Mexico City, Mexico.-The first scene begins with Alejandro and his brother Marcos, moving to a Havana vacant lot. When they both arrive, they stop at the entrance of what used to be a huge house and is now divided into many small rooms where dozens of families live. There is noise, people shout at each other, others come and go. The brothers take in the environment, look at each other and wonder if it was a good idea to move.
There, in a peculiar solar in Old Havana, the plot of what has been one of the most remembered TV soaps Cuban.
In 1999, national television premiered the telenovela “Si me puedas querer”, with the leading performances of Jacqueline Arenal (Marcia), Jorge Martínez (Alejandro) and Lariza Vega (Gretel). Marcia is the doctor who cares for this community in which she meets Alejandro, a young painter who has just arrived in the neighborhood. They both fall in love, but the doctor discovers that her best friend (Gretel) who now lives in Spain and comes to visit, had a relationship with Alejandro and he has never forgotten her.
Now that Gretel is going to return from Europe, Marcia fears that her relationship with the painter will fail. On the other hand, the arrival of the emigrant adds another superficially touched conflict: the political differences and thought between different generations. Manuel, defender of the Cuban government and system, does not accept that his daughter has gone to live in another country and has “betrayed” the revolution.
In addition, the dramatized was one of the first to bring taboo topics such as HIV to the small screen. They illustrate it with the case of Samuel, a middle-aged father who gets infected and doesn’t know how to tell his family because of the stigma that accompanies the virus. Another of the topics opportunely addressed in “If you could love me” was domestic gender violence. Mario Limonta embodies the character of a violent husband who abused his wife in multiple ways.
Around all these complex themes, the writers introduced fresh characters that gave the story dynamism and humor. How can we forget Bombón (Niurka Castellón)? Small, with striking accessories and witty speeches. She was undoubtedly the most charismatic and talkative neighbor on the lot.
They also incorporated other colorful characters that in practice abound in Cuban neighborhoods such as Carola (Norma Reina). She is the neighbor who is aware of everything that belongs to her, or the deer (Hilario Peña), an insecure and jealous man, married to a much younger woman and who lives in fear that she will abandon him, as indeed happens.
Undoubtedly, one of the success formulas of the dramatized was to touch such tricky topics and season them with humor and Cuban costumbrismo.
In addition to those mentioned, from the cast of height that it had, actors such as Frank González (who must learn to live with and take responsibility for his adolescent son), Marta del Río (conciliatory nexus and support of a family divided by migration and politics) stand out. , Obelia Blanco, Rubén Breña, Teresita Rúa, Tamara Morales, Mijail Mulkay (a pimp who uses young people to profit through the sex trade), among others.
If you want to remember this soap opera, we give you good news: there are many chapterstitles available on Youtube
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