Beyond the Happy Ending… Re-Viewing Female Citizenship within the Mexican Telenovela Industry Eva Lewkowicz PhD 2011 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. 1 | Page COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... 2 | Page Acknowledgements As the saying goes, we are hardest on the ones we love. This study has been a labour of love and by no means should my critique of the Mexican telenovela betray my admiration for this rich cultural form and its industry. I ♥ Mexican telenovelas. As the afternoons wore away over the years, I found great inspiration in the tales of love and betrayal that played out before me — for their passion, their sincerity, and their audacious triumph against all odds... As life began to imitate art, and the convoluted plotlines of my own labour of love entangled, my resolve was secured through the unwavering support of my family. I am forever indebted to you and I hope that you understand my immense gratitude. These thanks are not nearly enough for the blessing that you bring to my life. To my treasured friends, thank you for your continuing support — for listening to my ideas and keeping me sane. Thank god I’ve got you. Thank you so much to my supervisors Dr Michelle Langford, Dr Olivia Khoo and Mr Scott Shaner for your continuing encouragement, insight and patience. I am very grateful for your extraordinary care in helping to make this research what I hoped for. And to José Nayver González Rosales, who always wanted his name in print; thank you for your unwavering assumption that I was more than competent. As I fell in love with these wonderful stories and forged my own, I developed a great respect for those involved in the ongoing triumph of the Mexican telenovela industry. To those writers, directors, producers, scholars and critics who gave me their time and encouragement, I am eternally grateful. Thank you for sharing your passion with mine. And finally, to those loved and unloved women whose triumphs and tragedies haunt the pages of this text — your audacity was my true inspiration. 3 | Page Al pajarito del campo:- Que guíe el camino 4 | Page Introduction The End Beginning: Making the ‘Tidy Nation’ Chapter One The Melodrama of [‘Tidy’] Nation-Construction Chapter Two The ‘Bigger Picture’ ; Plotting a History of Female Mythification Chapter Three Production and Consumption ‘Values’ within the ‘Bigger Picture’ Chapter Four Founding Female Citizenship within the Telenovela Rosa Middle: ‘Breaking’ the ‘Tidy Nation’? Chapter Five The Limitations of Resistance within the Telenovela de Ruptura End: [Money] Making [with] the ‘Unruly Nation’ Chapter Six The ‘Tyranny of the Ratings’ ; ‘Post Romantic’ Narratives within the Teen and Comedic Subgenres Chapter Seven The Melodramatic Downfall ; ‘Disturbing’ the Narrative Formula within the ‘Telenovela de Alteración’ Conclusion Beyond the ‘Happy Ending’? 5 | Page #!$#, F #! , !1/(02 #-"#!$# AE '#"3:'';( "& )&( #"&'%('#" AF ""5' '#"6*'"'< '#" #%!< BD ""! '-"&$*'"' +" "#) C= #)& '#" #%,0'%&#" &# ' CB #*%# #)1%# !'&"'5, '#"6"'&"(%"#$( %', D@ #!&,/!#$!0,##"#!( (## E= &'#% %"'&#! ,''#" E? ()%'.$.)%$ %$() E? The Whore 84 The Virgin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ivalry 201 Transgression 203 8%'").918 *()9%#")/$(& ?>A 5%6%#!' "#) #&4 ?>C 6 | Page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| Page ‘Históricamente la sociedad ha castigado con dureza a sus Mujeres. No les perdonamos a nuestras madres, a nuestras hermanas o a nuestras hijas, lo que si le perdonamos a los hombres de nuestra familia. La sociedad pone encima de la mujer una responsabilidad que no pedimos. Se espera de nosotras sometimiento, abnegación, y la renuncia de los deseos. Porque a un hombre se le ocurrió que la familia, es la base de la sociedad. Y que la mujer es la base de la familia.’ ‘Historically, society has punished its women mercilessly. We don’t forgive our mothers, our sisters or our daughters, what we forgive the men of our family. Society burdens women with a responsibility that we did not ask for. It demands of us submission, abnegation, and the renouncement of our desires. Because it occurred to some man that the family was the basis of society. And that woman is the basis of the family.’ ‘Capadocia’ (Argos Productions 2008) 8 | Page Introduction The End Introduction: The End As Marcia dies in the arms of her true love, she gasps her gratitude to the man she gave her life for. While the pulsating music sweeps to a frantic crescendo, and the blood dries on her ashen face, she explains why she took the bullet meant for him; ‘I did it, I did it all for love. Because I love you, I love you more, more than my own life’. Love conquers all in the Mexican telenovela. Misery, suffering, betrayal; nothing can silence the beat of a loving heart. Its pulse keeps hope alive in the most desperate of circumstances. Its warmth gives comfort to those ravaged by its eternal grasp, unable to relinquish a lover’s scent, touch or taste, despite the insurmountable obstacles standing in the way. Love is an endurance test whose contenders blindly battle over an average 120 episodes to their ultimate triumph; in the arms of their true love. Yet despite this promise, not all who end in their lover’s arms are deemed to be ‘true’ nor is their ending so ‘happy’, as indicated by Marcia’s fate. As discussed with Mexican telenovela professors, critics and scholars in 2007 and 2008, integral to the telenovela love story is hatred and the survival of the fittest. In interview in 2007, telenovela industry executive Laura Sanchez explained that not everyone in the Mexican telenovela has the right to be loved (2007, pers. comm., 8 Feb.).1 Within this serialised soap opera, for a woman to be loved, she must be ‘good’. To be ‘good’, she must exhibit certain qualities. 1 All interviews, television and research material have been translated from the original Spanish by the author. 9 | Page Telenovela executive Hernán Vera clarifies that ‘the telenovela profiles the model of the perfect woman’ such that ‘Woman exists to have children. So to have children she must have a husband. To have a husband, she must be a virgin. When she acquiesces to her husband, it is ‘til death do us part’ (2007, pers. comm., 22