This is a class blog run by Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru and her students in the course "Telenovelas, Culture and Society" at the University of Georgia during Spring 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Corazon Salvaje and Conclusions

I think the Corazon Salvaje group presentation was a great way to sum up one of the main themes of this class: Telenovelas really do break boundaries when it comes down to it. As the group members showed us, even though the best version of Corazon Salvaje was made in 1993, people to this day still talk about, still swoon over Juan del Diablo, and still stop dead in their tracks when they come upon one of the character names in real life.

It was so interesting to see the outrage and horrible comments in regards to the most recent remake of the show. The fact that the production of the new version made it look more modern could definitely have been one of the reasons for the lack of interest. From the clips I saw, the 1993 version was simply "classic".

This is similar to the recent version of 90210 that was released on the CW. I have heard that the new version does not even compare with the original version of the show that ran from 1990-2000.

Even though I don't think I'll become an avid telenovela watcher because of this class, I still think that I will use the different types of analyses we discussed (such as the Cinderella situation, etc.) when I watch American shows in my everyday life. Although they may not be exactly in the same format as telenovelas, some of the American shows definitely have similar characteristics involved. For example, shows on the CW such as Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill may be separated into seasons, therefore taking them out of contention of being a telenovela/soap opera (well besides the fact that they're in English), but they are chalk full of love triangles, violence, and more drama than one could ever imagine.

4 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked our presentation! After researching the different versions of CS, I definitely agree with your point that the 1993 version was a classic. Monica and Juan del Diablo had such chemistry that is irreplaceable.

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  2. Thanks for commenting on our presentation... we were excited to show everyone "la mejor novela pa siempreeeeeeeeee" as it is known by its biggest fans. I like your comparison to 90210 - didn't they also try to do a remake of Melrose Place? It's interesting how some remakes can work, but a lot of them just flop. Is it the acting? The timing? The writing? Very interesting indeed.

    It was fascinating for me to watch the other telenovelas, because CS 1993 is SO rosa. I enjoyed hearing about less traditional plotlines. But, as I mentioned before, it was truly a pleasure to share with you all the story of Juan, Monica, Aimee y Andres.

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  3. Yeah it's incredible to see the obsession with Corazón Salvaje. I mean, are there any shows in the U.S. that people are still OBSESSING over 2 decades later? They really did something right with this 1993 Corazón Salvaje. And it was a remake itself, which is interesting too. I don't know of many remakes that get that much popularity.

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  4. I loved this presentation too, because like you said it demonstrated how telenovelas really are ingrained in Latino society. It's funny because I have witnessed personally this outrage towards the remake personally. It wasn't "Corazon Salvaje" but it was a remake of the telenovela "La Mentira" and when they started it and my Dad saw it, he was disgusted and refused to watch it. I just think it's so interesting how people can either love or hate remakes...and the best part about "Corazon Salvaje" is that the 93 version was a remake. I think it definitely has to do with how the cast clicks, because without that spark of chemistry, the story just doesn't come alive.

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