The power of fiction | Prakriti Maduro | TEDxChacao

Prakriti Maduro demonstrates the Power of Fiction with a revealing example: How the stories we consume in our spare time go far beyond mere entertainment, to the point of defining us as a society.

Prakriti Maduro is an actor and writer. She is the young Venezuelan actress with the most participation in Latin American cinema (Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela), internationally awarded for her work and with extensive experience in theater and Venezuelan television. Prakriti has a degree in Social Communication and is a writer of theater plays, chronicles, and children's stories.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

[I am the thief of your love]

[and I've confessed]

[I know that you won't be there
when I'm gone]

(And even if it hurts you more)

(you better learn this)

(The one who makes you cry)

(is the one who loves you)

(The one who makes you cry)

(is the one who loves you)

(is the one who loves you)

That is the main song of
the soap opera: "Leonela,"

broadcasted by "Radio Caracas
Televisión" in 1983.

Leonela is a young woman engaged to Otto;

Otto beats up Pedro Luis, the lead,

and Pedro Luis, in revenge, rapes Leonela.

Obviously, Leonela gets pregnant,

he goes to jail, and when he gets out,

she falls in love with her rapist,
and they get married.

In terms of politics,
it would be like saying:

that a military man

tries to overthrow the elected government,

and since he fails, he goes to jail,

and when he gets out,
people vote him in elections,

and then no matter what happens,
"the people" idolizes him forever.

(Applause)

The stories we tell one another
shape us,

it doesn't matter whether
they're real or fictional,

it only matters how
we emotionally bond to these stories,

and how often we consume them.

Imagine the power of a single story,

told like a mantra,

day after day,

for decades,

to an entire nation,

or even, to an entire continent.

Let me share with you

what I consider a very
representative example

of "The Power of Fiction".

For almost 70 years, in Venezuela,

families had a TV set
in their living rooms,

tuning mainly two channels,

and both of them broadcast
for several hours a day:

"Telenovelas," soap operas;

two "telenovelas" at lunch
and two "telenovelas" at dinner.

Back in the day when people
had lunch and dinner --

For many years we were
one of the largest exporters

of "telenovelas" in the world,

being a great pride for the country.

Oil, beauty queens and "telenovelas".

If you wanted to be an actor,

and also pay your bills
with your acting career,

you had to work in some "telenovelas".

"Mea Culpa"

And the truth is --

shooting the scenes was very entertaining

and also very fulfilling
to discover firsthand

how a big chunk of the country,
and even abroad,

adored these "novelas,"
and also one's work.

In the history of Venezuelan TV,

some "telenovelas" have been
more interesting than others,

but the strongest genre has always been:

The "Telenovela Rosa".

This is the synopsis
of the "Telenovela Rosa,"

told again and again:

The poor, humble, hard-working girl,

let's call her Rubí,

so pretty, so innocent and fragile;

she falls in love with an honest good guy,

let's call him: Victor Alfonso;

who turns out to be the son of
a very evil millionaire: The Villain,

super elegant and wealthy,
let's call her: Lucrecia.

For many episodes,

Lucrecia and her entourage
treat poor Rubí like garbage:

they deceive, manipulate, rape,
mock, humiliate her --

Each story has its own spice,

but halfway through the "telenovela,"
there's a revelation:

there was an inheritance
that was corrupted, usurped,

it wasn't handed over
to its righteous owner,

to the poor girl, to Rubí,

she was the true heir
of the mansion's fortune,

but the malevolent Lucrecia,
very bitchily, stole it from her.

The story goes on, there's a big turn,

and Rubí miraculously reclaims
the stolen inheritance,

and from one episode to the next,

only by changing her makeup,
hairstyle and outfit,

becomes of "Lineage,"

and takes revenge against the villain
and all of those who mocked her.

And people at home with their mouths
full of "arepa" and glued to the TV,

as if it were their own life and
they're talking to the mirror, shouted:

That's right, mijita!
Well done! Now she made it!

Now she'll pay! Let the evil bitch suffer!

Fifty years of "Telenovela Rosa,"

without even imagining it,
prepared the ground

for the speech of the lieutenant colonel:

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías,

to permeate deep into
the Venezuelan people,

because the plot of these soap operas,
was once again consumed by us,

but now in the form of
presidential address;

also, for many years and long hours,

on every single TV channel nationwide.

This time, the plot went like this:

The poor, humble girl, barely making it,

let's call her: The People,

falls in love with an "honest good guy,"

who for the purpose of this story,

we'll call The Lieutenant Colonel,

and it'll be him who will face
the evil millionaire, The Villain,

who we'll call: The Oligarchy.

A revelation arises:

The Oligarchy has stolen everything
that belongs to The People,

who was the true heir

of all this fortune called: Venezuela.

There's a twist:

this time it's the main character,
The Lieutenant Colonel,

who faces the powerful mother,

and returns the
multimillion-dollar inheritance

to its true heir, The People.

The gruesome and unhealthy
part of this story,

and all of these "telenovelas,"

is the fact of awakening
in Rubí, The People,

the thirst for revenge
against The Oligarchy,

intentionally awakened
by her beloved Lieutenant.

And with the passing of time,

from speech to speech,

the villains, The "Lucrecias," multiplied,

because everyone who had
just a bit more than "the poor girl"

got included in that "role".

We reached a point

where "The Villain" was simply anyone

who wasn't on the side of
the "honest good guy":

The Lieutenant Colonel.

So, in this version,

"The Villain," The Oligarchy,
Has become a bunch of people:

It's the upper class, the middle class,

"the establishment," the opposition,

"the empire," the church, the media,

private companies, foreign investors,

oil employees, unions,

professors, students ...

And in this way anyone
other than: "the poor girl,"

or the Lieutenant Colonel.

And, I don't know what happens
with this version of the story ...

That they didn't live happily ever after!

The speech of the
Bolivarian Revolution,

the same as the "Telenovela Rosa,"

disguised as "love,"

but it was really about
resentment, envy, and grudge.

To sum up, about hate.

These "Telenovelas Rosa"

are broadcast in Venezuela since
the first Venezuelan "telenovela":

"La Criada de la Granja" in 1953.

Even today, despite "telenovelas"
are no longer produced in Venezuela,

due to the current "situation,"

a very "Rosa" one is being
broadcast on prime time,

shot in Miami, called: Acorralada,

with its respective stolen
inheritance and revenge.

Year 2020, and on Venezuela's
public-access television,

people still watch
"Telenovelas Rosa".

Of course, only the days when
there aren't any blackouts.

And between this first and this last one,

there are a bunch of very
successful "telenovelas"

that fully comply with this pattern;

just to name a few,

among Mexicans, Miamians
and Venezuelans, there are:

"Wild Rose," "Wild Cat,"

"Wild Heart," "Indomitable Heart,"

"Indomitable Soul," "The Indomitable,"

"Poor Devil," "Dirty Face," "Contempt,"

"I Buy That Woman,"
"Valentina," "Carolina," "Sabrina,"

"Rosalinda," "Marimar,"
"Crystal," "Topaz,"

"Emerald," "Rebel Ruby," "My Fat Beauty,"

"The Two Dianas," "The Italian,"
"The Lady in Pink,"

"The Owner," "The Revenge,"

"Vengeance".

Always the same story:

The poor, the rich, mistreatment,

inheritance, vengeance.

The poor, the rich, mistreatment,

inheritance, vengeance.

And when television managers were asked:

"Why always the same plot
with that message of revenge?"

They answered:

"The Count of Monte Cristo,

a classic of universal literature
to whom we pay tribute."

Why would we need so many
tributes to only one story?

Writers came wanting to tell
something new:

"And what if we make
a different 'telenovela'

with a more original concept,
that transmits values?,"

and almost always, the answer was:

"No, no, no ... That doesn't go 'uphill'!"

"That doesn't go 'uphill'!"

With that they meant
it was essential for them

to be tuned in by the lower classes,

and that plot, always that same plot,

had guaranteed them rating,

and with rating they ensured advertisers.

In Venezuela, there was
an eternal competition

between two TV channels,
which defined programming.

Occasionally, they took risks
moving away from the formula,

sometimes with dazzling successes,

but others with disastrous failures.

So, they always turned back to the plot
that they knew would go "uphill".

With these observations, I don't intend
to point out television programming

as responsible for what's
happened in the country.

Of course not.

This is one cultural element
among many factors;

also, these were private companies

doing what they considered
best for their businesses,

following the trend of what
was produced and consumed

throughout Latin America,

and even receiving the accolades
of the rest of the planet

that bought their productions,

but I do believe there was a great
underestimation of the massive reach

and the formative power of these
hours of leisure and entertainment.

We might think the fictions we create

are the product of the culture
that surrounds us,

but perhaps, isn't it
the other way around?

Could it be that our culture is the result
of the stories we tell one another?

I'm sure there has to be millions
of examples like this,

in every country or town,

of how those hours of daily entertainment

profoundly define us
as individuals and society.

The United States, for example,

a country with a culture of
reality shows and celebrities,

elected president someone
who has carried out

his campaigns and his government,

as if it were a reality show.

Let's put politics aside.

The case of the exponential increase

of new paleontology students,

the year after Jurassic Park's premiere.

Or more recently, in Spain in 2018,

there was an increase of students,
this time of philosophy,

and everything points towards the good
influence of the Catalan series "Merlí,"

that talks about the relationship of
a philosophy professor with his pupils.

We are what we consume,
for better or worse.

That's why it is essential to recognize

the power of the stories
we tell one another:

The Power of Fiction.

We should ask ourselves, as viewers:

What are we constantly consuming?

What programs do we watch?

Who do we follow on social media?

What do we put our attention on,
precisely when we are relaxed?

When we let our guard down.

And for those of us who tell stories,

that nowadays with new technologies,
is practically all of us,

Imagine ...

What story could we tell one another
thousands of times,

from now on,

to make the world a better place?

Thank you very much.

(Applauses)