Cultural Relevance in regards to Telenovelas

It wasn't until recently that I found a telenovela that really hooked me. From our discussions in class, I extracted that the probability of me becoming hooked was VERY HIGH and low and behold I AM! So far from my experience with Telenovelas, not every one of them is for everybody. Each person has their own preferences--some they'll love and some they won't. Now I am not an avid TV watcher-- and you'll most likely find me watching one of two channels: Cartoon Network or Comedy Central. My life doesn't really allow much time for television. My experience with Telenovelas is minimal. I've stumbled across them, laughed and kept it moving for the most part. This was NOT the case with La Mujer en el Espejo. Prompted by my desire to get a head start on class assignments, I began searching for Telenovelas via the Internet. I stumbled upon the original synopsis of the 1994 version of La Mujer en el Espejo. The plot of the story drew me in, word by word. I kid you not I was up until 2AM Wednesday morning watching this show! While watching the show, certain things starting to pop out at me. The transformation of the female protagonist, Juliana, occurs in the second episode. I found the actress who plays this part to be attractive already, just in a homely way. The transformation into "Maritza", the beautiful version was partially disturbing to me. The key aspects of her transformation were very sexist and machist in nature. The initial opinions regarding these transformations led me to analyze my own thinking pattern when it comes to these shows. I believe it is necessary to apply cultural relativism to Telenovelas, in order to truly understand the perspectives of the writers and Hispanic audience, alike. I am eager to continue watching the show, and developing a stronger analysis regarding the cultural differences of the pseudo-society (which takes place in the Telenovela) and its American and Latin American counterparts.