With a note from her partner Sergio Japino, gratefully simple, we learned of the death of one of the greatest myths in the history of television in Spain and part of Latin America: The imposing Rafaella Carrá.
I have always admired her. Her songs; her beauty; her talent; but, above all; her personality. For me, she has been one of the first "influencers" I remember. How much do the young people of this generation, who are beginning to know the world, owe to this woman who was ahead of her time! Let us remember that she, after succeeding in her native Italy and trying her luck in Hollywood, ended up in Spain in 1975, just the year of Franco's death, in the program "¡Señoras y señores!". Airs of freedom were blowing in this country that had been left behind, both culturally and socially, with respect to the rest of Europe. This country of ours that went from oppression to freedom and from freedom to the licentiousness of "anything goes", in a matter of seconds and without anesthesia.
Already, in those days, voices of transgression were beginning to emerge. In the rock of my beloved Movida Madrileña, in painting, in the fanzines subsidized by the government to build a more modern society and turn the page on the chapters of the dictatorship, etc. How visionary was Enrique Tierno Galván, mayor of Madrid. Another influencer of the time. Rafaella caught on in Spanish society. She won us all over. Still, almost 50 years later, I have not heard anyone tell me that they do not like "La Carrá".
But there is one thing I want to value above all else. With her songs, her dances, her make-up and her tight clothes, she knew how to transmit a clear idea to the women of the time: love your freedom and let the "macho" who wants you, earn it. Few feminists have managed to impregnate so much with their messages, as she did. And with a style of her own that many imitators later tried to copy, but no. That's how Rafaella was, unique. It would have been more comfortable, but less exceptional and effective, to have shown more flesh, which is what all the "transgressors" of the time did. As if undressing was a symbol of freedom, when those who had two fingers of their foreheads knew that they did it for money. These nudes managed to objectify women more as a sexual object for use and enjoyment. Rafaella did not, she did not need to. She was not easy sex, she was sensuality (and sexuality too, why not) for the lover who wants to make an effort to conquer the heart of a woman of flag. "To make love well you have to come to the South". That was transgression, not showing breasts. I invite you to look for the lyrics of "Explota, explota" in which women are told to start taking command of relationships. I love it.
Many years in Spain, absolute triumph, return to Italy and other Latin countries and has always known how to charm audiences. A great lady is leaving us who empowered many young ladies who should thank her for having stepped on this world that she now abandons.
We need more women like La Carrá, who make them feel more respected and valued. And to the girls of today I say that you can be a woman, beautiful and dignified without having to take naked selfies for men to give them more "likes"; and that they listen to her songs of liberation to which reggaeton is doing so much damage that it will plunge them back into a patriarchal dependence against which so many fighters, like her, have left their skin in eradicating.
Luis Alberto Serrano
luisalbertoserrano.wordpress.com
@luisalserrano @MiPropiaLuna
