As we begin to look at the consumption side of Telenovelas, I am interested to study how people react to the social issues that are brought up in the telenoveals. We've observed many [extreme poverty, single-motherhood, drugs, sickness] just to name a few. Telenovela writers are faced with a difficult task: How to insure the integrity of their writing, while ensuring high viewer ratings? We can all agree that no one wants to turn on the TV and see nothing but the woes of life. I would like to see citizens becoming more civically engaged. I would like to see people feel empowered by telenovelas. I would like to see a lot more than just gossip on some online blog, or random tweets about how "good" an episode was. After watching the Globo TV documentary clip, I realized how important telenovelas have become in the everyday lives of poor people in Latin America. This makes me wonder how helpful Telenovelas have been in changing the lives of its viewers. I am currently reading a book titled "A Fistful of Rice" by Vikram Akula. The author is the founder and owner of SKS Microfinance Corp. The book is an autobiography of sorts. In it Akula, explains his business and why microfinance is a viable solution to helping the poor. This is the kind of innovation and action I'd like to see result from watching Telenovelas. Is this unrealistic??
I don't think this is unrealistic, but I do think it would be hard for production teams to band together for the greater good. There is so much politics involved in the making of telenovelas, not only with the content but also with their distribution, that it would be difficult for anything to get accomplished outside the realm of trying to win the ratings of a particular night. I think you bring up an interesting idea, and with writers like Padron who are trying to send helpful messages, hopefully there will be a break-through of some sort soon.
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