Brazil’s soap operas have gone from cultural landmarks to “just” marketing machines

A few São Paulo bars drew sizable crowds on Friday night — people who were glued to the TV. Not for a football game. Not for a presidential debate. Rather, to watch the last episode of “Vale Tudo,” the prime-time telenovela on broadcasting giant Globo — and a remake of one of Brazil’s most iconic TV dramas.

The original Vale Tudo premiered in 1988, as Brazil emerged from 21 years of military rule, with a provocative question for a nation redefining itself in democracy. By contrasting corrupt tycoons, scheming social climbers and honest workers, it asked, true to its title, whether “anything goes” in Brazil’s pursuit of success — a question that still haunts Brazil.

It also introduced Brazil’s most iconic TV villain to this day, Odete Roitman, a billionaire shot dead near the show’s end, with her killer revealed only in the finale. Nearly 90% of Brazilian TVs were tuned in when Roitman was killed, making it a cultural landmark.