Camila Pitanga debuts as the new poster girl for Arezzo
Note from BW of Brazil: You can always tell when someone is involved or has a major project coming out because we start to see more of them on talk shows, in marketing ads and interviews, etc. And as such, it’s no coincidence that photos of actress Camila Pitanga as the poster girl of the Arezzo brand make their debut as she stars in a new prime time novela. While we like to report on media visibility or invisibility of black women, we always must pay attention to the manners in which these women are portrayed. Needless to say, Pitanga is not afraid to star in ads that present her in a sensuous manner, a topic frequently discussed here on the blog. So, how do you see this? In a way, Afro-Brazilian women that want to make it in the media are in a sort of “catch-22” situation. The media has a long history of presenting black women as either maids or sensual ‘mulatas’, but on the other hand, it’s almost impossible to develop a career without showing one is capable of displaying sensuality.
Actress is the face of winter 2015 campaign
By Diego Denck with material from Circolare
Camila Pitanga is the second black woman to have the lead role in a prime time Brazilian drama, the first being Taís Araújo in the 2009 novela Viver a Vida. Anticipating the success of her new novela the Arezzo shoes and accessories brand called the actress to do a photo editorial. Betting on her sensuality, the photo shoot presents a stunning Pitanga retuning to the small screen in her first novela since 2012’s Lado a Lado.
The Arezzo brought together a real dream team for its Winter 2015 campaign. Photographed in a studio in São Paulo, the shoot was under the direction of creative director Giovanni Bianco, responsible for some of singer Madonna’s album covers.
Photographed by Gui Paganini, in a setting inspired by the aesthetics of the houses of the 1950’s with its strong and saturated colors – Camila surprises with her poses. “We’ve worked together several times, but this time I asked for real acrobatics for Camila. The process was fun and we loved the result. Camila is wonderful, she goes beyond beauty and transmits talent and content,” said Giovanni Bianco.
The styling is done by Flavia Pommianosky and David Ramos with beauty by Henrique Martins.
The campaign will begin to be publicized across Brazil starting in March, the period in which Camila Pitanga is the protagonist of the new 9 o’clock Globo TV novela (soap opera) Babilônia.
Source: Circolare, Em Resumo
Either than the fact that she doesn’t look like a black person even to a Swede, let’s celebrate…
She has some black in her but she is not Black. She may identify as Black but she doesn’t look Black at all ! That’s the reason why she is regarded as the most beautiful Black woman in Brazil.
Yep, you got that right. Again, self-identification doesn’t mean shit. It’s how you look and how society treats you that matters.
Her father is the actor Antonio Pitanga. He is very famous in Brazil. He looks black and every body knows he’s black. I don’t think most Brazilians see her as white if they know who her father is. Also, Tais Araújo had the title role in the telenovela Xica da Silva when she was only 17 back in the 1990s. That was on Manchete, not Globo, but it is still one of the most popular Brazilian telenovelas of all time.
How her father looks has jack shit to do with this. Antonio Pitanga is black, but SHE is not. Most Brazilians do NOT see her as black, make no mistake. She doesn’t look black so in Brazil, she’s not black, period.
And correct, Brazilians do not see her as white, but still a LONG LONG way to be seen as black. To be sure, without a tan and randomly on the street someone with her exact looks (not being famous) would be treated as white 90%- of the time if not more.
I call bullshit.
I have some friends who know the actress, and they did consider her “afro-descendente.” When I saw her in another movie about Noel Rosa, not knowing who she was I didn’t think she was supposed to be a non-white woman, but from a U.S. perspective, of course she would be. But once I found out who her father was, of course I consider her “afro-descendente.” He is a very famous black actor. Of course if no one knows who she is she is not going to be connected with him. On the other hand most people in Brazil do know, and so I believe that by association she is considered “afro-descendente.” But I agree someone who looks like her probably would not be considered black in Brazil, but they aren’t white either. A lot of how someone not famous, who looked like her would be treated depends on where one lives, what she dressed like… People attach those assumptions to it in my experience in Brazil.
Do you think that self-identification doesn’t matter? Is that only in Brazil or everywhere? I don’t know where you are from, Black, but everytime someone in the U.S. who looks like Camila Pitanga (or someone even lighter, who really looks white) does not mention their black grandmother, ancestry, or parent, they are considered some kind of traitor to black people or else ashamed of their black heritage. So what’s wrong with afro-descendentes in Brazil who don’t look like Africans wanted to self-identify as black? Would people feel better if she changed her name, denied her father, and just pretended she was Indian?
@Black: Thanks for your comments.
@celestedolores :From what I know Antonio Pitanga is not her biological father… In Brazil almost everybody is mixed with something so discrimination is based on what you look like not on what your DNA is made of. Self-identification only matter to fill quotas.
As Lulendo pointed out, I doubt very much Pitanga is her biological father. She looks like a whitened version of her mother, so still, technically, she would be considered black in the US.
Also, as Lulendo said, self-identification serve only for quotas in Brazil, and actually not even for that because your self identification is not the final word. It’s a committee who looks at your picture and decides and this woman would very, very difficultly pass as black for quota purposes. Actually I would bet she wouldn’t.
I understand the whole “black denial = traitor” in the US and I an even understand why a brown-nearly white person as herself wants to identify as black, because as such she becomes “special”, which is the whole problem. A “special black” is a black that is not black. Should the millions of little black girls look up to her as an example of a black woman???? That is even more torture than looking at the white women, at least they know they are not white. The true black girls from Brazil look nothing like her and she should not become an example of blackness, that’s really demeaning for black people.
She is what she is, but black, no.
Ok. Thanks. I understand your point. I was not aware that it was more or less consensus that Antonio Pitanga was NOT her biological father. I wondered but I thought maybe it was just one of those fluke cases in which the child came out lighter than the parents due to some genetic mix. Considering the mix of many Brazilian people it’s not impossible. I can’t answer the question about the “millions of little black girls” in the case of Brazil. It is a very different situation. In the U.S. many black girls look up to Halle Berry, Beyonce, Mariah Carey. Nobody questions that they are black even though each one has a white parent.
Beyonce doesn’t have a white parent. You guys have to understand, that when Camila goes to places with REAL white people, she wouldn’t be considered white. Don’t worry about how black she is, what she considers herself would be right everywhere but latin america, where there is a lot of self denial going on. She’sa sista, no different than a Halle Berry or even a latina like Zoe Saldana. No matter what you call yourself, the african must come first if its in your blood, because REALwhite people are going to see it the moment they see you.
I can tell you that this is not true. Unless you are using the expression “black” to include everything that is not-white (Indians, etc). I am married to a black woman (reason I have interest in this blog), and my children “pass” ass black as in African-black in Finland but just barely. This woman on the other hand would not be considered (African) black in Finland or anywhere in Europe as far as I can tell. Whites (like me), would probably scratch the heads trying to figure out her, but Africa would not normally be a natural choice. If she, in a conversation, would identify herself this way, we would politely accept it, but deep inside knowing she is not really telling the truth. I believe the opposite is the truth, in other words, the only place on the planet as she passes as African-black is in the US.
She looks like the average mixed brazilian, perhaps a shade darker. Whatever she is, she ain’t African.