the first version of
No Holds Barred
, shown in 1988,
Solange Duprat
It was much more than a girl from the plot. Portrayed by
Lídia Brondi
, the character became an icon of behavior and style, with a striking look, attitudes that challenged conventions, and a presence that resonated inside and outside the soap opera.
Decades later, the same character returns in the remake, now played by
Alice Wegmann
, but without being able to generate the same impact, and we investigated why this is happening in 2025.
The lack of engagement with the character is explained by the narrative construction. This is because, in the original version, Solange was a woman ahead of her time. She was a feminist without needing to announce it in every scene. Her choices and positions spoke for themselves: she wanted to be a mother even without a traditional marriage, made professional decisions firmly, and dealt with love dilemmas independently.
In the new edition, the character’s intentions are often verbalized in long and explanatory speeches, which has caused criticism on social networks for sounding excessively didactic and caricatural: almost a mirror of what happens today on social media.
This change in tone reflects an approach that seeks to clearly reinforce social causes, but according to part of the public and experts, ends up losing naturalness in the process.
The strip grew
The writer
Maria Adelaide Amaral
, screenwriter of novels such as
The Wall
e
Anjo Mau
, commented in an interview with
On the Small Screen
that, despite admiring the author
Manuela Dias
“Consider the new Solange as too pamphleteering.” “To the general public, she seems boring, but she is a great character. She doesn’t need to make speeches all the time,” he said.
The criticisms are not limited to dialogues. The character’s visual also draws attention due to its impactful difference. Solange from 1988 had an audacious style, with clothes that set trends and a sharp bang, which helped reinforce her determined personality.
Already in the new collection, the costume design focuses on romance and softness, with light fabrics and more classic cuts, inspired by the 1980s, but without the same provocative air.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DItQfBFR70N/?img_index=10
On social media, viewers have expressed frustration with the character’s development. The relationship between Solange and Renato Filipelli (
João Vicente de Castro
) is the target of criticism from the public, who consider the plot unconvincing and responsible for weakening the core of the advertising agency Tomorrow.
The sequence of episodes in which Solange defends her relationship with the boss, expels Mario Sérgio (
Thomas Aquinas
) from home and initiates confrontations that end in uncomfortable silence at the agency and the colleague’s dismissal, generated heated reactions. Many point out that the character, instead of representing resistance and questioning as in the original version, seems today part of the problem that it previously confronted.
As if that weren’t enough, the character was recently featured in a marketing campaign to promote an electric car from BYD. The scene generated comments on social networks precisely because it reinforced this misplaced image from the original plot.
Old problem, new dilemma
The discussion about the new Solange also highlights a broader dilemma in current drama: how to address social issues in an engaging way, without making the characters mere empty pamphlets.
Instead of incorporating the theme organically into the narrative, there are loose speeches that do not hold within the story and more resemble campaign slogans or institutional propaganda.
The problematization is isolated, without dramatic development, and the plot loses strength. Everything is very loose, yet at the same time excessively explained, as if the author did not trust the audience’s intelligence, and it is not always necessary to say so much when actions could speak for themselves.
Alice Wegmann’s performance, on the other hand, portrays Solange with sensitivity, but runs into a script that does not favor her development.
Still, part of the audience hopes that the character’s journey will take on new contours by the end of the novel. It remains to be seen whether she will be able to regain the protagonist role and symbolic strength that once made her a landmark in Brazilian television drama.
And you over there on the other side, what do you think? Tell us at @radarsantri.com.
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