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Babilônia (in Portugal, Babilónia) is a Brazilian telenovela produced by Globo and originally aired from March 16 to August 28, 2015 in 143 chapters, with the last chapter re-aired the following day, August 29. Replaced Império and was replaced by A Regra do Jogo, being the 8th "novela das nove" aired by the network. It was the last soap opera written by Gilberto Braga, who died six years later on October 26, 2021, at age 75.

Why It's Not Ambitious

 * 1) It ended the career of Gilberto Braga on a sad note, who ended up passing away six years later in 2021, and unfortunately two soap operas he was going to make were shelved.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The first chapter was good, despite the controversy had from conservatives, just because of the lesbian kiss.
 * 2) Speaking of the lesbian kiss, although this soap opera not being good, it has a nice LGBTQIA+ representation, mainly with Teresa and Estela forming a lovable lesbian couple.
 * 3) The theme song "Pra Que Chorar" from Mart'nália is great.

Reception
Despite coinciding in the same year as Globo's 50th anniversary, the telenovela was one of the biggest failures of the 2010s of Globo's telenovelas, also from the nine o'clock time, due to controversies that the telenovela had (mainly because of the lesbian kiss at the beginning of the soap opera), executive meddling and negative reception to its plot, which caused bad ratings for the soap opera, what made the audience go to watch the Rede Record soap opera, Os Dez Mandamentos instead.

Ratings
The first chapter of Babilônia reached 32.8 points in the IBOPE in Greater São Paulo, representing an increase of 0.7 points in relation to its predecessor, Império, which had debuted with 32.1. The second chapter scored 29.8 points. The following chapters dropped successively until reaching 22 points and, at the end of the first week, the plot had already lost 33% of the audience of the predecessor, scaring off a third of the viewers. The telenovela continued to decline and, in March, it was already tied with the "novela das sete" Alto Astral in terms of audience. On March 25, Alto Astral overtook Babilônia and became the network's highest-rated soap opera at that time, opening a one-point lead against the network's flagship product. In April it already varied between 20 and 23 points, making it the least watched soap opera on the network – except for the Malhação franchise. Due to the constant loss of audience and public rejection, Babilônia was compared by television critics to Esperança, considered the "novela das oito" with the biggest failure in the network's history, scoring averages of 38 points at a time when the plots reached 65.

With the low ratings, TV Globo promoted drastic changes in the plot, softening the dense and heavy stories, in addition to intensifying the commercials and having a bigger summary at the beginning of each chapter. In addition, all the technical part was changed, making the scenarios more lit and changing the yellowish edition to something more colorful, managing to make the soap opera grow to 26 points on April 7. Despite this, the plot continued below Alto Astral, which had closed with 26.2 points and remained the channel's highest-rated product. The production also faced rejection in other states. In Goiânia, for the first time in the history of TV Globo's dramaturgy, a 9 pm soap opera had less audience than a RecordTV soap opera. In Recife, Vitória and Manaus, the telenovela did not make it and reached averages between 13 and 20 points, losing its leadership on certain days. In Belo Horizonte, a place where TV Globo has always recorded good ratings, Babilônia scored 19 points in the week from March 30 to April 3, a rate well below the hourly average, which used to be around 35 points.

Its bad results, however, were not attributed only to the controversial topics covered - since the 11 pm telenovela, Verdades Secretas, aired in the same period, obtained successive audience records for its time slot, even presenting a plot with more sensitive themes, such as the use of crack, sex between two boys and the involvement of a minor with her stepfather, but also to the script considered inconsistent by the press. According to specialized journalists, the soap opera was only focused on revenge and tragedies, where no character had good moments, lacking stories with more humor and romance, claiming that Babilônia had alienated the audience. In addition, Babilônia faced a problem with the growth of Os Dez Mandamentos, from RecordTV, which aired earlier and ended during the first block of the TV Globo's telenovela, which was enough to drop its later audience. Despite not surpassing Babilônia in São Paulo, the competing plot came to lead in other capitals, such as in Goiânia, where it scored 15.5 against 14 of the "novela das nove".

In the last week, the plot managed to stabilize the audience between 23 and 29 points, still much lower than expected by the channel, but having a slight increase in relation to the entire timeline of its exhibition. The last episode of Babilônia scored 33.5 points, with a peak of 38.1 points in Greater São Paulo, representing by a large margin the worst audience of a final chapter of a 9 pm soap opera, 30% below the number recorded by the last chapter of its predecessor. Empire. It had an overall average of 25 points, 8 less than the predecessor and 10 less than the expectation for the time, which was 35 points at the time – only after A Lei do Amor, the expectation would be reduced to 30. This was the worst result. of a "novela das nove". This mark would be surpassed seven years later by Um Lugar ao Sol, which closed with 22.4 points in the general average.

Controversies
Federal deputy João Campos de Araújo, leader of the Evangelical Parliamentary Front of the National Congress, issued a note of repudiation of the kiss starring Fernanda Montenegro and Nathalia Timberg in the first chapter, calling on evangelicals to boycott the soap opera and not consume the products announced during the program. Senator Magno Malta protested against the soap opera on the social networks Facebook and WhatsApp and Pastor Silas Malafaia expressed indignation about the alleged immorality present in the plot. Pastor and federal deputy Marco Feliciano, on the other hand, defended the boycott of the telenovela's sponsor. Ricardo Linhares, in an interview, stated that the boycott is a right for everyone, but that he believed that it was promoted with "obscurantist and dictatorial" motivation, aiming at "discrimination and intolerance". By the end of the first week, the telenovela's ratings had declined considerably, in a drop that, according to journalist Lauro Jardim, from Veja magazine, would never have occurred in the history of the network, and which could be related to the boycott. Criticism also came from branches of the Catholic Church, such as the Charismatic Renewal and the Canção Nova community, which called for similar actions on the part of their faithful.

Channel's response
In the first 10 chapters the plot reached 27.7 average points, and 42.5% participation. This is the worst result in 50 years. To contain the drop in ratings, new promos were released, the logo was changed, changing to lighter colors and the discussion group was advanced. Even with criticism of the homosexual couple, co-author Ricardo Linhares says that the plot will continue as planned from the beginning. Linhares also states that he seeks acceptance in relation to the couple Teresa and Estela.

After holding discussion groups with viewers, it was concluded that part of the public rejects the evil, violence and the theme of corruption present in the plot. To reverse the low ratings, the network cut scenes of prostitution, changing the course of the character of Sophie Charlotte (Alice), who will no longer be a prostitute, since viewers considered the plot, a bad example. Linhares, however, would claim that the change was not due to public rejection, but for reasons of "indicative rating" of the production. The actress and Bruno Gagliasso re-recorded about 40 scenes, in addition to gaining more prominence in the plot. Beatriz (Glória Pires), will no longer "attack" men; the photograph that was considered dark has been lightened; romantic plots will be increased; displays of affection between the homosexual couple were cut and the secret involving the villains was revealed in advance. According to the telenovela's synopsis, the character of Marcos Pasquim (Carlos Alberto) would have an involvement with that of Marcello Mello (Ivan), but the network's direction changed the plot; making Pasquim's character fall in love with Regina (Camila Pitanga). Herson Capri would play the drug dealer Osvaldo, but was moved to play Otávio, Beatriz's (Gloria Pires) lover.

With audience ratings below expectations, Silvio de Abreu, the network's Dramaturgy Director, rewrote five chapters and reedited twelve chapters in six, so that the plot could be streamlined. Abreu's interference in the plot happens after an alleged disagreement between the authors, and rumors of the homosexual couple being murdered. Despite the changes made, the telenovela lost 18 chapters and was reduced by about 3 weeks, again due to its low ratings. As a result, the recordings of A Regra do Jogo, the successor plot in the time slot, by author João Emanuel Carneiro, were accelerated.

Comments
Category:Rede Globo shows Category:2010s programs Category:Shows that killed careers Category:Shows that are only popular in certain countries Category:Brazilian shows Category:Foreign programs Category:Latin American shows Category:Shows that lasted only one season Category:Soap operas Category:Controversial shows Category:LGBT-themed shows Category:Commercial failures Category:Misandry