I don’t watch telenovelas for obvious reasons; they are too similar and too simplistic. However, it’s highly entertaining to watch telenovela addicts watch telenovelas so I do that instead. I watch them curse. Interject. Argue with the television. Open their mouths because they are utterly shocked by the inhumanity of the villain. Pause. Is it not ironic that we use ‘inhumanity’ to refer to cruelty when in fact human beings are the most cruel of species? Anyway, as I was saying, I watch the addicts applaud the hero. Wipe tears from their eyes in empathy and solidarity with the victim. It’s easy to see that some of them believe that those telenovelas are a true representation of their lives. That they are victims of circumstance and that one day there will be a happy ending. And I quietly laugh at them and judge them because I do not and cannot relate. Because telenovela storylines are far removed from reality. They are not the story of my life or the story of any human being’s life for that matter. You see in the telenovela the victim is typically a flawless and innocent do-gooder…pause. Name one human being who has lived all their life having done no wrong thing. No one comes to mind? I thought so. Human nature compels us to be completely flawed that’s why. So of course you’re to misjudge and miscalculate from time to time. Of course you’re going to make selfish decisions once in a while. Of course you’re going to rub some people the wrong way and/or disappoint them. This doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person but it definitely disqualifies you from being the always-well-intentioned blameless bystander to whom life is exclusively unfair. Another thing that you and the telenovela victim don’t and should not have in common is that he/she is typically a naïve and long-suffering pushover. Apart from those that are mentally challenged, no human being reaches adulthood without having the good sense to be cautious. Also, every human being has a breaking point; a limit to how much bull ‘excrement’ (replace with word that rhymes with chit) they can take from any given person.Also, being a pushover doesn’t make you a victim. It just makes you a people-pleaser. So it all boils down to this. Yes, bad things do happen, bad circumstances occur and sometimes people do very bad things. But the truth is that how life turns out has less to do with the things that happen in your life and more to do with how you act and react. And because telenovelas are not the story of anyone’s life, the harsh truth is this. It is unlikely that a hero will come and save the day. The villain is highly likely to walk free and unscathed into the sunset. But most of all, a happy ending will not come to you. If you want a happy ending, you have to work for it. And while you’re at it, realize that as long as you’re still alive, there is no finality. There is no such thing as ‘ending.’
