Maria La Del Barrio
Literally: "Maria from the Ghetto/Neighborhood". A popular Mexican telenovela starring singer Thalia, which skyrocketed her to international fame, as well as Fernando Colunga and Itati Cantoral to a lesser extent. It is a remake of the popular 1979 telenovela "Los ricos también lloran" (The Rich Also Cry).
Maria is a 15-year-old orphan girl who loses her godmother, but before she passes, she asks the local priest not to leave Maria to fend for herself. The priest begs his wealthy benefactor, Don Fernando, to let Maria live in his home as a servant, but the man instead brings Maria in as his ward, drawing the ire of his wife Victoria and her niece, Soraya. Maria falls in love with the Don's Troubled but Cute son, Luis Fernando, but also has to fight for his affections with the treacherous Soraya and her accomplices.
If you want to think about a Trope Codifier of the modern audience's view of a Spanish telenovela, look no further. The show contained several catfights, staged pregnancies, faked deaths, and heaps of drama. Maria la del Barrio also had a recent resurgence in popularity among Spanish speakers because of ridiculous antics of the main villain Soraya, as well as a remake for Filipino audiences in 2011.
Tropes used in Maria La Del Barrio include:
- Adults Are Useless: After Nandito gets stabbed and Esperanza is badly beaten up, there's a group of 5-6 adults simply standing around wondering if there's anything they could do.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Surprisingly enough, Soraya gets this at the end. Even if she had tried to kill both Maria and Luis Fernando, seeing her burning to death along with the house is still horrifying. This is made worse by the fact Maria still tries to save Soraya even after everything she has done.
- The scenes prior to this also count. Maria tries to reason with Soraya by offering her help to overcome her rampant insanity, just as she did. Soraya rejects it, saying she has committed so many crimes and there isn't a chance for her anymore. Of course, she ruins it by blaming Maria for everything that had happened to her, but it seems even Soraya knows how too far gone she has went.
- The Alcoholic: Luis Fernando. He gets better.
- Arch Enemy: Soraya instantly sees Maria as this, due to her being a threat to her plan to marry Luis Fernando, and generally being a dirt poor nobody, as she calls her.
- The Atoner: Penelope after Maria's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Ax Crazy: Soraya, Soraya, SORAYA.
- Beautiful All Along: Maria isn't by any stretch ugly, but she is given lessons in etiquette and language to turn her from a simple country girl into a proper lady.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Maria and Luis Fernando, although this mostly faded as they both grew up. Luis's bouts of anger are definitely not played for laughs later, though.
- Berserker Tears/Broken Tears: Soraya sheds these all the damn time.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Maria herself is a very sweet and pleasant girl (especially after her transformation into a proper lady), but if you cross her or her loved ones, her fiery temper will show and it won't be pretty. Soraya is usually at the receiving end of those.
- Betty and Veronica: Maria (Betty) and Soraya (Veronica) for Luis Fernando, although subverted in that Soraya never really had a chance with him. Later Vladimir (Betty) and Luis Fernando (Veronica) for Maria.
- Big Bad: Soraya.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Soraya pulls this tactic often, but it only works with strangers. People who actually know her usually spot her intentions rather easily.
- Black Widow: Soraya.
- Break the Cutie: Most of the show consisted of bad things happening to either Maria, Alicia, or Nandito. This all pays off in the end, thankfully.
- Break Them by Talking: Soraya would often taunt Maria with one of these, only for Maria to shut it down and deliver one of her own, driving Soraya nuts.
- The Cast Showoff: Thalia sang the novela's opening song, and also sang during the show.
- Cat Fight
- Chandler's Law
- Chewing the Scenery: Soraya during the infamous Maldita Lisiada scene.
- Cinderella Circumstances
- Contrived Coincidence: Maria kept continously running into Nandito, who was the son that she had abandoned shortly after she gave birth.
- Dawson Casting/Playing Gertrude: Maria, Soraya, and Luis Fernando were played by the same actors even after 20 years had gone by on the show. Thalia first appears as Maria as a 15-year old when she was 24 at the time and Itati Cantoral first plays an 18-year old Soraya at 20 years old. They don't even bother changing other characters' appearances.
- The Dulcinea Effect: A kindly doctor decides to take in Maria during her bout of amnesia.
- Drowning My Sorrows
- Easy Amnesia: Maria has two such instances of amnesia, the first of which after her pregnancy when she gives up her child, and the second after her time in prison.
- When an old lady finds out that Maria can't remember anything about herself, she points out that it's just like a telenovela.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Maria goes through hell and back throughout the series, but it pays off big time in the end. The same applies to Alicia and Nandito.
- Easily Forgiven: The maid just tried to stab her employer? It's okay, she was just having an off day.
- Eighties Hair: On the main cast, only Luis Fernando, but his ex-girlfriend Brenda had huge poofy 80s hair. This series was from the mid-90s.
- Estrogen Brigade Bait: Luis Fernando.
- Expository Theme Tune: Sung by Thalia helself.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Horribly averted with Soraya.
- Evil Is Hammy: Soraya. It's the main reason she's a Fountain of Memes.
- Evil Laugh
- Faking the Dead
- Fish Out of Water: Maria in the De La Vega household, at first.
- Foil: Maria is a sweet, kind-hearted girl who comes from a poor background, while Soraya seemingly came from a rich family and is an evil sociopath through and through. Their Character Development also contrast with each other: Maria starts out as a rebellious orphan who is later transformed into a Proper Lady, while Soraya goes from a rich socialite into a ravaging madwoman.
- Also, Soraya and her successor Penélope, surprisingly enough. They start off as incredibly similar to each other, being Maria's enemies for the affections of Luis Fernando. However, Soraya degenerates into a madwoman who tries to outright kill Maria and doesn't regret what she's done, while Penélope shows remorse when Maria sacrifices herself for her, motivating her into becoming a much better person.
- Gene Hunting
- Giggling Villain: Soraya becomes one eventually.
- Girls Behind Bars: Not sexualized at all and is simply played for drama. Maria becomes ruthless in order to survive in prison.
- Gold Digger: Both Soraya and Penelope. Penelope grows out of this, though.
- Gossipy Hens: Carlota, mainly.
- Happily Adopted
- Hate Sink: Soraya was clearly intended to be hated, and it shows by her atrocities and the other characters' reactions to her. Audiences have a different opinion about her, though.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Maria.
- Heel Face Turn: Every antagonistic character who isn't Soraya pulls one sooner or later. Aunt Victoria comes to accept Maria into the family after the Time Skip (even going against her niece Soraya), while Penélope turns into The Atoner after Maria's Heroic Sacrifice.
- Heel Realization: Penélope has one after Maria's Heroic Sacrifice. She openly prays to God and says Maria was a good person, and subsequently realize how horrible she has acted up until that point.
- Heroic BSOD: Maria goes through one during her pregnancy. The first time, at least.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Maria during the prison fire, although she doesn't die.
- Hollywood Healing
- Idiot Ball: A lot of the drama would have been resolved in the 2nd part of the show if Maria just told her husband that Nandito was their son. Then again, this is a telenovela we're talking about.
- Ill Girl: Alicia, the infamous MALDITA LISIADA!. Until the end of the series, that is.
- Instant Death Bullet
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Luis Fernando may be troubled, but he's ultimately well-meaning and matures considerably throughout the show. Penelope also turns into one.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Soraya has no redeeming traits whatsoever, and any semblance of a Pet the Dog moment is just an act to get what she wants.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Soraya crosses this with Laser-Guided Karma. No matter how long it takes, all of Soraya's deeds will bite her in the ass sooner or later. Esperanza even lampshades this.
- Kick the Son of a Bitch/Pay Evil Unto Evil: Luis Fernando's horrible treatment of Soraya would be morally reprehensible if she wasn't... well... Soraya.
- Kissing Cousins: Nobody bats an eye to Luis Fernando and Soraya getting married, mostly because Soraya isn't actually Victoria's niece.
- Knife Nut: Penelope.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Calixta's revelation that she is actually Soraya's mother.
- Love Makes You Evil
- Makeover Montage: Maria's "transformation" into a true lady.
- Mama Bear: You do not want to get in between Maria and her children.
- Esperanza may not be able to do much, but touch Alicia and she'll make you pay, standing up to Soraya many times.
- A Man Is Not a Virgin
- May–December Romance: Nandito and Soraya. Luis Fernando also assumed Nandito was Maria's lover before he knew better.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Oh, Soraya...
- Never My Fault: Nothing is ever Soraya's fault, really. She'll blame Nana Calixta, Alicia and Esperanza, and especially Maria for her self-inflicted misfortunes. Her monologue when she kidnaps Maria in the finale just screams this trope.
- Nice Guy/Nice Girl: Maria, Nandito and Alicia.
- The Nineties
- Not Quite Dead
- Official Couple: Maria and Luis Fernando, Nandito and Alicia.
- Pair the Spares
- Parental Abandonment
- Parental Substitute: Esperanza for Alicia. Lupe and Don Fernando for Maria.
- Plucky Girl: Maria.
- Police Are Useless: The police only ever turn up at the right moment twice.
- Put on a Bus: Vladimir mysteriously disappears forever after Maria turns him down. According to the actor, there was going to be a further plotline where he became involved with Soraya, but it never happened.
- Luis Fernando's sister Vanessa disappears in the second half of the show as well.
- Pygmalion Plot
- Rich Bitch: Soraya.
- Self-Made Orphan: Soraya.
- Smug Snake: Soraya. While she's smarter than the average Smug Snake, her arrogance and craziness causes all her plans to eventually crumble and even cause her death.
- Penélope too. Unlike Soraya, she gets better.
- The Sociopath: Soraya fits this trope like a glove. Ultimately subverted with Penélope.
- Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: At least they used a time skip to explain the kids getting older.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Even after all the crap Soraya put her through, Maria still tries to redeem her and get her to seek some help, with no success. Notably, she's horrified when Soraya burns herself to death, pleading the cops to save her.
- Talking Your Way Out: Maria tries this when Soraya has kidnapped her and she regains her memory, but by then Soraya has completely lost her shit.
- Tears of Remorse: Penélope sheds these while mourning Maria's Heroic Sacrifice for her. This leads to her Heel Realization and subsequent Heel Face Turn.
- Tell Me About My Father
- They Do
- Time Skip
- Title Drop: Maria is often called "Maria, la del barrio" as an insult.
- Troubled but Cute: Luis Fernando
- Unwanted Harem: Maria attracts just about every eligible bachelor on the show.
- Villainous Breakdown: Soraya is prone to these.
- What Could Have Been: Vladimir's aforementioned planned storyline.
- Who's Your Daddy?
- Wicked Stepmother: Soraya eventually. Poor Alicia...
- Wig, Dress, Accent
- Yandere: Soraya and Penelope. Soraya evolves into just being Ax Crazy, while Penelope eventually redeems herself.
- Your Cheating Heart: Luis Fernando cheats on Maria with Penélope.