América (Brazilian TV series)

América is a Brazilian telenovela that was originally broadcast in 2005 by Rede Globo. The telenovela focused on the life of an illegal immigrant to the United States and the lives of those she left behind in Brazil. It stars Deborah Secco and Murilo Benício. It was written by Glória Perez and directed by Jayme Monjardim and Marcos Schechtman.

América
GenreDrama, romance, telenovela
Created byGlória Perez
Directed byJayme Monjardim
Marcos Schechtman
StarringDeborah Secco
Murilo Benício
Caco Ciocler
Gabriela Duarte
Eliane Giardini
Edson Celulari
Camila Morgado
Christiane Torloni
Marcelo Novaes
Opening theme
Country of originBrazil
Original languagePortuguese
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes203
Production
Production locationsRio de Janeiro, Barretos, Brazil
Miami, Florida, USA
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time50 minutes
Release
Original networkRede Globo
Audio formatStereo
Original release14 March (2005-03-14) –
4 November 2005 (2005-11-04)
Chronology
Preceded bySenhora do Destino
Followed byBelíssima
External links
Website

In 2009, Telemundo began airing a Spanish-dubbed version of this series and ran for approximately one year. . The network aired the series from Monday to Friday in the daytime. Unlike most of its soap operas, the network didn't broadcast English subtitles as closed captions on CC3.

Plot

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.

Subplots

América has several secondary plots about a variety of compelling characters. These, for the most part, take place in four locales: Vila Isabel, a middle-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro; Boiadeiros, a fictional town in West São Paulo State; the home of a rich family in Rio; and Miami. Various characters from each subplots often meet each other due to character linkages within the story.

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 Creusa (a virginal woman who turned out to be too lustful).
  • 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 kleptomaniac 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 author 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 woman, with Brazilian roots, named Consuelo.
  • The thriving Brazil rodeo culture. Rodeo is a traditional sport in many countries in the Americas, with influences from the history of Mexican and Brazilian vaqueros or vaqueiros (cowboys) and American cowboys.

Cast
ActorCharacter
Deborah Secco Marisol de Oliveira "Sol"
Murilo Benício Sebastião da Silva Higino "Tião"
Caco Ciocler Edward Talbot "Ed"
Gabriela Duarte Simone Garcia Menezes Higino
Camila Morgado Miss May
Thiago Lacerda Alexander Camargo "Alex"
Eliane Giardini Viúva Neuta
Edson Celulari Glauco Simões Lopes Prado
Christiane Torloni Haydée Pamplona Lopes Prado
Marcelo Novaes Genivaldo da Silva Higino
Mariana Ximenes Raíssa
Murilo Rosa Dinho
Juliana Paes Creusa
Roberto Bomfim Jota Abdalla
Lúcia Veríssimo Gil Madureira
Cláudia Jimenez Consuelo Torres Serrano
Paulo Goulart Mariano de Oliveira
Jandira Martini Odaleia de Oliveira
Nívea Maria Maria José Higino
Francisco Cuoco José da Silva Higino
Betty Faria Djanira Pimenta
Luís Melo Ramiro
Humberto Martins Laerte Villa Nova
Daniela Escobar Irene Villa Nova
Matheus Nachtergaele Carreirinha
Cléo Pires Lurdes Tupã do Nascimento "Lurdinha"
Bruno Gagliasso Roberto Sinval Villa Nova Júnior
Erom Cordeiro Zeca
Totia Meireles Vera Tupã do Nascimento
Marcos Frota Pedro Jatobá
Cissa Guimarães Nina
Chico Diaz Acácio da Silva Higino
Regina Maria Dourado Graça
Neuza Borges Diva Feitosa
Ailton Graça Feitosa
Paula Burlamaqui Islene
Walter Breda Gomes
Eva Todor Miss Jane
Reginaldo Faria Adalberto
Bete Mendes Fátima
Floriano Peixoto Tony
Sílvia Buarque Maria Elis
Guilherme Karan Geraldito
Rosi Campos Mercedes
Victor Fasano James
José Dumont Carlos Manuel de Andrade "Bóia"
Samara Felippo Maria Odete "Detinha"
Marisol Ribeiro Kerry Villa Nova
Rodrigo Faro Neto
Simone Spoladore Heloísa
Cris Vianna Drica
Eri Johnson Waldomiro
Paula Pereira Déia
Raul Gazolla Helinho
Fernanda Paes Leme Rosário
Juliana Knust Inesita
Lucas Babin Nick
Camila Rodrigues Mariana de Oliveira
Cacau Mello Rose
Anderson Müller Ariovaldo
Christiana Kalache Maria Isabel "Bebela"
Franciely Freduzeski Conchita
Rodrigo Hilbert Murilinho
Viviane Victorette Jú
Carolina Macieira Penha
Duda Nagle Radar Tupã do Nascimento
Luíza Valdetaro Manuela "Manu"
Bruna Marquezine Maria Flor
Mussunzinho Farinha
Matheus Costa Rick
Arlete Heringer Rita
Flávia Guedes Berenice
Marcelo Brou Stallone
Lucy Mafra Claudete
Dja Marthins Dolores
Cláudia Borioni Vilma
Maria Mariana Azevedo Sol (child)
Brunno Abrahão Tião (child)

Reception

Ratings
Timeslot Episodes Premiere Finale Rank Season Average viewership
Date Viewers
(in points)		 Date Viewers
(in points)
Mondays—Saturdays
9:00pm
 203
14 March 2005
 56
4 November 2005
 66[1] #1 2005 49,4

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 Latin music.

The songs used in América are:

  • Disco 1

01. "Soy Loco por Ti América" - 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

1. "Regresa a mi" - Il Divo

2. "Don't" - Shania Twain

3. "Home" - Michael Bublé

4. "Abrazame Así" - Tamara

5. "Amore e Música" - Russell Watson

6. "The Look of Love" - Diana Krall

7. "Summertime" - Michael Bolton

8. "A Horse with no Name" - America

9. "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. "Long 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

Controversy

Gay kiss deleted scene

While being cited as a pop culture phenomenon previously, the soap opera received greater exposure in the media after a long-running (2005) storyline between two gay characters included a scene in which they share a kiss. The scene was scheduled to be air in the final episode, which created much anticipation from the gay community in Brazil. However, Rede Globo, the soap opera's production 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 their actions.

Criticism of the positive portrayal of rodeo

Brazilian animal rights organizations criticized the telenovela because rodeo was favorably exposed in the story.[2] Several non-large-scale protests happened in several cities and activists tried to exhort a nationwide boycott campaign against the series. Coincidentally, the series faced a decline of its audience,[3] though that was not attributed to a boycott eventually.

References
  1. "'América' termina sem beijo gay e com protagonistas separados". Diário OnLine. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20090528090724/http://www.forumnacional.com.br/odeiorodeio_manifestacao.htm
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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