''América'' is a Brazilian

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

that aired on

Globo Globo (meaning '' globe'' in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian) may refer to: * Grupo Globo, a Brazilian conglomerate primarily in mass media ** TV Globo, a television network *** GloboNews, a television 24-hour news channel *** Globo (Portuguese T ...

from 14 March 2005 to 4 November 2005. It is written by

Glória Perez Glória Maria Rebelo Ferrante (; born 25 September 1948) is a Brazilian Emmy-winning screenwriter. Biography Born in Rio Branco, Acre, Gloria is the daughter of lawyer Miguel Jeronimo Ferrante, Italian descendent, and teacher Maria Augusta ...

and directed by

Jayme Monjardim Jayme Monjardim Matarazzo (São Paulo, São Paulo, May 19, 1956) is a Brazilian TV and film director. He is the only child of André Matarazzo Filho and Maysa Matarazzo. He is the former husband of actress Ingra Liberato, divorced without issue ...

and Marcos Schechtman. The telenovela focused on the life of an

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the lives of those she left behind in Brazil. It stars

Deborah Secco Deborah Fialho Secco Moura (born 26 November 1979) is a Brazilian actress. Career At the age of 8 she made her TV debut in advertising; at 10 years, staged her first spectacle, ''Brincando de Era uma Vez''; and at 11 years, she acted in her ...

and

Murilo Benício Murilo Benício Ribeiro (born 13 July 1971) is a Brazilian actor. He is perhaps most famous for his roles in the telenovelas: '' O Clone'', '' América'', ''Por Amor'', ''A Favorita'' and '' Avenida Brasil''. In the early 1990s, he began his ca ...

. In the United States,

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

aired a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

- dubbed version of ''América'' in 2009.

Plot

Main plot

Sol and Tião are born to different social backgrounds—she to a poor suburban family in

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, 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 Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaq ...

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaqu ...

Subplots

''América'' has several secondary plots about a variety of compelling characters. These, for the most part, take place in four locales:

Vila Isabel Vila Isabel is a middle-class neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, known for its music-themed Boulevard 28 de Setembro, which celebrates the neighborhood's long musical heritage. Many musicians like Almirante, Braguinha, Henr ...

, 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 Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. 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 Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main ch ...

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 Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

woman, with Brazilian roots, named Consuelo. * The thriving Brazil rodeo culture. Rodeo is a traditional sport in many countries in

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, with influences from the history of Mexican and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian ''

vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; pt, vaqueiro, , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in Mexico from a methodology brought to Latin America from Spain. The vaquero became t ...

s'' or ''vaqueiros'' (cowboys) and American cowboys.

Cast

Reception

Ratings

Music

Unlike most Brazilian soap operas, ''América'' featured different styles of music for each milieu. Vila Isabel had only traditional

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

, other parts of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

included Brazilian pop and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

, São Paulo was scored with Brazilian

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

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 Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo (; born 27 May 1972) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, TV host, and occasional actress. She was on six albums with Banda Eva, and seven more solo albums. Sangalo is noted for her powerful voice, charisma and live pe ...

02. "Até Pensei" - Nana Caymmi 03. "A Volta" - Roberto Carlos 04. "Pra Rua Me Levar" -

Ana Carolina Ana Carolina Sousa (, born September 9, 1974) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and musician. Career Carolina has a contralto vocal range. Her musical influence comes from the crib, her grandmother used to sing on the radio, and her great aunt a ...

05. "Feitiço da Vila" -

Martinho da Vila Martinho da Vila (born February 12, 1938) is a Brazilian singer and composer who is considered to be one of the main representatives of samba and MPB. He is a prolific songwriter, with hundreds of recorded songs across over 40 solo albums. He a ...

06. "Nervos de Aço" -

Leonardo Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

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 Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo, which encomp ...

*Disco 2 1. "Regresa a mi" -

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

2. " Don't" -

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

3. "

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

" -

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

4. "Abrazame Así" - Tamara 5. "Amore e Música" - Russell Watson 6. " The Look of Love" -

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard'' maga ...

7. " Summertime" -

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

8. "A Horse with no Name" -

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

9. " Redneck Woman" -

Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single " Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the '' Billboard'' country charts. The ...

10. " Pieces of Me" -

Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...

11. "Por un Beso" -

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has bee ...

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 Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellu ...

" - O2 19. "Little Girl" - Lucas Babin 20. "

Take Me Home, Country Roads "Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known simply as "Country Roads", is a song written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver about West Virginia. It was released as a single performed by Denver on April 12, 1971, peaking at number two ...

" -

Happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

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 ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

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 The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and ...

in Brazil. However,

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...

, 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 Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

organizations criticized the telenovela because rodeo was favorably exposed in the story. 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, though that was not attributed to a boycott eventually.

References

External links

Sitio de ''América''

Blog de Telenovelas Brasileiras

Video Blog de la novela ''América'' en español

Telenovela-World Bi-lingual Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:America (Brazilian TV series) 2005 telenovelas 2005 Brazilian television series debuts 2005 Brazilian television series endings Brazilian telenovelas TV Globo telenovelas Television shows set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Television shows set in Miami Brazilian LGBT-related television shows Works about illegal immigration to the United States Telenovelas by Glória Perez Gay-related television shows Portuguese-language telenovelas