Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover of S Moda

There are a lot of interesting aspects to the cover of S Moda. It's a magazine I've never heard of before, but I assumed that it was a magazine that was native to Spain and was something they were used to seeing. Before I started to analyze the magazine I wanted to do a little bit of research about it and as I'm not a Graphics or a Magazine major, I wanted to look at it from a slightly different angle then comment on its design.

First off, I was very surprised to find out that this was the very first issue of S Moda. I found it curious that on the first issue of a Spanish fashion magazine, the editors would find it appealing to put an American actress on the cover. I know Spain has its own celebrity bubble, separate from the celebrities in the U.S. that have worldwide fame, so why couldn't they find one to grace the cover of this magazine? It's a local magazine from El Pais, one of the biggest newspapers in Spain, so I'm sure it could have enough influence to convince a Spanish celebrity to get on the cover. But then I went to the official webpage of S Moda and noticed most of the articles focused on U.S. celebrities and fashion, so that brings a lot of rationale as to why they would bring on Sarah Jessica Parker as she is known for being very fashion forward.

But then this brings the question as to what she's wearing on the cover and the most noticeable text on the cover which says "Ole!" It seems as though the cover feeds on the bullfighting stereotype in Spain, dressing Parker in a matador outfight and using the phrase that matadors are known to use. I also researched the rest of the photo shoot and found that she was dressed in other "traditional" Spanish attire such as Flamenco outfits. Now if the magazine is centered on American celebrities and world fashion, why use an American actress and dress them in a matador outfit? Not to mention that currently in Spain there is a big debate about whether Bullfighting is ethical or not. I'm not aware of what El Pais' linea editorial is and how they feel towards bullfighting, but I can't help but think that Parker wearing a matador's outfit didn't have something to do with the debate. I honestly feel that the cover should have had Parker in the same type of fashion that the other celebrities covered in the magazine wear.

In terms of the design, I do see a striking difference in how the cover has been laid out. Many American magazine will have different stories and article posted around the cover while the celebrity is usually in the center. The celebrity might overlap the magazine title, and the text might hover over the celebrity. However here, the magazine name is switched to the side, which makes sense given that its the first cover so S Moda would definitely want their name to be highlighted. Also, all of the stories in the magazine are focused on the bottom right corner. Now I don't know if this is the magazine's "layout style" since it is the first cover, but its definitely different from what American magazines like Elle & Vogue use. In relation to the text, I find it funny that there is no story that seems to be covering Sarah Jessica Parker; all the stories highlighted are about style or Spanish celebrities. I would love to know if Parker even has an interview or story in the magazine or if she was just used to gather attention.


I'm not exactly sure what S Moda is about, but I think that its first cover is rich with questions and speaks a lot about what the magazine is attempting to do. However, since this is only the first cover, I would like to sit back and see how the following covers will look in order to see if S Moda will set a pattern in how the covers are structured.

Antonio Banderas: The Spanish Superstar

Although I know that many American actors have cross-over fame in Europe, I also knew that Spain had its own collection of celebrities that are widely known here, but aren't exactly famous every where else. This is why it became a surprise to me when I spotted two celebrities that I recognized. The first was Lenny Kravitz, and I found out the main reason why he was on was because he has an upcoming concert in Spain. However, I don't know much about Lenny Kravitz and neither did my host family, but it was the second celebrity that stirred up a conversation in my house.

On the show was Antonio Banderas, who was promoting his upcoming movie La Piel Que Habito. I knew Antonio Banderas wasn't an American actor, but I was completely unaware that he was originally from Malaga and started his acting career in Spain. Now in America he is a famous actor, so much so that he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is best known for his "Latin Lover" role in all of his films, a mold that even fits his animated characters like Puss In Boots from the Shrek series. In Spain he has taken on diverse rolls and can contribute the majority of his fame and Hollywood breakthrough to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar.

Although he is famous in both countries, I do find it interesting the difference in how he is covered. Yes, Antonio Banderas is very famous in America however since he is known for playing the same role and isn't consistently under the limelight, there isn't too much emphasis on his personal life. However according to my host mom and by the interview I saw him in, he is beloved by Spaniards all across the country. He has invested in many Andalusian products and has promoted them both in the U.S. and Spain and is also an officer of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Malaga, so he is heavily involved in the Holy Week processions. To Spaniards he is more than just an actor, but he is someone who exemplifies a lot of the qualities that Spaniards find important. It also isn't as if only the people Malaga are proud of him, but all of Spain is proud of the accomplishments he has achieved in his life.

I find it interesting looking at how different aspects of a celebrity are focused on depending on what country they are from or what country they are being spoken about. I'm sure American celebrities are looked at differently here in Spain, but I found it great being able to look at a Spanish actor under both an American and Spanish lens.

Censorship in Spain

Censorship is always an interesting topic to discuss when comparing the United States to other countries around the world. In my opinion, we Americans take ourselves way too seriously sometimes and make many topics and conversations "taboo." In comparison to other countries, we practically try to act like saints. This has only become more obvious now that I have begun to live in Madrid and I'm exposed to the media here.

I was already aware of how liberal European countries were when it came to what could be aired on television or be posted on walls before I got here. I was made aware of the common practices at beaches here, such as women tanning topless which although it is practically forbidden in the U.S. (women can't even breastfeed in public), here in Spain it is normal and done everywhere. There are even completely nude beaches in Europe so it is no surprise to me that it is normal for breasts to be shown in commercials or other advertisements. I even saw a news broadcast where a woman's completely nude body was shown, the only part that wasn't shown was her sexual genitals. I've also seen posters where the naked body is shown as if it were a normal thing, and in some ways I think it should be considered normal. What surprises me the most about this is that given it's history, Spain is the center of the Catholic religion. With that fact alone I would think that Spain would have a stricter censorship in place for things like this however that is not the case. In fact, America, which is considered the melting pot of cultures and religions, is more conservative than most countries I've learned about.

This level of censorship doesn't only apply towards the human body though. This factor might surprise Americans the most but there are more things we would find shocking that is shown in the United States. The news doesn't shy away from showing scenes of violence, blood, or dead bodies being handled at crime scenes. The image I found the most shocking was the body of a dead child being lifted up by people. There was nothing covering the child or the blood drenching its body, but my host family seemed unfazed by such an image. I could almost guarantee that if that image was shown on the evening news in the U.S., there would be an uproar and the channel would probably suffer a great backlash from it's viewers. I've seen this type of news broadcasts shown in other countries as well. It is very common for the news in Puerto Rico to show bodies of victims as well, but I've never seen one as gruesome as the one I saw of the dead child.

I can honestly say I respect Europe and it's lower level of censorship. I often feel as though we Americans make the simplest topics more obscene then they actually need to be. I also feel that this attitude of trying to cover up what we don't think is right is what is leading future generations to be more irrational and curious about topics that they might no be ready to handle. If we took a more European approach to things, then perhaps things would be a little different. Unfortunately a change like that is something that would take years to happen.

Television Commercial During Programming

As I mentioned in my previous post, although there are several cultural differences between the United States and Madrid, they become the most prevalent to me when I sit down to watch television with my host family. A couple of days ago during dinner, we began watching a competition-style television program with several women on it trying what seemed like farm chores. I didn't get too into asking my host family what the show was about, but I did notice that the programming was live and thought that the show might be something similar to "Fear Factor" back in the States.

What I found interesting about this show wasn't the show itself though, it was actually how commercials were shown during it. Usually in American programming, there will be 30 seconds-2 minute breaks in-between program, live or not, to show commercials for sponsors of the show or for people who have bought that advertising spot. However during this program, the screen was split in two: the program continued to air in a small box in the lower left corner and the majority of the space on the upper right corner was used to show commercials. Instead of cutting away completely from the program it continued to show what was going on. This is something I have never seen done in the U.S. and I found it really weird and distracting to watch. Although the two were happening at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in the live program since all I could hear now was whatever the commercial was promoting. I asked my host sister if this was normal and she said it was and that she assumed that viewers of live programming must get tired of watching the show and the commercials are brought up to give people breaks. I still couldn't understand why they didn't cut away from the show completely if that was the case.

Another factor I noticed about commercial airing here in Spain is that the blocks used for commercials are way longer than those in the U.S. While in the U.S. there are multiple commercial breaks, here in Spain, it seems as though there is only one commercial break and in that break all of the commercials for the program are shown, resulting in a very long break in-between the program. I've only seen something like that in the States when a special show or movie has "limited commercial interruptions," but in Spain it seems very common.

As I continued to watch the program I also noticed something else that I found extremely weird. As the challenge on one program continued, another live talk show cut in the middle and the hosts of the two shows began talking to each other. My assumption was that this talk show was scheduled to be coming up next after the challenge show, but then they switched over to the talk-show, aired a little bit of an argument that was happening on the show and then cut back to the challenge-show when something began to happen. I personally found it distracting because who wants to watch another show in the middle of the previous show still going on? The station could have wanted fans of the talk-show to stay tuned and not leave because the other show was still going on, but the same way I get frustrated when I miss programming because the President has to speak, it got me frustrated that I didn't know what was going on in the challenge-show. Also, arguments aren't as interesting to watch on television when you don't get to see what's happening from the beginning of it.

It might have been a special situation with the shows both being live that caused the programming to be different, and I'm not sure if this is the common practice of showing commercials, but it was definitely something I was not used to. I wonder if other channels in Spain utilize the same method of programming.

Primetime in Spain vs. Primetime in the U.S

When I first arrived in Spain I was already aware of the many cultural differences I was going to run into during my semester here. I thought I was going to experience a bigger culture shock than I have, but I believe the fact that my parents come from a Latin American country (Puerto Rico), I have been able to adjust easily to some aspects of Madrid life. However, if there is one time during the day that I experience the most culture shock, it's when I sit down to eat cena and watch television with my senora and her daughter.

One of the biggest differences I've come to notice in how television works is when "Prime time" occurs and how it's structured. Prime time is used to describe the period of time where the highest rated programming on a network is shown. The notion of this time was created because it is the time when most people are home and have the time to watch television. On the Eastern coast of the United States, prime time occurs from 8 pm-11pm. By 8pm in the States, dinner has already been served and eaten and everyone would be sitting in the living room or in their respective bedrooms watching their favorite program. Usually between 8-10pm, different television programs are shown and from 10-11pm there is a news broadcast. Some channels have programs run from 8-11pm and have news start afterwards, but it isn't done on every channel.

Here in Spain, I've noticed that things are done a little differently. Through my own observations and conversations with my host family, I've found that prime time in spain begins at 9pm and runs until about 12-12:30am. Also, given that customs in Spain are different, the order of how things are aired is different as well. The news broadcast regularly begins here at 9pm, at the beginning of prime time, as viewers are eating together with their family. To my understanding, being aware of what is going on in the world is important,  so it makes sense that the news is shown at a time where everyone will be in front of the television set. After the news broadcast, the popular programming airs between the hours of 10pm-12am.  At that time in the States most people are settling for bed, but here in Spain it is normal to stay up and catch your favorite programming at that time. My host sister has also told me that the late programs are done to avoid conflicts with sporting events, as well as because popular programming is shown during siesta, which usually takes place between 2-5pm. In the states however, 2-5pm is a time reserved for stay at home parents or children to watch talk shows, cartoons, afternoon news, etc.

I find it interesting that the notion of prime time still exists in Spain, but find it even more intriguing that the structure is the complete opposite from what it is in the United States. In the U.S., by 11pm most local stations are showing syndicated reruns of famous television shows because it is the time where people are heading to bed. The Spanish prime time would not work at all in the States.