There’s a love-hate relationship that takes place between protagonists in every telenovela. If you’re a regular viewer, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Usually the star crossed lovers don’t know anything about each other at the beginning. They may even detest each other. All of a sudden a series of events take place (either very rapidly or very slowly, depending on the production), and the pair end up falling in love. They live blissfully for an episode or two… iluego, all hell breaks lose!
From one moment to the next the lovers can’t stand each other. They take turns crying and lamenting over what could have been, and in the case of Ana Brenda Contreras and Daniel Arenas in Corazón Indomable they subsequently engage in a flirtatious back and forth that results in what can only be described as television magic. At least magic in the form of extraordinary ratings for Spanish-language network Univision – the giant of Spanish-language entertainment in the US.
In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re big fans of Corazón Indomable at our house. Even Anjelica, who normally would retire to another room when I would watch my telenovelas, is hooked. In fact, she’s way more hooked on this one than I am. That either means we’re starting to really rub off on each other, or this Mexican soap opera is just that good! Okay, so it’s the latter.
I wouldn’t normally praise a telenovela this gratuitously. Bueno… yes I would! Even so, this show is really a breath of fresh air. At a moment when beauty queens and former underwear models (sorri William Levy) are being cast as lead characters in primetime soaps without much regard for their actual acting chops, one can really appreciate a good script, excellent acting skills, and a cast of characters that are more than one or two dimensional. No es por nada, pero my paisana Ana Brenda is the best thing that has happened to Televisa in a long time!
Y bueno, while I understand William Levy may be nice to look at. That has to get old after a while, no? Well, doesn’t it? You don’t have to answer if you’d rather plea the fifth. I usually do so when people ask me the same thing about JLO.
In the meantime, let me go find tonight’s episode of the novela… porque, ¡me la perdí!
