When “Yo Soy Betty, La Fea” aired its first and solely season in 1999, nobody may have imagined the impression a Colombian telenovela that adopted Betty Pinzón, a unusual, company Latina protagonist navigating her profession and love life, would have on hundreds of thousands of individuals round the world. The present was televised in 180 international locations, dubbed in 15 languages, and remade into 28 worldwide diversifications — with considered one of the most outstanding remakes starring America Ferrera as “Ugly Betty.”
In “Betty La Fea” — and each rendition thereafter — Betty’s lengthy, frizzy darkish hair, outsized glasses, mouth stuffed with braces, and bushy eyebrows elicited unwarranted disgust and ire from most of her coworkers. Her seems to be had been the throughline of each episode, which was becoming, provided that the Spanish title interprets to “I Am Betty, the Ugly One.” However for numerous Latines who grew up watching the present, Betty was a beacon of hope for these of us raised in beauty-obsessed Latine cultures.
Betty’s perseverance whereas combating the stress of society’s magnificence requirements made her considered one of the most relatable TV characters of our time and positively performed a job in making “Betty La Fea” the most successful telenovela in history. After greater than twenty years since the unique sequence’ launch, Betty returns to the small display in the new Prime Video sequence “Betty La Fea, The Story Continues.” It can stream on July 19 with the unique solid, together with Ana María Orozco as the titular star. She’s now in her 40s, seems to be elegant, and is taken into account a profitable girl, mom, and spouse. However along with her return, Betty is again to remind us and people round her that her success was by no means solely contingent on her look. In truth, that is the first lesson Betty teaches us at the starting of the 1999 “Betty La Fea” sequence.
Forward of the new launch, it is necessary to relive the unique. In the very first episode of the telenovela, two jobseekers are interviewed for the similar assistant position at the style firm Ecomoda. Whereas the hiring managers ogle the blonde-haired, blue-eyed applicant, Patricia, they gawk and grimace at Betty. Primarily based on their response, Betty is aware of that she made the proper determination not attaching her headshot to her resume or that she most definitely would not have made it this far in the hiring course of. Even after seeing her, Ecomoda president Armando realizes Betty has the needed experience and competence to advance the firm’s wants and he hires them each — a lot to the hiring managers’ chagrin.
In the 2006 U.S. adaptation “Ugly Betty,” Betty Suarez dizzyingly traversed between the 2000s American tradition’s obsession with thinness and Latine tradition’s obsession with curviness. Her coworkers blatantly shamed her for her physique, typically going so far as insinuating that Betty did not deserve designer garments or the alternatives she labored for as a result of they thought she was unattractive. In the meantime, in Colombia, the place plastic and beauty surgical procedure had been standard and gaining traction all through the remainder of Latin America, Betty Pinzón confronted an limitless quantity of feedback about how not even cosmetic surgery may make her stunning. As a substitute of getting worn down by their commentary, Betty processed her feelings and confidently carried on to chase and obtain her desires.
Whereas we now reside in a post-Girlboss world the place feminine empowerment is prevalent in TV reveals and films like 2023’s “Barbie,” “Betty La Fea” challenged the definition of magnificence round the world, particularly in Latine communities at the flip of the twenty first century. For a lot of Latinas who grew up watching “Betty La Fea” and “Ugly Betty,” it was about extra than simply seeing our cultural struggles with unimaginable magnificence requirements mirrored on a display. We now had our personal Latina heroine who challenged magnificence norms and succeeded regardless of the misogyny she confronted at each flip.
In 2024, Betty continues to mannequin the energy of self-assuredness in the face of adversity and the modern-day issues that include being an bold profession girl, mom, and accomplice. She works on breaking generational trauma by repairing her relationship along with her teen daughter Mila and encourages her to chase after her ambitions in style. Lastly, as Betty returns to Ecomoda, the place her story started, we get to see her confront Armando, Marcela and the different characters who relentlessly undermined and underestimated her.
Whereas Betty is now conventionally stunning in “Betty La Fea, The Story Continues,” life is not essentially simpler due to it. In truth, when Betty faces robust selections that can change the trajectory of her household’s success and her romantic relationships, she trades in her fancy garments and glossy hair for her previous secretary-themed wardrobe and reverts to her previous curly coiffure, full with bangs that she reduce herself. As Betty makes area to be taught new classes in these new components of her profession, parenthood and love life, she’s bracing herself to share the most actual, weak and empowered model of herself we have ever seen.
Zameena Mejia is a Dominican American freelance author born and raised in New York Metropolis. She is obsessed with storytelling and uplifting various voices in magnificence, wellness, and Latinx life-style. Zameena holds a BA in journalism and Latin American research from the State College of New York at New Paltz and an MA in enterprise reporting from the Craig Newmark Graduate Faculty of Journalism.
