Ana María Polo speaks with the BBC about the success of her program "Caso Cerrado"

August 1, 2019

This year Dr. Polo celebrates 18 years on air with "Caso Cerrado", a television program that in Latin America is watched in more than 20 countries, from the Rio Grande to Patagonia. And it is no less popular among the extensive Hispanic community in the U.S.

During the program's highest-rated moments, she became the only presenter on the American network Telemundo to have three hours daily on the schedule.

Few television formats have been as popular as court shows, where lawyers like her serve as arbiters to resolve lawsuits.

Lawsuits that can be real or fictional, as the lawyer will explain later, but to which there is almost never a lack of a good dose of drama.

An average of around one million Latinos watch "Caso Cerrado" daily, according to the program's production, while another seven million watch it each month from the lawyer's YouTube channel.

"I don't know why people get hooked. It could be my way of handling cases. There's a magic difficult to explain: if I had the answer, we would have made ten thousand more shows".

Dr. Polo is sitting on the sofa in one of her living rooms. The makeup is minimal. Her hair is freshly done.

Getting to know the person behind the character is extremely difficult.

"Trump is the most horrible thing that has happened to the U.S. in the last 50 years. And I am preparing myself for him to be reelected, because I think it's going to happen." Says Dr. Ana María Polo"
Host of Caso Cerrado. "There is nothing more beautiful than the privacy of the human being", she states.

And she adds to this that the woman in real life, the one she is when the cameras turn off, is not very different from the one who strikes with determination the famous wooden gavel, after resolving a dispute.

"I am what you see in 'Caso Cerrado'. If you come to tell me a problem, it's because you want me to tell you my opinion. As a person I have few friends and I'm quite reserved", she confesses.

Dr. Polo does not like to talk about her private life with the press.

In the lawyer's house there is no bare wall. Mijares, Cundo Bermúdez and Pablo Carreño repeat themselves in beautiful canvases of different sizes.

Some sculptures also rise from the floor, such as an interpretation in wood and metal of the Eiffel Tower, which occupies a place of honor in the living room.

"The old man's tower", says the Dr., with a somewhat solemn tone.

The "old man", the one who made the sculpture, was her father. A deceased Cuban businessman who, in 1961, emigrated with her and her mother to the U.S. She was only 2 years old.

We asked her what she thinks about the way Donald Trump's government is handling the issue of immigration.

"Trump is the most horrible thing that has happened to the U.S. in the last 50 years. It bothers me that he brands all Latinos as criminals and rapists. (Under his administration) this country is living in a very negative atmosphere, which saddens me".

The lawyer was one of many famous people who said they would leave the country if Trump was elected.

"Do you know how many people complained to me for not having left?".

The Cuban-American lawyer had artistic inclinations from childhood. The music for Caso Cerrado was composed and performed by her.

It is known about the Dr. that before moving to Miami she lived in Puerto Rico, that before being successful she worked in a flower shop and in a store, that 16 years ago she had breast cancer and overcame it, that she has several guitars and likes to sing, that she still wants to be an actress -if it's in a Pedro Almodóvar film, even better-, that she no longer goes to parties and that her house is her temple.

"It is the culmination of my work", she says. "Fixing up this house, arranging it to my liking. I arrive from anywhere in the world and this is my sacred place".

We talked. Talking is something Dr. Polo knows how to do. Choosing words, ordering them, saying them.

In her house we were accompanied by a small machinery of people, a team of about 10 people who listen to her speak in silence.

Dr. Polo speaks with propriety, as if her word were law. And certainly thousands of Latinos who watch her program take what she says as definitive. Even more, many of them write her letters telling her the personal dramas they live in their countries and asking for help resolving them.

From that correspondence the lawyer made two bestsellers ("Dear Dr. Polo: the secret letters of Caso Cerrado I and II").

"Caso Cerrado" reached its 18th season with very high television ratings. It is not surprising that, in a region where there is a lack of confidence in justice, a charismatic television judge who delivers verdicts in a matter of minutes becomes a sacred figure.

Less than half of Hispanics trust in a fair trial, according to data provided to BBC News Mundo by the Latin American Public Opinion Project.

This great mistrust, they point out, is due to corruption and political instability that has existed and continues to exist in a good part of the region.

But the reality is that Dr. Polo can do little for the people who write to her. Although through her screens viewers see her resolve about 400 cases each year, she has not practiced law in real life for almost 20 years, when before starting the program she worked as a lawyer for couples resolving divorces, adoptions, custody and domestic violence disputes.

"People think that because I work in television I'm going to pick up the phone and call Senator so-and-so and tell him: 'Look, I have a fan who has a migratory problem'. I don't have that ability".

People want to be famous, even if it's for five minutes. I believe that intrinsically human beings like attention.

Before "Caso Cerrado" adopted that name it was called "Sala de Parejas" and only addressed marital problems.

When it started in 2001, it was intended for 52 episodes. But the format was so successful that they kept transmitting it, until the subject matter started to become too limited.

"The production no longer knew if they should put couples of little dogs or couples of what".

In 2004 the lawyer proposed to Telemundo to change the format and diversify the topics, to not waste the growing television audience.

Court shows are one of the most profitable formulas in modern recreational television. Many of them extend for more than 20 seasons and still don't seem to bore people: they have as many twists and dramatic turns as a soap opera and you don't have to wait as long to see how it ends.

The popular American judge Judy Sheindlin has been on the air for 23 seasons with her show "Judge Judy".

At the same time, they are one of the cheapest entertainment products to make: actors are paid little, the scenery is the same and everything is filmed in a fixed location, pre and post-production expenses are minimal.

To demonstrate the success of the formula, the Dr. cites the case of the famous American judge Judy Sheindlin -Judge Judy- who started her program in 1996 and, 23 seasons later, is still on the air.

"She's still there. They pay her more than US$50 million a year", she notes.

She then mentions Jerry Springer, another lawyer from the same country whose program was suspended in 2018, after 27 long seasons.

"It's a show of hits, of gossip. It is what it is, but it has tremendous viewership", says Polo.

In Latin America, shows of "hits and gossip", as the Dr. calls them, have not been as many.

But the lawyer is not a pioneer in the area. This type of entertainment was already more than invented and its success more than established in the region.

The program of Cuban-American Cristina Saralegui, for example, is an important precedent that demonstrated how much reality television Latinos were willing to consume.

A space that Univision took advantage of for 21 years, starting in 1989. It first started with interviews with celebrities, until the network saw that the problems of ordinary people (or their dramatized recreation) kept the viewer just as or more glued to the screen than when Cristina asked Thalía about her pregnancy or Anahí about her breast implants.

Cristina won 12 Emmy awards (from the U.S. Television Academy) with her show.

Fewer awards (none, to be exact) did the Peruvian Laura Bozzo win with "Laura en América", which doesn't mean that people in Latin America liked it any less.

The Peruvian Laura Bozzo was famous for her popular phrase "let the wretch pass!" and for relieving the problems of victims by giving them televisions, blenders and sandwich carts.
"Miss Laura" -with that mixture of affection and respect her guests addressed her- was Cristina's biggest competition, between the late 90s and early 2000s.

Through the Televisa program paraded, as they now parade through the set of "Caso Cerrado", hundreds of Latinos willing to tell their problems to an entire region, and to entertain with them millions on the other side of the screens.

"Madam, don't move from your television, because THIS could happen to you", you could hear Laura say often.

"THIS" was stepfathers impregnating their stepdaughters, women discriminated against for their indigenous origin, desperate wives wanting to tie their husbands to them with witchcraft rituals.

It doesn't seem to matter how many followers or how many critics shows like this have, but that these television products have a close parallel with the reality of the region.

Among laughter and screams and blows from the participants and applause from the audience and "let the wretch pass!" and "let the mistress pass!", all these programs could be assumed as the most grotesque representation of the worst problems of dozens of countries where corruption, poverty and illiteracy coexist.

(The number of poor people in Latin America reached 186 million in 2016, according to Cepal. This is 30.7% of its population. And of the more than 630 million people living in the region, at least 32 million are illiterate, according to Unesco).

According to Unesco, in Latin America there are about 32 million illiterate people.

And even more: Judy Sheindlin, Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, Cristina Saralegui, Laura Bozzo and Dr. Polo herself defy time because the product they put on the table appeals to feelings that don't expire. Whether in the United States, Peru, or Luxembourg, one thing is endless: there will always be people interested in knowing what is happening to other people.

One of the American sociologists who has most studied the activities humans do to entertain themselves, Robert Stebbins, explains it this way: "Some develop their own sense of well-being by seeing how life can be bad for others".

The success of these television programs where people come to talk about their problems may also be related to the fact that, for human beings, it is almost soothing to see parallels with their life or that of someone they know, adds Stebbins.

Others consume this type of entertainment out of mere curiosity: they want to know how the story ends.

Pardon me with the audience, but they like morbid things. And the more morbid, the more they watch. Anyone who doesn't like the program, change the channel.

But why would a person go on television to tell their private life? There are two answers. The first: for money. The second: for attention.

"Aren't you seeing that nowadays people want to be famous, even if it's for five minutes?", responds lawyer Polo.

"Everyone is a youtuber or influencer. I believe that intrinsically human beings like to be paid attention. To be broadcast, repeated, to be approved, to be looked at. Today we have all the platforms for that", she adds.

More than one has gained celebrity status after appearing on "Caso Cerrado".

Jay Colindres, for example, thousands know him as Esteban, alias "stupid, my hair". The young Guatemalan -who after his participation in the program opened a YouTube channel where he now has tens of thousands of subscribers- served as a witness in an episode where a man and his wife disputed custody of their children.

When called to testify, the defendant threw a glass of water at him. The phrase he said when he saw his hair wet has become a must-see moment of popular culture.

The young man told several media outlets that for his participation in that case he had been paid US$300. The program's production also paid for a hotel in Miami -where the show is filmed- for him to attend the shoot.

Dr. Polo does not deny that many of the participants in her program are actors, something that little by little the public also figured out. She herself is surprised by the dramatic abilities of her guests.

"There are so many good actors, that I am left speechless. The Oscar is in the street".

Talent is not recruited only in Miami. A quick search on the internet reveals at least one audition agency (auditionsfinder.com) that offers people in Latin America the chance to participate in "Caso Cerrado", in exchange for three days in a hotel in the sun city (with round-trip tickets and meals included), plus a small sum ranging from US$200 to US$250.

The program's official page also offers the contact of the producers, so interested parties can call and inquire.

Dr. Polo assures that her impact on the Latino public is positive and that her program is useful for thousands.
The lawyer says that this part is what should matter least. What relevance does it have if the plaintiff and defendant are actors when there is "a message", "a lesson"?

"The cases are real or based on real facts, although many times the people in the problem don't come. But what matters is the analysis we make of the problems, what we are reflecting on.

"The cases are sometimes already written by a group of producers, who are always out on the street listening to today's trends. They also pull problems from the news, from cases that are pending resolution in the Supreme Court, from social networks and the oddities that are happening on the internet, which opened up a world of different cases for us".

Before deciding if an actor will be good for the role, they must present at an audition, where the producers help make the characters more credible. Dr. Polo says she's going to give us a "secret" of the industry:

"Many times the producer sits with the participant, asks them to talk about their life, about the conflicts they've had and if something similar to the conflict in question has happened to them. That formula has worked very well. It makes everything look very genuine".

In those cases, the lawyer's ruling is nothing more than symbolic.

Meanwhile, there is a smaller percentage of people who, according to Polo, do come to resolve their problems because they believe her to be a fair lawyer. For them it is mandatory to comply with the verdicts.

According to U.S. law, two parties can agree in writing that they decide to resolve their differences through a lawyer who acts as an arbitrator and who commits to comply with the case decision, which most of the time is not appealable.

One of the advantages of going with an arbitrator instead of starting a judicial process through traditional channels is speed and low cost, explains Duke Law professor Charles Holton.

"With an arbitrator the matter can be heard between one and two months of filing the lawsuit, whereas the other way it can take up to 18 months", he indicates.

Going to resolve the problem with an arbitrator like Dr. Polo is also much more economical. While here the plaintiffs represent themselves, in a traditional court they need lawyers, whose fees can range from US$200 to US$500 per hour.

Holton, who has been involved in arbitration for more than 10 years, explains that lawyers like Dr. Polo "dramatize" situations and "make a show of their decisions", but "usually seem to be applying legal principles to resolve disputes in a fair way".

But if millions see Dr. Polo as an idol, many others claim that her influence on the Latin American public is far from positive.

Dr. Polo says the program has had a transition, that there used to be more violence between participants, but that is no longer the case.

When BBC News Mundo announced that it would interview the lawyer, these were some of the comments it collected from our Facebook page:

"Regrettable that it is the most watched program. Bad influence, nothing profitable or educational. Simply a cheap show for naive and uneducated people", wrote Richard Quispe.

And Antonio Riveros asked: "Will it ever stop making trash television?".

The Telemundo star says with a note of reproach that "opinions are like assholes: we all have one".

"The internet has opened many avenues. It gave everyone the chance to have a voice and people love to have opinions".

She says that the fact that "Caso Cerrado" has passed the test of time (which is the same as passing the ratings test) is worth celebrating. And that she receives enough correspondence to think that the program is useful in the lives of thousands.

"I have received letters where they have told me: 'Look, I was depressed, recovering from cancer. And watching your program was my Valium: it entertained me, it made me feel hopeful'".

Women are the ones who watch "Caso Cerrado" the most and represent 61% of the television audience, according to data from the program's production.

Almost at the end of the interview, we asked her: "What sets you apart from Laura Bozzo and what sets 'Caso Cerrado' apart from Laura's show?".

The presenter says "many things". And honestly it's a fair answer.

Laura had a considerably less elegant style than that of the Cuban-American, although no fewer university degrees (both have undergraduate and graduate studies in Law and Political Sciences).

Dr. Polo says "Caso Cerrado" has had a transition and that, if I haven't noticed, it's because I haven't watched it in a while.

"There was a time when there were definitely many hits, because that's what people liked. Pardon me with the audience, but they like morbid things. And the more morbid, the more they watch".

Her recommendation for those who don't see utility in the program is to "change the channel".

"You don't have to watch it if it seems like a rudeness to you. If among all the lessons and reflections the only thing you want to focus on is the filth, do it. But no one forces you. That's the product and it has its value. Whoever is able to find that value, there they get hooked and there they stay".