My niece attends public school here in Germany. Ellen is pretty level-headed, but like most 15-yr-old girls, she spends her day with schoolmates whose lives are brim-full of drama. Her little brother's English has a few gaps, so yesterday at dinner when I compared Ellen's classroom to a "Soap Opera," I had to define the unfamiliar term for David.
His Dad helped me to explain by offering the example of "Verleibt in Berlin," a cult hit in Germany that boasted 5 million daily TV viewers in 2005. Dan described the plot and cast to me, and I recognized the show as a current cross-over American weekly dramedy called, "Ugly Betty." Curious, I googled it and found out the history of the show.
It originally began in 1999 as a Columbian telanovella titled, "Yo soy Betty, la fea." In addition to Spanish, English, and German versions, there have also been Dutch, Russian, Indian, and Israeli adaptations. Score one for the "small world" concept. I imagine that the writer of "The Devil Wears Prada" also took the idea from some version of the original Columbian hit.
My inner grad student is tempted to write a comparison contrast essay about the different versions of this Cinderella story and the insights they reveal about our changing global cuture. I wonder why lots of the world's population enjoys watching fashionistas make fun of an ugly duckling.
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2 comments:
ah, but i beg to differ. the few times i have caught an episode of ugly betty, it has not been the enjoyment of watching pretty people beat up an ugly girl, but the ugly girl being more real than the plastic society she walks in that has made me think i could get into the show if i wanted to.
and i think i'm not alone... we tend to root for the underdog because inside all of us an underdog that wants to be rooted for. i think so, anyway.
I totally see your point, Julie! Thanks for explaining it to me!
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