How Do You Say I Love You in Chinese? OTALIA
April 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Entertainment, TV
I have been blogging about this GL storyline for a couple of months, and I have been recapping for AfterEllen for two weeks now. My inbox looks like a meeting of the United Nations. Never would I have imagined such an international appeal for a daytime drama. I have received feedback and commentary from six out of the seven continents. The seasons are changing in Antarctica, or I’m sure I would have heard something from the penguin outpost by now. Just today I received messages from Italy, the Philippines, Hong Kong, New Zealand…and New Jersey.
I would like to believe that my impeccable skills as a writer are bringing in the multitudes, but I have no such delusions of grandeur. The dramatic telling of Olivia and Natalia has reverberated across the globe as the language of love is universal. A caress of a trembling hand or an impassioned look held long between adoring eyes needs no translation. Love is love whatever the coordinates.
According to an administrator of the OTALIA Big Purple Dreams fansite, perhaps as many as ten percent of the registered board members are international. They represent over 25 countries from Australia to Wales. It could be more when considering those who reside in the land of Lurkdom. How has this soap phenomenon gone global at a speed that rivals Susan Boyle or Octo-mom? The simple answer would be to say the internet, but hundreds of dramas are broadcast everyday with little more than a world wide web mention. Most remain buried beneath the tenth page of the odd Google search. The internet is merely the vehicle transporting this shot at love heard ’round the world.
Write it, and they will come; write it well, and they will come back; write it like OTALIA, and they will stay. Even a cynic like me has to admit this GL storyline is captivating, the performances by Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia are riveting, and the dramatic tension is disquieting. Where else in the world can you find a love story of boy gets girl, boy gets killed, girl gets heart, girl gets girl? Nowhere else but Springfield. That’s just a heartbeat away from Italy, the Philippines, Hong Kong, New Zealand…and New Jersey.
Have I told you lately that I love you? Pick a language. Your words transcend them too.
Beautiful post. It made me feel a little gushy inside, and that’s no easy feat.
“Love is love whatever the coordinates.”
As always, you are wonderful!!
Heart Wants What It Wants. Or so I once heard it told. And now – WOW!
Your other posts have been so funny that I had no idea you had the heart of a poet. That was beautiful.
Thanks for continuing to recognize the wonderful Otalia storyline on Guiding Light. I’ve said many times that the GL writers are giving us exactly what a daytime drama should be–they’ve got 5 hours a week, every week of the year. There’s plenty of time to show the small moments that take a relationship from dislike, to grudging respect, to like, and then to love. I’m amazed by the international response, and I think the response to the storyline is due in no small part to the efforts of bloggers like you, who are using their considerable talent to tell people about what GL is doing. Blogs like yours, and discussion sites like BPD, deserve credit alongside the writers and actors who are making sure that GL will not go quietly (and hopefully, that it will not go at all).
Hey there, great post. Acknowledging Team International is a great way of driving home the point that the appeal of Otalia is its universal theme of love, self acceptance and courage! I appreciate reading your thoughts!
Great Article..Love will save the World.
You said everything I’ve been feeling so beautifully. I wish we had a ratings systems that recognized just how much this story has transcended not only labels, but borders. Thank you!
Awesome! Thank-you so much for this post. It was beautiful and funny and got to the heart of everything perfectly. It’s truly a global phenomenon! It amazes me to find new countries every day…today’s discovery: Chile!
Thanks again,
love
liz xxxxx
Thanks for this wonderful article! Way to go Team International, you guys are amazing! Keep the Light shining!
Great post, I love you’re writing. And you’re very right this story really is universal.
Btw, in Swedish we say “jag älskar dig”
Great article! Thanks for the Big Purple Dreams shout-out, too! You’re exactly right…if they write it well, we will come and stay. Unfortunately, that kind of writing is hard to find on soap operas these days.
Woohoo..Us Purple People will be heard far and wide!! Thx for the great write up! Keep it Otalia!
Thanks for this post, glad you’re getting international exposure!
I love this articel. I`m so proud to be part of Team Internation/Team Germany/Team Cologne. In German you say for “i love you”: “Ich liebe Dich!” But Love is universel!!!!!!!!!
thanks for the BPD shoutout and for the Team International mention! this was a very beautiful post, and i also felt mushy from reading it.. and btw, here in the philippines, we say “mahal kita”!
What an awesome article, that totally captured this amazing phenomenon, that I am proud to be part of , as a representative of Israel!
Otalia love forever!
Thank you all for the positive comments and the language lesson in love. Love and emotional connection does make this world of ours smaller and smaller. Each tug on the heartstrings brings us closer and closer to a virtual Pangaea!
I Otalia you
The heart of a poet…a woman who found her happy ending beginning on a message board. Love knows no boundries and speaks to every one of us. You describe it beautifully, my friend. I love you dearly!
Let’s hear more ways to say I love you in the other countries!!!! Because I want it!
What a wonderful and eloquent description of Otalia. Those of us who have been watching GL for years know of the incredible talent of Crystal Chappell. Add in Jessica Leccia and a slow grown love story and you have the best show on television bar none. We love it, we want it, we support it.
Thanks for the great article .Go Team International!!
Thanks for the Otalia shout out! And those of us in the deep deep deep South that lean the Otalia way sometimes feel like foreigners in their own state, BUT, never fear, purple power is here to stay and stand by its wonderful duo. Thanks again.
buggy
I’ve come to look forward to your Otalia blogs. Your words ring true in this article. Your recaps on AfterEllen are side-splitting.
Thank you and more power to you!
Well freaking said. Over here in France, I am what surely feels like less than a heartbeat away from Springfield. Thanks for the great read.
Oh, how I so loved reading this article! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Your words could not be more beautifully written. I especially agree with you regarding the writing of Jill Lorie Hurst, the acting performances of Crystal Chappell and Jessica Leccia, and the producing of Ellen Wheeler. When something is done right, people will come. … and people will continue to come when they are offered something that is genuine, respectful, and entertaining! Guiding Light is providing us with absolute excellence! Please, continue to give your attention to the Otalia storyline and to Guiding Light as a whole!
A Chinese Otaliatis say hi! Thanks for your awesome Otalia blogs! I subscribed your blog after I read the “Ode to an OTALIA Widow…well, almost”. That article is hilarious. I like your funny witty writing style. Just like contessa said: When something is done right, people will come.
In Chinese we said : 我爱你！
Just Google and find the pronounce of 我爱你(I Love You) is like: woh eye nee
lets try it again: woh eye nee OTALIA !
Great article! Love is universal. Thanks for shouting out to our International fans.
“Write it, and they will come; write it well, and they will come back; write it like OTALIA, and they will stay”
Otalia is so beautifully written and acted. It speaks directly to the heart.
According to Wikipedia, there are 171 native languages in the Philippines so here’s one in Cebuano, Gihiguma ko ikaw.
“Write it, and they will come; write it well, and they will come back; write it like OTALIA, and they will stay”
Otalia is so beautifully written and acted. It speaks directly to the heart.
According to Wikipedia, there are 171 native languages in the Philippines so here’s one in Cebuano, Gihiguma ko ikaw.
Gihigugma ko ikaw.
Sorry for the double posting.
That was such a great post. I loved it. We really have watched otalia go global and it’s inspiring on many levels.