"La Reina Del Sur" Is More of an Cinderella Story Than You May Think

La Reina del Sur is a story about a woman who has to flee her home country because her boyfriend, El Güero, was killed, and she would be next. When she finally escapes Mexico, she ends up in Melilla, Spain, and that is where the story truly begins. As time goes by, she starts to learn more about things that will aid her in her future career. She takes risks, finds love, loses love, but she always finds a way out of her problems. Now, this might not sound like the "typical" cinderella story, and it isn't. But, if you pay close attention, you can see how it has many elements of one. In the beginning, before she met Güero, she is naïve in sense that she didn't know anything about drug trafficking. She was also poor. She worked as a money exchanger in the streets. Anyone that sees Teresa can see that she is naturally very beautiful. El Güero is basically embodies the prince stereotype. He is wealthy due to his drug trafficking business. He is a hunk that isn't too smart, but not dumb either. He also makes mistakes that lead to his untimely death. When Teresa meets El Güero, she goes begins her geographic journey and socioeconomic ascent. El Güero spoils Teresa because he loves her and has the means to do so. In the beginning of the first episode, you get so see their home together. It is very big and beautiful. It is something that she wouldn't have been able to afford before she met him. After he dies, her geographic journey continues when she has to leave Mexico to go to Spain. This is where she meets her future husband Santiago, or as he is mostly referred to as, El Gallego. He teaches her more about drug trafficking, as he is a very good boat pilot. She later uses all that she learned from him to her advantage in her own business.

This telenovela definitely doesn't qualify as a classic cinderella story because it lacks many of the key elements, such as the evil mother in law; however, it definitely has underlying qualities of one.

Comments

  1. Katie MillerOctober 4, 2019 at 8:38 AM

    I couldn't agree more about La Reina del Sur being an unlikely Cinderella story! Before the plot started in the actual telenovela, it was definitely one even more so. A money-changer who probably had a poor background is seduced by a hunk and is shown to be naive around business, combat, and sexuality until Guero teaches her the basics. She learned how to blend in with the upper-class type and talk the talk, and then Guero's possible stupidity (I can't say I've gotten far enough to know the exact details of his death) got him killed. However, when Teresa leaves for Spain, I no longer feel her story resembles a Cinderella story as much. Yes, there's transformation, and yes, Teresa climbs the socioeconomic classes of the crime world, but she changes from a naive, submissive woman to the complete opposite throughout the route of the telenovela! The story becomes one more of independence than anything else, only regressing to that Cinderella story a small bit when Santiago helps her out but still focusing on HER making the decisions.

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  2. Rose BarfieldOctober 7, 2019 at 2:37 PM

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  3. Rose BarfieldOctober 7, 2019 at 2:51 PM

    I can see how you could classify "La Reina del Sur" as a classic Cinderella story telenovela at the beginning of the series. However, I think that the show makes a definite shift from a classic “Rosa” telenovela to something more contemporary as it progresses. As she learns how to navigate the cartel world her naivety and Cinderella nature begin to leave her as she becomes more independent and doesn’t need a prince to be a queen. In this way, I can see a resemblance between the protagonist in my telenovela, Victoria, and Teresa. They were both helpless in the beginning, however, with time and experience, they both learn how to overcome their obstacles and become women who can stand on their own, and in this way is the opposite of a Cinderella story.

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