Brazilian soaps tell it like it is
April 21, 2007 Edition 2
Brazil's hugely popular television soap operas usually deal with tear-filled romance. But the violence engulfing the country has upstaged the melodrama and taken one telenovela to the top of the ratings.
Vidas Opostas (Opposite Lives) is a hit with residents of Rio de Janeiro, where it is set, and around the country, despite complaints that people are weary of the real-life bloodshed and gory newscasts.
"We are showing things as they are in Rio - slums, drug traffickers, corrupt cops, rotten politicians, and common people caught in the middle of all that," director Alexandre Avancini said.
The prime-time telenovela on the Rede Record network has beaten leading network Globo in the ratings several times when pitted against big-league soccer games - an undeniable sign of popularity in Brazil.
A love story is not missing. Vidas Opostas is the story of a young millionaire heir who loves a girl who lives in a slum, or favela. The favela is controlled by a drug gang that is in the middle of a turf war with a rival group, which has the backing of a corrupt cop - a typical scenario in many of Rio's 600-plus -shantytowns.
"I think re-creating this reality on TV could help to have a healthy debate on violence, help people understand how normal slum residents live and suffer," said Ignacio Cano, a sociologist and expert on Rio violence.
Avancini said feedback from the audience showed an overwhelming majority of viewers liked the idea of having a realistic picture of Rio's life.
"The general feedback is that Brazilians are ready to see the reality and to discuss it; that the audience has matured." - Reuters
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