MODULE

FOREIGN INFLUENCES WHICH SHAPE THE POP

CULTURE OF THE PHILIPPINES
4
LESSON 1 MEXICANOVELAS
Many foreign countries These include have influenced and shaped the pop
culture of the Philippines. Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.
Filipinos are greatly affected by their cultures and have adapted some of their
habits and lifestyle in this module, you should be able to trace to the pop
culture of the Philippines. the history of Mexicanovelas, Japanese Animation,
Hallyu Culture, and Thai Advertisements in the Philippines. Moreover, you how
these popular cultures affect the Filipino popular culture.
Popular culture came about because of urbanization and industrialization. One
of the things that resulted because of industrialization is the media. Because of
media, it is possible for the popular culture of other countries to reach other
places. This happened in the Philippines. One of the countries that has greatly
influenced the popular culture of the Philippines is Mexico.

Objectives:
1. Trace the history of Mexicanovelas in the Philippines;
2. Trace the influence of Mexicanovelas to Filipinos;

Motivational question:
Are you familiar with Marimar? Have you watched this telenovela? How did you
find this telenovela?
Discussion
Please read t he article entitled “ Marimar ” and other Mexican
Telenovelas in the Philippines. It will discuss the reasons why Mexicanovelas
were popular in the 90s and also the similarities of Pinoy TV dramas to
Mexicanovelas. Hopefully, the article will shed a light on consumable themes in
Philippine television.
“Marimar” and Other Mexican Telenovelas in the Philippines
 Marimar was one of the first Mexican telenovelas, or “Mexicanovelas
imported to the Philippines. It rose to unrivaled popularity ratings peaked at
61.7% and the show spawned not one but two Pilipino remakes. Thalia, who
plays the titular Marimar, was even greeted by president Ramos himself when
she visited the Philippines. But why would a Mexican show grow so popular in
the Philippines, all the way across the Pacific Ocean?
This is often traced to the two countries’ shared history and culture.
Both were colonized by Spain, and both are affected today by the neo-colonial
regime of the United States. This makes for a lot of cultural similarities:
widespread Roman Catholicism, Spanish names, dishes like adobo and lechon.
But the effects of colonialism go deeper. One of these deeper effects is economic
status. Spanish colonized extracted resources from both countries, and the
United States has continued that legacy by exploiting Mexican and Filipino
workers for cheap labor. Poverty in both countries is widespread, but until
recently, depiction of poverty was not common on Filipino television.
Meanwhile, Marimar was unafraid to show it. “It’s different from our soap
operas….she has the same problems we do. It shows the discrimination against
poor people,” one interviewee for the New York Times said in 1996. Because of
this, Marimar was able to gain a wide audience among the lower and middle
class of the Philippines.
Another deeper and more insidious effect of colonialism is the colonial
mentality adapted by colonized people, in which they feel inferior to the people
who colonized them. One way this manifest is through colorism and sentiment
that whiter means better. There is a large market in the Philippines for skin
lightening creams and soaps, for example. Marimar, with her light skin, sandy
brown hair, and hazel eyes “captured the imagination of typical colonial-
minded Filipino.

Marimar fulfilled a variety of colonial standards of beauty, but this alone

doesn’t make sense- why not juts import an American show with an all-
white cast? Wouldn’t the unrealistic standard of beauty make Marimar less
relatable? The answer may lie in the language. Spanish, once widely spoken,
has now been replaced by English. This means that American shows don’t
need to be dubbed, but Spanish shows do. Marimar was dubbed in the
native national language of the Philippines, Tagalog. So, unlike in American
soaps where everyone spoke English, or local teleseryes where often the
poor who spoke Tagalog while the rich spoke the more “intellectual” English,
in Marimar, everyone spoke Tagalog. To hear the native language spoken by
these supposedly “superior” people-white people and rich people- had a
profoundly positive effect on the audience.
In the end, Miramar’s success goes deeper
than a superficial similarity of culture of
culture or language. These things made the
show accessible, but the less visible results
of Spanish and US (neo)-colonialism, like
the economic realities and shared colonial
mentality, made it relatable on a deeper
level. This isn’t to say that Spain and the US
hold all the power in binding these two
countries together, though. If anything, the
shared history has opened the doors for
cultural exchange and allowed for the
creation of solidarity in new, non-traditional
ways-like how Marimar was able to create
national pride through the positive portrayal
of Tagalog.
In the simplest explanation, Mexicanovela is a combination of words
Mexican and telenovela. Obviously, these telenovelas are imported from
Mexico. This craze was started by RPN, a Philippine channel that was run
by the government during the Martial Law Era, in 1996. Since then,
Mexicanovelas have become a dinner companion of Filipino families. One of
the most popular ones and the very first that was Marimar, many others
came and were almost all a hit.
Mexicanovelas were a hit in the Philippines in the late 1990s and early
2000s because of many reasons. First, Mexico and the Philippines were
both colonized by Spain. Both countries share similar values and culture. In
the article, it is mentioned that both countries have similar economic
status. Filipinos watching Mexicanovelas could relate to the poor
characters, the disheveled setting, and the longing of the maidens to be out
of poverty. The show is unafraid to show bits and pieces of how poor people
lived. But then. The show still has the air of fantasy in it. The whole plot
revolves around exaggeration: using of violence against characters
excessively and cartoonishly, the poor character is actually a daughter of a
rich person, and things exploded.
Another one is the colonialism mentality. Marimar is a poor girl, but she is
beautiful and is a mestiza. To the Filipino audience, everything that is of
western quality is of high quality. So, they consumed Mexicanovelas then
was not because of the telenovelas solely, but because of how Filipinos look
at themselves, too.
 One element that really proved to be effective in Philippine TV is the
language used in the shows. Marimar was dubbed in Filipino, the common
language of the masses. Because of that, it gained a larger audience than
other dramas of that time.
Mexicanaovelas surely have a soft spot in Filipinos’ hearts. Only time will
tell if the telenovelas with Spanish looking characters will have a comeback
in Philippine TV.

Activities
Answer the questions below.
1. What is the last reason mentioned in the article why Mexicanovelas were popular in
the Philippines? Explain in three or more sentences.
2. What is the influence of language in Philippine TV drama? Explain in three or more
sentences.
3. Watch some clips of a Mexicanovela. What is your take on them? Do you think
Mexicanovelas can thrive in your generation? Why or why not? Explain in three or
more sentences.
 Assessment

List 10 Filipino TV dramas that have similar content/themes/characters as Marimar. Include the
details of how the Filipino TV dramas are similar to Marimar. Below is the format for your
guidance.

Filipino TV Drama Details

1
M
2
A 3

R 4

5
I
6
M 7

8
A
9
R 10