When channel surfing in the United States during the middle
of the day, especially in California, you see two things – soap operas in
English and telenovelas in Spanish.
In Panama, you see something similar, but with a completely different
feeling. Panamanians are all about
their telenovelas and missing a night is a cardinal sin.
When arriving in Panama, I tried really hard to ignore the
telenovela. When watching soccer
or baseball at night with my host brothers, at commercials they would turn to
Herrederos del Monte (Heirs of De Monte).
At commercials, I would go into my room and organize. Meaning I would go in, read a bit, then
come back out when the channel would shift anew. Eventually, I became lazy and stopped leaving the room when
they would change the channel.
Eventually, I started watching the telenovela. And then, shortly thereafter, I became hooked. Need proof? I’m about to terrify you.
Herrederos del Monte is about a group of five brothers. Their father died dramatically after
remarrying an evil woman with an evil daughter. Each of the brothers, like in any good telenovela, has their
own relationship drama already, but adding in this new “sister” enhances
everything. The oldest brother,
Juan, had been in a relationship with the daughter of a wealthy family, Julieta,
for years, and they work together at the del Monte horse ranch. The next brother, Pedro, is in love
with Julieta. The next fathered a
child with a married woman, broke up her marriage and continues to sleep with
her, even though he won’t marry her and is adopting her son. Caspar (say that with a Spanish
accent), the next brother down the line, is constantly ruining the relationship
between a woman an her father. Her
father hates the del Monte family, for a long ago wrong, and when they decided
to get married, he forced her to chose between him and her boyfriend. In true telenovela form, she chose her
boyfriend, and now feels terribly.
The main drama in the show, however, happens between
Julieta, Juan and Paula, the evil sister.
Paula decided that she was in love with Juan, and from there, decided to
break up the relationship between Juan and Julieta. She succeeded, until Julieta realized she was pregnant. Cue dramatic music.
Out of necessity – remember that Panama is still a religious
country – Juan and Julieta get married.
Is that the end of it? Of
course not. The night before the
wedding, Paula and Pablo strike a bargain to break up the marriage and take the
half they are in love with. Paula
promises she will seduce Juan, and all Pablo needs to do is show the tape to
Julieta. Juan comes home drunk
from his bachelor party and Paula’s ready in his room, undresses in front of
him and successfully seduces him for Pablo’s camera.
Immediately before the wedding, right before she is to walk
down the aisle, Pablo shows Julieta the video. She is shocked and hurt, but carries through with the
wedding, saying it’s “for the baby”.
She waits a whole episode (these are shown every week night) before
revealing to Juan that she knows.
He promises her it will never happen again, and even kicks Paula and her
mother out of his house. Then,
dramatically, Julieta loses the baby.
She was never truly okay with Juan’s infidelity, and in the
hospital, she tells him she doesn’t want to see him anymore – but not that she
wants a divorce. Instead, she
begins a relationship with Pablo, since he never lied to her. Paula moves right in on Juan.
Drama ensues every night with this show, and trust me, I’m
watching the tamest (and least dramatic) of the telenovelas. The one after has someone dying almost
every night, the one after that has an evil twin and a good twin (how’s that
for a cliché?) and the last telenovela of the night is about human
trafficking. Apparently it’s
really good; too bad it’s past my bedtime.
I can’t wait until I can watch TV in English.
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