Meet The Arrow-Heads: Ugly Betty Telenovela

Today, in fulfillment of my January 19 promise, we begin sharing the gists of the famous Columbian telenovela, Ugly Betty (Yo Soy Betty, La Fea), written by Fernando Gaitán- the same man who wrote the original story of Cuando Seas Mia, otherwise called 'Coffee with the Aroma of a Woman'.

The American adaptation of this telenovela was saturated by popular Hollywood stars, all of whom have won one award or the other, in the entertainment industry. Let's explore the characters:

1. The star actress, Betty Suarez, popularly mocked as 'Ugly Betty' (role played by America Ferrera, picture right). She is the ugly but hard-working and intelligent girl who proverbially became the rejected stone that emerged as the chief corner-stone of this famous telenovela.

MODE magazine was the household name in the U.S fashion industry. Successful Business mogul, Bradford Meade, is the owner of this Enterprise and wanted his son, Daniel Meade to take over and learn the rudiments of the fashion publication business.

Ugly Betty got a challenging but fulfilling job as the Personal Assistant to the new editor-in-Chief of MODE magazine, Daniel Meade. It was a weird team: a womanizing Casanova and an ugly, unattractive but brainy lady at the helms of the most read fashion mag in the country. She paraded an impressive and impeccable resume, she was a bundle of talents, a multi linguist, ... the only BUT in her personality was the tainted and burnt teeth, definitely, not a front-desk showpiece in any corporate set up. The reason why she was not fired by her Casanova boss was because she was 'too good' and worked her way to the point of being indispensable to the organization.

Ugly Betty's industrious capacity only served to evoke enmity of other ambitious workers at MODE who envied her position and accomplishments. The list of her mortal enemies seems endless, ... but the trio of Wilhelmina Slater, Marc St. James and Amanda schemes to sabotage her works were legendary. Ugly Betty's succor came from only one ally in the MODE organization called Christina McKinney, the seamstress.

Ugly Betty's supper efficiency won her the trust of the mogul, Bradford Meade and his son, Daniel Meade. Ugly Betty has skills in arbitration and negotiation that leaves her enemies in awe.