La Duda                                                                           

Mexico. TV Azteca. 10/21/02 – 3/21/03

USA. Azteca America. 1/13/02 – 6/19/03

 

These commentaries in English about the novela were posted on the www.telenovela-world.com web site and provide so much insight into the development of the plot and characters that we have collected them. They provide a superb supplement to the official novela summaries.  We thank the viewers for their wonderful analyses. 

You may distribute the information freely but must credit this Web site www.telenovela-world.com and the authors,

The Chemistry is missing...... Author: JALINNE Date:   01-15-03 13:31 PST

     Silvia Navarro is a great actress, but she needs someone like Sergio whatshimslastname or leonardo Garcia...who are more powerful in the screen....i hope Omar Hemerlos gets better.

     Me too, I hope Omar gets better...Author: Janet Date:   01-16-03 09:02 PST

     ...in the meantime, I'm looking forward to Pedro Sicard showing up...

     ..

 

Does everyone agree that  Author: JALINNE Date:   01-17-03 13:31 PST

     omar gemerlos character is too stupid...he lets everyone manipulate him..his mom, dad, grandmom and that girl.

      Yes - with regards to manipulation...Author: Janet  Date:   01-17-03 14:45 PST

     Gabriel is typically suffering from "wimpy galán syndrome." I'm afraid it will get worse before it gets better, but with any luck he'll get over it before the end of the novela. If he ends up with even half the strength of character that Victoria has, then he'll be okay.

      Yes - with regards to manipulation... Author: Daniela Date:   01-18-03 01:24 PST

          Yes, but thats is his character in the novela letting his mom, dad, and grandma manipulate him.

              Hi Daniela - nice to see another poster here...Author: Janet Date:   01-21-03 12:24 PST

              I agree we'll probably see Gabriel manipulated by his family for awhile, but with any luck he's starting to rebel and will eventually learn to think more for himself.

           Re: Yes - with regards to manipulation...Author: JALINNE Date:   01-18-03 08:57 PST

          THANKS FOR THE PHASE "WHIMPY-GALAN-SYNDROME".....IT WILL COM IN HANDY.

 

 

Gabriel or Arturo?  Author: Janet  Date:   01-27-03 13:26 PST

     C’mon, who would you pick? Already Victoria seems to have more in common with Arturo even though they just met, and he treats her with a kindness I haven’t seen in Gabriel. Arturo seems intelligent, kind (even in his hour of sorrow), mature, and rather attractive; Gabriel would be lucky if Victoria still gives him the time of day after meeting Arturo. If I were Victoria, the choice would be easy!

      ARTURO  Author: JALINNE  Date:   01-28-03 13:16 PST

     ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!

          Ooh what a difficult decision...NOT ;) Author: Jayde Date:   02-03-03 15:27 PST

          I keep meaning to pop in on the gang here but with diapies to change and boxes to (still...) unpack and deadlines to meet I just never seem to get to do more here than read. Ha-rumph!

     Hey Janet, you are so right on (as usual, Manita!) and even though I'm a couple months ahead of you it STILL seems that way. Omar's getting his footing as a galan at least and now seems a bit more comfortable in his role. However, I am still in favor of Gabriel having some sort of deadly freak accident (surely at the mine, no less, eh?), leaving Victoria to mourn the love that she and he never fulfilled yet available to give her entire heart to Arturo (swoooon). DH thinks they should kill both of 'em off and bring Sergio on so there can be some *serious* chemistry. I guess you and I aren't the only ones still mourning CSM, lol.

     The gang behind La Duda have sure given us some fun twists and turns, and as always every character has something to offer. I get a kick out of Adolfo's facial expressionsm, Elvira truly defines determined...and brings all those dark shadows back to the name. and (Janet, I'm sure you know the spoilers) Mario and Azucena turn out to be really worth watching. Las Urracas are always good for a gigle too. I completely adore Luis and Graciela (LD's almost-but-not-quite version of Daniela and Harold on the cute-o-meter?) and lately we've had some nifty special additions including Alejandro Lukini and Carolina Car-whoseewatsit --aka "Crazy Tilde" (from CSM) and, I just about dropped my jaw when on Friday night I saw none other than DANIELA SPANIC!!! It will be interesting to see which side she lands on. I got down on my knees and said a prayer of thanks since I can't abide watching Gaby on "La Venganza" (pardon me a momentito...barf, barf, barf) and at least I get a Spanic-fix for a while. Has Graciela's aunt joined the show yet? I really like her too, she's a hoot. My cheers to the writers, producers and actors of La Duda for giving me something delicious and enjoyable to watch.

     Janet, since you seem to be up on the chisme, have you heard anything about Mirada de Mujer II? I live in vain hope that they'll put it on at the 9pm hour after LD so I won't be subjected to any more little versions of Yahir, Fredi, and whatever else La Academia throws at me. I thought they were supposed to start filming it in February and the thought of losing Victoria and Arturo kills me.

          A mining accident, no less!! Author: Janet  Date:   02-04-03 22:48 PST

          Jayde -I’ve been hoping you’d drop by! Ummm, I don’t think Graciela’s aunt has shown up yet. Just so you know where I am, I’ll mention the highlights of tonight’s episode, which happened to be a really good one! Teresa’s in town, and decides it’s up to her to put Victoria in her place and hustles her bad self down to that restaurant or whatever it is, and confronts Victoria and her manager and tries to get her fired - it was so funny to see Victoria take charge of the situation with her whole “my poor godmother, está loca” bit...and pathetic Valentina has put her mantrap eyes on Arturo when she saw him in Gabriel’s office, but we know who he has eyes for, since he admitted to Jacinta that he thinks he’s in love with Victoria (which reminds me - I love some of the nice little finishing touches given to Jacinta’s character, such as when she tries, with a bit of trepidation, to memorize directions to locations in the big, bad city)... And when that cute little boy with leg braces suddenly gets very ill, Arturo has the chance come to the rescue and show his concern by fronting the cash for the prohibitively expensive but desperately needed therapy...and at the end of the episode, he’s talking with Victoria and about to admit to her why he did this...sigh... I love that little move he does when he takes off his glasses...and I’ll agree with you, Graciela and Luis are a very cute couple, and I look forward to seeing how they get involved in the story, though I still really miss Daniela and Harold... What’s funny is that Azucena bugged me to no end when she first appeared, but already I’ve become quite fond of her; there’s something reassuring about her chatterbox-y, well-meaning cluelessness... and I’m still waiting to see how Mario’s going to fit into the big picture - it would be great to see him, a sort of downtrodden everyman, do something heroic. And Alejandro Lukini - the name escapes me, was that Jeremy? It will be fun to see him and ‘Tilde when the show up. By the way, I heard about Daniela Spanic joining the cast - how’s she doing? Believe it or not, I’ve managed to remain relatively spoiler-free, but I don’t mind knowing little tidbits such as cast additions...

     What with all this CSM talk, I have to mention I finally saw Rodrigo Abed in his “La Mentira” special appearance in the first two eps - he did not disappoint, as I thought he was excellent there. I only hope I have the opportunity to see him in something good again soon...

     By the way, I know nothing about Mirada de Mujer II, except what either george or Kevin may have posted - I think of them as the telenovela-world Azteca guys... We’ll see what happens with the Azteca timeslot circus. I’m afraid we’re still stuck with the L’Academia kids, but I heard that Azteca’s panicking a bit, because Televisa finally came up with a reality show that’s even more exploitative, and generating higher ratings (at least in its estreno), than Azteca’s Academia... I think it’s that Codigo Fama thing, where they’re going to take a bunch of kids, put them through Televisa acting/singing/dancing school and then star them in a kiddie novela - I remember they were advertising auditions when I was in Oaxaca last November... But speaking of “reality” programming and novelas, didn’t Azteca just start taping a novela starring Yahir? Sort of scary, except the one thing that has me curious as that the actor who was Gian Carlo in CSM is also supposed to be in it... Heavens I’ll be glad when all this reality TV fad stuff is over; it’s bad enough that Azteca used “ex-alumnos da la primera generacion de l’Academia” to do the theme song for La Duda; I thought the Sin Bandera - CSM connection was much better...

     Back to the topic at hand, La Duda, and its excellent cast. Right now, it’ the only novela I regularly watch in realtime (I’m also completely into La Otra and La Mentira, but due to times being shown, have to time-shift - looks like I’m on a “La” novela streak). I’ll be right there with you (well, two months behind) when they finally take Arturo and Victoria away from us. Such a dreamy boy, such great chemistry, and Silvia as Victoria still surprises me with her talent. She and Azteca seem to have a good relationship, as they’ve done well by her, and she has done worlds for Azteca, but I read in an interview that her dream is to be in Almodovar films - who knows? In the meantime, I’ll be watching and enjoying La Duda...

 

Daniela Spanic in La Duda, MM2 update, and other news.... Author: george  Date:   02-08-03 22:23 PST

     Well, regarding Daniela Spanic, in Mexico, she has been brought in to LA DUDA to play the role of a psicology therapist-similar to the one seen in Cuando Seas Mia where Sergio Basanez gets sidetracked and tangles his relationship with Paloma even more.

From what I have read, Daniela Spanic has been waiting for a long time to act in a novela. She has done scenes with her sister where they needed a double , but never has been offered an acting role. So for the last 3 years she has dedicated herself to the world of modeling-and is very thankful to TvAzteca for giving her this opportunity and she promises she will give it her best.

     As for the fate of our novela LA DUDA, it is very heavily rumored on the internet that it will end March 21, and not expected to go all the way out to July (similar to CSM length). Sadly , it has not reached the levels of public acceptance (ratings) that TvAzteca had hoped for and even with the superstar power appeal of Silvia Navarro and a great cast , it has not done well. Apparently one of the major factors of its problems was that the storylines were too similar to Televisa's 2002 megahit EL MANANTIAL, and the writers could not steer it another way, and they had no choice ,but to continue with it and tweak as much as they could along the way. Also, TvAzteca is fed up with the lawsuits that came their way from Televisa's legal department accusing them of copying their novela. Also, Silvia Navarro did not seem to have alot of onscreen chemistry with lead "inexperienced" actor Omar Germenos, thus making it somehow diffficult for them to bond in the novela. I guess we are just very used to seeing Silvia Navarro with Sergio Basanez being together and after seeing their great novelas like CATALINA Y SEBASTIAN, LA CALLE DE LAS NOVIAS, and the megahit CUANDO SEAS MIA, we just cant seem to see her with anybody else.

     On a great sidenote TvAzteca executives dont see LA DUDA as a failure- they see it as a moderate success, as LA DUDA has raised their ratings for that timeslot considerably since the days of the novela POR TI, which was its predeccesor. POR TI really never got out of its slump and with so many changes in its storylines- it turned off alot of its public.And just a personal note here: "I still cant believe TvAzteca last year yanked the novela AGUA Y ACEITE from the air due to its low ratings". The following novela POR TI never did any better and they did not do nothing, furthermore this confirms alot of suspicions that the real reason AGUA Y ACEITE was pulled is because of the storyline where one the characters plays a media mogul that has heavy ties with drug trafficking and corruption. They were very scared with similarities and freaked out and immediately ordered the storylines changes or ,if not changed, taken off the air...... [other news]

 

Ultimas Semanas Author: Jayde  Date:   03-08-03 16:18 PST

     Well dang it, I just started getting back into posting here and the Mother of All Colds has gripped the family firmly. When I'm not down hacking my lungs out I'm nursing everyone else back to health. When I was a girl I'd read about Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton with such admiration and I thought they must've been so cool and on top of things...to me they were like Super Hero Chicks/Energizer Bunnies who just could have walked through fire with their super powers. Now of course I realize that they must have been dead on their feet and I can so appreciate the work they did! I have such a deeper respect for them and for those who take care of others when they're dragging themselves just barely along!

     Anywhoo, La Duda is now in its Ultimas Semanas on Azteca 13 and SO much has happened, they certainly have continued to throw some great curves at me. While there is at least one character I thought I would love who I am not feeling very fond about now, I'm more surprised at so many characters I really disliked (or downright hated) that I love right now. They've also thrown in some cute side storylines and can we expect anything less than loads of tension? The one time I would probably devour spoilers and I don't have a single one!

     I feel that Omar is finally living up to his potential right now and it's so sad that it's come towards the end :( This last week he has stolen my heart, not because Gabriel is necessarily tugging on it but because I can see Omar actually being Gabriel and for once there is no separation. I see what the writers envisioned him to be and dang is he cool! I can give Azteca the nod for hiring amazingly talented actors; for simplicity's sake I'll just name the characters: Teresa, Jacinta, Karla, Luis (who sadly they haven't had enough of him lately for me!) and of course Elvira's understated evil is amazing. Adolfo still takes the cake for me because Sergio de B just can act like a dream. I adore all of his little looks and comments and his "Mamita Querida"s kill me! Pedro Sicard's "Arturo" is everything a galan should be (such bad luck for pobre Omar!!) and I am so glad that Azteca's given him such a meaty role where he's not just playing the shallow chick magnet. I am looking forward to seeing him in the leading role really soon. And the "other guys" who seem so secondary but truly make up the show: Ernesto, Juanita, Luchita, Gilberto and Wilbur, Chepo and Graciela. I have to say that while I think that it's good that La Duda's coming to a natural end, I can't see how they could extend it more without making it annoying, I will truly miss this show. Maybe not quite the ache in my heart that I experienced at the end of CSM, but I will dearly miss these characters. My only hope is that the actors will be back soon in other Azteca shows.

     Already?  Author: Janet   Date:   03-11-03 13:48 PST

     First of all, I apologize for horribly neglecting this forum! I got all wrapped up in the end of La Otra (and am in fact still writing summaries), am having fun with Cazando, and on top of that, my cat’s recovering from surgery, I’m trying to capture a new image for Jaula, and I have two extra-curricular web projects I’m supposed to be completing evenings after my regular day job! So it’s a shame that I haven’t made time to post more, since this is currently one of my favorite novelas…

     Well, Jayde, one good thing is that those of us watching on Azteca America are about two months behind the TV Azteca broadcast you satellite types get, so once you’ve gotten to say goodbye to the La Duda gang, Silvia, Pedro, and all the others will linger another eight weeks on my television…

     In your posts, you’ve been so good about dropping just enough hints to make me curious, but considerate enough not to spoil the novela for me… I can’t wait to see if Gabriel, or at least Omar, grows on me a bit… Here’s where I am in the novela with the AA broadcast: as of last night, Adolfo was in Jabba the Hut mode – you know, with the neck brace, sunglasses, bald head and jowl look? He’s recovering from that odd car accident where Julian tried to mow him down. It’s rather fun and scary to see Sergio de Bustamente do a rather over-the-top villain; he seems to just relish almost every moment of that type of existence. I say “almost” because there have been just one or two lovely moments where I saw that façade start to crack… There was one tiny moment, a bit earlier in the novela, where Adolfo had a tiny flash of pain cross his face when he realized he’d lost Gabriel, that he’d turned away from him… And then there was that nightmare that Adolfo had, of his mother trying to kill him! At first I used to wonder how on earth Adolfo could be so plain evil, just so plain bad, but as the relationship between his mother and him has unfolded, I could see why – anyone could end up evil and/or insane with her as a mother. Elvira, much smarter and subtler in her evil – now she’s truly scary!

     And now on to Gabriel – right now we’re at the point in the story where he and Victoria, supposedly for real this time, are going to get married; but in the meantime Karla’s starting to pester him, and Gabriel’s also decided he has to deal with getting his mother out of jail… and last night upon finding Arturo outside of the delegacion, Gabriel hit him! Grrrrr – nobody hits my sweet Arturo! And this is as good a point as any for me to discuss the problem of Gabriel… For me, it’s still true that Omar as Gabriel has very little chemistry with Silvia… but you’ve got to admit, it doesn’t help that whenever Gabriel and Victoria start to kiss, that darn Academia kids song starts playing! They really need a better theme, and I hope the novela cuts back on the song and instead gives us a nice little theme by the incidental music composer… But let’s face it; this type of galán is tricky to play for many actors – honestly, I truly think it can’t be easy to play a young man who’s in love but rather naïve, prone to little macho fits of jealousy, yet so blind to the evil machinations of his family, and too focused on himself to even begin to understand what Victoria’s going through…. I have to say that early on I did laugh a bit at Gabriel, especially that time in the first or second week when he was walking in a park during his search for Victoria in the big city, and for some reason he got mad and threw down his cell phone and stomped on it! Best case of novela cell phone abuse ever! There are times when Gabriel has a bit too much of the “spoiled child throwing a tantrum” about him for my taste… And it doesn’t help that, though typical, he gets so proprietary about Victoria whenever Arturo shows up. That macho posturing is what Victoria least needs at this point, given all she’s gone through. And typically, he exhibits a complete lack of ability when it comes to extricating himself from the whiles of a lecherous young woman – first Valentina, and now Karla… And now for my last complaint (I promise, at least for now! :-) ) about Gabriel – in spite of loving her, Gabriel seems to have so little understanding of what Victoria’s been through…maybe it’s unrealistic to expect that he’d understand at this point, given where Gabriel is in his life – still young, innocent, ready to fight the world (or maybe his family), but intact in that he hasn’t suffered true loss… or maybe I should be amazed that the poor boy isn’t a complete mess, given the family he grew up in…whereas Arturo….

     Ahhh, Arturo! Is it that obvious that he’s my favorite? He’s one of those “if only” boys, the biggest “if only” being “if only Victoria hadn’t fallen in love with Gabriel first”; because in every other way he seems perfect for her! There is definitely chemistry (between the actors and the characters) – and even Victoria realizes this, as wasn’t there a scene back in the little town, when Arturo offered to leave, and Victoria admitted she didn’t want him to go? And I’ve seen more tenderness and longing in the few times Arturo has touched Victoria – a grasp of the hand, a hug, a caress of her hair – than in all the times I’ve seen Gabriel kiss Victoria or have his arm around her…Arturo admires and loves the qualities he saw in Victoria from the beginning – her compassion (as he met her right when his father died, and she was all concern and consideration), her talent (does anyone else remember that Victoria is a talented silverwork artist?), her strength, her passion, her vulnerability… As an outsider, Arturo has better perspective on Gabriel’s family, and can see what a danger they present for Victoria. He’s never doubted her, and having recently suffered a great loss in his life (having lost his father, who he loved dearly), he actually has an inkling of how wounded and fragile Victoria is beneath that strong exterior…

     And speaking of Victoria, all I can say is that I’ve seen very few novela actresses who could have handled the complex portrayal I see Silvia giving of this strong, sensitive, warm, spirited young woman who has been violated to her very core! And just when I start to question the story, because Victoria seems to be handling things too well, that broken part of herself reveals itself and she’s overwhelmed by all that she’s been through, that she hasn’t been dealing with the aftermath of having been violated. Those brittle points in the story, which I think have been handled well, were when Victoria relives the trauma and comes to the realization that she can’t “be” with Gabriel… when she goes off and hides after she and Gabriel have gone off together…when her only way to deal with her sense of being violated was to think that she’s pregnant (which from the start of that little sidetrip, I was pretty sure was a red herring)… and I was so glad to see her finally seek out the doctor, and then break down in the office telling her she’d been raped. Last night’s episode ended, I believe, with Silvia decided to join a group counseling session. All of this has been so draining, to see in a novela storyline, but I am so glad it’s been handled this way, because it just makes me angry when rape is handled badly in so many novelas – that sometimes they give the message that the girl is partly to blame, or, even worse, that it’s passed off as part of a romance! Ack, I didn’t mean to get so worked up… but if the novela’s going to delve into such a dark subject, I can only say I’m glad that the writers haven’t ruined it so far, and I’m doubly glad that such a talented and sensitive actress is handling the nuances of this type of portrayal so well.

     But speaking of scary, we’ve been left in suspense with regards to Julian… Everyone seems to have think he’s died, but I’m afraid from what little I’ve seen, we’re going to have a Son of Swamp Thing on our hands…

     This post is already way too long, but I still wanted to touch on some of the other characters – I just hope after all this time I manage not to get any names wrong… Luis and Graciela – those two are starting to get really cute together (as if they weren’t already). I absolutely love Jacinta! And as for Luchita, still very charming and down to earth, I don’t know how she manages it – Wilbur is still in the specialist hospital, and there was a very touching scene w/Luchita, Wilbur, Jacinta, and Victoria, where the poor boy is starting to lose faith in ever being cured. But what was interesting is that even that scene served a purpose plotwise, in that I think that’s what gave Victoria the determination to finally seek help… As for Teresa? Ay, that woman… what was so great about last night, is that Arturo’s lawyer friend finally said what I’d been thinking: “that woman needs psychological help!” How often have you seen someone in a novela with pathologically evil behavior, and wondered why no one suggested treatment or analysis? And poor Mario! Still stuck in bed, without the ability to speak, being subjected to the ministrations and cluelessness of his wife - what a funny, curious couple as in spite of it all there seems to be affection there...Oh, and Graciela’s aunt finally showed up and gave those town gossips a talking to… and Victoria’s grandma, with wedding dress, is on the scene now, though given her state of health I suspect she might not make it through the novela…

     I really have to go now, and please, no “real” spoilers; but will Victoria start to find a little piece of mind, taking some time to heal and find her own strength, perhaps using her artistic talents and once again start creating jewelry? I really hope so; I think she needs a little bit of breather space after all this trauma, and besides, that might just put her smack in the middle of working some with Arturo… But if it's not to be, if Arturor ever gets over Victoria maybe he could give me a call - you never know! :)

 

Re: Already? Author: Jayde Date:   03-13-03 15:07 PST

     I will make this short and I promise (at least I hope) that I won't ruin any of the storyline. I will tell you that Victoria will be using her incredible talent in the future, although the writers sometimes focus more on her personal life than on her talent than I would like...but it does come to something. You'll love it.

     Keep thinking along the lines of the Son of Swamp Thing (love that title for him!) for Julian. I am shutting up, I am shutting up, I am shutting up. <clink> there, I've thrown away the key.

     JABBA THE HUT!!!! ROTFLMAO! I love it! He also reminded me of Darth Vader when they took his helmet off, except that Darth was a little cuter. Jabba is SO right-on for him with that neck brace and wrinkly-flabby head and I swear (in the immortal words of Dave Barry: I am NOT making this up)that there was one scene that he put his little pinkie against his mouth like Mike Myers did as Doctor Evil in the "Austin Powers" movie. Classic! Perhaps he's gunning for a role in the next film?

I am SO glad that you're thinking all the same things I am about Adolfo. Sergio de B has blown me away in this, he has me alternately creeped out and laughing my buns off. The interaction with him and Saby (as Elvira) is excellent. She is so subtle but every time she yanks those reigns...

     Ahhh, now you're getting to the interesting part with Mario and Azucena. She is still just as annoying and chatterbox-y and STUPID as ever but there's something between the poor, bedridden Mario and the desperate Azucena that really glued me to their scenes. It only gets better in the next few weeks. And (I don't think I'm spoiling anything) there's a scene coming up where Elvira is really, really creepy to the duo about her role in this. Just one little action and she just came across as eee-vil. One of the few times where to me she didn't seem like a simple manipulative granny type, but the truly evil bruja that she is.

     Ha ha ha ha....Gabriel and his cell-phone stomp! That was a classic, wasn't it? And here he is, searching the city for his true love and there's Mirna just lurking around, seemingly ready to pounce on him at the opportune moment. She seems so sweet, but I keep wanting to yell at her to find someone else to ogle.

     Glad Karla's annoying you too, she is the bad guy the show needed all along. Valentina couldn't compare to her, IMHO. Just watch as la Familia Torres Ledesma gets their claws into her. Keep your eye on her, she's so bad she's fun to watch.

 

Victoria's explanation - it almost makes sense... Author: Janet Date:   03-19-03 23:19 PST

     I had been wondering for the life of me, ever since La Duda started, why on earth Victoria loves Gabriel, when it seems so clear that Arturo would be so much better as a love interest... But recently, it started to make sense. Right after one of Gabriel's fits of jealousy (I sort of get the feeling that he too sees that Arturo would be perfect for Victoria), Victoria explains it to him, saying (this is my own paraphrasing of what I remember) "do you know what I see, when I look from your point of view? In Arturo I see a wonderful man, an attractive, loyal, honorable friend a good person, and in Victoria, I see a woman, who in spite of all this wonderful qualities in Arturo, and in spite of Gabriel himself, is in love with Gabriel..." I thought that it was wonderful that Victoria could see that she wasn't blind to Arturo's qualities, but that she loved Gabriel. As they say, you can't command the heart...

     Of course, looks like Gabriel is messing up royally as of late, though... first, all those outrageous fits of jealousy will be a self-fulfilling if he's not carefull.. and leave it to a truly villainous woman like Karla to get him drunk, unconscious, and undressed in her apartment... that boy is in trouble now...

     no, it's just novela-land  Author: dd Date:   03-20-03 20:53 PST

     In novela-land, the good men almost never win the heroine (unless the real "hero" has a contract dispute and gets kicked out).

     The logic of novela writers seems to be that women should love "bad" men (unfaithful men, distrusting men, weak men) and that good men can expect nothing but heartache.

     I happen to think this is a really sick philosophy.

     Diane

 

Things are getting good…last night’s episode was my favorite to date… Author: Janet

Date:   03-26-03 15:57 PST

     …And that’s probably because Victoria and Arturo ALMOST kissed… sigh… What was great was the conversation leading up to that moment. Arturo didn’t confront her with self-centered, childish recriminations and fits of jealousy (remind you of anyone? name beginning with “G”?), nor did he this time treat her as if she were made of glass, but instead talked openly and unguardedly to her as if she were a fully grown person responsible for her own actions – he pointed out that her problem was NOT that everyone was trying to solve her problems for her, and not letting her live her life, but that she was trying to take on everyone else’s problems and solve them! Her grandma trying to get the mine back from Adolfo and Elvira? Grandma’s problem. Gabriel struggling against his family? Gabriel’s problem. Even Arturo himself, being in love with Victoria and trying to resign himself to “just friends”? His problem, not hers. She just needs to be herself, to do what it is she needs to do in life to fulfill who she is. Isn’t she an artist? Well, then, work at her art! That’s all she needs to do, not avoid it by trying to solve everyone else’s problems. This seemed to come through so clearly to Victoria, to lift her out of all the mire of problems in which she’d become entrenched, that it was almost as if she had an epiphany! They were truly about to kiss, and it wasn’t a matter of Arturo pressing her and Victoria being reluctant, but rather the two of them sharing this wonderful moment of lightness…Of course, they were interrupted by Jacinta coming into the room… but I was happy to see that after saying goodbye, Arturo left in such an elevated mood. It was such a wonderful moment…

     And on to less wonderful things – that Karla sure is a piece of work! She certainly knows how to improvise and seize an opportunity and work it to her advantage. A prime example is all that business with the compromising photos, and knowing just how to bring the rest of Gabriel’s family into it, knowing when to play innocent victim, and when to challenge Gabriel as an adversary. At first I was incredibly annoyed that Gabriel somehow couldn’t fire her, but now that I see that by her opposition she might help him develop a backbone, I’m starting to be glad she’s around. Confrontational banter between the two of them might actually get interesting!

     Ah, Gabriel… what an idiot boy he is sometimes. No wonder Arturo is finally gaining some ground. I just couldn’t believe that Gabriel thought there was a way he could excuse himself and think that he could convince Victoria that he was tricked into a compromising situation – does he really think that saying “what happened was I felt bad for Karla when I saw her boyfriend treating her badly, so I gave her a ride home…and then she got me to have a couple of drinks with her and the next thing I know I’m waking up with her naked on top of me” would somehow make things any better? Even if he convinced Victoria that no real sex or even kissing on his part was involved, does it speak that well of him that he got so drunk that a woman could get naked with him and he wouldn’t even know it? Forget all those public service type novela storylines on Televisa novelas where someone gets stinking drunk and either beats on someone or ends up in the hospital – I think Gabriel’s behavior would make a much better cautionary advertisement against alcohol excess…

     I guess it’s right after Christmas and nearly New Year’s in the novela… and poor Mario is still not 100%. However, it looked like last night he was faking it a bit, and went back to that “completely out of it” look on his face when Azucena let in Victoria’s grandma to talk to him. I had thought she was a nice woman, but when she told Mario she would get him the best of medical treatment and therapy IF he would tell her who shot him, I was floored! If she has the means, why wouldn’t she offer him help now and then wait to see if he’d talk later? It just seems cruel to withhold help…

     And who’s the feisty gray-headed hobbit woman, who seemed intent on leading all the villagers into Victoria’s workshop when the mine was closed? I couldn’t believe many of the men were carrying sticks – it was almost as if I were watching the villagers in Transylvania going after Dr. Frankenstein and his creature! That did seem a bit much, but Victoria’s response was great, as she stood up to them and pointed out how ridiculous their posture was, as she asked them individually whether they planned on going after her… a tense moment all the same…

    

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what will happen next…it really would be nice to see Victoria and Arturo at least get a few more lovely bonding moments before Gabriel comes to his senses…

          Luna23 – I watched Monday’s episode…  Author: Janet   Date:   04-02-03 15:18 PST

          and I saw that part you were referring to, where Julian asked how his kid was. If I remember, I think a while back someone must have let it leak to him that Victoria thought she was pregnant – in fact, that could have been part of the reason the guys went after him – but since he was out of commission for awhile, when everyone thought he had died in the mine, he hadn’t heard the development that Victoria wasn’t really pregnant. But it looks like we’ve got a development on our hands, since we just got the news that Carla is pregnant… I wonder how that will affect things? You’re right, that sometimes a lot happens in one episode. For instance, we just had that two-month time jump! I guess that was so that we could see that Carla is pregnant, the girls got haircuts (and Jacinta a new look), that Gabriel is working away in his family’s business, that Victoria seems to be doing relatively well with her silver artisan workshop, and that Arturo is helping her and does seem to be getting closer to her (kiss the boy already!)… But the best part was seeing that we have a new character in town, Pablito? – well, whatever the cute doctor’s name is... He looks great here; it will be fun to see how he fits into the storyline…

 

 

La Duda Characters: Midterm Report Card Author: Janet Date:   05-02-03 17:51 PDT

     So much has been happening lately in this novela, that I figured it’s time to take stock. This novela is not perfect, but lately it’s one of my favorites – me tiene clavada a la pantalla! I’m a week behind in my tapes, but all the same, I figured it might be a good time to look at what makes this novela good, and also mention where I think there’s room for improvement.

     First and foremost, it’s the acting and the characters! The acting is one thing that almost always makes the Azteca novelas a cut above…so to look at just some of La Duda’s characters:

     Mario and Azucena: I confess – at the start of the novela, I rather liked Mario; but I had no idea this character would evolve from henpecked accountant/lawyer/whatever, somewhat professionally stymied by his association with Adolfo, to a man willing to play for high stakes as he hides under the persona and robes of a slightly lunatic, charismatic evangelical gold-chained preacher! Wow – he’s been great! And finally, a use for those annoying church lady biddies – they were actually funny when they became disciples of Mario. And as for Mario’s wife, poor Azucena… poor Mario! She is still so consistently stupid and annoying, yet she still has my sympathy. She really is trying to do what she thinks is best for Mario and herself (well, sometimes just for herself), in spite of being so unequivocally wrong most of the time. Mario’s not an idiot, so I rather like the twist that it’s his wife, and his basic good nature and continued love for her in spite of her faults, that is his worst enemy, rather than Elvira or Adolfo. For me it makes the story more interesting. I love this odd couple, and the unpredictability of their actions: Mario and Azucena get a B+.

     Valentina: Does anyone remember Mario and Azucena’s daughter? Me neither; it’s as if she dropped off the face of the earth. I think she’s in New York, but that might as well be Mars as far as this novela is concerned. She was sort of interesting, but ineffective as any sort of villain. She gets a W (withdrawal) due to too many absences.

     Julian: At the beginning of the novela, Julian was just so over-the-top creepy, violent, and morally bankrupt, and I had a hard time understanding what on earth motivated him. I couldn’t get a handle on him, but now Victor Gonzalez seems to have settled nicely into the role But these days he seems to vacillate between creepy villain and comic buffoon, (something similar happened with Luis Felipe Tovar’s “Miguel” character in Cuando Seas Mia). Recently he tends to make me laugh, but then I remember that he’s capable of such ruthless violence. By the way, what’s up with the decorated eye patches? Too funny! The one he wears most frequently seems to be decorated to match his cowskin cowboy boots. And Julian has succeeded in making me feel sorry for Karla – looks like she’s cursed with “The Lowlife Houseguest Who Wouldn’t Leave!!!” – talk about scary… Well, Julian gets a B–, mostly because I still can’t figure out his motivation.

     Karla: Now she’s an interesting villain, blessed with the powers of persuasion and the ability turn a phrase on a dime. It’s easy to see how characters such as Gabriel and Victoria can get tripped up by her, because Karla really is a bit smarter and a more talented improviser than your average chica. However, she’s playing a dangerous game – she’s very good at what she does, but I’m afraid Elvira might get the best of her. What also makes Karla interesting are her moments of vulnerability – the odd, edgy conversations with her ex-boyfriend, the wrenching phone conversation with her estranged mom, the mixed feelings about her pregnancy, even if she is turning it to her advantage right now… Hints of complexity and depth in this character have been dropped to tantalize the viewer – I just hope she keeps going along the same vein, with that hard edge, but odd shards of vulnerability underneath, and that the writers will through us a few more clues showing us how she got to be the person she is now. Though I’m worried about whether she’ll maintain this grade for the full semester, at least at midterm Karla gets an A–.

     Elvira: This woman holds her cards close. I like that the actress plays a character of such overwhelming evil with some subtlety (hard to carry off when you’re playing a cold-blooded, murdering granny, but Saby Kamalich is a talented actress). The main problem with her character is that it’s obvious that she’s at the root (both figuratively, and genealogically) of all the evil in this novela, but we haven’t been given a clue as to what truly motivates her or shaped her into this person. Did something horrible happen in her past? Was she just born plain evil? At this phase in her life, is it really still all about amoral greed? I’ll have to go with a split decision here, and give the actress a B, but the writers a C– (and I’m being generous towards the writers)…

     Adolfo: I love to see a villain who relishes the role he’s assigned himself in life. Adolfo enjoys seeing the fruits of his labor, and I love to see how he stays so infuriatingly calm when he’s pushed everyone else to the breaking point. What’s interesting about Adolfo is seeing how much he enjoys exercising his power, and then realizing that the one place in life in which he is almost completely ineffectual is with his family. His relationship with his mother Elvira is a complete trip – on the one hand, sometimes I think he does everything he does because he wants to win her approval, and then I remember his nightmare in which his mother murdered him (now THAT’S a dream that’s not hard to analyze J )… And his wife, Teresa? The few times he’s momentarily let his guard down and acted as if he had an ounce of affection for her, she ridiculed him. And I’m pretty sure there was the shadow of a fleeting expression of pain across his face in a moment that Adolfo realized his son Gabriel wanted nothing to do with him. Adolfo could have just been a cartoon (and sometimes is) but I think we’ve been given more – I’m giving Adolfo an A.

     Teresa: I really disliked this character at the beginning, but she’s both grown, and grown on me, in the interim. At first she seemed rather dense, but now I just think she’s a fatalist. She’s always so transparent anymore, and throws a bit of unpredictability into the mix. It’s always good to have someone rather amoral who’s likely to turn on the other villains. Teresa gets a C+.

     Jacinta: The somewhat standard provincial mother-substitute roll, but this character is played with grace and the writers and actress haven’t patronized the character, which sadly happens all too often with working-class village women in domestic service in novelas. In real life I’d love to meet someone as classy as Jacinta. She gets a solid B.

     Agatha (RIP): Is that really her name? I just never could tell… This character had mixed motivations, which made her rather interesting. As Victoria’s grandma, at first I thought she was being brought in as “family” who would move heaven and earth to defend her granddaughter, but I soon learned she wasn’t above using less than scrupulous means to reach her ends. I never was able to decide whether I really liked her or not, but there was definitely something scary about all those close-ups of her lying prone in a hospital bed – we got way too many shots with camera angles straight up her nostrils, which, as my sister commented when she saw me watching this novela, were unnaturally dark inside and extremely large…Agatha was interesting, but never completely gelled for me – thus, a C+.

     Luis: I’m actually looking forward to seeing more of him. He started out as a bit of a country bumpkin, but his good nature, loyalty, and clumsy charm won me over. Now that the new artist has come to town and hypnotized all the men (for the life of me I can’t remember her name, but it’s ‘Crazy Matilde’ from CSM), including Luis, it will be interesting to see what happens. And I still don’t think they’ve ever completely cleared up the mystery surrounding his parentage (unless I blinked and missed something). B.

     Graciela: I happened to spend a few idle moments tuned in to “Como en el Cine” and then I realized the actress played a schoolgirl in that novela! She sure is growing up, and the makeover she got in the middle of “La Duda” definitely confirmed that! She’s a rather enjoyable, charming character; I hope she’ll be given a little something more to do in this story – a weakness of La Duda is that although there are wonderfully scripted and acted scenes, and these scenes can cover quite an emotional range, the overall story could use a few more plot developments and complications, or perhaps a little bit more dramatic tension. I think a bit more of a “counter story” or side plot with Graciela could help – I think the actress would be up to the job if given the chance. For Graciela, so far the character gets an A-, while her plot lines get a C, with room for improvement.

     Arturo: Such a well-written, well-acted character, that sometimes I think Pedro Sicard is almost doing too good a job! He definitely serves as catalyst for the story, both because he is a rival for Victoria’s love, and because he enters the story as an outsider. This character is at a perfect point in his life for shaking things up and adding dramatic tension – he’s returned home after an extended time abroad, is suddenly confronted with the death of his father whom he loved very much (apparently his only close relative), and at this vulnerable moment meets the woman of his dreams (and that she had a connection to his father didn’t hurt), and then finds himself in the position of agitating the waters of small-town life, longtime familial resentments, and entrenched power. It certainly doesn’t hurt his case that he’s so attentive, considerate, and truly sympathetic and understanding, and that he’s managed to spark a bit of chemistry with Victoria…I’m giving Arturo an A, but I’ll admit I’m a bit biased…

     Gabriel: At first this moody galán was difficult to understand; he just seemed petulant, unsympathetic, a bit dense, and too often consumed by jealousy to even begin to understand the suffering his family had caused in Victoria’s life. He often seemed awkward, and it seemed to be a major flaw in the novela that Gabriel and Victoria (or is that Omar and Silvia) had very little romantic chemistry – which in other novelas can carry flawed romance a long ways. It also didn’t help that the novela’s story didn’t give the viewer much time to see a romance develop, but was supposed to accept it as a given when the novela started. But lately, I have to admit I am at least finally feeling some sympathy for Gabriel – now it’s easy to see that this poor boy, at times very gentle and kind, is struggling with the inheritance of his parents – with his mother an alcoholic, it’s no wonder Gabriel has problems when he starts drinking… and though his violent temper outbursts seem somewhat incongruous with his gentle nature, they’re not surprising given how violent his father is. It’s amazing Gabriel managed to grow up at all half decently given the house he was raised in; I can only hope he’s able to finally free himself from the horrible yoke that his family is. Gabriel started the term with a C–, but if he keeps improving he might work his way up to a B by the end of the novela.

     Victoria: So is this a case of saving the best for last? A lot is expected of this actress, as pretty much the weight of the novela falls on her shoulders. All I can say is that I think she passes with flying colors. She’s been given difficult, emotional scenes – for example the rape scene early on was difficult, but she treated it seriously, and I ended up feeling that the lingering emotional repercussions and harm this did to her psyche was shown in the subtlety of her acting in later scenes – no way did I end up feeling that it was gratuitous, or that I was being forced to sit through some “TV Afterschool Special” or “Lifetime Movie Cause of the Week” program that was telling us what our societal response or group experience of this event should be…Victoria has been put through difficult situations, but on top of that she’s had to reveal complex, confusing emotions, and I felt she’s been true to character throughout. And every once in a while, there’s a scene, a conversation, or an expression that makes me really glad I’m watching her in this novela… Victoria gets an A – go to the head of the class!

     Well, I’ve sneaked a peak at this week’s tapes, and it looks like we’ve got a few new characters getting into the action – I can’t wait to see how they do…

          I'm alternately ROFL and cheering "Yes, Yes, Yes!" Author: Jayde  Date:   05-03-03 14:15 PDT

          You really do have such talent for stating what I'm thinking, Janet! I'm glad you're seeing all the things I loved and hated about the characters and this show...please don't ever stop watching and sharing because we'll all be at a terrible loss. I hate feeling like a "hit and run" writer since I don't always have time to keep up with all the shows and the foros, hopefully one day I'll have time to commit to more than one show in depth. But in the meantime I'll be happy reading your insights.

     LOL, the first thing I thought of when I saw "Agatha" was NOSTRILS! At the same time that I was watching her on LD I also got to see her without the Twin Tunnels of Doom on "Retrato de Familia" and so I think I balanced her out a little. Perhaps the cameramen and directers were so obsessed with them as a sort of subtle reminder that LD really was about a dark, deep mine full of secrets?

     I'm also glad to see that Mario has grown on you. I guess you really do have to take Azucena along with Mario, although I'd prefer not to have that kinda baggage, if it's all the same. I was just amazed at the chemistry that they generated and anticipated their scenes almost more than anything with Vic and Gabriel (and almost Arturo) in them.

     I know I've seen the actress who plays Karla somewhere before but I can't remember where. She just rocks in this, and I have to say that Karla ended up being one of my favorite characters in this show simply because she was so interesting and brilliantly acted.

     What about Graciela's makeover, huh? One day she's a little puebla girl and the next, va-va-va-voom, with her Frida Tribute 'do, though we called her Jane Jetson. She and Luis certainly deserve more air time but sadly the writers had so much to cover, didn't they?

     It was a pity that Omar got his sea legs so late in the show. I would frequently feel just plain sad that that they didn't have a little more rehearsal time before filming the show (apparently nobody had the pull in LD that they do with Mirada de Mujer...El Regresso -- which, BTW, I saw the first commercial for last week! Looks incredible!) because I kept feeling as the novela went on that

things could have been so much more if Omar had gotten comfy earlier. In some other dimension, Gabriel and Victoria had some serious chemistry!

     I won't babble on and on about how right you pegged these characters, but you did. It's so much more enjoyable to watch (or relive) these shows with friends!

 

I even watched some La Duda tapes on the plane... Author: Janet   Date:   05-18-03 18:08 PDT

     But I'm still behind, so I don’t have a whole lot that’s new to say...

     Alejandro Lukini has only made short appearances so far - I still have at least a week or so’s worth of tapes backlogged (gosh, I’ve got to get that DVD recorder soon!) and I’m pretty sure when I peeked I saw him appearing more...

     Sadly, Agatha and her nostrils have disappeared, as I guess her illness finally got the best of her... nice little trick she did with her will, though - it didn’t seem to create an impossible obstacle for Victoria and Arturo, but I gather her estate/will still isn’t all settled, what with the mine in question.

     And guess who showed up recently? Daniela Spanic in the flesh! It is sort of curious watching her, because obviously when seeing her, it’s like seeing Gaby, but not quite. She seemed a little nervous in her first scenes, but I’m hoping she’ll do okay. I assume that if this is her first novela acting gig, they won’t demand too much of the character, and she’ll be able to carry it off.

     Oh, and I just love your description, Jayde, of Graciela’s make-over - very “Jane Jetson-like!” As for Omar, like you I wish they had given the cast more time to rehearse early on... or perhaps a bit more of the backstory had been written in, so that we could have seen Gabriel and Victoria in some of the early stages of their relationship... I guess Omar started to get comfortable in the role a bit late, but I don’t entirely blame him, as I think his part could have been fleshed out a bit more in the writing...

     I suspect Karla’s about to get even more interesting, as where I am now, it looks like everyone is about to change alliances (some for the second or third time). Teresa has really surprised me too - these days I never know what to expect from her. Oh well, adelante! and I’ll be sure to jot down some more of my thoughts once I’ve caught up..

 

I want a puppy named Noé! (plus bonus “La Duda” content this time – I promise!) Author: Janet  Date:   05-22-03 12:38 PDT

     ......[non-novela chat]

     Hmmm… well, I did finally manage to watch about 4 or 5 days of “La Duda” episodes yesterday, and I’m STILL over two weeks behind on my tapes – vacation always wreaks havoc with my novela-watching schedule :-) …and it doesn’t help that I’m getting into another one – for a romance/crime drama-type novela, I’m finding “Ladrón de Corazones” very well done and I’m enjoying it so far – I didn’t think I was particularly a fan of this subgenre of telenovela (though now that I think of it, a lot of novelas involve crime and romance, but either it’s laughable or done so poorly I never think of it that way – just look at “Vias”). Humberto Zuritas is very good (mmm, I just love him), that cute Manolo boy isn’t half bad, and I’m even liking Lorena Rojas – looks like this will be my 9pm novela, as I must confess, I got bored with Amor y Odio a long time ago…Hmm, where was I? I really did start off by talking about “La Duda” – honestly!

     So to get back to La Duda, I must say that Florenza is an interesting development. I started off quite liking her when she first showed up, as she had that “smart, sorta kooky, but a breath of fresh air” quality about her, and she seemed really open. It was almost funny how Victoria bristled when she first met her, as Victoria really is a bit more provincial and had a hard time understanding that sort of whirlwind, kind of “take charge” outlandish personality and Florenza’s tendency to tease Arturo… And lets face it, Victoria’s life hadn’t been a bed of roses lately so I could understand that her sense of humor had been somewhat depressed! But now it turns out that Florenza really does have a thing for Arturo, and in spite of trying to keep her cool, it’s caused her to act out her jealousy in some peculiar ways – that bit where she interrupted Arturo’s and Victoria’s dinner out the night they got engaged, claiming a sort of business emergency? Totally uncool...it was cute when Florenza spoke English on the phone, though…

     But speaking of Victoria and all she’s gone through: I know we do have to see her suffer a lot, and many might argue that this is common, almost tired stuff in novelas, but all I can say (once again) is that Silvia as Victoria just does it so well. That scene, when she broke down telling Gabriel that she’s going to marry Arturo…just the emotions she conveys, the expressions on her face, the catch in her voice…I absolutely believe her, believe in her, and feel what she’s going through – if Silvia had been an American or British actress and there were any justice in this world, Silvia by now would be doing the sorts of roles in movies that Meryl Streep had early in her career – this may sound strange to say but I can completely see Silvia in something along the lines of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”… but once again I digress… I will admit that when one looks at La Duda’s “bare bones outline” of the story/plot, we’re not treading any new territory with “girl decides to marry the rival of the galán” bit, but the scenes are written and acted so that it makes sense in this context – Victoria isn’t a petulant naïve girl who’s mad at her galán and out of spite or guilt takes up with the “always there” good-looking guy hanging at her sleeve; but a young woman who has suffered so much at the hands of Gabriel’s family, sees that love isn’t always enough as Gabriel doubted her, is immature and petulant, and in spite of seeing how much he does love Victoria, may not even be capable of being an equal partner in a strong, loving relationship because he himself is a victim of his family. Gabriel is trying, but still doesn’t have the emotional resources or enough strength of character… Even in the scene I just mentioned, when Victoria asserts her decision to marry Arturo, Gabriel pleads his case by upbraiding her saying she’s not marrying Arturo for love, but agradecimiento. Whether or not this is true, it just seems like a pathetic way to plead one’s case. But I’m really feeling for Gabriel, his frustration, his powerlessness (and I love when he’s sleeping or when he lowers his eyes – this might sound odd but I think he has such great eyelashes and eyelids)… And speaking of Victoria’s feelings for Arturo – I love that her emotions are complex, rather than completely black and white when it comes to both Arturo and Gabriel. So many novelas take the easy way out, and in “La Duda’s” case I’m not sure if the complexity is due to Silvia’s acting, or just that Azteca “touch” – probably a bit of both. It’s obvious Victoria still in some fashion loves Gabriel, but has probably rightly decided she can’t be with him now because there’s too much pain all around. But all the same, it’s clear she cares for Arturo, definitely trusts him, has a great amistad with him, and is even attracted to him…if at some point in the story Arturo would give her some breathing room, Victoria might actually figure out whether or not she loves him…

     And I’ve really enjoyed Jacinta through all this too – she’s often in the background, but I notice her expressions. Without saying anything, she’s given me the sense that to some extent she’s disapproved of Arturo getting close to Victoria (maybe because she senses that Victoria still has such strong feelings towards Gabriel)…but it was lovely to see her open, gracious apology to Arturo – looks like I didn’t imagine that she had been distancing herself from him…

     Oh, and a minor comment, but I have to say I’ve loved the jewelry that Victoria has worn – and of course this makes complete sense that she would wear gorgeously crafted silver pieces, given that she is a silver artisan…

     And who knew that Azucena and Teresita would end up being drinking buddies? I just love the complicated transformation of Teresa’s attitude towards Azucena…

     And now for Mario…his escape from the manicomio? I’ve seen that kind of thing overdone in other novelas, but his was just great! After the excitement of surprising the attendant, rendering him unconscious with the injection intended for him, and then switching clothes…seeing him nervously trying to make his way out, in a hallway…but then seeing someone approach, so he just crouched down as if he needed to retie his shoelace, in order to escape notice – what a perfect, understated piece of stage business – it’s the little touches! But looks like Elvira was too much for him, as she turned the tables in the mine and turned him into a Mario piñata! That was pretty harsh – I just hope not too many more bodies get stacked up in that mine…

     And Karla hasn’t disappointed! I’m at the that part of the story where Karla has just realized that it’s Elvira’s intention to pretty much cut her out as she asked Karla to name a price for the baby… Karla looks like she may be switching sides, as she just asked for Victoria’s help – I’m really curious to see where that’s going…

     But back to more pleasant things – I loved the scene where Arturo took Victoria out to dinner to celebrate their engagement (he is so good at spur-of-the-moment celebrations – remind me to add that to my “potential novio” checklist). And how nicely Arturo and Victoria’s dinner scenes paralleled the scenes in that same episode of Luis’ and Graciela’s “cena romántica.” Though unfortunately the dinners were also similar in how they were both interrupted by a third party…But back to Silvia and Arturo’s dinner – when he had the engagement ring presented in an orchid (and being in the biz, I’m sure he’s had something picked out for quite a while), it was beautiful but I could also see from her expressions that it also hit Victoria in that moment, the seriousness of this decision she is taking in life…I remember noting that later, in another scene, she even starts fidgeting with the ring… but back to dinner, one thing I love about Arturo is his ability to make Victoria smile and laugh – and how he says that’s thanks enough for any effort he makes to help her, that he can’t help himself but would do anything to see her smile…

     Sheep Shearing & a Posting Frenzy  Author: Jayde  Date:   05-24-03 15:00 PDT

     .........[non-La Duda]

     La Duda...I'm always so afraid to say anything about it because I don't want to ruin it for anyone and I just can't quite remember what order everything went in. I'm glad you're onto Florenza, you have her pegged right and she'll be an interesting player in the episodes to come. Daniela Spanic's character (Blanca?) will also do some interesting things and unfortunately IMO she's another casualty of the writers' freak-out over Silvia's better chemistry with Sicard than Omar. This is what frustrates me about Azteca because, as you will see as the show wraps up, they have access to some brilliant actors and writers (duh, like you didn't already know that) but they really give some meaty work to Karla and she stands up for it. Florenza, too. And ITA about your comments on Teresa, I so hated her at the beginning and then it's like her eyes were opened and while I think she really did/does love Adolfo, it's like she knows he's not capable of separating from his Mamita Querida and that freaks her out! So she tries to totally retake her life and of course she can't get away from la familia Torres Ledesma. And Adolfo, there were some times where you could see that he truly did adore Teresa, and always had in his own sick, twisted way...I mean how sane can you be if you really would bother looking at Amalia when you have the loving Teresa as your wife??? *Digression Moment*** The amateur psychologist in me thinks he was drawn to Amalia because she was calculating and cold like his mother while deep down he really did want to have his life as it could be if he walked away from his Mami and had the life that Teresa offered. Not like she was a perfect, sweet being, but I do think that all those years of living with ice-heart Elvira helped to bring out the Nasty Gene in her. Ahem, digression over. Shhh, don't tell anyone that I actually got to thinking about any of this, I mean, HELLO, it's just a novela, LOL

     I think Silvia's a magnificent actress and I would like to see her do something amazing with her talent. I think she's right, too, in wanting to work for Almodovar, although I know she (and everyone and their brother) is interested in making it in Hollywood, I personally think the Hollywood hype is too over-rated. Now, if Latino writers and producers continue making inroads then the story might be different. (and not just Latinos, but Indian, Chinese and Italian...okay, all MY favorites!) Most of what comes out of there these days is vapid, just my opinion, but I haven't bothered to go to the cinema in years. Wherever I've lived anything worth seeing hasn't been shown in the cinemas in my area anyway so I have to wait for PPV or video all the same! One thing I would really love though, is to see someone from novelas make it big and then actually help all his or her fellow novela actors make it too. I mean, I'm happy that Salma "made it" and all and I certainly don't know her circumstances, but it would seem that she could have a little leverage in helping Mexican talent get hired, yeah?

     Oh dear, I can see I'm really starting to babble about all sorts of things, although I am ever so pleased with myself for actually talking about La Duda just a leetle beetle. Hope you're having fun out on the farm with the sheep. Does she spin her own wool or seel the wool and/or fleeces? I think it would be cool to spin my own wool and dye it naturally, but the work involved - I am such a weenie! All that carding and spinning and boiling and, and, oh I feel weak just thinking about the work. And hey, did I tell you that now we have a rabbit as well? Leave it to dh to go to the little store we have here in the country and come home with a bunny ("Well, they were only $5.00"). And it looks like another dog is trying to adopt us. I can never get over the gorgeous, lovely dogs that people just dump out here in the country. It's so sad and now the vet is teasing us about opening an animal sanctuary...it sure as heck FEELS like it! The little pups are running around the kitchen as I type, chewing on my shoelaces and looking for attention. The best part is jumping up in the middle of typing to run them outside so they can get the hang of doing their, ahem, business on the yukky ground instead of my lovely tile flooring! Aw heck, it's only tile and these guys are adorable so who cares, eh? If I don't have a chance to yap before, have a super holiday weekend!

 

          Jayde: sheep shorn, the hunt begins, and “La Duda” winding down…  Author: Janet Date:   06-03-03 18:37 PDT

     .....[non-novela chat]

     Speaking of scary…wow! I finally watched all of my two-week backlog of La Duda tapes, and am caught up to last night’s episode (at the end of which Karla announced to Gabriel, in Victoria’s and Arturo’s presence, that the baby was not his). I think we’re just about at the end, because they’re in “ultimas semanas” and Azteca America announced that “Enamórate” will be starting June 23rd – Azteca’s been showing lots and LOTS of previews with Yahir, I guess capitalizing on the Academia thing… I’ll probably watch it because what else am I going to do at 7pm while waiting for AA to bring Mirada de Mujer II to the air (you TV Azteca people will get to see it starting next week, right)? There’s very little novela content on AA, so I’ll take what I can get, and besides, you know I want to see all my returning favorites from CSM (and thanks – I knew you’d let me know about CSM alumni appearances, as I don’t really care how many Academia kids end up on the novela). Even though in the previews that Celeste girl looks likeable enough, for some reason every time I see her I keep thinking she’s on the verge of doing some annoyingly coy little action such as sticking the tip of her tongue through her teeth… however, finally last night, they showed a longer preview, and I got to see my beloved GianCarlo yelling at Yahir – ah, now that’s going to be reason enough to catch enamorate! ? I’m still with “ladron de corazones” at 9, as I’m liking it and it just seems well done – Humberto Zuritas is the main motivating factor here, as I think his performance is excellent (and I confess, he grabs me from the moment he says “va a morir igual que su padre” in the opening credits)…

     Now, as for La Duda… so much to like, but I’ll start with a couple of gripes. I realize Azteca was trying to hook viewers, but I have to say they went a bit overboard with the upcoming previews thing – not only at the end of each day’s episode with “mañana en…[DRAMATIC PAUSE]…la duda” and the voiceover questions booming [ECHO...ECHO... ECHO!] over tomorrow’s scenes; but also frequently during commercial breaks, when they show “al regresar”: I have to say these short scenes may be helpful to some and I know Azteca is just trying to get the viewer to stay tuned, but at times they are mini-spoilers and take away some of the dramatic impact…

     Geez, poor Omar, having to spend around a week or so of the novela nearly unconscious – but that’s still a gazillion times better than Jorge Salinas over on “Vias” being chained up on a bed for over a month! <evil grin>!

     And…aaack! aaack! double aaack!! Leaps in time in novelas will be the death of me! I feel I’ve been so devoted, when I watch a novela faithfully night after night, and then one evening am faced with a line of text over some outdoor opening establishing shot saying “xx number of weeks/months/years later”! I somehow think they’ve cheated me out of time with my novela friends! At least “La Duda” has been very gentle with a viewer such as myself, only having a short leap (was it a few months?) in the early-middle of the novela (when I suspect a lot of script changes were implemented), and now as we near the end, we’ve been subjected to only three time jumps, the longest being maybe five or six months. Granted the first time jump of the trio made sense, as it occurred right after the incredible build-up of dramatic tension that led to everyone catching up with each other in the sequence of events that culminated in Gabriel’s supposed death and Adolfo’s arrest (another of those things I think Azteca does so well in their novelas, weaving everyone together towards culminating moments and dramatic peaks) – so much gut-wrenching emotion in Victoria dealing with this, that a bit of a break made dramatic sense. But as for the other time leaps? Maybe necessary, but sometimes I just suspect that it’s because a novela’s being hurried along because it’s just about gran final time…

     And you’re right, I am beginning to suspect that some characters or possible storylines were dropped whether it was because of, as you said, dealing with the overwhelming problem of Pedro having better chemistry with Silvia than Omar had with her, or because the writers were under pressure to change the originally intended story because of plagiarism/copyright lawsuits being threatened by the “El Manatial” writers, or just because based on ratings and upcoming productions, Azteca was still trying to decide how many capitulos the novela would have… Gosh, I feel weird spending my time second-guessing the scriptwriters, and it’s funny to think of the self-contained world of a novela story being influenced by outside factors…all the same I think the writers have still managed to do a fine job with some of the scene writing, and internal conflict and character growth given to some of the (more than capable) actors (more on that later)…But I do wonder what ever happened to Blanca (Daniela Spanic), Mirna, and even Graciela’s mother… And as for Carolina? I would have loved to have met her family (which might have been appropriate around the time her little brother died) because she has such a strange ethereal quality (though maybe it’s just the actress) – and it would have been interesting to see how she acted with people she knew really well… And that goofy incident with Pablo, our little doctorcito? I had always liked him until he got all funny with Gracielita (“me gustas, sorta – let’s get out of this podunk town and shack up in the big city and see if anything happens”)…did I miss something? I think there was a lot more room for that flirtation to develop before he jumped in with that one… but as for that whole love quadrangle, I kept thinking it might have been fun for Carolina and doctor boy to mix it up a little… and I’d really like to see Humberto have a personal life (or at least one I'm privi to), as so far we’ve mostly seen him in his professional capacity…

     Oooh, wouldn’t you know it – I started with my complaints and there’s so much more that’s absolutely great about this novela that I want to comment on… I even have lots of handwritten notes, but I have to go now – I promise, another post with the good stuff very soon!

 

 

Re: Yahir-mania….but I’m a bigger fan of Karla, Florenza, Adolfo, & Elvira!  Author: Janet

Date:   06-06-03 14:07 PDT

     Well, I guess I can see why AA wants to program Enamorate, since they invested so much time showing “La Academia” here, but IT IS unfair, given that they’re still showing “Como en el Cine” in the 8pm time slot – doesn’t that break some novela programming rule, having more than one “novela juvenil” on at the same time? Oh well, like I said in the sheep thread below (and you did read my latest post there, didn’t you, Jayde? Since it looks like we’re about it for the “La Duda” forum these days, I usually write hoping my audience of one will enjoy it:-) ), at least it’s a chance to watch that wonderful GianCarlo (why is it that I can’t remember the actor’s real name?) yell at Yahir…

     Ummm, as for the wrapping up of La Duda – yes, things are getting rather complicated, yet they still manage to keep me on the edge of my seat every night looking forward to the next episode – now that “Cazando un Millonario” has ended, this is currently the novela I most look forward to seeing (I suppose that could be my problem with getting into “Rebeca” – in my world it comes on right after “La Duda” and switching gears is hard! Crrrreeeeek! ) Hey, I know LD’s not perfect but I guess I hold it to a higher standard in some ways, and truth be told I’d be eternally grateful if even half of the novelas being aired had as many good qualities that LD has… I think I will have to pause for a moment of novela mourning when it’s over…

     Karla? Florenza? Adolfo and Mami? Actually there was a bit of almost everyone in last night’s episode (well, I think Florenza was there too, but even for me it’s all starting to jumble together in my head). Actually, last nights’ episode was a recent favorite but for a completely different reason – it’s when Victoria and Margarita where sitting around in the house in DF getting drunk on tequila! Well, Margarita was a bit over the top, but that’s just her, and I loved how she was on the edge of breaking out into song at the least provocation (“y que te importa!”)…and then hung out in Victoria’s bedroom with her, vowing to defend Victoria with what looked like a beautiful walking stick should anyone barge into the bedroom – I’d love to have a Margarita on my side! And as for Victoria being drunk (and I promise I won’t go on about what a great subtle performance Silvia gave, sometimes having that catch in her throat, and her competing emotions just under the surface – something that I think is hard for a lot of actors to portray when playing “drunk”)… I think she’s always trying to be so “in control” that I don’t remember seeing the character tomada or truly borracha before – I just loved how she tried to hide her state when talking to Jacinta on the phone, and though there were a few extremely maudlin moments, I also don’t think I’ve seen Victoria laugh that much (after all, things have been pretty tough for her) which was great… And then Karla coming over, stumbling upon the drunken pair… Karla seemed rather startled but enjoying the scene in front of her – turns out she has a wonderful smile…

     So where was I? As for Karla and Florenza, both of these characters are interesting, and in some ways the characters have taken on roles in the storyline similar to that of Marcia’s in CSM (though I still think Marcia was a consummate character – she was one of the threads that held the end of CSM together, and I was amazed at how I ended up feeling for her)… Florenza’s a bit simpler, in that she let spite and jealousy get the best of her for a while there… To be honest, I really couldn’t believe that she would go to work for Elvira and Adolfo just because she was pissed that Arturo fell for Victoria and not her – I just hate it when obviously intelligent women in novelas are willing to throw their hard-won career advances down the tubes because of love gone wrong… But at least the novela kept us guessing, because for a while there I was in doubt, thinking that perhaps Florenza really was working on her own to try to get something on Adolfo and in the end help Arturo…in fact I think Florenza almost believed it herself. Thank goodness Florenza finally realized that she was in way over her head (when Elvira started making thinly veiled threats, and Florenza ended up having to help hide Adolfo) – she should have known that no one gets the best of Elvira – that is one scary woman! Florenza now seems repentant, and definitely scared; I like how she’s turned to Arturo and Ernesto for help (and returned the documents she stole). Florenza, as a character, has also served in some ways as an interesting foil for Arturo, nicely revealing some of the finer aspects of his character. I like how even when he has problems in his relationship with Victoria, even when he’s been eaten up with jealousy over her attachment to Gabriel, he’s never turned to Florenza as a romantic partner in some fit of spite and immaturity. And I thought it was a nice touch, that he felt loss and sadness when he realized that Florenza had betrayed him, because after all she had been an extremely close friend (and by the same token, he may forgive Florenza but he can’t return to the friendship of before because of this betrayal)…

     Ah, now for Karla…I just love how her complex motivations have kept us guessing… Karla has gone through one of the best gradual character transformations I’ve seen in a while – I don’t know if I can even describe it. She has always been a strong character with definite vulnerabilities, and it’s been nice to see her use her strengths (and accept her vulnerabilities) to become more aware of who she is and what she’s truly looking for. She’s been an interesting link in Gabriel’s journey as well…and if you had told me when Karla first showed up, that I’d see her towards the end hanging out with Victoria as friends, I’d never have believed it…

     And there was a great scene with Adolfo and his mama Elvira last night…when she said to him “las fantasmas te está acabando…” and Adolfo’s remembering how all those years ago it was his mother who shot Santiago, as part of her ambition to get the Guadalupana mine… and then she starts talking to Adolfo, telling him that he’s been the weak link that’s held the family back, that she should have killed him…and then suddenly Adolfo is by himself, calling out, wondering where his mother went… All those scenes when Adolfo seems to be seeing ghosts…Sergio de Bustamente is completely up to these scenes – no circus clown loony bin acts (as seem to happen in other novelas), but a wonderful portrayal of a man whose guilt and insecurities from over the years are finally catching up with him, and/or starting to drive him mad…There are moments I’ve even felt sorry for Adolfo – it must be tough living with the notion that your mother might kill you because you’ve never lived up to her expectations…

     Gosh, and I haven’t even gone into my thoughts on Luchita, Jacinta, and Graciela lately… or how I love that Arturo kicks off his shoes when in his apartment… Guess I’ll just have to write up another post later…

     Author: Jayde  Date:   06-14-03 20:18 PDT

     I have to say once again this is really why I've been *so* quiet when I would usually be yapping my head off. I don't want to ruin any of this delicious novela for anyone. Since it's been a few months now, all the events sort of run together and I tend to see things from the tail end, as it were, and I just don't want to say, "Oh wasn't ____ wonderful!" when it hasn't happened or "It was so terrible when _____" when Jim/Ted/Lisa hasn't died/got into car wreck/eaten a box of chocolate covered ants/none of the above. There are so many twists and turns and unexpected things in LD that I don't want to blow it!

     For me, the happiest twist was seeing Karla evolve and turn her back on her conniving ways. I mean, in most novelas, a bad girl like her would have ended up dead/in the manicomio/poor and begging on the street/in jail. But they wrote this differently and I love it. I was right there with her as she started to question what she was doing and I could just see her thinking things through and deciding that she would either (A) end up dead or (B) have to realize she was wrong in everything she did, 'fess up and trust Victoria to help her out. To me, that is the single best storyline in this show.

     As for Luchita...there was something about Gilberto that I really liked so I was glad to see them get together. NOW, having said that, looking back towards the beginning, when Wilmer was in the hospital, you could just see the writers setting things up for Arturo and Luchita to get together. And honestly, I think that would have been an incredible pairing. They looked great together, the novelaholic in me would have loved to see pobre Luchita with richie Arturo and of course he would have been a fantastic father to Wilmer. If Omar had gotten his butt in gear this could have been a very different novela.

     Adolfo...what can I say about him? Sergio de B belongs in the major leagues, he has so much talent it just oozes from his pores. His eventual tumble from powerful, "in-control" big boss guy to paranoid, hallucinating loony was done so incredibly that I'd love to point some actors in his direction. Talent, talent, talent. And Saby as Elvira, WOW. Although, I have to wonder if Elvira's tears weren't so much for the fact that the house was empty of people to torment....LOL

 

That was odd… Author: Janet Date:   06-11-03 18:18 PDT

     Last night, Azteca America repeated an entire half hour of Monday night’s episode of La Duda – that’s highly unusual, given that ordinarily they pick up almost right where they’ve left off, repeating only about 10 or 15 seconds of the last scene of the previous night’s episode. They also used the original opening credits and song recording right at the beginning of last night's episode (and I had thought I was finally free of that caterwauling song, since the last week or so they’ve been showing the episodes without any opening song – just some credits superimposed on the opening scenes)…I can only assume this fudging around is because AA it trying to work out the timing of the final of the novela. They still haven’t announced the gran final date (which has to be before Enamorate starts), but we are finally in últimos capítulos…

     Well, I’m still very “into” this novela – Elvira has had some wonderful scenes lately. I loved the scene where her eyes started to tear up a bit, when she was walking around her home, realizing it was “vacia” and that there’s no one left… a rare show of emotion from this woman who’s destroyed her family and messed with the lives of so many…and the scene where she seemed to stumble onto Adolfo, who seemed to have made his way back to the house from the mine, and asked his mama to excuse him so he could continue his discussion with Santiago (one of his ghosts)? Only afterwards did I realize that Elvira too is starting to perhaps see her own ghosts, and even then I wasn’t quite sure. I just loved the effect… and it was a bit of a surprise to see her in church a bit later, nice to see these odd moments with some vacilation - they sure add some character shading without converting her into some character that experiences "sudden miraculous novela reformation."

     And now that I’ve mentioned Adolfo seeing ghosts, I must say that I really like this side of Adolfo! Having his dead enemies (some of whom he had a hand in killing) become his companions in his locura is wonderful – and for the most part, handled quite well (I say for the most part, because it really has been well done, sometimes even leaving the viewer guessing, except for that one part when he’s in the mine that was a little over the top – too much ECHO, and lowering the timbre of the voice of one of the ghosts – was it Julian? – it had too much of that “Luuuuke, I am your faaaather…” effect about it for me). What I really like about Adolfo losing touch with reality is that he’s still Adolfo, that he didn’t have a complete personality transplant just because he’s going a bit crazy. Losing it hasn’t instilled fear in him; at times he seems a bit hesitant, but for the most part, he carries on as before, but in a slightly changed reality.

     There is, however, one part of the story that’s been bothering me some lately. To be honest, I never much cared for Gilberto, Luchita’s lost and now found husband. I always thought there was something a bit “uncomfortable” about him, and it turns out my hunch wasn’t wrong, as I had an “aha!” moment when he started receiving phone calls from the “ex-other woman.” I keep wondering if I missed something, because now we’re at the point where he’s come back to the mining town to be with his son and has reconciled with Luchita… but as far as I can tell, he never really straightened things out with the other woman who was trying to extort money from him (wasn’t she supposedly in some other city, such as Veracruz?). Instead, it just seemed as if he ended up spending a couple of weeks, or at least a few days (sometimes novela time is confusing :-) !) hanging out in Arturo’s apartment, where to me he just seemed to be in the way. Well, it’s nice that he and Luchita reconciled, but I really thought that Luchita deserved a more interesting storyline.

     Oh, and I wanted to say that in these past few weeks, I think Omar’s performance as Gabriel has improved quite a bit over what it was in the beginning of the novela. I’m finally starting to understand his difficulties, and sympathize with him in spite of his character flaws (and no, I’m not just saying this because he’s sporting a rather cute “scruffy beard” look). He’s bringing a lot more to the character these days, and in some ways I’m pulling for him even he does have those rather selfish but emotionally raw outbursts…

     For now I’ll admit that some of the emotional pulling back and forth between Victoria and Arturo seems perhaps a tad contrived plot-wise. I would have preferred a few more compelling plot developments that could have complemented the emotional highs and lows (e.g. some sort of conflict or entanglement involving the mine and/or the silver artisan workshop, jewelry stores, or the industry’s association); but for me at least Victoria and Arturo’s missteps ring emotionally true, in great part due to what Silvia and Pedro put into it, and in part due to my seeing some of the psychological elements of the novela (I seriously believe - and yes, I know I'm talking about a novela! - Victoria has incredible abandonment issues, given all the loss she's experience in life, so having Arturo not be there for her really shook her up). I don’t know whether I’m reading too much into it, or whether the writers actually intended these subtle, implied character shadings…well, time to wrap up before tonight’s episode. I still have plenty of thoughts on this one, and hope to get a chance to jot them down over the weekend…

 

The problem of Gabriel…weak, unfaithful galán, or victim of circumstances? Author: Janet  Date:   06-16-03 16:52 PDT

     I’ll grant that this novela did have a violent start –murder, mine explosions, suicide – and all in the first two episodes! Though for me, the most violent scene was when Adolfo (Victoria’s godfather and supposedly future father-in-law) hired Julian to break and enter (wearing a ski mask, I believe), and then rape Victoria - the culminating event in the first week of the novela! Very disturbing, though I did think that “The Powers That Be” and Silvia as an actress did a good job of handling the psychological repercussions of rape as the story went on.. And for some reason I suspect that the incident was pivotal to shaping the story as originally outlined – the rape was a horrific event that Adolfo uses to intimidate Victoria into distancing herself from Gabriel. Victoria then needs for Gabriel to have blind faith in her (as she was so traumatized that at first she couldn’t even tell Gabriel what she went through), but in order to do so, he’d have to completely discredit his father’s version of events, and believe his family capable of such horrendous things. If I remember correctly, Gabriel didn’t discredit Victoria, but on the other hand he hesitated in placing his complete trust in her, the woman he professed to love – thus, the original “duda” that shaped this story. Thank goodness the story didn’t continue to have this level of violence throughout. Things calmed down considerably, though there has been one car crash and a crispy critter, and the mine has since been littered with a few bodies.

     I do not believe that Gabriel was ever technically “unfaithful” to Victoria – I think Gabriel and Victoria slept together once or twice (after a certain amount of time during which Victoria tried to overcome her fears of physical intimacy, which had been brought on by the trauma associated with having been raped). Before and since then, various women were drawn to Gabriel and showed interest and/or tried to snare him (Valentina, Mirna, Karla). Gabriel never showed any real interest in these women, though he did allow them to manipulate appearances. There was one particular instance in which Karla (whose main goal at that point in life was to snare Gabriel because she was attracted to him and wanted to through his family have her share of power and ready cash – as Jayde pointed out, it’s been so refreshing to see Karla come 'round) lured Gabriel to her apartment by preying upon his gallantry, and ended up getting him drunk and undressed, passed out in a compromising position with her. As luck would have it, a jealous ex-boyfriend was spying on her and snapped some photos, which Karla was later able to use to her advantage. Victoria was upset when confronted with this “evidence”; however, when Gabriel tried to explain to her that he was set up and pretty sure (though not completely sure) that he hadn’t had sex with Karla, Victoria, though obviously upset and probably somewhat jealous, said that it wasn’t even so much a question as to whether or not he had sex with Karla, but that he’d let himself be manipulated and allow himself to get so drunk that he doesn’t even know whether or not he had sex, and that he seems incapable of taking responsibility for his own actions (wow - asking a galán to take responsibility for his actions - sounds like a revolutionary concept to me!).

     One thing I do like about this novela is that in spite of what appears to be some “traditional novela setups” when it comes to sex, there isn’t so much focus on the “act” itself, but on the emotional intimacy that sexual relations imply. What I mean to say is that many of the characters are smart enough to understand that sex may be one defining part of an intimate relationship, but don’t focus on one act of sex as the “be-all” and “end-all” defining characteristic of all romantic relationships in the novela (e.g. virgin has sex with a guy who treats her horribly, but you know they’ll be together in the end because that one night of passion has marked them for life – you know what I mean).

     This novela hasn’t obsessed on random acts of sex, but on character and development of relationships overall – which is why I’m pretty sure (though not entirely certain) that Gabriel hasn’t had sex with anyone other than Victoria, and rather inclined to think (though the novela hasn’t presented irrefutable, overly overt proof, though a few scenes leading that way were shown) that Victoria and Arturo’s relationship has a sexual component. But what’s nicer for me is that whether the answers to such questions of detail are yes or no, it’s fine either way.

     Ah, where was I going with this? Oh yes, Gabriel! Is he really that weak and unfaithful a galán? Even though I’m pretty sure that as discussed above, he wasn’t technically unfaithful in the traditional novela sense (which does put him miles ahead of some galáns I could mention), his lack of trust and faith in Victoria when she needed it most from him is a bigger sin in my book. He was way too easily manipulated by his family into doubting her. It’s easy to fault Gabriel for this, because his family’s malevolence seemed so obvious from the get-go to the viewers. On the other hand, being raised by a family like that, who wouldn’t have problems? It’s a miracle Gabriel grew up at all, and I think his attraction to and love for Victoria, which apparently started as friendship in childhood, was as natural as a delicate plant being choked by weeds reaching for the sun.

     But as they say, the sins of the parents are visited on the children, and Gabriel hasn’t completely escaped his family’s influence. For starters, Gabriel was completely unaccustomed to drinking; but the few times he did drink, he ended up drinking to excess and either passing out or acting violent – his aversion to drinking, and inability to handle alcohol when he does drink, seems to be a natural consequence of having grown up with an alcoholic mother. Much of the time Gabriel has seemed exasperatingly passive, but at other times he would have sudden violent outbursts – at a psychological level, this finally made sense for me. Gabriel saw the violent nature of his father (who also seemed to egg his son on to “be a man”) and rejected such a path for himself – but then there are moments when Gabriel felt so powerless that the repressed rage would burst through – I think there were even one or two occasions when he scared Victoria a bit… Gabriel ended up being much more complex than I initially thought; it’s just that he was in no way prepared to be in a grown-up relationship with Victoria, given that his family problems and traumas were overwhelming. Even now, though I have a lot more sympathy for him and his situation, he still seems so frustrated and incapable of acting out emotions in a healthy way that I think that the prognosis for a good relationship with Victoria would still be somewhat in doubt even if Arturo were out of the picture. Well, I doubt I would have given Gabriel this much credit in the beginning of the novela, but Omar’s acting has improved enough to allow for such psychological shading of the character of Gabriel.

     I also suspect other forces are at play in this drastic breaking of telenovela tradition, where it looks like Victoria won’t end up with her original galán, but instead end up with Arturo. I have no way of substantiating these outer forces – boy, I sure would love to be privy to the conversations between the producer and the writers of this novela – but conjecture is that the story was changed from what was originally planned for numerous reasons:

     1) At the start of the novela, Gabriel and Victoria (or Omar and Silvia, depending on your point of view), had so little chemistry that when Arturo showed up it was hardly a fair fight – he was there when Victoria needed someone, and without even trying, whatever spark he generated with Victoria was more than I ever saw between Victoria and Gabriel. This dilemma could partly be the fault of the script as little background was given for Victoria and Gabriel’s relationship, lack of rehearsal time that allowed the couple to establish more chemistry, or possibly Omar’s lack of experience. I don’t think he’s starred in a novela before, while this is Silvia’s fifth starring role, and Pedro Sicard has a rather impressive résumé as well.

     2) Without having a whole lot of heat between the lead couple to rely on, the writers had written themselves into a corner emphasizing Gabriel’s initial shortcomings and letting Arturo be such a charming alternative. The novela started awfully heavy, with little time allowed to show the development of the romance between Gabriel and Victoria.

     3) Indications were that the writers of “El Manantial” tried to sue the producers of “La Duda,” because apparently many of the elements of the beginning of the story of “La Duda” were very similar to those in “El Manantial.” The production staff may have directed the writers to have the story take a different direction than originally intended in order to avoid plagiarism problems. Given that in an interview with Saby Kamilich (the interview was unrelated to the plagiarism issue), she said that she finds it more difficult to work in novelas these days as the writing is ongoing during the filming of many novelas, including this one, it appears there was definitely opportunity to change the story.

     That said, I must say that even if changes in the story probably caused some storylines and characters to be neglected; in some ways I think these likely changes made a more interesting, and possibly better, novela. In the beginning I didn’t care that much about Gabriel; but now that I’ve seen him struggle so hard with his flaws and see where some of them come from, I feel much more compassion for the character. I even think it’s interesting to see that he loves Victoria in his way, but that it’s not enough, that it hasn’t automatically cured him of his character flaws. And that conversation between Victoria and Karla that you mentioned, Diane? I absolutely loved it, that she could find perspective in her life for her relationship with Gabriel and still look upon it with love and affection, but allow for its imperfect nature, its faults, and admit that we grow and change and can still look forward to hope and love in life, that learning from our past experiences will prepare us for greater things to come. Am I getting a little too philosophical for novela-land?<big grin!>

     Well, only a few more episodes – the story has taken some interesting turns, and I’m not even sure if they’ve all been well thought out, given that some characters and ideas have fallen along the wayside…but leave it to an Azteca novela to make the trip interesting. I guess my bias is showing here, but with their novelas, I know I’ll get a chance to see some decent acting, that I’ll get to hang out with characters who I’d love to sit down to coffee with, that I’ll get some great dialogue and scenes even when the novela loses its way a little when it comes to the big picture… Leave it to Azteca to take the traditional novela form, and even if by accident, end up with something entirely different and in my opinion probably better…

 

Tying up loose ends, wrapping things up before the final…  Author: Janet (dgszig019.dgs.ca.gov)

Date:   06-19-03 17:22 PDT

Well, the past 3 or 4 episodes I could definitely tell that we’re working our way to the gran final…

Que descansen en paz:

     Elvira: Well, I knew Elvira was a goner – that much evil is just not going to survive a novela. What’s interesting about her dying is that not that many people seem to know that she was the truly evil force behind the family – does anyone that’s left living know that she had blood on her hands? I loved Saby Kamalich’s performance as Elvira – she really knew how to deliver those subtle digs that through the years must have destroyed her son Adolofo’s ego and probably took away his sanity, and still maintained that thin veneer of “respectable matriarch” in the presence of so many others. The one main problem with Elvira is that we were never given enough of her background or story to truly understand how she ended up being/becoming such an incredibly evil person – I think there was a hint dropped, that before marrying into the family, she had been desperately poor and prostituted herself among the men of the mine (did I hear that right?) – Those circumstances could partly explain her overcompensating greed and desire to vest the family with power, but it’s not really any sort of justification for murder or her complete lack of scruples. Well, at least there was some sort of poetic justice in having her own son kill her…

     Julian: Hmmm, I just thought I’d mention him here because even though he died quite awhile ago, it seems that no one mourned him. Well, I know his father died before him, but did the poor boy grow up without a mother or siblings? not even an aunt? I know he did some pretty horrible things, but it looked like he left the picture early as he had served his purpose in the story – sometimes I miss that naco-baddie and his eye patches. Oh well, at least Adolfo remembers him, as he’s one of his ghosts now…

     Daniel: I thought that it was a really nice touch, that after the bodies were finally recovered from the mine (and that was a little icky, the scene where Luis falls into the old pozo and discovers the bodies), Jacinta grieved anew – an appropriate time to honor him and their friendship, and not overdone…

     Teresa: To quote Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, “I think I’ll miss you most of all…” I loved the change of this character – somehow she went from irritating heartless shrew to likeable lush as she sunk deeper into her alcoholism. It was an interesting twist, in that as she drank more, she seemed to lose her fear for herself. I almost wish she had survived – it’s as if by taking her out of the picture, Gabriel lost his chance at finally having the mother he had hoped for…

Curtain calls:

     And speaking of bodies recovered from the mine, I thought it was decent follow-through that someone asked if they should notify anyone about recovering Mario’s body – and though no one in town seems to know where his family ended up, that was a humorous bit, showing that Azucena locked herself up in a convent and took a vow of silence! Too bad she couldn’t offer up the gift of blessed silence and peace to Mario when he was still alive.

     I was glad there was a bit of resolution with the Florenza story as well – I thought she had traipsed off to Europe, but nice to see that she thought better of it and decided it was time in her life to face up to her mistakes. And what a nice surprise to see that after compromising her career (and stupidly putting herself and others in danger as well) because of jealousy, she has now found a calling within the prison walls, using her legal expertise to help other women who have made mistakes and ended up in prison. I also almost didn’t recognize Florenza at first – finally, a semi-realistic women’s prison scene that didn’t leave me wondering whether the place came equipped with a hairdresser’s shop and a lifetime supply of makeup!

     And just when I was wondering where Carolina was, she shows up in time to take a bullet! I’m glad to see her again, as I liked her character and felt Graciela had been unjust with her… But all these “last minute appearances” do have that whiff of that “hey, the novela’s ending – better gather everyone up” feel about it. Better writing would have allowed the novela to keep tabs on these characters throughout the novela, or would have gracefully written them out with their own diverging storylines when the time was right…

     And speaking of “gracefully written out,” whatever happened to Miss Scientist Thang (Daniela Spanic)? Or cute doctor-in-training (nephew of priest?) who ended up having less than honorable intentions towards Graciela? Both of these characters just seemed to disappear into the fog… I think they both could have added interest and texture to the some of the storylines, but it looks like the characters just up and left town because there wasn’t enough time and/or planning to keep them involved in the novela. To be honest, I think they partly disappeared because one subplot they were involved in, that of activity at the mine apparently poisoning the town’s water supply, seemed to have disappeared as well. I may eat my words if this is addressed in the last episode, but considering all that’s left to be resolved in the gran final, it just doesn’t seem as if there’s enough time; and personally, I think that this particularly story should have been unfolding at the same time ownership of the mine continued to be disputed. At one time, I thought Victoria wasn’t even interested in recovering the mine anymore, precisely because of the burden of providing needed jobs vs. protecting the health of the population (two children have died, likely from the toxic water source). I’m also a bit mixed up on whatever happened to the role of the silver industry association in the novela…

     Honest, I really like a lot about this novela, but it looks like there were some missed opportunities that more careful writing and outlining of some elements of the story could have addressed…just because I hear so much about TV Azteca tinkering with their novelas (and it’s not like they’re the only ones, as the ratings game seems to have heavily influenced the development and/or extension of many other contemporary novelas produced by other companies as well), I just wish to put my two cents in with the hope that novela producers will soon realize the importance of focus and attention to detail when developing and writing stories…

All doubts gone after tonight…

     Well, I’m excited about the gran final tonight…Every thing’s been going along smoothly, and rather peacefully, the last few episodes – the happy couples finally having “couple” time… Chepe and Margarita (those two are a riot!), cute Luis and Graciela, Arturo and Victoria, even Gilberto and Luchita….Aack! Wait! Everything’s too quiet – I guess we forgot about the madman with a gun roaming around town! To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that Sergio de Bustamente is doing such a wonderful job as Adolfo gone over the edge (and of course he was a goner as soon as he shot his querida mama, if not before), I’d be a teensy tinsy bit miffed that they didn’t come up with a more creative way of bringing it all to the inevitable climax, instead of resorting to having him kidnap Wilbur, a kid, after shooting a few people to wound…Well, there is a certain amount of poetic justice and “full circle-ness” about having it all end in the mine… and darn those avances that show what’s happening “manaña en la duda” - please! I want to be surprised, at least a little bit! All the same, I am really looking forward to the gran final and will definitely miss this novela when it’s over….

 

Janet, in a way, I'm sorry about Victoria's choice Author: dd Date:   06-19-03 20:10 PDT

     In at least 90% of the novelas I've seen, I wish the heroine would end up with somebody, anybody, other than the hero. But, based on your analysis a few weeks back, and what I've seen of the novela, in this case I think I could easily have accepted Gabriel's ending up with Victoria. As you pointed out, although he's been weak, it's not easy for a son to accept that his entire family is full of homicidal maniacs. It is, indeed, hard not to feel sorry for Gabriel. And, somehow, (perhaps because I've seen so little of the novela), I find it hard to believe that he has found happiness with Karla.  Diane

Tough call, because the sympathy factor was high these past few weeks… Author: Janet  Date:   06-20-03 18:00 PDT

     But Gabriel was no angel through much of the novela – there were moments when he was extremely cruel to Victoria, or at least said very hurtful things. For a short while he was willing to believe that she had a lover, rather than understand that she had been violently raped right before they were to marry. Even after he understood that, although he was angry and wanted revenge on the rapist (completely understandable), he still didn’t seem to have any insight into the trauma she’d been through. He reacted with extreme jealousy directed at her when he saw Arturo around, and he didn’t completely “get it” that it would take Victoria a while to recover from the trauma, that it interfered with her ability to be intimate.

     Arturo happened to meet Victoria at a moment when both of them were vulnerable – his father (who Victoria had just met, because he was interested in selling her jewelry designs in his stores) had just suffered a heart attack, and Victoria was also dealing with the death of her mother. Victoria was there in the hospital, and comforted Arturo when his father died. Arturo’s father had even mentioned to Arturo that he had wanted him to meet Victoria, because he had a hunch about them…Arturo was incredibly grateful to this relative stranger for her act of kindness, and he also found himself extremely attracted to her as well. Afterwards he tried to seek her out, both to carry out the business his father had started, and also because he knew he wanted her in his life. Arturo, though constantly there, rarely pushed, and even seemed to sense how fragile Victoria was right after being raped and breaking with Gabriel…

     Victoria was always honest with Arturo about still loving Gabriel, and she and Gabriel even got together again for a little while; but the machinations of Gabriel’s family and Karla, that unfortunate incident where Gabriel ended up in a compromising position with Karla, and Gabriel’s own indecisiveness and outbursts led to their separation again. Only at this point did Victoria finally accept Arturo’s presence with the possibility of being open to a romance should it develop (prior to that, Arturo for the most part tried to accept Victoria’s stipulation that their relationship be friendship on her terms).

     Well, a bunch of stuff happened in the middle which I won’t go into here, and Victoria’s and Arturo’s relationship deepened somewhat, given that they also worked together. Victoria was often conflicted, and when everyone thought that Gabriel had died in the fiery car accident, Victoria mourned her loss incredibly. Arturo was respectful and understanding, but after a month or so of Victoria hardly getting out of bed, Arturo confronted her, pointing out to her that she for all intents and purposes was a widow, married to the ghost of Gabriel, and he really just couldn’t deal with it any longer, so he was letting her be… This shook Victoria up, and she started to understand how much she really cared for Arturo and how much she had come to depend on him. One thing I noticed about Arturo is that in some ways he really is good for Victoria in that he understands her so well – he seemed to know when she was fragile and needed to be treated like glass, and when a little honest confrontation might shake her out of herself.

     Well, things were going well for Arturo and Victoria as a couple, until Gabriel reappeared. His disappearance was partly Karla’s fault, but completely understandable as Karla panicked, fearing for Gabriel’s safety as well as that of herself and her not yet born baby – since Elvira and Adolfo were partly responsible for his nearly dying, who knew what they would do? Karla wanted to give him time to recover (he was in pain, and barely conscious for such a long time). But when Gabriel finally did recover enough to be conscious of his situation, he asked that Karla not tell anyone, including Victoria, that he was alive (Karla had been at the point of letting Victoria know). His was an understandable reaction, with mixed motivations, though in hindsight may have been considered a mistake (for a number or reasons).

     Gabriel’s figurative and almost literal return from the dead was problematic – Victoria’s feelings were once again conflicted – how on earth was she supposed to deal with the ghost of her first love come back to life? There was some good dramatic back-and-forth here, with Victoria trying figure things out, Arturo practically despairing, and Gabriel believing the love that was between Victoria and him was still there. From what I saw, one of Gabriel’s problems was that his love wasn’t unconditional, but too insisting and somewhat controlling – he acted as if he felt that because he came back to confront his problems at Victoria’s request, that she owed him her love – but I just don’t think that “love debts” work like that. In addition, Gabriel was still so incredibly insecure and suffering from low self-esteem… There was, however, a nice little scene after he came back showing the dawning of insight, where he realized he wasn’t really capable of pursuing a relationship because he was so damaged and it was as if he were a ghost; that if he were lucky, with time he would be able at least remake his destroyed life and find a place for himself in the world.

     Well, I was pretty sure from about two weeks before the final that Victoria’s and Arturo’s relationship was strong, had grown into a deep love, and that they’d stay together, even though the last episode or two tried to tease the viewers a bit. I think it did make the novela interesting that Victoria and Gabriel didn’t end up together, but it still ended up being a story of struggle, survival, and growth for the two of them as individuals. And it was interesting that TPTB didn’t choose to kill off Gabriel (which could they could have easily done in some confrontation with his father) to make the story resolution easier, but instead made him a sympathetic survivor. I’m not sure that he’s exactly found happiness with Karla, either; and to be honest I think the novela left it vague as to what the status of Karla’s and Gabriel’s relationship is. What is clear is that Gabriel has a strong bond with Karla’s daughter Victoria – from the minute she was born (and reiterated later in a scene in which he confirms that he wants all the shares of the family business to remain in her name) he promised he would be a father to her even knowing from the start that she wasn’t his biological child. I think he sees this fatherless little girl as someone who needs him, and whom he needs as well, because he can give his love and be the father to her that his own father never was to him. I love that Gabriel found a way to selflessly give of his love, and perhaps through selflessly loving and helping this child, finding reasons once again to join the living himself…

   Janet, Yes, yes, yes!  Author: Jayde Date:   06-20-03 18:41 PDT

Now that it's over for ya'll I can finally breathe and not worry about giving any important bits away. You made some extremely important points (see... I can get into novelas and shrines too. How could one NOT love floppy haired bespectacled guys??? Especially when they're Pedro Sicard?!) and were so right on...well maybe I'm saying that because ITA with all you've said. But really, what you said about Gabriel being a "sympathetic survivor" was right on. As I watched the last episode, I was left with such a sadness for what might have been but still felt that the choices made were the right ones and that they were the best for everyone involved. I'd thought at times that Gabriel had gotten very attached to the baby even after Karla repeatedly told him it wasn't his, it was like in his mind "the kid is mine and nobody's going to change that." You can't get guys like that and Karla and Baby will have someone they can count on and that kid's going to have a dad who loves and adores her. That was a nice resolution of that situation, IMO. I thought that Gabriel was going to die in the mine and if that'd happened, I think I would have gotten sincerely ticked off, too simple a way to deal with it. Okay Victoria, he's dead so you don't have to feel badly about marrying Arturo, go in peace my child.  This is one situation where it might have been nice if they'd done "La Duda...3 Years After" or something where we could see how everyone had settled.

 

 


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