The solemn mood on the surface of Chile’s prison-mine cracks apart by the popular forces of infidelity.
As days go by, the predicament facing those 33 trapped miners continues to become more like a reality TV show than an urgent rescue operation. First the news broke that they live, then Sony and NASA fluffed the media’s attention by presenting them with game consoles and denials for wine and tobacco, and now the inevitable homewrecker enters the fray—miner mania is underway.
The plot takes shape: At the collapsed mine’s entrance, Marta Salinas, the devoted wife of miner Yonni Barrios, noticed another woman shouting her husband’s name, reports British tabloid “The Sun.” This other woman, Susana Valenzuela, come clean to the paper in soap-operatic language: “We are in love. I’ll wait for him.” And we will too, Susana, with popcorn and soda.
Of course, this love contest centerns on Yonni, because he’s our hero who used first aid skills to immunize all the other miners from the flu, thus saving lives. Also, at 50, he’s the patriarch of the company, making him wiser and braver than his younger counterparts.
As we speak, a video link is underway to connect the miners to the voyeuristic outside world, which begins the requisite telecast and auction for expensive licensing deals.
While the world waits on the 33 to recieve rescue during the Christmas season, we’ll learn to love and hate Yonni Barrios, and expect to learn which of the women above ground wins the hero’s heart.
[WAToday]
