La Reina Del Sur built around love


Stephanie Cozine 
FYOS Fall 2019 
Dr. Costa Acosta - Alzuru 
Blog Post 2 

Perhaps one of the most dramatic and masterful elements of La Reina Del Sur is Teresa Mendoza’s epic love stories. I can only imagine how much fans devour the love stories within the series. Perhaps the most abundant and obvious love story is between Teresa Mendoza and El Guero. Although we never actually see El Guero in present-time, their love story abides in every episode and has completely overtaken Teresa. Their love entails a subtle version of a Cinderella Story in which a rich drug lord falls in love with a humble, beautiful, and poor woman; however, it is not the “Cinderella” aspect that makes it an epic love story - it is a hybrid of the physicality of their love along with the emotional and inexplicable chemistry. For example, one of the most dominant aspects of an “epic love story” is the physical appearance. Teresa Mendoza along with El Guero and even her new love interest - Santiago - are all objectively attractive. In addition, both El Guero and Santiago have beautiful smiles which is one of the most predominant elements contained in an epic love story. 

Perhaps Theresa and the audience are smitten with the male characters because of their physical appearance. Along with the physicality that the characters possess, the nostalgic and saddened beauty portrayed in Teresa is also highly characteristic of an epic love story. Teresa Mendoza has shown a phenomenal nostalgic beauty that the audience can’t help but fall in love with. When shown with El Guero, Teresa’s past is the driving force behind her nostalgic and saddened beauty. However, her newly found reason to cry is because of the death of her love. When we see Theresa cry, there is a remarkable beauty and pity in her tears that makes the audience connect and love her which adds to the epic love story Theresa has with both El Guero and Santiago. 

The chemistry is so strong between Teresa and her love interests. Teresa and El Guero shared a chemistry that is both different and similar to Santiago’s, nevertheless, the epic love story is still present. The sexual relationship that we see between Theresa and El Guero and Theresa and Santiago definitely has a large impact on the chemistry within the epic love story. However, there are subtle moments in which the chemistry is built that swoons the audience. For example, Theresa and Santiago share these small moments where they make intimate eye contact that builds chemistry. They also have arguments that creates an inexplicable tension that also builds the chemistry in the epic love story. Both of the stories between Teresa and her lovers contain romantic elements. Their stories are exciting and invite a strong feeling of chemistry that the audience can’t help but fall in love with. The obstacles are also very present between Santiago and Teresa which helps build their chemistry. 

Finally, the epic love story revolves around the emotions of the audience. It amazes me how a show can dictate the feelings, the mood, the way a person feels just because the audience is so deeply consumed by a love story. Although the love story is fake and fantasy, the epic love story creates the realistic presence that absorbs the audience and the plot. The love stories in La Reina Del Sur would not be epic if they did not have such a strong impact on the audience.  


Comments

  1. Natalie NavarreteSeptember 29, 2019 at 2:04 PM

    I was also very impressed with the way that the love stories are built throughout “La Reina del Sur.” I think you are completely right about the juxtaposition of Teresa and Santiago’s arguments creating the tension needed to really make the subsequent love scenes even more powerful for the audience. In addition, Teresa’s relationship with el Guero, even after his death, is such a key part of the telenovela’s storyline and I am curious to see how these flashbacks will change in terms of their frequency as she finds new love or as they are replaced by images of Santiago. Even though I agree that Teresa and her lovers are all very attractive, I think that Teresa actually strays from the typical nostalgic beauty a little more than other leading ladies in telenovelas. Something that I really like about Teresa is that she isn’t the traditional damsel in distress both in her actions and her appearance. She is very strong and the makeup that she wears is natural to show that she is ready to work and fight for herself. I think that this is a really interesting portrayal as it adds to the analysis that Ibsen Martinez made in “Romancing the Globe,” about how telenovelas give audiences a character that they can connect to through their struggles. Having Teresa be a more modern and independent woman makes this escape more accessible to women today and I think that's why this telenovela was so successful.

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  2. Chidinma OgbukaOctober 6, 2019 at 6:48 AM

    Your connection between the story of Cinderella and Theresa and El Guero's love story is actually very relevant to the structure of traditional telenovelas. It shows that despite the telenovela being one whose plot isn't centered around love, it still possess traditional elements of a telenovela love story. Theresa was swept off her feet from a seemingly hard life as a street money changer into the arms of her Guero except, unlike the original Cinderella, Theresa finds a new love interest. Moreover, I also agree with the fact that Theresa does love hard which is why I was so confused as to how she was able to move on from Guero. I honestly thought she was going to be stuck in a state of heartbreak for a considerably long amount of time considering the manner of his death and her deep love for him. However, it is understandable that she needed to move on so she could actually begin her new life in Spain on a clean slate.

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