The end of pop culture?

In the first article they talk about this "super hero" figure that was developed in Mexico, he was a fighter for his believes, but did the people that followed him had the same ideology? or did they follow him just because "he is cool"? Also you can see how this mysterious figured appeared and created so much impact in the people that they started writing love letters to him and doing shows that in some way involve him. I think that a point that this article is trying to make is, where is the line that divides popular culture, the division where people follows things just because and where people follow things because they actually believe in that.
Jennifer Lopez is one of the most famous Latin people, she is famous for acting, singing, having her one clothes line and maybe some other things, but the first thing that called everyone's attention was her butt. She went to Hollywood to prove herself as an artist and she made it, and she never felt that she should change her body in order to achieve it. As most Latin women, she is voluptuous, and american people notice that quite fast. She got there and prove all the stereotypes wrong, she prove that curvy women can be hot too. She is an icon for Latin people, because she was one of the first ones to step up in Hollywood and have success. Was her butt the reason why she success? Nobody knows, but it sure helped her, and it also help other people, many comedians and singers took advantage of her physical atributes to get more audience and followers.
Latinos are well knowed for exotical dances, one of them is Salsa. It has been used in other countries to attract the latin community there, and also to make more exotic the enviroment in their own country. Again, as JLo, "big" women are used to sell the image of the club and the dance. They are used as sex symbols, and lets face it, it's better to have girls dancing on stage than men, they move better and know how to sell the dance, and dependig on their looks it would be the personification of Latino in all its glory.

Futebol and Telenovelas

This week readings are about two of the greatest vices that Latin American people have, futbol and telenovelas, eventough both genders enjoy them; futbol is seen as a manly thing and telenovelas as a girly thing.
Is not a secret that soccer in Latin America is huge, but in Brazil it's something else, actually there are people that consider it a religion and not a sport, and we could get a scoop of that in this text. One of the phrases that I liked the most of the reading is: "Only three people have, with just one motion, silenced the Maracana: Frank Sinatra, Pope John Paul II and me" (Gigghia). It's amazing how important is soccer to Brazilians that a single action can silenced a whole country, or on the other hand, engage all the people with a huge celebration. The Maracanazo is the biggest example of this, because for the Brazilian's this has been the biggest tragedy that has ever occured in their country, but it wasn't only because of the game; it was also because of the moment when it happened. In Latin America futbol is nearly the only thing that has the power to bring a whole nation together when the national team is playing, but also it has the power to divide the nation when the two biggest teams play against each other. Futbol is a party and as such the whole nation is paralyzed when an important game takes place, most countries are "soccer ruled" and the country moves and works according to the games or soccer events.
Telenovelas are mostly enjoyed by women. These shows usually involves ridiculous love stories, a lot of drama, things that will never happen on real life and people that are extremely good looking that makes you doubt if they are real. They are compared to soap operas, but there have several differences, for example telenovelas eventually get to an end, as soap operas don't have a final episode. Because of the way they are developed and their structure they really get people consumed on the story, tuning it everytime it is on. It is always on people's conversations the day after, and sometimes even a couple of minutes after the episode is done. People always wait eagerly for the end of the telenovela, but they feel that there is an empty space after it is done.

Latin Store

In case someone is interested here is the store I talked about website http://www.modelsofidentity.com/losguerrerosvancouver/index.swf, they are located on 3317 Kingsway. The address is on their website.