Soap operas seem to be a part of every culture, but the soap operas made in Spanish-speaking countries (most notably Mexico and Venezuela) span the globe. These soaps are repeated in countries all over the world, such as Romania, Russia, Thailand, and China. Let's investigate what makes these soap operas so popular.
First of all, unlike American soap operas, the Spanish soap operas only last a short time. They are usually shown one hour every weekday for two or three months. Almost all of them have a definite ending (although they often leave it up to your imagination as to what is going to happen next). After the soap is over, another takes its place. One of the fun things about watching several soaps is figuring out which part each actor or actress played in a previous novela. One actor may be the villian in one soap opera and come back in another soap opera as the hero. This shows the flexibility (or lack of) of the artists.
Another reason that Spanish soap operas are popular is the univeral themes. There are several themes that are usually apparent in soap operas and sometimes more than one appear in each novela. Perhaps the most popular theme deals with social ranking. In many novelas, a poor girl falls in love with a rich guy and they have to overcome the obstacles placed by family and society. Luckily, the writers have developed many different ways for this to happen! Another theme that appears often in the novelas is a family business falling apart. Then, the characters have to discover some way to make it work again. Another theme that appears often is a missing family member. Sometimes it is an orphan looking for his/her missing parents, yet other times it is a parent looking for a missing child. Revenge is another theme that pops up in many soap operas. This also takes many forms. Sometimes it is revenge for love gone wrong, death of an innocent person, or jealousy. Another theme, that pops up in telenovelas that drives the viewers crazy is the hero/heroine trying to decide to tell someone "the truth." It seems that many of the situations would be resolved if they would just talk to the person(s) that they are in conflict with!
Now that we've looked at why the telenovelas are so popular, let's look at some reasons to watch them. Perhaps the most obvious reason is pure entertainment value. Soap operas seem to break the tedium of the weekday, as many people hurry home to watch their favorite novela. It also provides a topic of conversation or discussion. It almost seems like you can tell a little about an individual's personality by his or her favorite characters and their opinions on how situation's should be handled.
