| Abstract: | “Ugly Betty Mania” has created numerous versions of this telenovela across the globe. This paper explores the representational schema within the franchise's Cinderella/Ugly Duckling narrative, whilst focusing on the exclusionary notions of beauty in Mexico's hit 2006 production La Fea Más Bella (“The Most Beautiful Ugly Girl”). By reading the slapstick comedy within this version through feminist theories of laughter, this paper identifies representational modes that challenge traditional Manichaean formulas within the Mexican telenovela, which are tied to notions of good (beauty) and evil (ugliness). Examining this telenovela's popularity through a cultural and industrial analysis, this paper uses data from interviews with industry professionals to consider how an increasingly disengaged Mexican telenovela viewership may have been recaptured through the slapstick gender dynamics of La Fea Más Bella. |
