COLUMBIA — Many Americans believe that television can’t get much worse than it is in the United States, but they haven’t seen what’s called entertainment in Columbia.One of the biggest televised attractions to capture the attention of Columbians focuses on the hardship of a teen girl willing to do nearly anything to have bigger boobs. Millions of viewers tune in each week to see how the impoverished girl with no job prospects after graduation will go about getting the breasts she believes will get her a gangsta boyfriend capable of supporting her.
So far Catalina has attempted to work as a prostitute with no luck. Why? Her boobs are too small. Unfazed, the teen has moved from adventure to adventure, facing violence, danger, and shady, untrustworthy figures in search of her “passport to heaven.”
Not unexpectedly, some Columbians despise the series, viewing it as an insult to a nation struggling to emerge from the grip of a 40-year guerrilla war fueled by the world’s greatest exportation of cocaine. Others enjoy it for its gallows humor.
The story relies upon an all-too-common understanding of that fact that Columbian gangsters, known as “traquetos” for the sound their automatic weapons make, often pay for cosmetic surgery for their girlfriends. This, combined with the nation’s poverty, has motivated ambitious young women to begin the surgery cycle as early as possible in the hopes of landing themselves a wealthy traqueto.
Margarita Rosa Arias plays one of Catalina’s busty friends, but considers herself to be an example of responsible augmentation. Arias fluffier than natural breasts were installed by a qualified surgeon when she was 28-years-old and married… to a man who wanted her to have the surgery.
The program, called Sin Tetas (Without Tits) is based on a recently released novel written by Gustavo Bolivar and tells the tale of a 14-year-old girl desperate for her chance at prosperity. Set in Periera, an area of the coffee-growing region known for its hard partying, the story outraged some locals, while others believe it merely tells the truth about a sad Columbian reality.
City spokesman Luis Garcia is one of those who would rather not have the name of Periera associated with something its citizens are working to put behind them. “We will not be defined by this tele-trash” he told Reuters. “All the guys in the story are assassins and the girls sell themselves in order to augment their breasts. It is the stereotype we object to.”
Unfortunately for Garcia and Periera, the city’s murder rate continues to remain above the national average and drug trafficking is still one of the most popular ways for its residents to escape from their poverty.
