La Baby Sister - Social Class in La Baby Sister

Social Class in La Baby Sister

Although much of the La Baby Sister involves either stereotypical romantic themes or silly comical hijinks, the novela does delve into some pertinent social commentary, most notably involving social class.

A recurring theme in La Baby Sister is the difference in class between Fabiana and Daniel and their respective families. Most characters, including Fabiana herself at one point, assume that Daniel cannot possibly love Fabiana because she is of a lower social class. Indeed, Daniel says as much to Veronica while trying to deny that he and Fabiana had an affair. Moreover, Martha appears (unrealistically) blind to the affair between Fabiana and Daniel because she assumes that Daniel would never "sink so low" as to have an affair with hired help, or at least not an affair that would mean anything. Throughout the novela, Martha repeatedly tries to instill class-based discrimination in the education of her children. At one point she, apparently without irony, alludes to George Orwell's Animal Farm by saying to her daughter, "All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others."

The producers of the novela clearly come down on the progressive side of the class debate: with the exception of Daniel, every upper-class character is stereotyped as snobbish, greedy, insane, or all three. One of the Novela's primary villains, Veronica, continually evokes her membership in the upper-class as justification for her unsavory and occasionally violent actions. In contrast, the Fabiana's working-class family and neighbors are consistently portrayed sympathetically as hard-working people who want nothing more than happiness for everyone, regardless of their social position. The novela also repeatedly portrays class-mobility in Colombia as difficult at best: Fabiana repeatedly tries to enter with Colombia's upper-class and is repeatedly buffeted by discrimination by her social "betters." In the final episodes, Daniel realizes that in order to be with Fabiana, he must renounce background in and cut his ties with Bogota's high society, a decision that allows him to be with his love, but which also costs him a lucrative career. The Novela's resolution suggests that, however unjust it may be, class discrimination is as strong as ever in Colombia.