Telenovelas: Paulo & Miguel

There is something called telenovelas that has been intriguing me for some time now. We don't have that at all in Sweden. Right now we actually don't have any soap operas at all, and I don't think we would have any soon. Soaps are really out of date in Sweden. Boring! But the Great Britain, Germany and USA are providing me with what I need. So, what is a telenovela? It is a soap opera in miniseries format, where the number of episodes are planned and limited from start. The program format has its origin in Latin America where it's particularly popular in Brazil, Chile and Mexico among others. But we have them in Europe to. Germany had Rote Rosen, in which Alexander Becht from Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten starred. But unlike Lenny Cöster in GZSZ, his character Brian O'Reilly was straight. Also Croatia and Spain has telenovelas, and they are very popular in Portugal. I love the concept! But I hadn't had any experienes of them. But then a faghag friend of mine told me about the storyline of Paulo and Miguel, and it happened to be a telenovela! And I loved it, I have to say! I love that it was a nice love story with a beginning and an end, and that I don't have another soap storyline to follow. They are so many right now...

Miguel and Paulo.

But, Paulo and Miguel. Their love story was to be seen in the Portuguese telenovela O Beijo do Escorpião, which means Scorpions kiss, from 2014. The story is about a couple of familys in Lisboa with and there is a shopping mall in focus, but bla bla, let's concentrate on Paulo and Miguel. They are both pilots on a privat jet company and Paulo Furtado (Pedro Carvalho) is deeply closetred because he has a really homophic asshole boss who would sack him if he knew about his sexual orientation. He is best friends with Miguel Macieira (Duarte Gomes) who is a quite sleezy womanizer, but a loyal friend. Until he realizes that he has ended up in bed with Paulo while they were really drunk, and then he becomes a real bastard. I guess that Miguel actually is straight but of course, he falls in love with the lovely Paulo.

Miguel and Paulo on their special day.

If you would want to see this storyline and not want to read any spoilers you should stop reading now. The story ends well with a wedding at the airport where they are both wearing shorts. I wonder if that's common i Portugal to marry in shorts... But anyway, I think it is so interesting how the story usually goes in soap operas and other series when there is a gay couple. I have written about it before, but I will have to do it again. Why soes it always have to be so much violence and why does the abused part always kiss and make up and forgive without winking? Here we have an excellent example of that. When Miguel realizes that he has had sex with Paulo, which he forgot because he was really drunk, he beats up Paulo, he treat him like shit and call him very nasty things, he tries to sabotage at work, he spits on him and he betrays him for his boss. Then Paulo is in a plane crash, Miguel fears that he has lost him and realizes that he loves him and kisses him. And Paulo forgives him without a wink! Why does he do that? Is that how it goes in real life? Unfortunately I think it is more common that we think... But anyway, it has a happy ending, even though it is very quick. It seems like the writers realizes with only a couple of episodes left that they have to wrap it upp and they do want a sunset ending and creates a proposal out of the blue that is not really realistic. But I love it anyway!

Duarte Gomes and Pedro Carvalho.

And I really love this storyline. Ok, the telenovela O Beijo do Escorpião might not be the most fantastic thing ever made, but it is a nicely told story with just the right amount of drama and cosiness, and the story proceeds in just the right speed. Except from the ending. But it is ok. And the actors are really great! Both Pedro Carvalho who plays Paulo and Duarte Gomes who plays Miguel are really good and does a really good job. They have a great chemistry and they manages to convince me that they are in love. I love them both!And if you want to watch their storyline, just follow the link.

And if you would like to watch more telenovelas there are a few with gay storylines. Actually, right now there is an ongoing, also Portuguese storyline in a telenovela called Os Nossos Dias, with a couple called David and Xavier. But I have heard that it is no good, even though Duarte Gomes is playing David. But I think I will give it a chance anyway. Other popular telenovelas with gay storylines are the Argentinian Botineras, the Colombian Niños Ricos, Pobres Padres and the Spanish Un Golpe De Suerte. I will come back to the topic when I've seen any of them!