Representation of Teresa Mendoza in La Reina del Sur

Representation of Teresa Mendoza in La Reina del Sur


The story of La Reina del Sur told through a telenovela (based off of a novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte) follows Teresa Mendoza as she navigates her life through the drug-trafficking world. Teresa was in love with a pilot that worked for the drug cartel early in the series before he was murdered, then scaring her away from Mexico to escape violence. 
Just from watching the first few episodes, I have struggled to decide what typology the story will fall into. Definitely much closer to “de Ruptura” on a scale, but I have noticed a few characteristics in the protagonist to hint at a subtle Cinderella variation. Yes, Teresa Mendoza is associated with the horrors of the drug trafficking world, and yes, she doesn’t necessarily come across as a perfect person with a sweet and innocent background. There are still clearly many parts to her life that I am missing to make a clear judgement. However, in the few short clips at the beginning of the telenovela, watching Teresa be introduced into the drug trafficking world gives the impression that she is unaware of the implications tied to the cartel. She meets her boyfriend’s colleagues in a shy manner, almost a little scared, then just as she gets comfortable they kill him (Guero) and kill his friends and anyone linked to him and his drugs. With money and fun and luxury comes extreme violence, as Teresa soon learns. She opened up to Guero at one point in a flashback about her differences from “normal girls”, how she can be shy with men and has an issue with trust. These elements give the audience a variation of a Cinderella, or Rosa story. I am very curious to see if the show progresses closer down the line towards de Ruptura, and Teresa properly grows into her skin as a confident individual while balancing her safety and success with such a dark shadow following her.

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