América (TV series)

"América" is a Brazilian telenovela that was broadcast in 2005 by TV Globo. The telenovela focused on illegal immigrants in the United States. It stars Deborah Secco and Murilo Benício. It was written by Glória Perez and directed by Jayme Monjardim and Marcos Schechtman.

Telemundo plans to air a Spanish-dubbed version of this series in early 2008. [http://www.forumbrasiltv.com.br/ingles/noticias.htm] The network is expected to air the serial from Monday to Friday over several months. As with most of its soap operas, the network will broadcast English subtitles as closed captions on CC3.

Main plot

Sol and Tião are born to different social backgrounds --- she to a poor suburban family in Rio, and him to an even poorer family who raised cattle in West São Paulo State. They eventually meet, due to unlikely circumstances, but part again, as she has set as her ultimate priority to reach the United States or bust. While she comes to the U.S. to live as an illegal immigrant, he remains in Brazil and, despite many trials and tribulations, he becomes a successful rodeo cowboy.

ubplots

As any Brazilian soap opera, América has several secondary plots. In its case, these were centred in four locations: Vila Isabel, a middle-class neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro; Boiadeiros, a fictional town in West São Paulo (state); a rich family from Rio; and Miami. People living in each of the subplots moved around and often met each other, mostly due to characters that linked them somehow.

The main subplots were:
* A love triangle involving Feitosa, a man who worked with pets, his girlfriend Islene (who happened to have a blind daughter from a previous relationship) and Creuza (a lustful woman who pretended to be shy and virginal).
* The problems and achievements of a blind man, Jatobá, trying to live with his disability in a country with no infrastructure for the visually impaired. He is engaged to a non-blind woman.
* The mischievous Alex and Djanira, smugglers and "coyotes".
* The love life of Glauco, a 50-year-old businessman married to a cleptomaniac woman that strives for a divorce in order to marry her lover (but he later leaves both for a 19-year-old girl).
* The complicated relationship between a middle-class American professor, Edward Talbot, and his rich girlfriend, May, who does social work at a ghetto school in Miami. Due to fan demand, the authoress of the soap opera changed its ending so Edward ends up marrying the main character, Sol.
* The lives of several illegal immigrants living in a boarding house in Miami kept by a Mexican mother named Consuelo.
* The thriving social life around rodeos in Brazil. odeo is a traditional North American sport with influences from the history of Mexican and Brazilian "vaqueros or vaqueiros" (cowboys) and American cowboys.

Illegal immigration

América featured a quite realistic and slightly anti-American view of illegal immigration, emphasising the enormous risks involved, the presence of downright criminal people organising the crossing, prejudice against illegals in the U.S., the different world views that oppose Americans and Brazilians in quite many subjects. One specific scene that caused a lot of shock --- and even prompted the American embassy to protest against it --- showed Texan farmers shooting at people who tried to swim across the Grande River.

This soap opera is believed to have been the cause of a strong increase in the numbers of Brazilians that tried to enter illegally the U.S. --- despite the extreme hardships it portrayed quite realistically:

"Brazilians are illegally entering the United States in record numbers in hopes of finding jobs and better lives -- just like characters in a wildly popular Brazilian soap opera "America." The number of undocumented Brazilians caught on U.S. soil is set to rise over fourfold this year from 2004 -- a much bigger increase than for illegal immigrants from other Latin American countries, according to U.S. officials. As authorities search for factors spurring the exodus, they have begun to look at the passion of Brazil's poor for "America," a soap opera that debuted in early March and shows illegal immigrants risking their lives to enter the United States to find jobs and romance amid the hardship." [http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/25/MTFH98533_2005-08-25_12-16-26_EIC543356.html]

Music

Unlike most Brazilian soap operas, América featured different styles of music for each milieu. Vila Isabel had only traditional samba, other parts of Rio de Janeiro included Brazilian pop and funk, São Paulo was scored with Brazilian country music and Miami, with a mix of American pop and Latino music.6549+The songs used in América are:

Disco 1----

01. Soy Loco por Ti America - Ivete Sangalo

02. Até Pensei - Nana Caymmi

03. A Volta - Roberto Carlos

04. Pra Rua Me Levar - Ana Carolina

05. Feitiço da Vila - Martinho da Vila

06. Nervos de Aço - Leonardo

07. Mágoa de Boiadeiro - Lourenço & Lourival

08. Os Amantes - Daniel

09. Girassóis Azuis II - George Israel

10. Vida de Viajante - Lenine

11. She's a Carioca ( Ela é Carioca ) - Celso Fonseca

12. Você - Marina Elali

13. Um Matuto em New York - Roberto Trevisan

14. Sinfonia dos Sonhos - Marcus Viana

15. Órfãos do Paraíso - Milton Nascimento

16. Eu Sei que Vou te Amar - Caetano Veloso

Disco 2----

01. Regresa a mi - Il Divo

02. Don't - Shania Twain

03. Home - Michael Bublé

04. Abrazame Así - Tamara

05. Amore e Música - Russell Watson

06. The Look of Love - Diana Krall

07. Summertime - Michael Bolton

08. A Horse with no Name - America

09. Redneck Woman - Gretchen Wilson

10. Pieces of Me - Ashlee Simpson

11. Por un Beso - Gloria Estefan

12. Cancion Mixteca - Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan

13. Besame Mucho - Maysa

14. Wind Shaking the Trees - Darwing James Band

15. Lon Long Away - Jesse Johnson

17. Can't Get Over - Kasino

18. Breath - O2

19. Little Girl - Lucas Babin

20. Take Me Home, Country Roads - Happening

Gay Kiss Controversy

While being mentioned in pop culture previously, the soap opera received greater exposure in the media after a long-running (2005) storyline between two gay characters including a scene in which they share a kiss. The scene was scheduled to be aired in the final episode, which created much anticipation from the gay community in Brazil. Although filmed, Globo, the parent company, elected not to run the scene, much to the surprise of the writers, fans and actors involved. The event led to a number of protests for equal rights, condemning Globo for the attitude.

ources

* [http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/25/MTFH98533_2005-08-25_12-16-26_EIC543356.html Soap opera lures Brazilians to United States]