Note from BW of Brazil: Let’s get real about this. Brazil is not about change but rather status quo. If it were any other way it wouldn’t be Brazil. Which is why stories such as today’s feature shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve said it before, one solution to issues such as this one would be completely separate resources for different sides, that way, everyone would be happy. Black people could stop pointing the finger and demanding inclusion and diversity and white people could stop making up reasons to deny the fact of exclusion. With separate resources, TV programs, beauty pageants, etc., there would be no need to even make posts such as this one you’re reading at this moment.
Just a few weeks ago, I presented yet another example of people not approving of seeing just one black girl in a near all-white beauty pageant. “She doesn’t represent the beauty” of the region, went the complaint. As the state of Rio Grande do Sul is about 82% white and there was only one black girl in a contest of over 20 women, I thought the argument was a bit extreme to say the least. But where will these protesters be when white people are massively over-represented in areas in which they are the minority? I rarely don’t hear them screaming as loud then. In fact, I never hear a peep out of them when this is the case. I’m quite sure the argument would probably be, “well, white people live there too!” If we had separate events, these problems would be resolved. But the problem here is that not only is the problem is not solved, but also the vastly influential media actually using its power to support white supremacy. So here we go again.
Once again, nothing new here, but rather more of the same. The issue here is the fact the powerful Globo TV network has set its latest novela (soap opera) in a state known not only for its thriving black culture but also the blackness of its people, with almost 80% of the state defining itself as non-white. So what’s the problem? Well, if the numbers corresponded to reality, there would be no problem but Globo has in fact decided to invert reality, presenting a cast in only 4 of 30 actors are black, while 87% of the cast is represented by white actors. But again, what’s new? Rede Globo TV, as well as Brazil’s other top networks have long practiced symbolic annihilation. And wouldn’t such a practice be fitting when we consider that Brazil has long wanted to rid itself of its black population anyway?
As this lack and under-representation of black Brazilians has been going on for so long, I believe that it is a waste of time to keep believing that the media will suddenly change its policy towards black Brazilians. And as long as people keep falling for the idea that things will change simply because the same media presents something as a “glimmer of hope” by occasionally offering something to a population starving for representation, the harder it will be to come to terms with reality. So, what would my solution to the issue be? It’s pretty simple. Stop showing support for such media outlets altogether. Not only would this stop the constant longing for representation, but when the lack support hits these networks, they would then have to start bargaining over these issues rather than simply doing what they please and then, perhaps, things would be begin to change.
Absence of blacks in ‘O Segundo Sol’ motivates movement with more than 26 thousand likes
Courtesy of Na Teleinha
Even not having premiered, O Segundo Sol is already causing controversy in social networks because of the absence of blacks in its cast.
This Saturday (28), the actress Samara Felippo, currently on Record TV, published a post raising the same question and the page Trick Tudo on Facebook, launched the “Eu poderia estar na novela O Segundo Sol” (I could be in the soap opera The Second Sun) movement on Friday (27) naming more than 50 atores negros (black actors) that could be in the production and are not. In less than three days, more than 25 thousand people curtiram (liked) the publication.
In the midst of the published text, the following sentence was highlighted: “If in the world of some, the black actors are summed up to the marvelous Lazaro Ramos and Taís Araújo. Then, some other actors, also talented, could have been escalated to Segundo Sol! Now if you don’t see a problem in the selection of a novela that depicts a state with an 80% black population and the selection has 80% whites. Then the problem is completely yours: It becomes your prejudice!”.
Still in the message, it questions the absence of names that are often in Globo novelas – though not necessarily set in the Northeast, but that were out: “They could have selected beyond black actors, Bahian actors such as Emanuelle Araújo for example – which by chance has plenty of talent and a profile more near Giovanna (if this is the excuse), but different from Gio, he doesn’t have his image saturated.”
Among the 53 suggested names, are Aílton Graça, Camila Pitanga, Sérgio Menezes, Milton Gonçalves, Lucy Alves, Adriana Lessa, Isabel Fillardis, Jessica Ellen, Sérgio Malheiros, Marcelo Mello Jr, Luis Miranda, Rocco Pitanga, Telma Souza, Heslaine Vieira, among others.
Source: Na Telinha
Well it is their television so….. Listen we need to get our own.