Friday, December 14, 2012

Today's Video: Telenovelas for Change

Several days ago Bolivian president Evo Morales blasted Facebook and telenovelas for "harming" the country's youth.

"I've recently noticed something that is harming our students: the telenovelas.  They have the right to watch them but we cannot have telenovelas air all afternoon, all night, and throughout the morning," said Morales.

It's debatable as to whether or not Morales is correct about the influence of telenovelas on young people.  But there have been occasions when these programs have led to social change such as in Argentina where one telenovela helped identify a child put up for illegal adoption during the "Dirty War" period.  In Brazil, meanwhile, televised soap operas were credited by researchers with lowering fertility rates.       

The following video is the first part of a documentary that analyzed Nicraguan telenovela "Sexto Sentido" ("Sixth Sense").  The popular hit program tackled serious issues such as domestic violence and homosexuality, and the documentary showed how the writers, actors and viewers grappled with these controversial themes:


We'll be back on Monday to examine several news stories from around the Americas.

Video Source - YouTube via user puntosnicaragua

Online Sources - Diario ABC Color, The Latin Americanist

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