Soap Operas

Do you like to watch soap operas or any series on TV? Soap operas or dramas can be very addictive. If you just sit down in front of the television for an hour and you get the story, you'll want to know what happens next. To know what will happen, you have to watch it again the next day, right? Yup, it is the same for me.

I used to watch ‘Yo Soy Betty, La Fea’ or 'I am Betty, the Ugly' a few years ago. It is a Spanish show and they spoke in Spanish. Gracias or muchas gracias were the first few Spanish words that I've learnt from watching the show. I also used to go to school the next day and discussed the show with my friends who watched it too. We used to laugh about Betty’s antics or what Armando or Patricia said to Betty. Betty is smart but physically unattractive as she wears big glasses and has unruly hair. She is also head over heels in love with her boss, Armando. Patricia is kind of like her enemy.

After the show ended, I never really followed any soaps anymore. But now, there is this Indonesian series called ‘Bawang Putih Bawang Merah’ shown on TV3. I watch it because my mom switches on the TV in the afternoons. She followed the story at first but got sick of it as Bawang Putih also known as Alya was always crying! I didn’t like her crying very much too. The cast of ‘Bawang Putih Bawang Merah’ are good-looking and their acting were mediocre but it can still grab the attention of the viewers. No wonder it is one of the popular shows in Indonesia. It won some Panasonic award or something; I’m not quite sure.

But I have this one and only one question. Why, oh why does Bawang Putih cry all the time??? Can’t she stand up for herself and fight against the evil Bawang Merah (Siska) and finish the problem for once and for all? And I’m tired of seeing Bawang Merah’s smug look on her face each time she makes Bawang Putih suffer. Okay, since I am so dissatisfied with the show, the question is why am I still watching it right? Hehe… Well, I don’t watch it every afternoon, only some.

Then there is also Alya’s fairy. She is like a guardian angel to Alya and I wish I had one too. Everybody would like a guardian angel too! Frankly, I think that Alya is still alive for the story to go on is because of the fairy who had helped her a thousand and one times. Without the fairy and Alya’s stupidity, there will be no Bawang Putih Bawang Merah show.

This drama is a modern version of the Malay folktale Bawang Putih Bawang Merah where Bawang Putih can sing beautifully and Bawang Merah has a horrible sounding voice. One day, the Sultan went out on a stroll and he heard beautiful singing. Then, I guess someone told him where the singer lived and he went to the house.

Well, Bawang Merah tried to persuade the Sultan that it was her who sang. The Sultan did not want to be fooled so he asked that the 2 sisters sang. Bawang Merah sang first. Oooh, how horrible she sounded! Next was the heroine, Bawang Putih’s turn. The Sultan fell in love with her at that moment. You know what happens next then. The Sultan and Bawang Putih got married and lived happily ever after.