The other side of trash TV

The rise of trash TV in the 1990s has, over time, led to a certain view that idealizes all this waste. Some have tried to interpret the Martian Chronicles by Xavier Sardà as a cult television and a good part of the puppets that were exploited as misunderstood stars of popular culture. Superstar, the series that Netflix has just released, pays tribute to this entire generation of the so-called freaks television series, trying to humanize them. Tamara and her mother, Margarita Seisdedos, are the backbone of the story, and the miseries of Leonardo Dantés, Paco Porras, Loly Álvarez, Tony Genil, and Arlequín are also recreated around them. Together, they created what has later been called tamarism, this media movement kitsch of somewhat marginal characters who managed to become part of the most successful television programs, despite the cruel media hostility surrounding them. Nacho Vigalondo, the creator, also participates as a supporting actor in the role of Joaquín Sardana. alter ego by Xavier Sardà, who presents a program titled Mars timeProduced by Los Javis (Calvo and Ambrossi), Superstar It fuses the television signature of all of them. On the one hand, the delirious tone, a kind of very personal, somewhat dreamlike magical realism that plays with Vigalondo's dramatic comedy and social criticism, and on the other, the veneration of pop culture, the need to redeem marginalized or different characters by providing them with an emotional narrative that emphasizes their story. Director Claudia Costafreda's influence is also evident in the emotional treatment and care for the characters.

The series achieves a very well-crafted quality that connects perfectly with this entire eccentric and media-driven universe, without losing its ties to the broader social context of Spain at the time. The performances and characterizations of the characters are spot-on, and the actors' and actresses' enjoyment of participating in this fiction is evident. The script and dialogue are well-constructed because they know how to play with the codes of the genre and the reality they seek to recreate, without being bound by them. They blend fiction and truth well, compassionately showing this unknown side of trash TV.

Now, once you've identified the references, discovered the keys to the fiction, and understood the narrative game they wanted to present, it's easy for the series to lose interest. Beyond an excessively naive perspective, which turns the most sordid into comical, it falls victim to the very subject it seeks to explore: trash TV itself. Initially, it may surprise you or make you laugh, but after the third episode, you've had enough.