journalist, and the confusion leads them to gain a multitude of Christian followers and an audience of 7 million viewers. She is a broadcast villain who is protected by her boss and his offers:

“It’s a good program for an ambitious professional like you. We have great ideas, and I have no doubt you’ll be up to the task (...) We have some news about a man who has witnessed the appearance of Our Lady, and she weeps blood. The Vatican is interested in the news. I knew you would like it, María. It’s raw meat.”(TC: 00:40:35)

In Hable con ella, an Argentine journalist who maintains a relationship with a bullfighter called Lydia is the main character, but there is also a case of a macabre reporter (Loles León), who interviews the female bullfighter live and tries to make a scene

The journalist and the female bullfighter have an argument on the set. The interviewee blames her, saying the commitment agreed upon when the deal on her television appearance closed had not been fulfilled. In the deal, she was only expected to be locked up in a bullring with six bulls:

Lydia: I warned you in the dressing room that I wasn’t going to talk to you about this matter.

Journalist: But talking is the best thing to do, my dear. And talking about problems is the first step to overcoming them (while she fondles the interviewee’s arm)... because the Valencian Kid...

Lydia: There you go again...

Journalist: Lydia, darling, don’t be rude... let me finish the question...

Lydia: I warned you in the dressing room that I didn’t want to talk about this.

Journalist: You didn’t warn me in the dressing room about anything. And I don’t like you saying those things be-cause people might think we set up the interviews. And I don’t bargain at all. I only do live interviews. I’m one of the few who dare to go live (while he grabs Lydia’s arm tightly and makes her sit up again after she tries to get up and leave), just like you should dare to admit that you’ve been pimped, because the Valencian Kid has been pimping you. A man who has shared not only fame and the bullring with you, but also the bed. He left you in the lurch when it suited him. (TC: 00:07:40)

This is classic Almodóvar: an unscrupulous female presenter capable of causing the most tense situations on the air, as in the case of the host of this television programme in which Lydia participates.

In No somos nadie, the host of the show, (Daniel Giménez Cacho), is stressed by the drop in audience share, and he discov-ers a way of raising the program’s numbers by using Salva. He doesn’t hesitate to use all kinds of tricks to obtain unprece-dented notoriety in order to turn this young street kid into a massive idol: the new Messiah. “A man who has enlightened our hearts and dispelled our darkness”, says the person responsible for the programme, deeply touched by the audience’s applause at the solemn broadcasts.

Tried for homicide, he becomes a contestant on ‘Mano dura’, and manages to save himself, thus starting on a new road to success. Appearing on a huge studio set with terraced side stands and spectators gathered in the central area, dark, with light provided only by the candles of hundreds of people who welcome him into the place, Salva makes a stellar appearance with an image reminiscent of Jesus Christ. Through his manner and long hair, he passes through the crowd with peoples’ outstretched arms in failed attempts to touch the new Messiah, who is nothing more than a media gimmick. At the top of