Brazil in the Twenty-First-Century Popular Media: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism on the World Stage ed. by Naomi Pueo Wood (review)

Through ten well-researched chapters distributed in three parts, Brazil in the Twenty-First Century Popular Media offers a much-needed analysis of the many ways in which Brazil and Brazilians appear as producers and products of popular discourse. In the first and introductory chapter, the editor explains how the book aims at discussing old stereotypes and reevaluating them in the context of the twenty-first century with its myriad channels. She emphasizes that most of the chapters attempt to articulate two likely opposing points of view: for instance, how Brazilians depict themselves and how they are perceived by foreigners, or how favelas are described in the media and the reality of favela life as described by its residents. By comparing these perspectives, each one of the three parts focuses on a set of themes, such as soap operas, documentaries, foreign film, and sociocultural movements. As a whole, the title is accessible to the public in general, as it often provides nonspecialized readers with the necessary background for following the thesis, which progressively develops into to a more sophisticated study of the subject matter.

The first part discusses the “myths” of Brazil (land of carnival, favelas, beautiful women, and violence) as they appear in twenty-first-century film. Chapter 2 deals with how Brazil is depicted in foreign cinema, pinpointing the themes commonly favored by foreign writers and directors. As an introduction, Antunes assesses a series of works dating back to the 1930s, and the overview shows how past representations of Brazil reinforce deep-rooted stereotypes. Stating that not much has changed in the past ninety years, she goes on to show that, while twenty-first-century titles tend to bank still on the same preconceived ideas, they also seek to juxtapose these to a more genuine portrait of the country and its inhabitants by, among other things, validating Portuguese as the national language and portraying women as working bodies rather than material goods to be consumed. Chapter 3 questions how two Brazilian films, Os dois filhos de Francisco (2005) and O contador de histórias (2009), have introduced a new series of myths that, in many ways, contrast with the actual socioeconomic reality of the majority of the country. Rocha first summarizes the theory of myth developed by Roland Barthes, then explains the themes of social mobility central to the two titles. The three protagonists overcome their modest beginnings. In a historical moment when the global order is disturbed (a carnival of sorts), they strive, succeed, and have their talents recognized. The chapter questions the likelihood of such a mythical trajectory in a country where most of the population is trapped in an eternal cycle of poverty. This first part is in many ways the most accessible, as the titles studied in each chapter are well known and part of the popular culture in and outside Brazil.

The second part addresses the many socioeconomic paradoxes observed in Brazilian films, documentaries, and soap operas. Chapter 4 discusses the “new cinema” portrayal of street children and urban violence by examining how Rio 40 Degrees (1954) and Pixote: The Law of the Weakest (1981) influenced the viewpoints set forth in the documentary Last Stop 174 (2008). Frey’s text investigates how the depiction of favelas, source of the street children, was transformed from a romanticized idea of home to a place as dangerous and unforgiving as the streets themselves. The homeless youth of the new cinema thus appear as a disrupting and disrupted element, without any clear space in the context of the city. According to the author, Last Stop 174 fails to seriously question how or why these children end up homeless. The article does an excellent job in showing how recent titles deal with a major urban crisis by portraying the victims of the system as criminals in a reductive and...