Underworld Brazil: Finding Hope Where None Exists by Vernon Williams and Kathleen Dodson

LAS/BWS/POR 204

Underworld Brazil: Finding Hope Where None Exists

In order to displace your family and travel 3000 kilometers by bike for just the hope of a better opportunity, a person must truly be desperate. The Middle of the World, a movie directed by Vicente Amorim, follows the journey of Romao, an unemployed truck driver from Paraiba who decided to travel with his family to the city of Juazeiro do Norte. He was determined that his patron saint could help him find work that could provide 1,000 reais a month, enough to provide a decent living for his family. It seems though, no matter how hard he tries, the family cannot find a reliable way to make a living. This can be seen all over Brazil, that no matter how hard impoverished brazilians try, it is extremely difficult to rise above the poverty but they are able to cope with their dismal situation through music.

When the movie starts we see Romao’s, family on bikes, traveling from their home of Paraiba, filled with hope of a brighter future. He meets a man early on who helps give him directions to Juazeiro, but warns him of the difficult road ahead. Romao tells the man that “I’m not afraid of the road especially having faith in Father Cicero like I do.” The man replies, “Faith that he’ll get you a salary of 1,000 reais… no poor man makes 1,000 reais”, but Romao says that “I believe in destiny, Father Cicero will grant me this grace.” Unfortunately for them this hope in destiny starts to dissipate quickly as they run into one trouble after another. As Romao and his family continue traveling from city to city, looking for work to sustain themselves, they happen to find Brazil’s poverty issue to be an overwhelming problem. While the family tries to survive their journey to find work, they find themselves begging for food to eat, but they often run into people who are nearly as poor, or just as impoverished as they are, who are either unwilling or unable to help them. In class, Paula talked about how rigid the class system in Brazil is. She said it’s so bad that the poorest people are looked down upon by people who are just slightly better off than them. One scene in The Middle of the World shows Romao’s wife Rose, after several people refuse to help them, telling her husband that she doesn’t blame those who do not give. In her eyes, Rose believes that if given the same choice that Romao would do the same, “will we take from our children to feed a family... of course not”.  Rose understands that the conditions of poverty create an environment of greed where people must choose between surviving and giving charity to others. These desperate journeys from city to city trying to find work continue to be fruitless and Romao’s family begins to deteriorate.

In The Middle of the World one of the major themes was religion. Both Romao and his wife Rose are God-fearing Brazilians but their faith has given them nothing to show for their beliefs. Romao is a devout catholic who places his faith in God above everything else, to the point where he makes decisions for his family based solely on his beliefs and not on logic. Romao believes that “giving to the poor is like lending to God”, even though there’s yet to be a return on the investment. In contrast his eldest son, Antonio has come to the age where he has started to question why God refuses to help them at all and what use it is praying to someone or something who will not help you. In response to Romao’s ideas about lending to God, Antonio asked, “and when does He pay back?”. Trying to help his family make it to Rio, he takes matters into his own hands and buys bus tickets with money he stole from a church. Romao refuses to accept this gift from his son since it is not “honestly” earned and rips the tickets to shreds, in turn making it much harder for his family to reach their destination. Romao saw Antonio’s actions as a sin against God, but Antonio believed he was doing what God had refused to do, by providing for his family. In contrast, in the movie City of God, many of the characters, like Li’l Ze, Shaggy, Blackie, and Carrot, combat poverty by becoming involved in one way or another with lives of crime, either through the drug trade, violence, or both. In Seu Jorge’s song, “Convite Para Vida”, which was also part of the City of God movie soundtrack, he describes how these desperate situations can create a lack of faith in God’s willingness to help the poor:

It's the city of God, but God forgot to watch over

These people that never get tired of being beaten

Don't come and say that it's a matter of work

Because then there would be people wanting to advocate you

Seu Jorge sings that in the City of God, and I suppose, most of Brazil, “God forgot to watch over” the citizens because most of them are poor and lack opportunities to accumulate wealth, leaving a large population at the mercy of other people, who “beat” them economically. That’s why many Brazilians, like Li’l Ze and Carrot, turn to a life of crime, to escape poverty. The problem is not that the people won’t work honest jobs, it’s that there are very few honest jobs available, and they all leave the people in poverty. The easiest job to get is to be a criminal. The Middle of the World shows several scenes where Romao has opportunities to choose to be a criminal or be dishonest and have a better chance to take care of his family, but he turns them down due to his religious morals. These same pure beliefs continue to keep his family in desperate poverty. The alternative though, is to enter a life of crime which is filled with danger and violence.

As a result of the severe poverty in Brazil, the country is recognized as one of, if not the most violent on earth. There are people who have strong faith like Romao, which keeps them from settling into a life of crime, but many others see that as their only way to survive. The Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security releases a ranking of the world's most violent cities every year. The data, reported by Independent, in this annual report excludes smaller cities and combat zones, so countries at war aren’t reported, only domestic homicides in cities with populations over 300,000 are included. The results for 2015 numbers show a staggering homicide rate in all of Latin America, but especially in Brazil. The report shows that “of the 50 cities on the list, 41 are in Latin America, including 21 in Brazil.” That means over 40 percent of the world’s most dangerous, non-warring cities reside in Brazil. Much like what was seen in City of God, much of the violence stems from poverty, and drugs. According to Independent, key factors in the extreme violence rates are “drug trafficking supplemented with gang wars, political instability, and the deregulation of economies triggering widespread poverty.” Among the highest homicide rates in Brazil are Fortaleza, Natal, and Salvador, all of which own rates of over 60 homicides per 100,000 residents. All 21 of the Brazilian cities on the top 50 list have over 30 homicides per 100,000 residents.

Though all these problems music seems to be the one thing that brings the family some joy, and money. Paula told us in class that the only way poor people gain wealth is through music. Although they aren’t getting much money for it, when Rose and her children sing and play instruments, they are able to make other people happy and get a few coins from the people who hear them perform at the restaurant and on the bus, but more importantly, it seems to keep them in good spirits enough to keep going on. We listened to Caetano Veloso’s, “A Bossa Nova É Foda” or “Bossa Nova is the Shit” in class and it showed how the spirit of Brazil is reflected in its music.

he gave to the poet the old prophet

the key of the house of ammunition

the old man transformed the myth

of sad races into minotaurs

Caetano uses the metaphor that the “old prophet” was Joao Gilberto, and “the key to house of ammunition” was Bossa Nova giving the people power. When he says that “the old man transformed the myth of sad races into minotaurs”, Caetano is saying that Gilberto transformed the poor races of Brazil with the spirit of his music into fighters like Junior Cigano, Em José Aldo, Lyoto Machida, Vítor Belfort, and Anderson Silva. Caetano ends by saying that “Bossa Nova is the shit” (class summary 5/22). And it is the heritage of Brazil and how Brazilian culture can connect with the rest of the world.

According to the Borgen Project, a non-profit aiming to end world poverty and hunger, “An estimated 67,000 people have been evicted from their favelas since 2009 when Rio was chosen to host the Olympic Games. Those who fight against the eviction and refuse monetary compensation and alternate housing are met regularly with aggressive eviction attempts” (Brannon). Because these people are poor, they have/are being displaced from their homes in order to make playing games on the world stage easier. Brazil has decided to shun its own citizens just to pretend to the world that these issues of extreme poverty don’t exist. This situation actually gets worse after the Olympics when “the complexes [built where the favelas were located] will be converted to luxury condos for sale for up to $700,000.” These people will have nowhere to return to. Their homes will be destroyed and they can’t afford to live in the new structures. There will be nothing they can do about it. Much more disturbing is a topic Paula discussed with us in class about the fate of many homeless people in Rio, being found dead, and their bodies discarded in the woods. In our opinion as outsiders looking in on the situation it is impossible to be okay with this happening in Brazil. If this were happening in the United States there would be world coverage and possibly even the outbreak of a war. We have to wonder why does it make a difference that Brazil is a less economically developed country? A human life is a human life, no matter how poor that person may be. It is completely unjustifiable to kill and displace a person based on their economic standing. To us, it is a sickening idea that people are dying because of the fact that they’re poor, so that the country can make room for the Olympics to come to town.

Eventually the family is able to find work for Antonio, but his family has to leave him so they can find a living. But by the end we realize how hopeless their trip had really been, when they get to Rio, in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue and realize that all this traveling had gotten them into the same situation they were in before; Still poor and uncertain of their future, and not making the 1,000 reais a month that they set out for. Roberto Carlos song, “Letra de As Curvas Da Estrada De Santos”, which plays at the end of the movie, it a perfect way to end the film.

But if the love I lost,

I find again …

The curves end

and the Santos road

I’ll go no longer.

No! I will not go.

In the context of the movie, when Carlos sings “But if the love I lost, I find again …” could be interpreted as the hope that the family lost traveling across Brazil. For six months they had been on a long, difficult journey and where they ended up was not what they had hoped for when they left Paraiba. When he sings “The curves end and the Santos road, I’ll go no longer. No! I will not go.”, it could mean that once they stopped traveling, they don’t want to face the road of uncertainty anymore, because it is filled with pain and hardship. Rose especially doesn’t want to get back on the road when Romao is asking for directions to Brasilia, presumably to find better work, Rose tells her husband “We traveled for six months on those bikes to get here. We’re not going back on the road.” For Rose, she’s decided it is better to be poor, than to be poor and traveling cross country for opportunities that don’t exist.

Work Cited

Brannon, Iona. "2016 Olympics: Brazil and Its Economy." Http://borgenproject.org. N.p., 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

The Middle of the World. Dir. Vicente Amorim. Prod. Bruno Barreto and Ângelo Gastal. By David França Mendes. Perf. Wagner Moura and Cláudia Abreu. Buena Vista Pictures, 2003. Miami University Libraries. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

City of God = Cidade De Deus. Dir. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund. Prod. Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Mauricio Andrade Ramos. By Paulo Lins. Perf. Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino Da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele and Seu Jorge. O2 Filmes Videofilmes, 2002. Kalura.

Bender, Jeremy, and Amanda Macias. "The Most Violent Cities in the World: Latin America Dominates List with 41 Countries in Top 50." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Representations of and Deviations from Brazilian National Identity, by Jacob Hensh & Nubia Colussi

Jacob Hensh & Nubia Colussi

Paula Gandara

LAS/POR 204

3-29-2016

Representations of and Deviations from Brazilian National Identity

Throughout the course of LAS 204, Brazilian national identity has become the focus of a variety of discussions. A myriad of different theories exist concerning what is or makes the true national identity. One could interpret it as being permeated and created through samba itself, much alike Noel Rosa’s assessment. Or it may be posited that Brazilian national identity could be most effectively manifested through literature and the presence of the writer-diplomat, such as Vinicius de Moraes. Regardless of its method of construction, there are consistencies that exist concerning its destruction or evolution.

        From the point of view of different authors that have been discussed in class, as well as through historical fact, it should be postulated that Americanization and expansionism are the most subversive elements that exist in opposition to the maintenance of a singular Brazilian national identity. This is consistent regardless of which facet of culture one considers. Granted, through different points in history, this potentiality for the loss or changing of identity has varied between music and literature, and would largely be dependent on the international scene, and the type of government in place at the time. Through an analysis of both history and cultural work, it becomes clear that Americanization in general has been and possibly continues to be scene as a threat to cultural preservation, and by extension, national identity.

        Around the same time in history, during the onset of and post-World War II, two creators of culture found themselves in the limelight of Americanization – Carmen Miranda and Vinicius de Moraes. The former was seen at first as nearly the epitome of representation of Brazilian culture abroad, with the latter being exposed to the effects as a result of his work. Firstly, Miranda brought to the United States Brazilian music and performances.  Secondly, Moraes worked as a diplomat, during and after the Vargas regime, after rigorously pursuing his opportunity to earn a steady income, while combining his passion for both travel and writing. (Enslen, 417) However, Miranda would experience Americanization and foreign influence rather drastically, and the aftereffects would create turmoil amongst Brazilians.

        As Shari Roberts writes, “In the years from 1939 to 1944, just prior to and during U.S. involvement in World War II, Carmen Miranda, the ‘Brazilian Bombshell,’ appeared in eight Hollywood musicals and two Broadway musical revues, all of which were highly successful.” (Roberts, 3) Carmen Miranda performed in the United States, and subsequently created a drastic stereotyping of Brazilian national identity. Her over-exaggerated accent, accompanied by her extremely provocative showmanship with the others on stage, led American audiences to perceive Brazilian culture in a light that was not consistent with native Brazilians. (Class Discussion, March 18th)

        During Miranda’s time in the U.S, there would seemingly be two different points of view concerning her musical style and performance. First and foremost, the United States saw her as a proponent of Roosevelt’s good neighbor policy, claiming that “as an advertisement for Roosevelt’s good neighbor policy, … was worth half a hundred diplomatic negotiations.” (Roberts, 5) Simply put, American audiences were enamored with Miranda. Her extreme Otherness would mold her into an object of not only desire, but also one that leaves the audience simply intrigued. On the other hand, as aforementioned, a large portion of the Brazilian population would see this as a strict deviation from her true identity. Upon her return to Brazil, she was met with a mixed reaction. Roberts writes:

Contemporary accounts of Miranda’s much publicized return ‘home’ to Brazil in 1940 reveal the split between Brazilian and U.S perceptions of the star. Brazilian news reports describe the reception of her performance as extremely negative, the crowd booing and whistling. Reviewers claimed that Miranda had lost her voice, had changed her style and her soul: Miranda had become Americanized. (Roberts, 13)

Such a negative response from her home country would prompt her creation of songs such as Disseram Que Voltei Americanizada, and Voltei P’ro Morro. In this assessment rests the creation of a relationship between the loss of her so-called true Brazilian identity, and Americanization. This theme is consistent through other areas in the crossing of culture and politics as well. A predominant figure in this instance is Vinicius de Moraes.

        Brazilian national identity is most prominently seen through the exhibition of culture. (Class Discussion, March 16th) In this case, Vinicius fought diligently during his time as a diplomat to the United States to help solidify the culture he believed to be truly Brazilian. However, during both the post-war and World War II periods, Vinicius would come to believe that Americanization and U.S expansionism were true catalysts to the abridgement of this identity. Joshua Enslen writes, “In a letter to Bandeira from 1948, Moraes confesses his opinion about the United States. He was not fond of the United States’s obsession with economic growth, which destroyed, in his opinion, any real cultural vitality.” (Enslen, 422)

        In Vinicius’ work, the bridge between politics and culture was gapped much more distinctly than with Carmen Miranda’s. Despite Miranda being considered an “ambassadress” (Roberts, 4) of Brazilian good-will, she was not definitively associated with politics. Vinicius’ position as a diplomat, and by all accounts a subversive to the Brazilian government, made him an important due to his direct linkage to the political system. His creation of the Manifesto with his colleagues, as well as his work of literature Patria Minha, created space between himself and the Vargas regime, and would effectively attempt to produce what would be seen as a national identifier. Patria Minha would remain consistent with the style of identification of deviation from Brazilianness that has been discussed in class.

        The likening of the writer to a man being betrayed by an unfaithful woman (Enslen, 423) coincides with what is seen as a deviation of national identity, as true Brazilian woman are supposed to be happy in their situation, and happy with their man. (Class discussion, March 16th) His writing of the Patria Minha during the post-WWII years of 1946 to 1950 illustrates that Brazilian national identity was in jeopardy. In fact, as Enslen writes, “In the poem, the act of naming symbolically represents the power to control destiny and identity. As long as Moraes cannot name his nation, Brazil eludes an identity.” (Enslen, 424) The torn nature of Brazil during this era has then, in essence, left Brazil without an identity, and this is largely due to Americanization, expansionism, and then in the beginning of the 50’s, the onset of the Cold War.

        Throughout LAS/POR 204, one thing has been made abundantly clear – Brazilian culture is the true Brazilian national identity. Americanization has, undoubtedly, left its impact upon Brazilian culture, and therefore, on identity itself. It should be understood that this does not necessitate the destruction of national identity, but does certainly implicate a changing of identity. As Antonio Pedro Tota posits, the invasion of American culture, “Did not destroy Brazil’s culture, but most certainly it produced new cultural manifestations.” (Tota, 119) Figures such as Carmen Miranda and Vinicius de Moraes exhibit the changing effects of Americanization on Brazilian national identity. Some have denounced these effects as destruction of identity, such as Brazilians to Miranda, and some seem to disseminate that the culture has taken new form, such as Moraes. Certainly though, Americanization played a drastic role in the molding of and perception of Brazilian national identity, both domestically and abroad. These effects were not one dimensional, and are in fact felt throughout all producers of culture.

Work Cited

Enslen, Joshua. Vinicius de Moraes and “Patria minha”: The Politics of Writing in Post-war Brazil. 2011, pp. 416-428.

Roberts, Shari. “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat”: Carmen Miranda, a Spectacle of Ethnicity. 1993, pp. 3-23.

Tota, Antonio Pedro. Seduction of Brazil: The Americanization of Brazil During World-War II. 2010.