Moscow-based Western journalists marveled at the power of this dated Mexican series to bring the Russian nation to a standstill. It was a Cinderella tale, with Castro playing a pure-hearted maid who works for a rich family. The purity of the long-suffering lower classes and the hope of redemption in the form of social mobility were constants in traditional Mexican telenovelas, which in turn mirrored the national government's ideology. Televisa was the state's most effective agitprop vehicle. And perhaps this explains why, despite their decidedly simple production values, telenovelas have captivated audiences in more than 100 nations.
People feel screwed in much of today's world, after all.
I've invited myself over for dinner to get the scoop from some Colombian friends who live in my building. On the screen, Mauricio's sister is calling their mother a whore. Being the staple of prime-time TV programming, telenovelas attract more male viewers than U.S. daytime soaps do. My grandmother would be most shocked by the fact that it was Se ora Roman, not her husband, who strayed from the marital bed with her younger male assistant. Her husband, Santiago, is a vulnerable mess, at least for a couple of episodes, until a young woman named Gabriela makes a move and they fall madly in love.