I find myself watching Mexican Soaps despite the fact that i have quit them over and over again. When i am not obsessive about them, i do find myself entangled in the drama. For starters, they are all over our TV stations. For a while, i predicted rather wrongly that there would be Mexican Soap fatigue. I guess not. You have to agree with me, just like the outrageous Naija movies showing all day, the night belongs to the Mexican soaps.
I have wondered why our script writers do not manage to capture the same kind of grip on their viewers.
Currently i only with dedication watch Changing Times which comes on KTN on Tuesdays 8.30 p.m. and sometimes catch the Mother in Law on Citizen TV on Sundays. I catch Machachari a few times too on Wednesday on Citizen TV. I stopped watching Makutano Junction (another former favourite), either i lost the plot or they did.
After self introspection, i have come to the sad realization that this among many other things is the reasons i am enamoured and several of others with these soaps and others with Naija movies. Maybe our local scriptwriters/producers or whoever comes up with all those shady scripts can learn;
Creation of extreme emotions of love and pain.
The writers of Mexican soaps/Naija movies are ruthless! They can give a character so much pain. And where there is love, there is abundance! Then, there is the hot guy who is brilliant (successful) and hot and hot and the extremely poor girl who must go through extreme pain to get to her man.Rich man, poor gal. Same story over and over again, executed with ruthlessness and brilliance!
The two things that we as human beings attract and avoid
It is said that human beings avoid pain at all cost. They have know to tell the story that all pain must come to an end and is replaced by the blissful marriage that happens at the end of the story line. They know that the poor gal must marry the Rich boy. The cruel never goes unpunished. That is the essence of every human hope. That you cannot get away with evil. They satisfy the human spirit always. I know there are many people who do not watch Changing Times but there was this love triangle when Patricia was fighting with Lisa over Arnold. Patricia managed to scheme her way into the man's life, then WON! When the day came to choose, Arnold chose the master lying schemer. How now? That for me was the anti-climax of a love triangle! How boring.
Stretching the characters either as a victim or villain
Our script writers are lazy/boring. Take for example (another one) Changing Times where one character can go missing for even 3 episodes, you can't even tell who are the lead characters. In Mexican Soaps, the lead characters, lead the program. Every other character is related to them in a way. T
Creating beauty and ugliness with equal measure
If there is anything to notice is the fashion and beauty of the characters. Lots of make up and jewellery. The characters must look out of this world otherwise they would just be like the rest of us.
Exploiting poverty and opulence
The victim usually the poor girl must lead a life of deep pain and sometimes abject poverty. She must probably been abandoned on birth and raised in a humble background. The guy on the other hand always has an opulent life. It is the houses, the cars, the clothes that make the difference.
Creating culture
By watching a Naija movie, you can tell that the Nigerians believe in culture, in their exaggerated outfits, big houses, witchcraft, you cannot fail to tell that art imitates life. What culture is there to be told in Kenyan soaps? You can tell by watching the Mexican soaps that catholicism is a major deal and of course serenading your woman!
I remember a proggie way back in the early nineties called Tausi that kept everyone glued to their TV or their neighbours. Do you?
Remember this song? Enjoy
