Growing up Latina I've seen a lot of telenovelas. The plot might be different but there're always similarities. That's what I'd like to call a telenovela "cliché." Here's few telenovela clichés and if you have seen telenovelas before I'm sure you'll agree.
1. There's Always A Forbidden Love
This is like the main plot in most telenovelas. There's always a forbidden love. It's never easy for the protagonists to get together because there's always people trying to keep them apart. The picture above is from the telenovela "Pasión Prohibida" where they fall in love but she is married to his uncle making it a forbidden love.
2. Someone Always Gets Pregnant
Most of the time a pregnancy in a telenovela is not good news. It's usually bad news because they are not ready to be parents, they are not in love, he/she loves someone else, etc. Pregnancy news in a telenovela are good usually when the telenovela is coming to an end and we know the protagonists are going to end up together.
3. People Are Going To Get Slapped. A Lot.
Women in telenovelas tend to slap a lot for some reason. I don't think someone in real life goes around slapping everyone she hates but in telenovelas slapping is like a religion. It simply must happen. So expect to see a lot of slaps when you watch telenovelas, and if there are no slaps then it's lacking some drama or it's not a good telenovela.
4. Something Will Go Wrong In A Wedding
It can be that before the wedding either the groom or bride regrets their decision to get married or someone bursts in the church in the iconic line of "speak now or forever hold your peace." The wedding must not happen.
5. Always Use The Middle Name
Using the name + the middle name of a character is law. You can't simply just say "Antonio," you have to say "Antonio José." That's just how it works. It makes the telenovela more dramatic.
6. Someone Ends Up In The Hospital
Usually they end up in the hospital because they get hit by a car of someone that hates them or they get beat up pretty bad. Another cliché that will happen in the hospital is that the antagonist will come and try to suffocate the patient with a pillow. I have seen that so many times.
7. It All Ends In Happily Ever After
At least in most cases it ends in a happy ending even though I've seen a telenovela where this rule doesn't apply. "Pasión Prohibida" (the one from the first picture) doesn't really end well. However, most telenovelas have a happy ending. It's what the viewer has been expecting since the beginning of the telenovela.
