Hello Consumption

After only one class of being introduced to the consumption of telenovelas, I know I'm going to enjoy it more than the representation and identity portion. The most interesting aspect of telenovelas has got to be the people who watch them. That's the whole point of these shows even being in existence! The audience is the second author of the telenovela itself.

Although I know the documentary featured a really poor part of Brazil, it was really sad to see that television can prevail over food and having a refrigerator. I understand that telenovelas can be addicting, but people who would rather have a TV than have proper nourishment for their families must be a little off.

We also discussed where to go to find people who watch telenovelas and where to find their opinions. I never would have looked up specific telenovelas on Facebook, but that is a great location to find information and fans of these shows!

When Dr. A started talking about message boards and the different ways in which she analyzes them, I was really shocked. I have always thought of message boards as being places where really bored people go to write mostly nonsense or really biased opinions about things. Although the latter is true, there is definitely more to it than that.

The psychology behind analyzing these message boards is what really caught my attention. Dr. A knows the different "nicks" and starts to realize patterns in their comments from telenovela post to telenovela post. It's more of like a detective job than just studying telenovelas!

I am definitely looking forward to learning more about the consumption of these shows.