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Was Chespirito a good comedian? For me it was not. Is it worth consuming it knowing its reprehensible behavior? I decide not to do it, ”says Carlos Ballarta at the end of his review published in The Washington Post.
This, after analyzing a series of events that qualify the comedian as “insensitive” in front of his context.
Nevertheless, the Chespirito phenomenon was and continues to be one of the best-known brands on the continent and its center is the character of “El Chavo del 8”.
Yesterday at 9:00 p.m. The Washington Post published a comedian’s opinion of stand up, Mexican screenwriter and actor, Carlos Ballarta, with a headline that has caused much controversy: “Chespirito was a bad comedian and avoided dictatorships. It’s time to talk about it “. For all who have an emotional attachment towards the comedian and the brand associated with his name which includes, among others, an animated television series, toys, video games, songs, clothes, shoes, backpack and calendars, and of course, DVDs with Its programs and films have been a great blow, since consumers, not only Mexican, but Latin American, buy from companies with whom they share values.
Carlos Ballarta’s criticism of Chespirito
“Last week, in an interview on the program Version understood, I said that Roberto Gómez Bolaños“ Chespirito ”was the worst thing that had happened to Mexican comedy. Also that it was outrageous that he had traveled to Chile to appear in a stadium where the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship had tortured students ”, were the words that Carlos Ballarta used to open his opinion article.
Roberto Gómez Bolaños, better known as Chespirito, is recognized in all parts of the world for his interpretations, undoubtedly one of the most recognized, was “El Chavo del 8”, which to this day continues in the collective memory of the Mexicans and Latin Americans.
Ballarta’s criticism is that with this character, Bolaños created a poor “avatar of the people” and that his strength overcomes all complications; However, the time in which it developed was one of counterculture resistance, in that sense, Chespirito did not represent the struggle of time, but rather followed “what Televisa said was comedy.”
Chespirito is reproached by Ballarta for “lack of sensitivity” to his context, since he appeared in 1977 at the National Stadium of Chile, which had been the site of torture of students during the Augusto Pinochet regime and in Argentina with the dictator Jorge Rafael Videla.
A strong brand, identity and hope of Mexicans
Although Ballarta considers that Bolaños was not a good comedian, the phenomenon of Chespirito was and continues to be one of the best-known characters on the continent and the center of the brand is the character of “El Chavo del 8”, a mischievous boy from 8 years living his daily life in a neighborhood in Mexico City and marketing also includes El Chapulín Colorado and Doctor Chapatín.
According to Forbes (2012), until the end of the production of the program in 1995, the group created by Chespirito had made a profit of 1.7 billion dollars, but the family denies it and until now, it is a mystery how much they earned with the great brand of Bolaños.
The truth is that he managed to create an extremely special product, which no other television program of the time had and one of his great decisions was to export the program in Latin America, where socio-economic and cultural values are a constant of roots and identity. Without a doubt, the bond that Chespirito generated guaranteed the loyalty of its viewers.
“El Chavo del 8” was broadcast for more than 25 years and until 2020 the rights that Televisa had on the characters and literary creation of Roberto Gómez Bolaños ended, with which all the programs went off the air around the world. Despite the intervening years it was calculated that it had an audience of more than 350 million viewers worldwide, Grupo Chespirito has not ended its influence in the world, some prospects hope that it will have a future in the new platforms of streaming.
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