Mexican Comedic Telenovelas As Vehicles for Lessons Against Homophobia

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO TOLERANCE?MEXICAN COMEDIC TELENOVELAS AS VEHICLES FOR LESSONS AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

Julee Tate Berry College [email protected]

Abstract

The use of telenovelas as didactic tools to educate the viewing public about a variety of social issues, ranging from drug abuse to domestic violence, is not a new phenomenon. In Mexico in particular, telenovelas have been used strategically for several decades to target particular groups with messages intended to curb or in some way alter behavior and attitudes. In recent years, an increasing number of Mexican telenovela productions have adopted a comedic tone and forgone the unrelenting melodrama that has defined the genre during its half century of history. Like their more melodramatic brethren, these comedic telenovelas entertain and, at times, educate the viewing audience about various social issues. Homophobia is a relative newcomer to the list of societal concerns that telenovelas address, and comedic telenovelas have proved to be fertile ground for the inclusion of didactic messages that promote attitudes of tolerance toward homosexuals. This investigation highlights this trend and examines how three telenovelas in particular, La fea mas´ bella (2006–2007), Yo amo a Juan Querendon´ (2007–2008) and Las tontas no van al cielo (2008), participate in an evolv- ing popular narrative of tolerance.

Laughing All the Way to Tolerance? Mexican Comedic Telenovelas as Vehicles for Lessons Against Homophobia Telenovelas are Latin American melodramatic serials that are frequently compared to American soap operas. For decades telenovelas have been the most watched television format in Latin American households. Many of these telenovelas are produced in Mexico, which is home to one of Latin America’s most lucrative telenovela industries. The name Tele- visa, the company with a once monopolistic hold on Mexican television, is synonymous with telenovelas. Televisa and its rival network, TV Azteca, air telenovelas on their national channels for as many as six hours a day, and these are typically the time-slots that enjoy the highest ratings in terms of viewership. In their more than half century of existence, Mexican telenovelas have rarely deviated from the set formula that includes a melodramatic tone

C 2014 Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 51 The Latin Americanist, September 2014 and the stock characters that are familiar to viewers – a noble and wealthy hero, a tender and poor heroine and their envious antagonists. While, for the most part, the usual suspects continue to populate the scripts of telenovelas, the tone is not as predictable as it once was. In recent years, some productions have foregone the unrelenting melodrama and instead opted for a more comedic tone. Like their more melodramatic brethren, this new breed of comedic telenovelas aims to entertain and, at times, educate viewers about a range of social issues. This investigation focuses on the recent use of comedic telenovelas as vehicles for addressing the negative consequences of homophobia, a social issue that until recently was considered a taboo topic in mainstream Mexican media. The practice of using telenovelas for the purpose of educating viewing audiences about a variety of social and health issues is not a new one. In the early 1970s, Miguel Sabido, a Mexican telenovela writer, director and producer, designed a reproducible set of techniques for the construction of persuasive messaging in telenovelas (Singhal, 1999: xi). His design was inspired by the success of a Peruvian telenovela called Simplemente Mar´ıa, which was originally broadcast in Peru from 1969–1971. The telenovela is the rags-to-riches story of a poor maid who transforms her life with the aid of English classes and a Singer sewing machine, which, after the requisite hardships and setbacks, allow her to design and market her own clothing line and eventually become a successful designer. While the telenovela was originally written with the exclusive intentions of entertainment and profit (through the sale of commercial advertising slots), there were significant and surprising unintended consequences, including marked increases in sales of Singer sewing machines and the demand for English language instruction (Singhal, 1999: 41–2). Another important, and unintentional, impact of Simplemente Mar´ıa was an alteration in attitudes toward domestic help. In focus group interviews, Peruvian employers attested to a change in attitude toward maids, a change that they credited with recognizing, through the lessons provided by the telenovela, that domestic workers also had rights and aspirations. Such changes in mindset yielded real changes for maids, including better treatment by employers and, in some cases, more flexible work schedules that allowed them to pursue their education in the evenings. (Singhal, 1999: 42) Another important, and perhaps more enduring, effect of the telenovela was that it was noticed by Miguel Sabido who studied the unintended consequences of the Simplemente Mar´ıa phenomenon and created a methodology with the aim to be intentional in the use of telenovelas to speak to certain issues and audiences. In order to further refine his methodology, Sabido worked closely with Albert Bandura, a Stanford University psy- chologist credited with the development of social learning theory. (Singhal, 1999: 52) Bandura’s theory essentially states that learning can and often does take place when individuals observe the behavior of other individuals, either in real life or in the media. According to Bandura, there are three kinds of models: positive, negative and transitional. Based on the behavior

52 Tate of a given individual or character, the person observing understands them to be a good model, whose behavior should be replicated; a negative model, whose behavior should be eschewed; or a transitional model, who is negotiating their own understanding of negative and positive modeling, all the while transitioning toward one of the poles. (Bandura, 1977) Sabido employed these models in his methodology in order to offer the viewing public examples of pro-social and anti-social behaviors. Of course the archetypically good characters demonstrate pro-social behaviors while the archetypically bad characters demonstrate anti-social behaviors. Social scientists Arvind Singhal and Everett Rogers credit Sabido as a pioneer of entertainment-education (E-E), which they define as “the process of purposefully designing and implementing a media message to both entertain and educate, in order to increase audience knowledge about an educational issue, create favorable attitudes, and change overt behavior.” (1999: xii) Between 1975 and 1981, Miguel Sabido produced six entertainment-education telenovelas in Mexico with these aims in mind. The first Sabido E-E soap opera, Ven Conmigo (Come with Me) aired on Televisa, Mexico’s national channel, between 1975 and 1976. The educational message of the production was intended to promote adult literacy. Statistical findings demonstrated that the message was recieved as 600,000 more people registered for adult literacy classes between 1975 and 1976 than had done so in the previous year, which amounted to a 63% increase in enrollments over the previous year. (Brown, 1989: 44) Subsequent productions, which dealt with a variety of issues yielded similar results. For instance, Acompa´name˜ (Accompany Me) was the second E-E production headed by Sabido, and its focus was family planning. During the time that it was broadcast (1977–78) the number of people adopting family planning through clinics increased by 560,000 and sales of contraception increased throughout the country (Brown, 1989: 44). Such statistics leave little doubt of the potential of E-E programming to influence attitudes and behavior. Significantly, not only were these productions successful in terms of raising awareness and promoting pro-social behaviors, they were also commercially successful. (Singhal, 1999: 52) This dual success attracted the attention of social scientists, including the staff at the John Hopkins Population Communication Services, who have employed Sabido’s strategy in at least 75 countries, including India, Pakistan and Kenya. (Singhal, 1999: xi) Aspects of Sabido’s methodology continue to be used in Mexican telenovela productions, as well. The telenovelas examined in this study each employ aspects of E-E, perhaps most notably the inclusion of positive, negative and transitional role models as good characters demonstrate tolerant behaviors toward gay characters, while bad characters exhibit homophobic tendencies. Meanwhile, transitional characters are used to show that an evolution from intolerance to tolerance is possible. In his contribution to the collection that is a must-read for understanding the history and development of Mexican telenovelas, Jesus´ Galindo emphasizes the privileged position of the viewing audience in the creative

53 The Latin Americanist, September 2014 process of telenovela production: “La audiencia existe en la imaginacion´ de los que hacen la telenovela, como gustos, como experiencias, como anhelos, como valores, como comportamientos. Son varios los eslabones de la cadena donde la audiencia es considerada al elaborar el producto” (1998: 140). (The audience exists in the imagination of those who make the telenovela, as tastes, as experiences, as longings, as values, as behaviors. There are many links in the chain wherein the audience is considered in the elaboration of the product.) (All translations are mine.) Part of this consideration of the audience involves a deliberate effort to address topi- cal issues of the day. Scholar of Mexican media studies, Rosalind Pearson, states that telenovelas “highlight social issues such as drug abuse, domestic violence, rape, sex before marriage, insecurity in the streets; they inform and educate at the same time as entertain” (2005: 404). Thus a telenovela production “alecciona” (Galindo, 1998: 152), or teaches, the viewing audience about relevant societal issues while simultaneously offering an entertaining escape from reality. In addressing the power of telenovelas to influence the viewing public, Mar´ıadelaLuzCasasPerez´ credits the innovations made by the Mexican telenovela industry during the last decade of the Twentieth Century and the first years of the Twenty-first Century with changing the way that viewers consume and are influenced by the genre. According to Casas Perez,´ the introduction of new styles (such as comedy) and topics (such as homosexuality and other previously taboo issues) have increased viewership, especially among men and younger viewers, and fostered public discourses that challenge previously unquestioned ideological positions: “Telenovelas are changing, as are the people who watch them and the way they deal with whatever beliefs and values telenovelas reproduce” (2005: 408). Casas Perez´ sees these changes in the world of telenovelas as harbingers of real changes in Mexican society: “We may therefore assume that individual, cultural, and national identities are being transformed by new patterns of consumption and production of media content” (2005: 408). Citing data compiled from the content analysis of telenovelas and corresponding focus group interviews carried out in 2001 at the Tec- nologico´ de Monterrey, Casas Perez´ points to the belief, expressed by focus group members, that telenovelas “offer culture, showing new situations and providing interpretations of reality” (2005: 411). These interpretations provide viewers with new cultural narratives that Casas Perez´ credits with transforming the audience’s understanding of old narratives. She concludes that “the evidence so far available suggests that themes and subject matters, treatments of content, and styles of production in the newest Mexican telenovela productions are beginning to influence patterns of cultural identity” (2005: 413). Casas Perez´ points to the position of women as one area in which telenovelas have criticized old narratives and promoted the adoption of new ones. In recent years, telenovela productions have directly addressed topics like “male macho

54 Tate patterns of behavior” and their negative ramifications on women, including domestic violence and limited opportunities for self-actualization in the public sphere (2005: 410). By criticizing old patterns and presenting examples of women’s achievements outside of the home, telenovelas offer viewers a new paradigm that promotes amended behavior and cultural narratives. Another area in which recent productions have attempted to influence patterns of behavior and cultural identity is in relation to attitudes toward homosexuals. Homophobia is a relatively recent addition to the list of topics of social commentary that Mexican telenovelas address. The topic was first taken up in melodramatic productions at the end of the Twenti- eth Century. TV Azteca’s La vida en el espejo (Life in the Mirror) (1999) is credited as the first Mexican telenovela to straightforwardly address the topic by including an openly gay supporting character who establishes a relationship with another man and, in the process, gains the understanding and support of his family. Embedded in the dialogue of La vida are messages that address the men’s struggles to come to terms with their sexuality and the important role that the acceptance of family and friends plays in their well-being. The telenovela implicitly and explicitly models and promotes attitudes of tolerance, and in so doing, it set the standard, though one that has rarely been realized, for approaching the topic in the first part of the Twenty-first Century. Mexican sociologist Hector´ Carrillo (2002), among others, praised La vida for initiating a national conversation about issues of nonnormative sexuality in Mexico. He contends that La vida’s bold approach to addressing the previously taboo topic of homosexuality made television a primary forum for a variety of progressive social movements to get their messages across to viewers:

the mass media have become a core space for the shaping of public opinion about sexual matters in Mexico. Social actors of all kinds have learned that participating in this core is extremely important to disseminate their positions and to place them on the table for public discussion (2002: 297).

Mexican sociologist and popular culture commentator Alejandro Huizar (2011) concurs with Carrillo’s assessment of the importance of La vida and even sees a possible connection between the lessons taught by La vida and the legalization of same-sex marriage in Mexico ten years after the initial airing of the ground-breaking telenovela. A more easily verifiable aspect of the legacy of La vida is the increased number of telenovelas following it that included homosexual characters. Most of these productions, however, used gay men as instruments of comic relief rather than as serious characters whose sexuality was addressed in a straightforward manner, as was the case in La vida. This characterization of gay men as exaggeratedly effeminate was caricaturesque in nature and

55 The Latin Americanist, September 2014 represented a regression in terms of the gains that many believed had been achieved by the success of La vida. As Huizar puts it, despues´ de este breve y primogenito´ ejercicio de outing en la television´ nacional, continuo´ el desfile de personajes gay con el patron´ tradicional: en papeles secundarios e instalados en el desempeno˜ de queer,oloca, como se les suele identificar en nuestra cultura popular (2011). (after this brief and first exercise of outing on national television, the parade of gay characters who fit the traditional mold continued: in secondary roles and established in the performance of queer, or loca, as they are typically identified in our popular culture.) Characters like Jaro, in Velo de novia (Wedding Veil) (2003–2004), and Loreto, in Rub´ı (2004–2005), are prime examples of the characterization to which Huizar alludes. Both fit the stereotype of the effeminate gay man who works in the beauty or design industry and is effeminate in dress and demeanor. They are essentially gay minstrels who provide periodic comedic breaks from the melodramatic tone that dominates the telenovelas. Not only did these productions fail to recognize the diversity that exists within the gay community, but they also failed to address the men’s sexuality in any direct or meaningful way. The latter part of the first decade of the new millennium, however, heralded a shift in the tone of some telenovelas, from melodramatic to comedic, and a return to the inclusion of lessons about tolerance toward homosexuals. Perhaps because gay male characters were already common tools for comedic relief in melodramatic productions, they have become standard players in comedic telenovelas. However, in contrast to their typical portrayal as uniformly effeminate and asexual, their characterization has ranged from extremely effeminate to hyper-masculine, and their sexuality and societal marginalization have been directly addressed in melodramatic scenes that interrupt the generally comedic tone of the productions. The three telenovelas examined in this study form part of the recent trend of comedic telenovelas that blend comedy with the usual melodramatic formula and include gay characters. These productions are La fea mas´ bella (The Prettiest Ugly Woman) (2006–2007), Yo amo a Juan Querendon´ (I Love Juan Querendon)´ (2007–2008) and Las tontas no van al cielo (Foolish Women Don’t Go to Heaven) (2008). In the 2 July 2007 airing of “El Show de Cristina”, the show’s hostess, Cristina Saralegui, thanked an actor from the comedic telenovela, La fea mas´ bella, for what she described as his role in promoting an attitude of tolerance toward homosexuals. The actor in question, Sergio Mayer, played the role of Luigi Lombardi in the popular Mexican remake of the Columbian telenovela, Yo soy Beti la fea (I Am Ugly Betty). In his role as Luigi, Mayer plays an extremely effeminate and flamboyant gay character whose mostly pink wardrobe consists primarily of feather boas, sequined halter tops, bejeweled accessories and skintight jeans. His mannerisms and

56 Tate speech are effeminate, and his profession, fashion designer for the PR firm, Conceptos, also falls into the category of stereotypically gay. He refers to himself using feminine adjectives, such as when he calls himself “chiflada” (a nutty woman) after making an absentminded mistake or when he talks about his attraction to a man by saying: “Me trae loca” (He drives me crazy). Other characters in the telenovela also use feminine adjectives when talking about (or to) Luigi. Fernando, the protagonist of the novela, calls him a “loca” (crazy woman) and says, in the heat of an argument over artistic differences, “no le pego porque no pego a las mujeres” (I won’t hit you because I don’t hit women). This scene is presented as comedic in nature, and the viewer, and indeed Luigi, knows that there is no real threat from Fernando. In many ways Luigi’s characterization is not different from that of the caricaturesque gay men that populated telenovelas before and after La vida – and to which Huizar (2011) refers as the “locas” that viewing audiences have come to expect. But there are also key ways in which the treatment of Luigi is different from the once standard characterization of gay men as extremely effete and asexual. For one thing, Luigi is out of the closet, and has clearly accepted his sexuality as a primary part of his identity. During the course of the telenovela, he has two partners, both of whom are masculine men who defy the masculine/straight, feminine/gay paradigm that has typically defined male characters’ sexuality in telenovelas. These masculine gay men send him flowers, visit him at work and share moments of tenderness with him, all of which is accepted by Luigi’s coworkers, if with a wink and a smile. This stands in stark contrast to characters like Jaro (in Velo) and Loreto (in Rub´ı) whose sexuality is never addressed and who do not have intimate relationships with other men. Another distinguishing aspect of Luigi’s treatment in the telenovela is that his sexuality is straightforwardly addressed in the dialogue, which is embedded with lessons about the nature of homosexuality and the consequences of intolerance. While most scenes involving Luigi are comedic and burlesque in nature, these didactic scenes are notable exceptions. A prime example is when Luigi confronts his parents, from whom he has been estranged for years, about his sexuality. In these scenes he abandons the campish role that defines him during most of the telenovela, and, instead, he assumes a posture fitting of high drama. In a confrontation with his father, Luigi cries in anger and indignation and insists: “No me volv´ı, nac´ı gay. Y no por eso soy menos hombre. Debe de ser vergonzoso para un macho como tu´ tener un hijo como yo”. (I didn’t become, I was born gay. And that doesn’t make me less of a man. It must be shameful for a macho like you to have a son like me.) While this may seem somewhat contradictory since Luigi regularly refers to himself in feminine terms, it is telling that he challenges the definition of what being a man is and uses the word “macho” in his indictment of his father. His accusation invites viewers to consider new ways of thinking about masculinity and what it means to be a man.

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Luigi’s role is complex. He is both an aspect of the comic relief of the telenovela and a means of delivering a serious message about homophobia. In one scene he is entertaining his co-workers with outrageous verbal barbs about someone’s style of dress, and in the next he is talking about the suffering caused by being pointed at and made fun of as a child because other children knew that he was different. When his mother is ill, Luigi goes to see her, and she asks for forgiveness for not having defended him. She tells him that after he left home, she began asking questions and came to understand that everyone has the right to be who and what they are, and to be accepted and respected. By the conclusion of La fea, Luigi is able to introduce his partner, Aldo, to his parents, who indicate their acceptance by calling him “hijo” (son). In this way, they pass from being transitional to positive role models as their conversion from homophobic to tolerant is complete, as is Luigi’s happiness. In the 2007–2008 Televisa production, Yo amo a Juan Querendon´ , viewers were once again presented with gay male characters and embedded messages about tolerance. These messages serve two primary functions: one, to encourage empathy for the plight of individuals who are marginalized by society for their sexuality, and two, to legitimize the internal struggle of those who question their sexuality. Most of these messages are channeled through the experiences of Gaytan´ Pastor, an openly gay man who actively pursues relationships with other men. In many ways, Gaytan´ defies the stereotype of the effeminate gay man. While not particularly masculine in demeanor, he is also not exaggeratedly effeminate. He is an executive at Farrell Enterprises, a food distribution company, and does not work in the beauty or design industry, the standard domain of gay male characters. Thus rather than recurring to the usual devices to demarcate male homosexuality, the telenovela establishes Gaytan’s´ sexuality through his object-choice. He flirts with men whom he finds attractive and shares his frustrations and hopes of finding love with his friend and confidante, Yvonne. When the telenovela begins, Gaytan´ is essentially out of the closet at work, but his family is unaware of his homosexuality. It is clear from the beginning that Gaytan´ has a type: extremely masculine, presumably heterosexual men. He pursues Juan, the protagonist of the telenovela, and later, Heriberto, another man who, like Juan, is from rural Mexico, has little education and is exaggeratedly masculine (or macho) in demeanor. The scenes in which Gaytan´ flirts with Juan, who is his chauffeur, are comedic encounters. Music, sound effects and Juan’s interior monologue are all intended to heighten the comedic effect. The stage is set for this in the opening credits when Juan playfully runs and hides from a pursuing Gaytan.´ Then, the first three letters in Gaytan’s´ name, which are in rainbow colors, dangle suggestively from the final three letters. Thus from the outset Gaytan’s´ sexuality is confirmed, as is his relationship with the hero of the production. Gaytan´ is other, but he is harmless. He is also relentless in his pursuit. Even when Juan loses patience and, at the risk of losing his

58 Tate job, rebuffs Gaytan´ in no uncertain terms, Gaytan´ does not lose hope and continues to pursue Juan, until another man, Heriberto, catches his eye. In spite of Gaytan’s´ harassment, a friendship forms between him and Juan. The hero’s (in this case, Juan’s) friendship is a device used to commu- nicate support for Gaytan.´ Juan is the positive role model whose treatment of Gaytan´ serves as an example for viewers of how good guys act when dealing with marginalized figures. Juan befriends his former harasser and supports him through difficult times, including the death of Gaytan’s´ mother. In one instance, Gaytan’s´ sorrow leads him to drink himself into a stupor, and Juan comes to the rescue. He carries Gaytan´ to his bed, tucks him in and watches him sleep with sympathy and affection. It is important to note that being the object of a gay man’s desire or even befriending him in no way functions to discredit Juan’s hero or macho status. Instead, it is one more means of illustrating his humanity and charm. Other coworkers (subordinates and superiors) are also aware of and tolerant of Gaytan’s´ sexuality, though they still occasionally poke fun at him. For instance, his name is sometimes pronounced with an English pronunciation, thus emphasizing the first syllable, “gay,” which is a word that has been appropriated into Spanish to refer to homosexuals. When Juan’s rival for the love of Paula, the female protagonist, spreads a rumor that Juan is gay, most of the characters reject the rumor because Juan is not effeminate. In a conversation between Paula and another character, however, the masculine/straight, feminine/gay binary is brought into question and challenged: Paula: ¿Crees que Juan tiene pinta de un hombre que le gustan los hombres? Mareli: Hoy en d´ıa es muy dif´ıcildartecuentadeesto.... (Paula: Do you think Juan has the look of a man who likes men? Mareli: These days it’s hard to tell . . . ) Paula’s incredulity is the product of her belief that such a masculine man could not possibly be gay, while Mareli’s answer sends the message that the matter is more complicated than that. Her response challenges long-standing stereotypes about demeanor and sexuality. Her point is proven when Gaytan’s´ pursuit of Heriberto, another extremely masculine man, results in a relationship. This turn of events is the climax of a process of identity negotiation that Heriberto undergoes. Heriberto’s initial response to Gaytan’s´ advances mirrors that of Juan. At first he rejects Gaytan,´ but then he begins questioning his own conflicting feelings. He confides in Gaytan’s´ friend, Yvonne, and she, in the hopes of helping Heriberto, approaches Gaytan´ with questions about how he came to understand and accept his sexuality. This point in the telenovela is clearly a teachable moment as Gaytan´ describes the Italian professor who inspired his awakening. He tells

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Yvonne that realizing that he was gay was the easy part of his process. The hard part was accepting it. He explains that it took years of therapy and internal struggle to come to terms with his sexuality. Yvonne tells Gaytan´ that she has a friend who is going through a similar process and asks for advice to pass along. Gaytan´ gives her a list of self-help books on the topic, and Yvonne passes the recommendations along to Heriberto. He reads the books and little by little begins to accept his own homosexuality. While much of the telenovela is comedic and Gaytan´ is frequently the object of supposedly good-natured jokes, the process that he describes and that Heriberto experiences is not presented as comedic. As is the case in similar scenes in La fea, these moments are ones of high drama, and the experiences of the men in question are presented as serious and painful. As is fitting of a comedic telenovela, there is a happy ending to the story. By the conclusion of Juan Querendon´ , Gaytan´ and Heriberto are a couple who behave in the same way as the heterosexual couples in the telenovela. They flirt, go on dates and participate in activities with other couples, including Gaytan’s´ brother and his wife. They are accepted and encouraged by colleagues, friends and family, with only one notable ex- ception. In the last chapter of the telenovela, Heriberto and Gaytan´ attend the grand finale wedding of the protagonists. At the wedding, Heriberto introduces Gaytan´ to his father, an elderly man who, like Heriberto, is from rural Mexico and has little formal education. Heriberto tells his father that Gaytan´ is his “media naranja” (other half). His father’s reaction is to chase the two around the reception with a gun. This is presented as comic rather than dramatic or dangerous, but there is a final embedded message: lack of acceptance is indicative of provincial and out-dated attitudes, and individuals who behave in such a manner are negative models. The final telenovela examined in this study goes beyond both La fea and Juan Querendon´ in terms of challenging the cultural narratives of the viewing public. Las tontas no van al cielo explores little known territory in the world of telenovelas by including two supporting characters who self-identify as gay. In each case there is a significant and differentiating twist that represents relatively new territory in terms of the representation of gay characters. The first is that one of the characters is a lesbian (a figure that Huizar (2011) calls practically non-existent in telenovelas), and the second is that the gay male character was once married to a woman, has a son and maintained a long-term relationship with another man who was a married father. Cecilia is a character who is average in most every way. She appears to be in her thirties and has a feminine and professional appearance. There is nothing about her that draws the attention of the viewer. She first appears as an employee of the production’s heroine, Candy, and her sexuality only comes to light when it is discovered that she is the secret admirer who has been leaving Candy roses. Candy had assumed that her admirer was a man, and she is shocked to learn that it is actually her colleague and friend. Candy’s initial reaction to the discovery is anger. She feels

60 Tate betrayed by Cecilia and accuses her of not being honest about who she is or her intentions. Several chapters pass before the two have a conversation that leads to reconciliation. Cecilia apologizes to Candy for risking their friendship by putting Candy into an uncomfortable position in the work- place, and, in turn, Candy reassures Cecilia that they are still friends. At the conclusion of their conversation, Candy takes Cecilia’s hands in her own, an important moment that sends the message that Cecilia, at least in Candy’s eyes, is not stigmatized by her sexuality. Candy is not the only person in the telenovela who knows about Cecilia’s sexuality. Cecilia’s sister is also aware, and it is clear that she accepts her sister and that the two have a close relationship. It is also clear that this is not the case with Cecilia’s father, as revealed in a conversation between Cecilia and her sister. Cecilia’s sister asks: “Quieres que nuestro papa´ te perdone?” (Do you want for our dad to forgive you?) Cecilia’s response is emphatic: “No! Soy gay y no tengo que pedirle perdon´ a nadie por lo que soy”. (No! I’m gay, and I don’t have to ask forgiveness of anyone for who I am.) As is the case in the previous telenovelas examined here, acceptance, or lack thereof, is often determined by the generation of the person in question. Another similarity is that the message of tolerance is repeated as new characters learn of Cecilia’s homosexuality. The first person in the telenovela to discover that she is a lesbian is Candy, but later other co-workers become aware of her sexuality, and the lesson of tolerance is repeated. On several occasions Candy is the teacher and facilitator as others struggle to understand and accept Cecilia as a friend and, in one case, a roommate. This particular situation brings to light the perception of the instability of sexual categories as the woman, Soledad, is reluctant to share an apart- ment with Cecilia because she fears that she will be labeled a lesbian by virtue of the fact that her roommate is a lesbian. Furthermore, she has a son and is convinced that it would be unsafe or a bad influence to expose him to living with a gay person. When she expresses these concerns to Candy, she gets a lecture on the injustice of homophobic attitudes. In her speech to Soledad, Candy emphasizes that there is nothing that makes a gay person less fit to be in the presence of children than a heterosexual person. On this topic, Candy speaks from experience since she is raising her own son in the home that she shares with her gay uncle, Meno.˜ In fact, previously in the telenovela, Soledad refuses to allow her son, Beto, to play with Candy’s son at Meno’s˜ home after discovering that Meno˜ is gay. She tells Candy: “Ser gay no es normal” (Being gay isn’t normal). Meno,˜ who overhears the conversation, is hurt and willing to leave his own home so that Candy and Chava, her son, will not be ostracized because of his homosexuality. Candy convinces him, in yet another lecture about the importance of tolerance and acceptance, that he is a loved and valued member of the family whose sexuality does not make him less worthy than anyone else. The message is reinforced in what turns out to be one of several lectures that Soledad recieves from Candy about her

61 The Latin Americanist, September 2014 homophobic attitudes. Over time, the lesson takes, and Soledad, as part of her transformation from transitional to positive model, eventually agrees to allow Beto to play with Chava. She also accepts Cecilia as a roommate and actively tries to conquer her fears and prejudices, but it is an ongoing process that allows for various teachable moments. More teachable moments come in the form of Meno’s˜ experiences with family and friends who, in most cases, are transitional models who learn to practice tolerance with differing degrees of difficulty. When the telenovela begins, Meno˜ has already been exiled from his family for many years because of his sexuality. Meno˜ tells Candy that he and her father, Clemente, who is Meno’s˜ brother, had a close relationship until Meno˜ confided in him about his sexuality. The admission came after years of denying his feelings and playing the role that society and his family expected of him. According to Meno,˜ Clemente’s reaction was to berate his brother and give him an ultimatum: marry and live as a real man or be dead to his family. In a desperate attempt to right what he saw through his brother’s (and society’s) eyes as a wrong, Meno˜ married and had a son, but he was unable to maintain the charade and eventually left Mexico City. All of this is revealed in a scene in which Meno˜ recounts to Candy what led to his exile from the family and his relocation to Guadalajara. The scene provides necessary background on Meno’s˜ life and is a significant pause in the humorous tone that characterizes Las tontas. In the first chapters of the telenovela, Meno˜ and Clemente encounter one another for the first time in many years at Candy’s wedding. Candy invited Meno,˜ in spite of her father’s feelings, and it is clear that her uncle’s sexuality is not an issue for her. It is also clear that time did not soften her father’s feelings toward his brother, and Clemente orders Meno˜ to leave the wedding. Meno˜ complies with his brother’s wishes and makes his way to the exit. While Meno˜ is clearly hurt by Clemente’s rejection, it appears that time has given him a certain resignation or peace about the situation. He leaves his gift and the wedding with dignity and, in doing so, is portrayed as the bigger man. Clemente, meanwhile, is portrayed as a negative model who is a bitter, angry and intolerant person. He not only treats his brother scornfully, but also has difficulty treating others, including his wife and daughters, in a civil way. The message is clear: the quality of a person is not determined by their sexuality, but rather by their treatment of others. Shortly after this scene at the wedding, Meno˜ goes from being a marginalized member of the family, to being it’s beneficent patriarch when Candy abandons her husband, Patricio, at the reception (upon discovering his infidelity with her sister) and flees to Guadalajara to seek refuge with Meno.˜ In order to keep her husband and family from looking for her, she fakes her own death and establishes a new life with her uncle, who conveniently is also dead, metaphorically speaking, to the family. Candy has a child as a result of her relationship with Patricio and raises him with the help and support of Meno,˜ who manages a restaurant and maintains an upper-middle class lifestyle. Candy studies, works and founds her own

62 Tate business, el Instituto de la Belleza Interior (the Institute of Interior Beauty), with Meno’s˜ help and collaboration. Meno˜ essentially becomes a father to Candy and a grandfather to her son. He offers her the unconditional love and support that she never felt from her father, and Candy, in turn, offers him the love and acceptance that Meno˜ did not receive from his brother. At various moments in the telenovela, Candy and Meno˜ have frank conversations about his sexuality and the impact that it had, and continues to have, on his relationship with his family. He explains the long and difficult process of coming to terms with his homosexuality and the pain of the rejection of those dearest to him. He tells her the agony of being told by this brother that he was sick and should get help to cure his problem. But, he tells Candy: “La m´ıa no se cura” (Mine isn’t curable). The realization that what his brother believed to be an illness was actually an inalterable part of who he was, prompted Meno˜ to leave the life that he knew in Mexico City: “Se´ que a los homosexuales en la familia los olvidan, o sea, los matan. Por eso me fui”. (I know that families forget homosexuals, that is, they kill them. That’s why I left.) Meno’s˜ words recall those spoken to him by his brother years earlier and at Candy’s wedding. For the family, he is dead. In the context of Las tontas, these words are meant to be metaphorical. Meno˜ is dead in the sense that Clemente denies his existence. The reality, however, is that violence against homosexuals is a reality in Mexico, and through the use of pathos, the telenovela narrative endorses an attitude of tolerance and censures homophobic attitudes and violence. Meno’s˜ portrayal, like that of Luigi and Gaytan,´ represents a revolu- tionary shift in the portrayal of gay characters in telenovelas in that he is portrayed as openly gay and actively involved with or looking for a romantic partner throughout the course of the telenovela. At one point, Meno˜ has a brief relationship with a younger man who turns out to be a gold-digger who is only using Meno.˜ As is the case with many relationships in the real world and the world of telenovelas, there are successes and failures. While Meno˜ experiences several failures during the course of the telenovela, there is also success that comes in the form of the support of some in his family who share his excitement when things are going well and his disappointment when things do not work out. An important distinguishing feature in the case of Meno˜ is that he has an ex-wife and a son, both of whom are the result of his efforts to conform to a heteronormative lifestyle. His son, Charly, seeks him out after years of being denied access to his father, and he does not initially realize that his father is gay because Meno’s˜ demeanor does not immediately betray his sexuality. Meno˜ does not want for Charly to know that he is gay, and his concern leads to a conversation with Candy about how strangers perceive him. He asks his niece if it is obvious that he is gay, and she responds by assuring him that it is not very obvious, but that he does have certain mannerisms that might raise suspicions. She proceeds to act them out for him, and he is somewhat offended by the mimicry, though he tries to avoid using the same gestures around his son and actively tries to be

63 The Latin Americanist, September 2014 more manly. His approach demonstrates an awareness of the performative nature of gender and sexuality. While acting in a stereotypically manly way does not change Meno’s˜ object-choice, he is aware that a convincing performance will likely impact the way that he is seen and categorized by those who do not know him. Meno’s˜ performance, however, cannot convince Charly after he finds letters and photos of Meno˜ with his long- time companion, Alberto, hidden (appropriately) in his father’s closet. Charly’s initial reaction to the discovery is anger and resentment. He leaves home for a while, but, reinforcing the idea that acceptance and rejection of homosexuals is often determined by generation, he quickly returns, embraces his father and asks to be forgiven for having judged him. Another aspect of the characterization of Meno,˜ as well as Alberto, that stands in contrast to that of the other gay men examined in this study is that both men were married at some point and have children. In Alberto’s case, he never ended his marriage and actually returned to live his last days with his wife. The implication is that he lived a double life – in Mexico City he was a married, family man, and in Guadalajara, he was with Meno.˜ This particular topic of presumably heterosexual men being sexually involved with other men is a topic that is rarely touched in telenovelas, but, according to research carried out in Guadalajara by Joseph Carrier, is far from uncommon (1995). Las tontas includes a third example of this phenomenon in the form of a secret admirer of Meno.˜ Meno˜ discovers that the man who has been sending him letters and gifts is actually married to one of Meno’s˜ friends. In the end, the secret admirer is unable to make a decision between his life with his wife and a relationship with Meno,˜ and Meno˜ is unwilling to betray his friend by becoming involved in an affair with her husband. A clear lesson is that it is not possible to determine someone’s sexuality based on demeanor or even marital status. As is the case with the other telenovelas examined in this study, the most basic lesson is that people should be judged by their character and treatment of others, not by other measures, such as sexual orientation. In La fea, Juan Querendon´ and Las tontas, this message is communicated through the behavior of the characters themselves. The good ones are positive models who treat the gay characters with respect and affection. The good characters’ support functions as a stamp of approval and lends legiti- macy to the feelings and struggles expressed by Luigi, Gaytan,´ Cecilia and Meno.˜ In all three productions, the lessons of tolerance come at intervals throughout the telenovelas as different characters become aware of the gay characters’ sexuality and deal with it in their own way. Meanwhile, the antagonists of the telenovelas are clearly portrayed as negative models whose behavior is always understood to be wrong. They are the only characters to exhibit homophobic tendencies, or at least the only ones who fail to learn the lessons of tolerance repeated in each production. While to date there are no published studies that measure the direct impact of these lessons of tolerance on the viewing public in Mexico, E-E theory and research conducted on the impact of other imbedded

64 Tate pro-social messages in telenovelas suggest that some degree of attitudinal, and perhaps behavioral, adjustment is likely. By being positive models of tolerance, the protagonists of the telenovelas examined here offer an alter- nate paradigm to the viewing public. They implicitly and explicitly censure homophobic attitudes and attacks. At the same time, the gay characters represent a more diverse gay community than has previously been shown in telenovelas and thus challenge longstanding cultural narratives of gender and sexuality. Their confessional monologues, intercalated within the generally comedic texts, standout as moments of high drama that demand the viewers’ attention and promote self-reflection. One of the primary didactic goals of La fea, Juan Querendon´ and Las tontas is to help viewers relate to gay individuals in a tolerant way and to highlight the negative consequences of homophobic attitudes. In spite of the generally comedic tone of these telenovelas, the message is clear: homophobia is no laughing matter.

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