The importance of soap operas in Brazilian culture

The importance of soap operas in Brazilian culture

    Soap operas are an extremely relevant cultural production in Brazil. More than 70 years ago, the first television broadcast of one took place, since before TV this genre was shown in magazines and radios. Since then, it has become a space for great debate, in addition to influencing fashion and social behaviors. Unlike the United States, where soap operas such as "The Young and The Restless" last for decades, in Brazil each soap opera usually airs for about 6 months.
     Over these seven decades, many authors have made very successful soap operas. One of the main ones was Janete Clair - responsible for works such as "Irmãos Coragem" (1970), "Selva de Pedra" (1972), which reached up to 100% of the televisions in Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the first color novel, "Pecado Capital", from 1975. The author died in 1983, but left a disciple, Glória Perez.
 Scene from "Selva de Pedra" (1972)
    Glória Perez is known for her works with social merchan, that is, she addresses themes of impact in her soap operas, in addition to bringing other cultures, especially oriental, to her narratives. In 2001, its greatest success was released, "The Clone", which portrayed Morocco, even influencing Brazilian fashion, in addition to discussing cloning, years after the first clone of a mammal, the Dolly sheep. Other great successes of the author were "Caminho das Índias" (2009) and "A Força do Querer" (2017), which portrayed a young transgender man discovering himself as such and accepting himself as he was.
Scene from "O Clone" (2001)
     It was not only Glória Perez who brought social debates in her soap operas. Manoel Carlos, famous for his works on the Rio de Janeiro elite and the "Helenas", discussed in "Laços de Família" (2001) leukemia and bone marrow donation, taking to the air one of the most striking scenes of soap operas, in which actress Carolina Dieckman shaves her hair.
Scene from "Laços de Família" (2000)
     Novels are also characterized by bringing literature as the basis of their inspirations, both directly and indirectly. A direct example are the soap operas "Éramos Seis" (1967, 1977, 1994 and 2019), based on the work of Maria José Dupré of the same name, and "As Aventuras de Poliana" (2018), which uses the book "Pollyanna", by Eleanor H. Poster as a basis for your script.
Scene from "Eramos Seis"
     As an indirect example there is one of the most successful soap operas in Brazil in the last 10 years, "Avenida Brasil" (2012), which tells the story of Rita/Nina, a girl who is dropped in a dump by her stepmother, Carminha. Years later, the girl decides to take revenge on all those who were present in the stepmother's plan. His narrative of revenge is based on the work of Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo".
Scene from "Avenida Brasil" (2012)
      The main function of a soap opera is to entertain and thrill, and this it always fulfills - so much so that when "Avenida Brasil" reached the end, even the president of the time, Dilma Rousseff, changed her agenda to follow the last chapter, in addition to the traffic that stopped the streets of Rio de Janeiro. That is, regardless of the social class or function exercised, soap operas still cause great impact for most Brazilians.

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