Hi: I received a copy and I have started with the first 40 chapters of this novella, and I have to say that the casting of the school's director as a person of authority with any credibility, even as a goofy school teacher is at the heart of what is wrong with this novella. For those not familiar with Rafael Inclan's antics, he was the star of several nu-die semi porn exploitation films in the 70s and 80s. Like most Hispanics I enjoy the slapstick raw city slicker sense of humor offered by all the actors mixed in with some elements of Latin machismo mixed in. One of the major faults I see so far is whoever put this novella together can not seem to make up their mind whether they want the themes to be centered around the traditional love triangle drama or the shenanigans of disoriented rebellious teens.
In context, you should expect to have attractive characters in the novella. Do you expect to see a lot of dull chunky kids with Indian blood and Indian features?? BORING!! If you left with impression that certain themes are tackled in a shameless manner then in that regard the novella has accomplished a portion of it's goal. Namely to express the shameless manner in which many of these themes are treated in current society and in a sad and twisted way this IS reality as it is lived by many Mexican teens.
The biggest problem I have with this novella is how they try to make the mathematician into a good guy who wants to make a difference. Some of his scenes are carried out with a shameful level of hypocrisy he has zero credibility in my view so far as someone who wishes to help anyone but himself or as a lady's man. Mainly because in some scenes he portrays himself as someone who doesn't want to take advantage of a woman in her moment of weakness and wants to give her a fair chance to move on, but then all in the same breath, he acts like a complete baby when another love interest introduces himself in her life. This guy is annoying, clumsy, indecisive, awkward, and hardly has any good looks whatsoever or personality to offer in that regard. Further the guy is a dork. He shows up at a disco with books in his hands, as if saying to his audience. Attention all you numb skulls, remember I am a school teacher, this is why I am toting a handful of books into this Anthro Disco. Also anytime there is a point of drama in the novella, you always get some obvious signal that our beloved mathematician is one step ahead of it all, (e.g. the attempted suicide, the prostitution case, the drug scandal, etc
.) Poza as the school teacher is one of the worst acting jobs I have seen in a long time even for a Mexican Telenovela, and that is saying a mouthful. His acting just plain sucks so far, the novella spends countless scenes focusing on his feelings and his little world. In Mexican society such a character would never be the ladies man, especially his indecisiveness. Every decision he makes is treated as something that is right with regard to love matters and in reality it is all wrong. I am not at all impressed. Any ounce of pity I might have had for him was nullified shortly after he got is guts stomped in the first couple of chapters. Mainly because his acting is so weak there is just no credibility.
I also have a huge problem with the Miscast of Iran Castillo. You are right, she can't seem to make up her mind whether she wants to be the bully or the tender heart, and that makes her a very weak villain. Yes yes I totally agree there is a lack of villains and I was hoping at some point "Caballo" was going to pull it off when he started selling drugs in the school. He had me going up until the point where he went from sad pathetic drug addict to the scene where he was doing a Waltz with his grandmas. I also really enjoyed watching the slimy drug pushers. I was hoping they would hang around some more and inject more slime into this novella. Caballo did offer the type of acting that lends itself to a real slick slimy crass scumbag that would be the shot in the arm this novella needed. I also liked the role of Fercho and his friends. The scenes at the billiard hall are very much more realistic and entertaining.
This novella started out with some very modern graphics and upbeat riffs, but so far fails to deliver the level of entertainment I am used to but mainly because as a youth oriented novella there is no real credible connection between the adults and the youth, It's like the adults are all in their own sad sick world and the teens likewise, with no common ground or points of drama. And yes the villains are very lame so far. between
