Filipino Telanovela Clichés
Disclaimer: I watch GMA, I’m not sure about ABS-CBN, TV5 or other channels, so I’m basing the cliches from what I’ve seen in GMA. Let’s be honest, they probably contain at least some shit like this.
There are also mentions of manipulation, child abuse and bullying but not in detail, just mentions. If you’re uncomfortable either way, you can scroll pass.
Filipino telanovelas (mostly but not limited to the genre: Drama) have clichés such as:
Mistress are usually the antagonist but not all
Mistress who’s “prettier” than Wife tries to still Husband and won but Wife comes back even prettier, smarter, richer and more famous than before, most of the time can’t be recognized by Mistress and Husband
Mistress pulls the “I am pregnant” card to trap Husband in staying in a relationship with her
PS: Guys are mostly obligated to stay if the Girl is pregnant tbh, aLSO condoms or protections are nonexistent and Girl gets pregnant easily unless she has a condition where she can’t get pregnant
Another variant: The wife gave birth to a kid but it went to the mistress then the mistress uses and manipulates the kid to get the husband to stay with her
Mistress tried to kill Wife in anyway possible like hiring a hitman, push her off the boat or something, anyways the Mistress and Husband are rich
Husband’s mother hates Wife but becomes good guy and gets a redemption arc
Fucking hair grabbing scenes between the main woman characters as in a confrontation, just punch them jfc it’s not that hard if you want to win
A telenovela is not complete without a slap in the face during a confrontation, usually between Girl and Boy and Boy gets slapped
A wine, water or whatever liquid in the cup they’re holding gets splashed on someone
Main Chara and Antagonist gets fucking witty, taunting and shit, mostly in Wife and Mistress telanovelas, happens with woman characters
If Wife is antagonist and a shitty person, Mistress would obviously win Husband
If Wife and Husband has kids, Mistress or whatever antagonist can target the kids to break up the Wife and Husband (which doesn’t make fucking sense at first glance but when you know the context, it still doesn’t make sense)
Cheating cheating distrust cheating back together cheating seriously wtf is going on (I-ka Anim na Utos or in English, the Six Commandment is like this tbh it’s so damn long. By seeing the title, you know where this is going. It also got a lot of cliches)
Adopted children are sometimes not considered as real child/Adopted children gets bullied by bio child/Adopted child finds their real parents eventually (Poor Señorita is better tho, the main chara is a chad, adopting five poor children as her own)
Main Character or a main character will always, without fail, have a love interest
There’s at least a Gay/Bakla Best Friend
Somehow in some fucking way in a damn Drama, there’s action (I call “bad guys shooting at good guys as they run away” action, if it’s not, there’s at least bad guy pointing a gun at good guy)
The main character has a disorder/disability and they get bullied by people around them then they get superpowers
There’s a 90 percent chance when you see the antagonist is a famous antagonist actress/actor, mostly actress, unless stated otherwise that they’ll play the protagonist/good guy role
THERE’S AT LEAST A FILIPINO DUBBED KOREAN TELANOVELA LIKE DAMN and of course, voiced by professional actors, not professional VOICE actors (because korean telanovelas are better and original)
If there’s something I missed or mistaken, let me know.
