Commodifying Your "Dissent," Part XLVI

David Card | July 09, 2006, 11:45 AM

Mexican popstars RBD spin off from a prep-school telenovela (that's a soap opera) and take on the world with their first english-language album. Apparently, it's not just us evil American capitalists who do this sort of thing:

"We knew we had to create a lifespan for 'Rebelde' that would go beyond the soap opera," (telenovela producer Pedro Damián) explained. "We talked about a magazine, a radio program, merchandising, sponsorships, a musical group, concerts. It was a whole 'Rebelde' concept. The belief was that being a rebel is something that everyone wants to be."

"To be rebelde used to mean you had to have a mask and a gun and come out of the jungle," he continued, referring to Subcomandante Marcos, the Zapatista rebel leader who started an armed revolution from the Mexican jungle in 1994. "Now you have to have a short skirt and a red tie and be very cute and very nice. It's rebellion as a lifestyle and an aesthetic."

Rebelde