Foreward to this blog

 

PARIENTES A LA FUERZA is intelligent, amusing new TV series on www.nbc.com App  "On Demand", www.Telmundo.com  Just the kind of captivating entertainment I've been wishing for during long pandemic quarantine.

I have much in common with main character, a Latino who appears gringo (although actor who plays him is fluently tri-lingual:  Portuguese of Brazil, where he was born; Spanish, from growing up all over South American, and English from North American parents doing business in SA).  By watching PALF, I'm trying to improve my comprehension of Spanish, language not spoken at home during era of "English only" in USA.  Outside home, it didn't occur to Spanish speakers to converse with someone who looks like me.      

One of my grandmothers was Swiss, so I know  residents of other countries are often fluent in several tongues.  Language learning helps exercise your brain, research showing it may even combat Alzheimer's, a recommendation repeated in very helpful and amusing book  Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joseph Keenan available as e-book from public libraries.  See book's Preface which suggests that "by 2030, Spanish could be the language with the second-highest number of native speakers on the planet....that by midcentury the United States will become the largest Spanish-speaking country on Earth." 

This blog stems from comments I began posting on official Telemundo PALF Youtube channel as mental warm-up exercise.  (Not sure if my posts are still there.  I'm not very tech savvy so don't know if there's way to get English subtitles for entire episode, instead of only first half of Ep; internet hadn't been invented when I attended university).  Dictum for procrastinating pen (or personal computer) pushers says "Don't wait to get it perfectly right, get it written".  So my thoughts may ramble or seem tangled, but there still may be method in the madness (as said in Hamlet).   

"Pensando en Parientes" (PEP talk?) may also serve to eventually launch another project I'd been working on (situation somewhat like what author Norton Juster describes in his introduction to  now-classic book The Phantom Tollbooth was for author Norton Juster (edicion en Espanol, La Caseta Magica,  does not include author's introduction). 

Some telenovelas are worth re-watching and scholarly study.  http://www.henciclopedia.org.uy/autores/Bary/Corazonsalvaje.htm

PALF is about Hollywood screenwriter who looks "gringo" trying to get back in touch with his Latinx cultural roots and values.   Viewers can learn more about process of professional screenwriting through highly regarded influential books The Writer's Journey:  Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler (edicion en espanol El Viaje del Escritor, and Writing Screenplays that Sell by Michael Hague.  These two film gurus teamed up for lectures available  as audio e-book thru public libraries as The Writer's 2 Journeys, which may be more easily accessible for layperson seeking insight into what--and how--writers are trying to communicate through their creative work.

Also recommended:   Reading the Silver Screen by Thomas C. Foster (author of How to Read Literature like a Professor, designed to help those without previous formal training in literary analysis start seeing what they may be missing when reading works that have become classics for good reason).  Ultimate aim of these books (as in Philosopher's Club in books Gone-Away Lake and Return to  Gone-Away by one of my favorite writers, Elizabeth Enright--niece of Frank Lloyd Wright) is increasing your enjoyment or simply "fun!" 

I hope to scatter seeds (like in picture book Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney) that may serve as inspiration for others.

Thank you for reading.

P.S.  Comment feature was deliberately disabled.  Due to deterioration of my eyesight, I decided not to spend time monitoring such, so I might have more time to work on other projects before becoming functionally blind, not having an amanuenses or visual equivalent (tho am far from being a John Milton).  Lack of time is also reason my posts are not entirely bilingual, but those who need translations may be able to figure out how to get help.  Amusing and helpful book  Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish by Joseph Keenan is also highly recommend.    With this blog I also hope to stimulate language learning, whether English or Spanish.  

 

#ParientesALaFuerza  #TelemundoEnglish  @parientesalafuerza  #LatinosAreOnTvToo

There's already another Desert Island Bookworm blogger who isn't me.  Maybe just call me PEP talk, if you must call me anything at all.   For me this blog will be like throwing out messages in bottles into the ocean, not knowing if any reach a distant shore.  But as long as word about series PARIENTES A LA FUERZA may spread to new fans, I will be content.