Long before the word empowerment was attached to the female gender, to talk about the role of women in XNUMXst century society, the Cuban writer Delia Fiallo dared to create and develop the story of a young woman from humble origins, willing to challenge the norms of the time, in order to earn a place in the world of Medicine.
"Rafaela", a member of a matriarchal family without economic resources, decides to go in search of a university degree and venture into a field dominated by men. During her first work experience, she must face the prejudices of colleagues who look down on her, dismissing her professional ability in the face of appreciation of her physical attributes.
The transition from being an object of desire to achieving the respect of their peers contextualized the fictional love story that Chelo Rodríguez and Arnaldo André lived, starting on September 1, 1977, when Venevisión incorporated the baptized telenovela onto its grill, for a little change. , with the name of the protagonist.
In the week of the celebration of International Women's Day, this dramatic production is a reference to what society was like a few decades ago, the progress made in the fight for equal rights and how much still remains to be achieved.
The plot
Like many women before and now, Caridad Martínez (Ana Castell) has given birth to six children of different men, assuming the challenge of raising them all by herself. In her litter is Rafaela (Chelo), the product of a temporary relationship with the future doctor Rafael de la Vega (Raúl Xiqués), who never knew of her pregnancy. The girl decides to follow in her father's footsteps and ends up working at the clinic he runs.
There he meets José María Báez (Arnaldo), a southern womanizer who hides an unbalanced wife behind his “viva la pepa” façade, whom he left behind in Argentina after suffering the loss of their common child.
The relationship between Rafaela and José María begins with confrontations and disrespectful situations, while a feeling framed in the genre of traditional soap operas or the industry of tears, as José Ignacio Cabrujas referred to, emerges. The happy ending came a year later.
In addition to those mentioned, the cast was made up of: Herminia Martínez, Caridad Canelón, Omar Omaña, Yolanda Méndez, Fernando Flores, Haydée Balza, Miriam Ochoa, Olga Castillo, Enrique Alzugaray, Alma Ingianni, Betty Ruth, Esperanza Magaz, Elluz Peraza and Franklin Vírgüez, among other actors who exhibited their talents in multiple productions of the following decades.
replicas
"Rafaela", like the rest of the stories from Delia Fiallo's pen, has been the subject of various versions. The first was in 1987 with Tatiana Capote and Henry Zakka as protagonists of the renamed "Roberta".
The production was billed by Rctv, which decided to refresh it in 1994, with María Conchita Alonso and the Argentine Jorge Schubert as leaders of the artistic cast of "Alejandra". By then, the writer had established a new employment relationship, far from Venevisión.
In 2011, Televisa enforced its acquired rights to the Cuban work, returning the original name to the character played by Scarlet Ortiz, who shared credits with Jorge Poza.
