La mujer en el espejo

This novela explores an issue raised in BETTY LA FEA: Society's obsession with beauty and how this obsession hurts.

Juliana is the ugly daughter of the beautiful (and extremely vain) Regina, who had once been a fashion model. Regina makes fun of her daughter's homeliness and awkwardness when she is a child and forever shortchanges her emotionally throughout the story. Juliana's kind aunt Mercedes dies and later appears to Juliana to offer her protection and to lead her to the mirror that enables her to appear to be beautiful and glamorous during the day. During the day, Juliana masquerades as "Maritza" and parlays her way into Research and Development at the cosmetic company owned by Gabriel Muti. Gabriel's stepson Marcos falls for her like a ton of bricks, but since she goes back to her homely self after dark, Juliana has to maintain some distance. This stressful situation eventually moves Juliana to wish for a solution... whatever that is.

Paola Rey and Juan Alphonso Baptista, who had fabulous chemistry in PASION DE GAVILANES, are the two lovers in this story. Javier Gomez as Gabriel is the perfect picture of the mature leading man who is the object of several women's obsession. Christina Lilley gives a gutsy performance as the narcissistic Regina; you don't know whether to pity her or feel contempt for her. The villains are quite over the top in their snobbery and sense of entitlement, and you never know what's waiting around the corner. As usual, the photography and production values are first-rate.

This novela forces us to examine our feelings about beauty and ugliness and how we treat people who are one or the other. Here's hoping we all learn something from this.

Sometimes a fun time, sometimes a dull time, but overall acceptable. The performances and the writing were somewhat questionable, with Gabriela Vergara definitely being the standout. The screenwriter being Mexican was noticeable, since the Colombian actors who were visibly filming in Bogotá would randomly speak like Mexicans sometimes. The premiere set this telenovela up as a campy over the top experience that should not be taken too seriously, but did not keep up with that energy, lowering the levels of fun considerably and recovering only occasionally. The premise was full of tropes and a bit basic, this could very easily be a series marketed for teenagers with Disney original levels of acting instead of a telenovela, I was confused as to what the target audience was supposed to be. More so than just "being beautiful", which is a rather shallow reading of its themes, I really enjoyed how it dabbled in the concept of identity + perception of the self (with Juliana having inner debates trying to draw the line between the concepts of Juliana and of Maritza, what is actually and me and what isn't) as well as mother-daughter relationships as complex as they are in real life, and motherhood in general (most specifically in Regina and Luzmila). Even though she didn't particularly excel at any of all of the very different roles she played, Paola Rey showed that she DOES have the range in character work, even if not so much so when it comes to acting. This could be her thesis. The character of Marcos was so stupid that it kept going back and forth from annoying to laughable, going to borderline horror film acting. All in all, it should have been campier and done more of what they did in the premiere and the finale, but also definitely bettered the levels of acting and the plot. Oh and the editing was atrocious, it features the worst montage I remember seeing in any telenovela. Wouldn't recommend watching but wouldn't recommend skipping either. It's fine.

I loved it and this was the first soap opera that i had seen and i loved every episode. i had no idea that was going to become hooked on it .I loved the chemistry between Paola Rey and Juan Alfonso Baptista and later on i realized they were in another soap as a couple and i also became hooked on it i just love seeing them together and it creates interest. I also learned for this soap, not to judge people on their appearance. And that whats inside is what really makes you beautiful and not your physical appearance. I was really surprised at all the plot line and enjoyed every bit of it. This was a great soap and i would see it over and over again.