Prisoners: You ain't takin' away my novelas

Thu13Jul2006

Prisoners: You ain't takin' away my novelas

16:09 H | Topics: Controversia - States - TV

Spanish-speaking prisoners in Utah are up in arms because they've been robbed of something vital to their peace of mind: Univision telenovelas.

An outburst among inmates over a decision to pull the plug on steamy Spanish-language soaps and talk shows resulted in a lockdown at Logan's Cache County Jail.

After getting numerous complaints about the raunchy shows and inmates hogging the television, jail commanders decided Tuesday to pull the Spanish-language TV channel Univision from the cable line-up pumped into the jail's 15 common area TVs.

"It was dividing the inmates," said Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Brian Locke. "Some wanted to watch it, some didn't want to watch it and it just got worse and worse and it all came back to that channel."

Needless to say, the prisoners are not happy. Fights broke out and they were tossed into lockdown. Prison officials also complained that "scantily clad women" graced the screen when Univision was on the TV. Scantily clad women on Spanish-language TV? Never!

I'm not buying that this was bothering the deputies. You spend your whole day locked up with a bunch of guys and I'm sure the sexy ladies of Univision are a welcome treat.

The real issue, apparently, is that non-Spanish speakers are sick and tired of watching Univision (hey, I am too, but not for the same reason) because they don't understand what's being said.

"I think the issue wouldn't be a raunchy, seedy TV show. That might appeal to most people," said Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Kevin Burton. "The issue is the non-Hispanics can't understand what's going on. It's a language they don't understand."

I want to tell them not to worry, they aren't missing anything important. Quick crash course: girl is poor from the wrong side of the tracks, achieves a fortune and/or fame and therefore enough status to rope in the man of her dreams, but there's another woman who thinks she doesn't deserve the man or the money and will stop at nothing to take her down. There, now you can watch any novela you want without learning Spanish!

Via / Deseret News and Hispanic Tips

Photo via t02846's Flickr page