Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

/ARTS WEEKLY/ TV-MEXICO: ‘El Chavo’ Vanquishes Time

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Mar 9 2004 (IPS) - ‘El Chavo del Ocho’, the poor Mexican eight-year-old (really a 40-year-old man dressed as a boy) with a heart of gold and a bit on the clumsy side, was the star of a television series of the same name three decades ago, and today survives as a TV favourite for millions of viewers.

This fact still manages to astonish the now elderly Roberto Gómez Bolaños, who created and played the role of El Chavo.

"I imagine that El Chavo is out there today with a flannel cloth, cleaning car windshields," said Gómez Bolaños, referring to his character, who with Quico, Chilindrina, Don Ramón, Professor Jirafales, Doña Florinda and others, starred in ‘El Chavo del Ocho’, a comedy series that is still in high demand in the Spanish-speaking world.

Gómez Bolaños, who throughout Latin America is known as ‘Chesperito’, a diminutive that alludes to William Shakespeare, continues to enjoy the success of the characters he has played, but confesses that he never believed they would survive so long.

Reaching his 75th birthday on Mar. 21, the television actor and producer says he is old "in body" but young "in spirit", because of the popularity of the characters he developed and portrayed in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Although "El Chavo del Ocho" is an older television series, with a simple look that stands in sharp contrast to the high-tech productions of today’s programming, it has not lost its shine. The same can be said for other personalities created by Gómez Bolaños, like the famed "Chapulín Colorado", a hero fraught with defects, fears and a great deal of humour.

In Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and, of course, Mexico, as well as in other countries, El Chavo, which means "kid" or "boy", and Chapulín continue to draw big viewing audiences of children.

But adults born in the 1960s, 70s or 80s also have affectionate memories of the programmes, and continue to tune in – even if they are re-runs.

"The success of El Chavo has to do with the fact that he personifies part of the Latin American identity," Mexican sociologist Santiago Estrella told IPS.

Living in a poor neighbourhood, as is the reality for most of the region’s population, knowing how to have fun, "be good" and content oneself with the mere act of eating a good sandwich, are elements that are present for children throughout all of Latin America, he said.

The jokes without references to sex or politics, and more in line with pie-in-the-face, slapstick humour and wordplay are El Chavo’s trademark. But so are references to poverty and broken families and to the games kids play.

Ruth Rocha, Brazilian author of children’s books, says that although El Chavo could be considered a poor and unattractive programme in aesthetic terms, it is wildly successful because children identify with the dialogue, the scenes and with the main character, "who behaves exactly as they would."

"It is a simple show, circus-like, and doesn’t hurt anyone," she commented.

In the opinion of TV producer Raúl Ordóñez, the success of El Chavo and Chapulín is related to their strong contrast with the latest television shows. "Clean humour and the story of a poor boy who sleeps in a barrel" captivate today’s audiences, he told IPS.

Gómez Bolaños confesses that he came up with the idea for El Chavo with adult TV viewers in mind, and that he never figured out exactly why children love the show so much.

Mexican bank executive Carlos Miranda, 38, remembers "very well that when I got home from school I was wild about watching ‘El Chavo’ because it was really funny… I believe that in some way that humour left is mark on me as an adult."

El Chavo’s typical phrases, like "eso, eso, eso, eso…", meaning "yes", "se me chispoteó" (I made a mistake), and "no me tienen paciencia" (they get fed up with me) are remembered – and still used – by the millions who have watched the programme over the years, broadcast throughout Latin America by the Mexican network giant Televisa.

According to Gómez Bolaños’ invention, El Chavo, who wears a cap with earflaps and old trousers held up with braces, is eight years old, an orphan, and when facing problems or fears he almost always opts to hide in a barrel.

The character lives his life in a neighbourhood, playing with Quico, a boy who is just a bit better off and has a mother but no father, with Chilindrina, a freckled and intelligent girl who has a crush on El Chavo and who is also from a single-parent home, and Ñoño, the tubby, sweet-toothed son of their apartment building’s landlord.

Other characters, some played by actors who have since died, are Don Ramón, the unemployed father of Chilindrina, Professor Jirafales, a bachelor dedicated to his teaching, and Doña Florinda, Quico’s mother.

The fact that none of the characters live in a traditional "complete" family has caught the attention of some academics, like sociologist Estrella.

"What is curious about the series is that even though the characters are outside the common family standards, they all interact as a big family and love each other," he said.

Gómez Bolaños says he is deeply grateful to the Latin American audiences for the success of the characters he created, but says he will not update the series.

He says he now prefers to relax, draw, write poetry – and enjoy the admiration won with child-like characters, he says, who never aspired to fame.