"La Reina del Sur" Across Borders

As I near the end of “La Reina del Sur” I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the impact that this telenovela has had on me and changed my perspective in many ways. I was never an avid viewer of telenovelas before I started watching “La Reina del Sur” because I was frustrated with the damsel in distress trope that seemed to be ingrained into every story created. Teresa has broken through that glass ceiling for me as her love stories become subplots to her rise to power as an independent woman. “La Reina del Sur” showed me that telenovelas can be more than entertainment and can be a means of empowering women across the globe with stories that show that women have the power to take control of and better their own lives.

This realization made me more interested in the production of “La Reina del Sur,” which belongs to a unique group of telenovelas in that it is a U.S. production. This fact is not directly obvious simply by viewing the telenovela as the show is shot on location in Morocco, Mexico, Spain, and Colombia (Alban, 2011). Having these different and distant locations does, however, indicate that this telenovela does not fit the traditional mold as it breaks barriers of nationality and language throughout the story. I believe that it is this international setting and plot that made “La Reina del Sur” such a successful telenovela both in Latin America and the US.

Univision, with headquarters in Hialeah, Florida, started the transition in the U.S. to having original content created rather than simply purchasing telenovelas from other countries. Its success is unmatched by other established broadcasting networks like the CW whose hit show “90219” was topped by the premiere of “Eva Luna” (Davila, 2013). “La Reina del Sur” has been no exception to this success, averaging 4.2 million viewers, the most in Telemundo’s history (Baysinger, 2018). This success is tied to the relatability of Teresa’s story as explained by the universality of the story of the struggling woman discussed in my previous post (Hamburger, 2009). At the same time, these stories have had such great success in the United States because they can connect with such a diverse population hungry for these dramatic and fast-paced stories. The U.S. “is now home to more Hispanics than any country but Mexico,” making it the perfect location to have a new production hub for telenovelas (Davila, 2013). I think that telenovelas have been particularly successful in the U.S. because the Hispanic audience they are appealing to is even more connected to the story of overcoming extreme adversity as they have done so themselves as they deal with the struggles of being first, second, or even third-generation immigrants. Teresa, for example, has to deal with many of the same problems that an immigrant in the U.S. does as she is discriminated against for being a “sudaca” and has to overcome language barriers found in Spanish colloquialisms and idioms. “La Reina del Sur” shows Hispanic viewers in America that they are not alone in their troubles. 

Understanding this success, makes it all the more difficult to see how this vibrant and empowering media was virtually eliminated in Venezuela. In fact, “La Reina del Sur,” specifically was banned in Venezuela, supposedly, because of the violence, it portrayed. This means that while generations in Mexico, the U.S., and more can learn and grow with Teresa, Venezuelans have been kept from this incredible media. In fact, censorship and self-censorship have hit non-traditional telenovelas the hardest because of the social criticisms they portrayed that the Chavez government felt threatened by (Acosta-Alzuru, 2013). The limiting of this media stifles the expression of the experiences facing the Venezuelan people, leaving them with nowhere to turn for comfort in one of the darkest times in their history.

Overall, telenovelas are clearly an important part of Hispanic identity no matter what country they are produced, filmed, or viewed in. They serve as a coping method and a means of unification for their audiences. Therefore, it is easy to see how they have risen to dominate television across the globe and saddening to see how certain groups are being denied access to this sensation. 

  

Work Cited

Acosta-Alzuru, Carolina. “Melodrama, Reality and Crisis: The Government–Media Relationship in Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution.” International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 17, no. 3, 2013, pp. 209–226., doi:10.1177/1367877913488462.

Alban, Michelle. “Telemundo's Epic Original Production La Reina Del Sur Delivers Highest Premiere Ratings in Network History.” Telemundo's Epic Original Production La Reina Del Sur Delivers Highest Premiere Ratings in Network History | Business Wire, 1 Mar. 2011, www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110301007684/en/Telemundo%E2%80%99s-Epic-Original-Production-La-Reina-Del.

Baysinger, Tim. “Telemundo's 'La Reina Del Sur' Draws 4.2M Viewers, Highest Rating in Network History.” Broadcasting & Cable, 31 May 2011, www.broadcastingcable.com/news/telemundos-la-reina-del-sur-draws-42m-viewers-highest-rating-network-history-38005.

Davila, Ruth E. “Drama Fiends.” Hispanic Executives, 2013. 

Hamburger, Esther. “Drugs, Thugs and Divas by Oswald Hugo Benavides.” The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, vol. 14, no. 1, 2009, pp. 4–6., doi:10.1111/j.1935-4940.2009.01045_13.x.