First, I would love to see today’s films portray cultures correctly and not utilize the differences one culture sees in another to the advantage of the creator of the content. It is also problematic that today’s films showing people from outside North America continue to fail to represent the ‘other’ correctly. Nevertheless, I will purposefully cater my response to be more surface level, based off my emotional response and a simple historical consideration of an American film about a place which at the time, was a lot farther than it is today.
Brazil in 1930 was a country still struggling with oligarchies, extreme economic inequality separating classes and regions, a weakened economy due to the depression and reliance on export products which were highly vulnerable in the changing world economy. Brazil was close to major structural and industrial reform. But as Flying Down to Rio highlights, there was a thriving upper class that could live a lavish life comparable to American extravagance.
Swanson’s article mentions the similarities between the upper classes of both countries. The article also highlights all of the ways in which the film, by using music, dance, racial differences, romance and technology is “an assertion of Northern supremacy” … and “reasserts social hierarchies.” Without delving into the highly analyzed aspects of film, I believe that creating a film about another culture, showing the good sides of the culture, representing it in a way that does not make them look blatantly foolish can aid in the process of cultural acceptance and tolerance, and in the long term, lead to more equality. Brazil in this film looks fun, dramatic and beautiful. I bet viewers wanted to visit this place and left the theater having a better (though highly unrepresentative of the reality), image of the country. The audience was America in 1933— during the middle of the depression. It was not a university professor in the UK in 2010. Also of consideration is Swanson’s point that this film was made before the Good Neighbor policy, which pushed for a more unified hemisphere. The film therefore was not as influenced by the political and economic agenda as Down Argentine Way. The image I chose for this article came up when I googled ‘Brazil 1933.’ It is a rural primary school and a better representation of what Brazil was like. 1930’s Hollywood, could not make a film about this.
I am glad that today we are able to have this conversation. Film such as these, the sexism, racism and assertion of assumed North American superiority has led to many current problems in our view of Latin America and the many different cultures both there and around the world. For this, we need scholars like Swanson and we need to educate and discuss our common misconceptions. At times, I like to watch movies and think about these issues. When it came to Flying Down to Rio however, I could not help but enjoy the representation of Brazil, a country I have studied, visited and have many friends from. Brazil is no doubt a sexy, passionate place. No Brazilian would deny this. The problem arises when the image that foreigners possess of Brazil is shaped only through images that represent small portions of the population.
