be making slow progress on gay issues. According to a 2004 study, more and more people are "coming out" before turning 18. But the researchers also found that some international companies that respected gay rights in the US and Europe, are not doing the same in Brazil. "We don't know why, but I think they are afraid of repercussions in such a Catholic country as Brazil," says Sonia Alves, one of the study's authors. Changing attitudes One of the biggest obstacles to greater gay rights in Brazil is the spectacular growth of Christian evangelical groups, which describe homosexuality as a disease. Their followers in congress are currently blocking a proposed law that would give gay couples more rights. Other sectors of society appear to be changing their attitudes. The Federal Council of Psychologists in 1999 banned its members from offering a cure or treatment for homosexuality. This was seen as a big step for gay rights, but the message does not seem to have reached everyone. In the America series this week, when Junior's mother found out about her son's sexual orientation, she considered it a disease and proposed he undergo treatment. It would have been funny if the situation was not so common in Brazil. Globo, the country's largest terrestrial channel, may find that it has gone some way toward changing that.

The Best Telenovelas: Colombia and Brazil

Let me tell you, the best telenovelas come from Colombia and Brazil. Those two countries know how to produce telenovelas, and good quality ones. Mexican telenovelas are just like Filipino telenovelas, probably because of the shared culture between the two countries, and they get too ma-arte sometimes and over dramatic, but wow, those telenovelas from Colombia and Brazil, I’ve had the best TV-watching moments of my life with telenovelas from those two countries.

It’s obvious the pull that the two networks TELEMUNDO and UNIVISION have in Latin America in that they work in collaboration with other TV networks to produce telenovelas, or borrow their partner network's actors to fill up their shows. TELEMUNDO worked with Brazilian TV network Globo to produce El Clon, and with Colombian TV network RCI to produce Pasion de Gavilanes, and Univision regularly works with Venezuelan company Venevision to produce telenovelas and various comedy and talk shows.

There are TV networks that only pertain to certain countries: TV Azteca is the smaller Mexican network that brought you Paloma (Cuando Seas Mia), RCI is a Colombian network, Venevision is Venezuelan. And it’s high profile for a celebrity to be on one of the smaller networks, but for an actor to sign a contract with either Telemundo or Televisa means that THEY’VE MADE IT, and they’re on their way to worldwide superstardom.

Telemundo is based in Miami, Florida and Televisa is based in Mexico City. Many Latin American actors, for them to get good work, have to move to either the US or Mexico to grow as actors.

Paola Rey and Danna Garcia were HUGE stars in their native Colombia, but it wasn’t until they moved to the United States and landed their contracts with Telemundo that they became WORLDWIDE CELEBRITIES. And with the success of Pasion de Gavilanes (Pasion de Amor), Paola Rey landed the hugely prestigious endorsement deals for Neutrogena and Revlon, while Danna Garcia landed an endorsement deal for Garnier. This is a big deal, because very few Latin celebrities get those deals, in fact, not more than a handful of Latin celebs have received endorsement deals in the United States . And these two girls can’t walk down the street in any country of the Americas, the US, or Spain without being mobbed by huge crowds.

Without a doubt, Telemundo’s hottest property right now is Gabriela Spanic. As far as a male leading actor, it's Saul Lisazo. Also hot properties are: PAOLA REY, MICHEL BROWN, DANNA GARCIA, MARIO CIMARRO, AND JUAN ALFONSO BAPTISTA. Even just a telenovela starring ONE of these actors is a surefire hit, so imagine the teaming up of two of them in various telenovelas.

It’s also important to understand that not all actors in Latin America are Mexican, nor are all telenovelas from Mexico. PASION DE GAVILANES (Amor) is from COLOMBIA.

GABRIELA SPANIC is CROATION/VENEZUELAN.

BARBARA MORI is JAPANESE/URUGUAYAN.
MICHEL BROWN is ARGENTINEAN.
JUAN ALFONSO BAPTISTA is VENEZUELAN.

MARIO CIMARRO (Pasion de Amor, Gata Salvaje) is CUBAN. Isn't it neat to see how actors look like in real life? We're so used to seeing him in vaquero outfits and with cowboy hats, and here he is dressed all cool and casual, the real Mario Cimarro.

PAOLA REY and DANNA GARCIA are COLOMBIAN.

SEBASTIAN RULLI and SAUL LISAZO are ARGENTINEAN.

After Pasion de Gavilanes, Telemundo teamed up MICHEL BROWN and DANNA GARCIA in TE VOY A ENSEÑAR A QUERER (I’m Going to Teach You How to Love). Then they teamed up PAOLA REY and JUAN ALFONSO BAPTISTA in the worldwide hit LA MUJER EN EL ESPEJO (THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR). Then MARIO CIMARRO was the protagonista (Spanish for actor with top billing) in the phenomenal EL CUERPO DEL DESEO (Body of Desire). CORAZON PARTIDO, with protagonista DANNA GARCIA just ended, and taking it’s place in the 9pm timeslot, surely another hit, and another team up from the Pasion cast, PAOLA REY and MICHEL BROWN in Amores de Mercado.

Televisa’s hottest property right now: SEBASTIAN RULLI (from Rubi) and GALILEA MONTIJO.

GLOBO is a the network that dominates Brazil, and considering the population of Brazil and the fact that the rest of Latin America loves and eats up Brazilian telenovelas, it’s easy to say that the top 3 networks in the Americas are: TELEMUNDO, UNIVISION, and GLOBO.

I’m really happy that I live here in the US. I own a home-business, so while I’m working and when I'm not going out to dinner with friends and living my life of course, I’m at home doing my internet-based business while watching TV, which is a luxury in itself to be able to do so, to be able to schedule your own breaks, so I can only be grateful to God for that, but what adds to the luxury is the choices you have and the variety of shows you can watch.

If you feel like watching American TV, there’s Desperate Housewives, Smallville, Simple Life, MTV, all there. But I usually watch Spanish shows all day, as in ALL DAY. But if you feel like watching Filipino shows, there’s GMA Pinoy TV or TFC for me. If you feel like watching Asianovelas, there’s the Asian channel featuring the hottest shows from all over Asia, and with English subtitles. For Spanish shows, I don’t need English subtitles because I’m fluent in Spanish, but for Filipinos who don’t speak Spanish, Telemundo offers that option. Univision/Televisa doesn’t. And there’s Pasion de Gavilanes (Amor) in it’s full 1-hour original-ness. If you want to know what’s happening to your celebs from Latin America, it’s all there in the Spanish networks’ daily gossip shows.

So if you want to go the U.S., not only will you have a better life, but your nightly television entertainment also receives a boost. Pretty funny, right.

When I visited the Philippines, I was dying because I could not watch my telenovelas. The thing about telenovelas here is that they’re shown every day all day along in one channel or another, which is fantastic for Filipinos because just like the South Americans that in reality, we sort of are, we eat that stuff up like candy just like they do. They show new ones at night and in the afternoon, and in the mornings they show classic telenovelas from years past.

I’ll share with you my TV watching schedule just for fun. In the morning, Telefutura begins showing telenovelas from 6am to 11:30. They show successful telenovelas from years past, so if you’re nostalgic, here’s your chance to revisit telenovelas from years past. Before they showed Rosalinda with Thalia, and a whole bunch of other good ones, too many to name. Right now 6am is El Precio de tu Amor starring Rubi star Eduardo Santamarina, 7am is my FAVORITE Mi Destino Eres Tu starring the beautiful Lucero and Jorge Salinas. 8 is Entre El Amor y El Odio, 9 is the FANTASTIC Colombian telenovela LUCIANA, which is my current favorite. 10am is a Venezuelan telenovela Destinos, during which I change the station to Telemundo, because they’re showing POR QUE DIABLOS? starring my favorite actress Paola Rey and Manolo Cardonas. Telemundo is great, because they show their morning telenovela for an hour and a half! The 10am slot before showed previous Brazilian hits El Clon, Siete Mujeres, and this FUNNY FUNNY telenovela that I forgot the name of. And now they put a telenovela from their Colombian partner RCI, which stars two of their hottest contract stars Paola Rey and Manolo Cardonas.

At 11 while I’m working, I then watch the Spanish morning shows, which feature celebrities from the networks as guests. From 11am - 1pm, the Spanish networks then show their morning gossip shows kind of like Kris Aquino’s show which reports on the celebrities and what’s up in their lives, etc. you know all that chismis, which is also entertaining in itself to see who’s Barbara Mori dating, or who’s Sebastian Rulli’s new girlfriend.

Then at 1pm, Univision starts up the telenovela rounds again and starts with the daily Mujer…Historias de La Vida Real, which is a daily show that features stories based on true stories. 2pm is another telenovela that we don’t watch, 3pm is Rebelde, and 4pm they have another gossip show, then from 5-7 they have the news, so we're not watching Univision during those times because it’s boring, and we usually go out to dinner anyway, so we're usually not home.

I watch Rebelde, then I change it to Telefutura because at 4pm is MARIA LA DEL BARRIO, which I LOVE!!!!! No wonder Filipinos were glued to this show while it was on and love Thalia with a passion. 5pm they have Amor de Palos from Venezuela, then 6pm they always have the current children’s telenovela, which I never watch.

Then boom, the networks start their ratings war. 7pm starts the daily night time ratings competition between the two networks. TV Azteca has had moderate success with Paloma (Cuando Seas Mia), the other one, and the new one (see, they’re not really that good which is why not too many people watch it, and I don’t even remember their names, the only good one was Paloma and Amor en Custodia, and a few other ones), but the biggest and most expensive shows are on Telemundo and Univision, and 7pm starts the war to who can rake in the most viewers with their shows. Kind of like Philippine television, right?

Right now, it’s like this. On Telemundo, 7pm is La Tormenta which is like a western suspenseful love story, which I might add won an award, and also features a lesbian couple and a gay couple, 8pm is Tierra de Pasiones, the novela that takes place in the wine grape fields, starring GABY SPANIC and SAUL, 9pm is the new hit Amores de Mercado starring your favorite Pasion stars MICHEL BROWN and PAOLA REY. Then 10 pm is Decisiones, the fantastic daily novela “donde usted es el verdadero protagonista” “where you are the main star”, and they did that because when it first started, for every story they filmed two separate endings, the character would come to a turning point, and the audience is given two options, like a) should she do this? Or b) should she do that?, and the audience would text their choice, and then the votes are tallied, and the ending that the audience chose is the ending for the telenovela. Genius, no?

On Univision, which owns Televisa and therefore shows telenovelas directly from Televisa, at 7 is Peregrina about a circus, 9 is Barrera de Amor, and the 10 slot is the Spanish talk show, Cristina, where they feature celeb interviews usually or interesting stuff. For Univision, whenever a telenovela ends, the day it ends, the cast usually goes on Cristina and they talk about the telenovela and stuff. When Rubi ended, Barbara Mori and Sebastian Rulli went on Cristina, same as Alborada, then Fernando Colunga and Lucero went on Cristina, then Sebastian came again after Contra Viento y El Marea ended, then Barbara Mori came again when her movie La Mujer de Mi Hermano was released in the United States. Cristina is based in Miami, where Univision and Telemundo is based. Miami, Florida for Latin America is like the center of everything, it’s Latin America’s Hollywood, just because all of the biggest stars live there, and if you’re an actor and want to get into telenovelas, well Miami, Florida is where you wanna go just because two of the biggest Spanish TV networks are based there, and hold their auditions there, their awards shows there, their talent competitions whenever they have those talent/dance/singing shows where ordinary people can become stars.

You know what? I like Spanish TV because in it’s base form, not only is it the same culture as a Filipino culture, it’s like the same thing as Filipino TV: telenovelas, chismis talk shows, dance and singing competition shows, it’s like Filipino TV but in Spanish and on a grander scale. And that works for me, and keeps me entertained everyday. I would much rather be watching Filipino TV with all my cousins and family in Pilipinas, but obviously I'm in the US, so I can't, so the closet thing to home is Spanish television, and that keeps me happy. It also makes me happy when my family and I watch the same show, because it's imported over there as well.

Stay tuned for next month’s Telenovela Update where we‘ll talk about the hottest Brazilian telenovelas. The reason why we like Brazilian telenovelas is that they’re more realistic and yet more dream like at the same time, I know that doesn’t sound like it makes sense, but if you ever watched a telenovela from Brazil, you’ll understand why it does and why they’re so popular.

In telenovelas, from Latin America and Asia, there is usually a character that we all root for, and then there is that evil character that ruins things for him/her. The difference in Brazilian telenovelas is that it really reflects everyday life in that there isn’t always a heroine/villain aspect, in fact, in Brazilian telenovelas, many times there are no villains at all. They have a different format for the way they make their telenovelas than the way Spanish-speakers and Asians do it. There are no villains in Brazilian telenovelas, there are just conflicting desires among the characters, which is exactly what makes it more human.

La Mujer en el Espejo and more on sale in our Telenovela Store!!! >>>