Los Ricos Tambien Lloran

  • Posted by osprey on July 27, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    In the U.S. I grew up watching Soap Operas so when I visited Mexico, Baja California, on fishing vacations I would sometimes be treated to Mexico’s Soap Operas called Novellas. My favorite was titled Los Ricos Tambien Lloran, The Rich Also Cry. The title tells you the story, the plot, the players but perhaps not the central cultural slant.

    In thousands of tiny villages all over Mexico you will see television antennae stuck on the roofs of simple shacks; even the poorest Mexicans enjoy the vast array of entertainment options for one little payment to the provider — cartoons, sports, Novellas, news, movies and, of course wrestling and game shows.

    As a fiction writer retired to a small fishing village my perspective has given life to many short pieces about Mexican culture but I rarely speak to the issue of rich versus poor. This Novella does just that and for the very first time I’m drawn further down the cultural rabbit hole to see what Los Ricos was really about.

    I retired early and took the trade-off of living a simple life on Social Security. When I bought this little Mexican house it was almost alone on a bluff above the beach — 20 years later I’m surrounded by splendid homes owned by rich gringo snowbirds. Just like in the Novellas our lives are very different indeed but from time to time they have dangerous or ruinous excesses and misadventures that can’t come my way because I can’t afford them.

    The central themes in many of the TV stories revolve around Who is the father? Whose child is it? Is it love or dalliance? Can the rich couple survive the cheating? Many poor Mexican families cry together because they have no work, no food, no hope, empty bellies, unpaid bills and they must surely love theater that shows the depths of sadness and despair of those who suffer from having too much time, food, booze, drugs, extravagance; plenty of cash and quick credit to fill any conceivable temporary void in their complete fulfillment.

    For Latins, I don’t believe this kind of theater is healthy instruction because, from what I’ve observed, if and when the occasional poor family climbs out of poverty they seem to fit nicely into the characters’ roles in short order to make their very own Novellas.

    miraflores replied 2 years, 6 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • sawdogger

    Member
    July 27, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    I think the soaps up here can be just as bad although probably fewer women up here watch them now as I believe there are more stay at home moms south of the border these days with most women here having to work just make ends meet and pay the mortgage. I remember that it was a strict rule in our house that nobody bother mom when she was busy watching her soaps from noon to 3 every day – LOL!

  • bajabill

    Member
    July 29, 2022 at 10:43 am

    A good friend of ours who owns a restaurant in Ensenada says that soccer and soap operas are the two main reasons why Mexico hasn’t progressed farther.

    • miraflores

      Member
      July 29, 2022 at 10:46 am

      My husband always said the same thing. People get glued to TV and stopped paying attention to what is going on in real world.

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