From 1999 to 2001 the Colombian network
RCN aired a certain telenovela about a homely and mundanely-dressed young woman
working as a secretary for a major clothing label who nurses an unrequited love
for her boss. “Yo Soy Betty la Fea” would become a hit Colombian TV export,
such that other countries would eventually produce their own localized version
(our own ABS-CBN offered “I Love Betty la Fea” in 2009-10. But the American adaptation,
“Ugly Betty” on ABC, was big enough to gain its own following, thanks to its
show-runner Silvio Horta. Tragically however, Horta has passed away this
Tuesday.
USA Today has it that Silvio Horta, the Cuban-American screenwriter
and producer who adapted “Yo Soy Betty la Fea” into “Ugly Betty” for US
television, was found dead in January 7 at a Miami hotel room. Investigating
authorities have reported the cause of his death as a suicide from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound. Horta was just 45 years old. The news came as
such a shock to the slew of actors and producers who have worked with him, particularly
on ABC’s “Ugly Betty,” that social media erupted with online sorrow.
The very star of the show that
made Horta a promising name in TV production expressed shock and heartbreak
over the news and circumstances of his death. America Ferrera wrote on Instagram
how she and the viewers of “Ugly Betty” found joy and light due to his talent
and creativity with the show, which Horta shifted from tragic melodrama to a comedy-drama
series. Fererra writes, “I’m thinking of his family and loved ones who must be
in so much pain right now- and of the whole Ugly Betty family who feel this
loss so deeply."
“Ugly Betty” shifted the setting
of its source material from Bogota, Colombia to New York City, with Betty
Pinzon being reimagined as Betty Suarez (Fererra), a braces-ridden Mexican
American who lucks out with a job at “Mode” fashion magazine. Rather than pine
for her womanizing boss, Betty instead become friends and allies in a
high-pressure workplace, with the former counting on her supportive family and
workplace allies against the mag’s scheming and ambitious creative director.
Despite a solid first two seasons the ABC series suddenly plummeted in ratings
for the third and fourth, leading to its cancellation after a 2006-2010 run.
Fans however have rehabilitated Silvio Horta’s “Ugly Betty” into a cult
classic, with talk of continuing the storyline by a big-screen film sequel that
so far has never materialized.
Image
courtesy of The Wrap
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