The Spanish Conquer Mexico (Again)
Prior to the creation of streaming, most Mexicans relied on free television as a source of daily entertainment. Now, Netflix has been slowly gaining ground as it offers a wider variety of on-demand options and at a cheaper price than paid cable. As a result, many international shows that were previously unavailable have been introduced to Mexican audiences. Although English-speaking shows usually lead the charts, many Spanish ones have been greatly popular. While some might wonder why Mexicans would like to consume objects from a country that used to reign over them, I’d argue that most Mexicans aren’t resentful of this period and are in fact close to Spanish roots. Moreover, these shows are in the same native language and offer characters with more similar personalities and realities to people in Latin America. But with so many popular offerings, like ELITE and Cable Girls, why does Money Heist (or La Casa de Papel as known to Mexicans) stand above them all?
When Money Heist was released in 2017, Mexico was going through a period of unparalleled corruption and poor public budget spending. Many people were disappointed at the government and thought they were feeding their own pockets rather than spending that money in improving the country. Furthermore, as narcos (drug cartels) took over areas of the nation and provided more services to some impoverished people than the government and large corporations could, a certain degree of crime glorification started to develop. Then comes a group of “good criminals” in red jumpsuits and Dali masks, decided to steal from the government, give some back to the people, and expose government secrets. Given the current political environment, Mexicans seemed to be more prone to loving this storyline, as it depicted something they perhaps wished (to a certain extent) would happen to their own corrupt government. But how could this story of crime entice other sectors of the population that weren’t as resentful, hurt by, or perhaps more indifferent to the government’s actions?
La Casa de Papel offers a very complete storyline that has something for all tastes, and reflects the content of popular Mexican shows as well. Telenovelas (soap operas), which are very popular in Mexico, often have complex narratives that go further than a simple love story, and touch on other areas like politics, crime, comedy, action, and suspense. Money Heist offers just that; a love story with Rio and Tokyo, comedic moments with El Professor and Berlin, melancholic ones with the several deaths, and lots of action and suspense. Having a similarly complex storyline to the already popular shows was simply another factor to its success. Furthermore, with the show ending in unshakeable suspense from one episode to the other, people craved and desired watching and knowing what happens next.
Netflix offers a great (and cheaper) platform to access a wider variety of shows that were previously unavailable to Mexican audiences. La Casa de Papel provides a very complete storyline that is similar in content to telenovelas and that related to how people felt towards the government during that period of high corruption. These selling-points have made Money Heist one of the most watched and acclaimed shows in Mexico and this will continue as people await a new season and urge friends and family to watch start watching it as well.
