Soap operas have become an endangered species. I recall that every day each of the major networks had soaps that had a loyal following. In the 60s, my two back-to-back favorites were One Life to Live and the cult classic Dark Shadows. Today there are just a few remaining…but, I digress. Unless you watch the telenovelas. Those notorious Spanish language soap operas that are made in Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Mexico. The titles of the soaps range from character names, such as Esmeralda, Rosalinda or exotic titles such as La Pasion de Gavilanes (The Passion of Hawks) or La Mujer del Vendaval (The Woman of the Vendaval). I normally do not watch the hardcore nighttime soaps because they conflict with the other networks. Since January I have been hooked in a particular soap Que Pobres Tan Ricos which has become a wonderful guilty pleasure.
Pictured above are the Menchaka family and their friends: La Guendi, Tizoc, Don Chuy, Perla Ivette, Carmelita and little Emiliano. They live in a "colonia" or neighborhood in Mexico City that is not quite for the wealthy, rather a blue collar neighborhood where the Spanish sounds very uneducated yet colorful. La Guendi, hysterically portrayed by Gloria Zamora, owns a beauty salon. Don Chuy was a professional wrestler, "El Hijo de Sumatra." He now runs a restaurant that his daughter Guadalupe and their friend Carmelita cook for. Guadalupe is portrayed by Zuria Vega- a tough single mom who will do anything to protect her family.
In the above pic you can see the wealthy ones, the Ruizpalacios…Miguelangel, Ana Sofia, daVinci, Frida and Leonardo. Apparently, Miguelangel has been accused falsely of laundering money from the family's publishing company. Their home is taken away and they accompany Miguelangel as he flees from the law. The family claims to move to Italy, but end up in hiding in the Menchaka home. The stories revolve around the mishaps of the rich vs. the working class. Miguelangel is trying to find out how to clear his name and the family must adapt to their new social class. Miguelangel is comically portrayed by Jaime Camil and he seems to have mastered slapstick comedy that works well in this soap.
Mark Tacher portrays Alejo, the villain of the story, who is the one who robbed the money and has accused Miguelangel of the wrongdoing. His attorney, Vilma Teran, is hopelessly in love with Alejo and will do anything to grab his attention.
The villainesses of the piece are wonderfully portrayed by Ingrid Martz, as Minerva Fontanet, and her deliciously wicked mother Isela, portrayed by Raquel Pankowski. These two get into hair brained schemes and malaprops worthy of Lucy and Ethel. Minerva loves Miguelangel, but when he flees, she eventually marries Alejo. Oh, both mother and daughter are nouveau riche and gold diggers extraordinaire.
The soap is midway through its course. Spanish soaps usually have 150-200 episodes and come to a big happy ending. The villains also face their just desserts. This soap also reflects social problems that the world faces: dealing with the elderly with dementia; battle of the social classes; homosexuality; alcoholism. These problems are treated with tact and humor as not to offend.
As stated, watching the Spanish soaps is a guilty pleasure. Entertaining and fabulous even though join-Spanish speakers label them as vehicles for over-acting. But that shows the passion of the Latin! Some Spanish networks have closed captioning in English; worth a viewing even if you do nor speak Spanish.
Zuria Vega (Lupita) and Jaime Camil (Miguelangel)
