Thursday, August 23, 2007

Parable of the Foolish Virgin

We are in the season of telenovela provocations. El Cuerpo del Deseo (Second Chance), has slipped into a dangerous embryonic death for the past two weeks, as the GOTEL T.V and GALAXY T.V, starved of commercial adverts, have begun passing the buck of repetitive boredom called episodes 4, 5 and 6.

Catalina y Sebastian was not spared of the parade of mediocrity, as the two main actor and actress played out roles that are nothing but abominable ignorance. La Mujer de Lorenzo (Lorenzo's Wife) seemed to have permanently resigned to a still-birth fate.

I told you friends that for the past two weeks, I have been mostly offline, due to what I called personal commitments, but which in reality, was a dream come true testimony. I have been 'combing' with Estate agents to get a choice apartment in Ikeja, the heart of Lagos megacity. The good news is: at last, I have gotten one now, and I would be relocating any moment from now.

That was a 7-year dream come true for me. Thanks to the trio of Google, the former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju, and his amiable successor, Babatunde Fashola (BRF). I had longed to move out of the suburb and live in the Capital, since my relocation with hubby from Benin, some 8 years ago. It also meant saving 156,000 Naira (U$D 1,230) from switching my internet connections (dial-up to broadband). That is the miracle of this relocation. Bye bye to dial-up starcomms, as I have been coughing out 15,000, later, 10,000 Naira monthly to be connected to the web for the past two years.

I was saddened by the groanings of telenovela fans on this 'Love Garden' occasioned by the miserable episodes been churned out by AIT's Catalina y Sebastian. My son calls it "Catalina WHY Sebastian". Isn't it ridiculous for Catalina to surrender her hard-won love for Sebastine to the foul blackmail of Emilia?

How on earth could Catalina, Alicia and Luis gullibly accept the false reasoning of Emilia that she could reverse the release of Sebastian (which was made possible by the withdrawal of charges by Eduardo and Silvia declaring Sebastian innocent),if Catalina did not comply with her arm-twisting blackmail? This is nothing but exalted folly!

Who on earth do the script writers of this telenovela think we are? A community of dummies? The impulsive folly of Sebastian baffles me, why would he just turned back after that weak chat with Catalina in Eduardo's apartment? Why didn't he probe further to know the whereabouts of Silvia? The impulsive Sebastian that I knew would have burst into that house and stir up trouble, a trouble that would have brought Silvia out of her hiding place, and would have shown him that it was an 'arrangee' encounter!

I suppose that the old-age of this telenovela (8-years), may have been responsible for that parody. In the last 9 years, telenovela scripting has tremendously improved. La Usurpadora and la Mujer de Mi Vida (Woman of my life), are quite an improvement, so also was Ugly Betty (La fea mas Betty) and El Cuerpo del Deseo. Consolidated Media Associates CMA, should spare us the jaded old telenovelas clothed as 'new', and embrace new advancements and improvements in television soap opera production.