A traditional Filipino soap opera does not seem to get complete without one or, even all of its characters, exacting their revenge on someone else.
Campy dramas often get followed for their explosive and extravagant confrontations, and more often than not, the goal to wreak vengeance–is carried out against all odds.
As exaggerated as that may seem, there are some dramas whose plot almost [completely] involve the main protagonist fulfilling her revenge.
Filipinos’ obsession with revenge-themed dramas may be [largely] due to our previous addiction with Mexicanovelas, where female heroines are depicted as fierce and feisty individuals, who go to great lengths to get what they deserve.
For 10 years alone, there have been female-centric dramas, which mostly have titles with a woman’s name. It captured the viewers’ attention. The most recent example of these dramas is the currently airing, La Vida Lena, which stars Erich Gonzales in the title role.
In La Vida Lena, the main protagonist is a barrio girl whose life became miserable because of the Narcisos. Because of them, his father died and she also got imprisoned. She came to their lives one day, wearing a different face, now successful and a formidable rival to the Narcisos’s soap business.
Using her new charm, Lena tried to ‘exact’ what she’d been aiming to get from her oppressors: revenge.
Similarly, GMA Network’s Contessa is about a woman wrongfully accused of a crime she did not commit.
The show featured drama actress Glaiza de Castro as Contessa herself.
ABS-CBN got imaginative in pulling off a revenge sub-genre via The Killer Bride, starring Maja Salvador. It is a gothic-inspired drama with the elements of supernatural, thriller, and crime.
Salvador then just came out from the massive success of Wild Flower, also a revenge-themed series, when she started doing The Killer Bride.
The Killer Bride wasn’t able to stay on-air as long as Wild Flower. The show nevertheless achieved a similar level of success.
Wild Flower is probably the most successful drama of its kind, in the last 10 years. Not only did it reign its time slot with a very high rating, it also left a sort of cult-level impact, but that can also still be seen today. It also made Salvador a household name in many countries in Africa, where the series was previously aired.
It seems TV networks and other production houses will continue to create more productions with similar themes and plotlines. Filipino audiences do not seem to tire seeing these contents, and because of that, more female-centric dramas in the vein of Wild Flower, Contessa, La Vida Leda, and The Killer Bride, will continue to debut in the future, and will likely get the same level of following.
Which other revenge-themed series do you think should be on the list? Don’t forget to mention them in the comment section.
