Cuba: The Dark Side of the Moon

Ok, I was going to post a lengthy one on this but over the weekend the Chicago Tribune did me a favor and had an article on this soap opera, which is aparently the first government-sponsored television show to tackle bisexuality and homosexuality on Cuban television. In "Helping Cubans realize what it means to be gay" (Chicago Tribune, June 5, 2006), reporter Gary Marx writes about the changing environment for gays in Cuba (as in most of Latin America) and the diverse reactions that the storyline has provoked. Back on May 3rd, the BBC also ran an article on the series which you can read here.

For those of you who read Spanish, there has been a barrage of articles and essays on this soap as of late. Here is a sample which includes commentary from a couple of Cuban-based publications:

• Terremoto al otro lado de la luna (Cubanet, May 12, 2006)
• El tema de la bisexualidad polariza a Cuba (La Jornada, May 8, 2006)
• TV cubana llama a ser tolerantes con los gays (AP, May 4, 2006)
• Un mensaje al descubierto (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• "Nuestro objetivo no ha sido escandalizar" (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• Cuatro apostillas sobre la telenovela cubana de turno (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• La cara oculta de... Yassel (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• Evidencias de un relieve incomodo (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• Entre la pelota, el sexo y la tele (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• Opinion de Reynaldo Gonzalez (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• Opiniones Varias (La Jiribilla - Dossier, April 29, 2006)
• El lado oculto de la gente (Ahora, April 26, 2006)
• Sobre la cara oculta y la montana quebrada (Juventud Revelde, April 26, 2006)