Recently, I gave in and watched Ferrera’s “Ugly Betty.” I was surprised to find that the story translated well. It’s true in real life, too, that appearance is heavily scrutinized, even if it is unspoken. Betty and Nicolás acknowledge the reality of the society they live in, where résumés need to be accompanied by photographs. It reads harshly, I know, but I see it instead as radical acceptance. Betty, in a fit of laughter, adds that they could be hired to scare the lions into behaving. In the very first episode of the Colombian original, Nicolás, joking about the challenges of finding a job, says they should try out for the circus. Instead, she and her friend Nicolás Mora even made light of their circumstances. And despite the social barriers she faced as a result of others’ superficiality, she never felt bad for herself. Betty was different from other female novela protagonists of the ’90s and early aughts, because she was distinguished by her intellect rather than her looks. So huge that I refused to watch “Ugly Betty” when it aired on ABC. And last week, Telemundo premiered its own reboot, “Betty en NY.” Production companies in Spain, Greece, the Philippines, Brazil and Thailand have all released their own versions. In the United States, America Ferrera won an Emmy for her starring role in “Ugly Betty,” which ran on ABC for four seasons. “Betty, la Fea” has spawned remakes all over the world: In Mexico, there was “La Fea Más Bella,” starring Angélica Vale. There, she falls in love with her handsome boss, Armando, who, despite his initial revulsion, falls for her too.īetty’s story struck a chord with viewers, in Colombia and elsewhere. In the telenovela, Betty struggles to find employment, despite her graduate degree in economics, so she ends up accepting a position as a secretary at a fashion company. She wore oversized red framed glasses and unflattering clothes, and her voice was raspy in a swallowed-a-frog kind of way. Betty, played by the actress Ana María Orozco, had a unibrow, braces and blunt bangs.
In the 1999 Colombian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty, la Fea,” viewers were introduced to the character of Beatriz “Betty” Pinzón Solano: a brilliant, accomplished woman in her mid-20s who is held back professionally because of her looks. ¿Lo mejor? It’ll be in Spanish and English, so you can forward it to your tía, your primo Lalo or anyone else (read: everyone). Expect politics, arts, analysis, personal essays and more. El Espace is a column dedicated to news and culture relevant to Latinx communities.
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