Jenifer & Eleonora - Brazilian lesbians! On Telemundo

[xita]

*edited to add that this show will air in the US starting July 6th on Telemundo.

I meant to put this thread up a while ago but I've had a really busy month. Anyway, some of you might have heard me talk about them. They were a part of a Brazilian soap called Senhora Do Destino. Soaps there as in the rest of Latin America work differently than they do in the United States. They end. They start and finish usually within a year. They air at least 5 times a week and usually finish in about 6 months.

This soap was one of the most successful soaps in Brazil ever. The ratings broke many records. The two women were part of the 2 big families of the soap. One was the niece of the protagonist, the other one the daughter of the man who married the protagonist. They meet cause their siblings were dating. They're friends for a while but then Eleonora confesses her love and Jenifer runs away scared. Eventually, they reunite and begin a relationship.

Anyway, the soap has ended and the reason I am posting is that they had a happy ending. They didn't die, or anything so tragic. They adopted a baby and signed papers in a court that they considered a marriage contract. It's so unusual to see on TV that I must insist that more people know about it. The relationship wasn't very graphic in the sense that there were post sex scene but never a love scene and you won't find tongue kissing. Still, I found it a sweet and very well done, a great story, sweet and romantic.

Here's a link to some videos with subitles.

Here are some pictures.

If you like that, here's the entire collection of videos from the soap. Unfortunately, none of those are subtitles. However, I've been working on some translations. Email me if you want those. I am almost done. Keep in mind, I don't speak portuguese but I tried. Anyone fluent wants to give it a shot, be my guest.

[bytrsuite]

Ooh! Brazilian lesbians! Now I have an excuse to watch all the videos over again.

Jen and Leo are so freaking hot, and they had an awesome ending.

[urnofosiris]

We have a few Brazilian Kitties, I wonder if they have seen this. I downloaded the video´s a while ago. The subtitles helped, but it is also fun to watch without understanding what they say and just observe their behavior and tone of voice. It really says a lot, these ladies have nice chemistry and some scenes were really funny.

[Warduke]

Who knew lesbians on TV could have a happy ending?

When xita first started telling me about this, the only thing I could think of was ' when will they drop the ball.' But then she said that, unlike American soaps that go on for decades, this one would end soon. So I started checking it out and I was shocked to see a happy ending

And if you also look at the pics of Barbara Borges, you'll understand why we call her, The Ass

[WebWarlock]

You mean pics like these?
http://www.bannerlessfreehost.com/zepica/bborges.htm
(warning contains some girl-type nakedness)

I'll have to check this out. My wife and I get a big kick out of the spanish-language soaps on TV here in Chicago. I have heard they are insanely popular up here even in my demographic (white, 30 something suburanites that can't speak a lick of spanish).

And yes I do know spanish is not the language of Brazil.

But thanks for the heads up!

Warlock

[xita]

I can't get that to load. However look here: http://leoandjen.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=4

Make sure to scroll through all the pages. God, she's fine!

I like this picture of the two actresses looking at Barbara's playboy

And yeah Tim, soaps are extrememely popular in Spanish speaking countries and Brazil (where yes they speak Portuguese). They are so popular that the major networks carry soaps in prime time, daily. In the United States the biggest Spanish speaking nework is Univision. They air 7 soaps daily. 2 in the afternoon 3 in prime time and 2 starting at 1 AM.

In Brazil this soap was getting astonishing ratings, shares of 77, or 88. That means 88 percent of the tv sets tuned into the soap at some point during the hour. The soap regularly counted on 45 million viewers daily. It's really hard to imagine those kinds of ratings for a show here. And add to that, this highly rated soap had beautiful, wholesome, happy lesbians in it

[urnofosiris]

It is cool they are so comfortable playing lesbians and not worrying about anything and staying a mile away from each other off camera.

[bytrsuite]

One of my favorites is this one http://leoandjen.com/gallery/albums/Leo ... richo2.jpg from some magazine photo spread. They're just really cute together and you can tell they're having a blast.

[maudmac]

The lésbicas are awesome!

It was a pleasure watching, even without understanding, because those two have such chemistry and there was never any doubt about what they were feeling, good or bad.

They're both hot as hell, too. But I like Mylla best. Mylla...in her white wifebeater...with her hair back...in jeans...oh...Lord...

Anyway, yes, it's wonderful to think that that show was so incredibly popular and having happy lesbians in it did not cause the world to explode.

[sheila wt]

I too miss Leo and Jen... They were just perfect together!
My favorite scene, of course, is that morning after and the invitation to shower together...
Xita, you know you can count on me for any help with the translation. Especially now that I'm *finally* out of school!

If I'm not wrong, they were the 3rd lesbian couple in a top-rating soap in Brazil. I don't remember what happen with the 2nd couple, but the first had a tragic ending (it was in the mid-80s, and they kissed a couple of times... I thought that, for the time, that was really big!). I also remember the women were in their 30s and stunning!

[xita]

Holley, I know what you mean. I mean Barbara and her beautiful body. . . sigh but Mylla does it for me. I still have a crush on that woman, her voice.. or maybe it's just her character, Leo, strong, decisive.

Sheila, yes I miss them! And thanks for the offer with the translation I think I've got it pretty good, like 95%, that's pretty good. Lots of work though hee. My favorite scene? I am going to have to think about it. No, I have a favorite, I think I have 2, ok well no maybe more. Let's talk about the one where they are moving furniture into their apartment and they fall on that bed and Leo is staring at Jen and she's like, what's up and Leo says, just looking at you.. and all those lusty looks and the rush towards the bedroom! Sigh, I love that scene.

And yeah the actresses were very cool. There was some gossip about how they didn't want to be seen together so as not to be confused for lesbians, but the actresses denied it. They did many magazine spreads together, tv shows, and events. They were not afraid of being seen together.

Sheila, I am not an expert on Brazilian soaps but yeah I've heard about those. This one is the one that was the most open and most accepted. That's my understanding anyway.

[sheila wt]

In a recent interview, Senhora do Destino's writer, Agnaldo Silva (yes, Brazilian soaps have only one writer... btw, he is considered the #1 soap writer in the country), said that he's already working on the next one, which will also have a lesbian character. A little different this time, though: it'll be a 60 year old, married for 40 years, with grandchildren, who finally starts to understand, and to accept, that she's been attracted to women since she was young.

Here's a photo of Eva Wilma, the actress he's going to invite to play the part:

http://odia.ig.com.br/odia/foto/04/06/cd/28i.jpg

[Bewitched]

Hi, guys! Brazilian Kitty here.

Bárbara Borges will be the lesbian patron of the I GLBT March in Niterói, a city near Rio de Janeiro. Her male counterpart will be Bruno Gagliasso, who is portraying a young gay man in Globo's new soap opera, America.

I'm not a soap opera fan, because they used to be so much better in the past, but it is very nice to see gay people being portrayed in a different way. It is interesting to note that Globo airs other TV shows in which gay people are depicted in a far less positive way.

Globosat, which is a group of cable channels, treats us way better than Globo, which is network. I find this so

Anyway, nice to see Eva Wilma back to soaps. She is an awesome actress! The last time a soap author thought of casting a famous and traditional soap star (Glória Menezes), two lesbians were killed in a shopping mall explosion (Torre de Babel was the name of the Soap) . Nice to see things evolving.

It's good to be here. I used to call myself Thespia at the old board.

Editing:

First lesbian couple: Laís and Cecília, 1988. Cecília dies and they discuss heir rights. Vale-Tudo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149539/

Second lesbian couple: Leila and Rafaela, 1998. The author says Leila and Rafaela will have trouble in their marriage and that Leila is going to be romantically involved with Glória Menezes's character. That did not play well with the outraged viwers... A shopping mall explodes, killing some 'problematic' characters, our gals included. Torre de Babel: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0161203/

Oh, in the end, in the very last episode, Laís meets Marília, played by gorgeous Bia Seidl. We are led to believe they are going to be very happy together.

[sheila wt]

Oh yes! "Vale Tudo" and the "who killed Odette Roittman?" saga. Great soap. It was also the first time I saw on TV the discussion about what happens when one of the partners die. Her family contested the will (on which she left everything to her partner, obviously) and it was a mess, IIRC.

[willowsbrain]

LOL! I went to Brazil in january with my gf for 15 days... The first 10 days we heard about Senhora Do Destino a lot on tv. They were selling its soundtrack, its international soudntrack... It was always on tv at 9 and it was the only channel we had... I don´t like soap operas and I remember thinking how boring it was... and then one day my gf actually paid attention to the show and realized there was a lesbian couple in it... So the last 5 days we were running not to miss it....

[sheila wt]

I just read in a Brazilian news site that Senhora do Destino will premiere on Telemundo in September at 10am. In fact, it looks like Telemundo has been airing Brazilian soaps at this time slot for a while now.

[xita]

That is so exciting. For those who don't know, Telemundo is a Spanish language network in the United States. So now Spanish speakers can follow along. I am pretty excited about this since eh, I speak Spanish. It's going to be weird dubbed but eh, I can't wait!!

I had hoped they would air it since I know they've aired some Brazilian soaps before and considering how popular this one was. I just hope we get no edits.

[xita]

It will begin airing on Telemundo in Spanish starting July 6th. It will be on at 10 AM, 9 AM Central. Be aware they are running it for an hour and a half.

The problem with that time is that they are very likely to cut stuff. Pretty much everything Jen and Leo did was very tame but Telemundo could decide to be very homophobic and cut out most of their stuff. Grrr.

[sheila wt]

Wow, that's fast! Cool.

I wish I had Telemundo... but $29.95 for the Spanish tier is way too much when we already pay almost $100 a month for cable! I even called COX trying to give up 2 movie tiers to get it, but I'd still have to pay $10 more a month, can you believe it??? Give up 12 movie channels for 6 Spanish channels and still have to pay?? And no LOGO in sight???

I just hate cable companies...

[maudmac]

I hear you, Sheila. Listen to this - I am paying extra for the Spanish channels on my cable, but they don't have Telemundo or Univision! That's just unthinkable. I can watch soccer on no less than 4 different channels. Got some movie channels, but not much for just regular, normal television. Bleh. (Do have LOGO, though, so I cannot hate my company.)

I really wish I were going to be able to see the lésbicas on TV. Besides the glory of it (assuming it wouldn't be cut to bits), It would have done wonders for my Spanish. (I'm still learning.)

At least I've got loads of clips of lésbica goodness.

Speaking of Brazilians, I'm in love with Fernanda Abreu now. I just heard Na Paz, thanks to xita, and I can't stop listening to it over and over. It's sooooo good.

[xita]

For those who want to see, they should finally be meeting this week, probably Thursday. I hope they don't cut too much of this stuff. So far it's been a lot of forshadowing, like oh she's so sweet, why doesn't she have a boyfriend lol.

[bytrsuite]

lol, aww. I hope they don't cut out a lot either. I've been trying to keep up with it, but I always either watch on days witout either of them or I forget to watch.

They're so adorable, so I'll keep trying.

[xita]

Bastards, their scenes hadn't been cut much and I've been able to capture a few fun things that I didn't have from the Brazilian airing. But now, they're cutting their kisses. They showed the first 2 kisses but they were kinda not as direct. Now, they're cutting out the exact moment when their lips meet. I guess they don't think the spanish speaking crowd can handle women love. It's blatant homophobia, bastards.

[eirnlove]

If you like that, here's the entire collection of videos from the soap.

are those full episodes or just scenes?

[xita]

just their scenes, not the full soap at all. I wouldn't have the webspace at all. The whole soap is being run on telemundo now.

[eirnlove]

mm..

pity i don't have any idea of the channels you're talking about..

[xita]

Yeah, I am sorry but their scenes are up. I am working on better translations of the clips I do have up, now that I am getting the show in a language I actually speak.

Also might help to know what city you live in... could help with the channel perhaps.

Here is a list of stations and affiliates as well as some cable partners

[eirnlove]

I live in Turkey, Istanbul. I don't think i can catch it right?

and could you check this link?

http://telemundo.feedroom.com/notenable ... 71edxw6273

i didn't understand what this really does, but i have a feeling i can watch Telemundo over the net with this..

[sheila wt]

From Cynopsis M-CE (http://www.cynopsis.com/):

Spanish-language TV shows and publications are starting to show strong improvement recently in their depictions of GLBT characters according to The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Shows such as Univision's El Gordo y La Flaca and Telemundo's Decisiones and publications including People en Espanol and TV Notas were duly commended by GLAAD. Other Univision shows named for their respect of GLBT personalities and subjects and public education aspects were El Show de Cristina (host Cristina Saralegui received GLAAD's Premio Valentia award this year), an exclusive interview with transsexual Cachita, the host of El Gordo y La Flaca daytime TV program. Two of Telemundo's novelas, Senora del Destino and La Tormenta, were named for their LGBT characters and storylines in addition to the nightly entertainment show, Decisiones. According to GLAAD, GLBT people and topics have been historically and culturally stereotyped and sensationalized in Spanish-language entertainment shows.

[xita]

GLAAD needs to be better informed. Telemundo cut every single one of Eleonora and Jenifer's kisses. And they didn't do so in other spanish speaking countries. This means that Telemundo is way behind the times. We should be grateful they show it at least. I suppose.