Questions for Shaw "The Chanchada and Celluloid Visions of Brazilian Identity in the Vargas Era"
1) Even though the chanchada was formed as "pale imitations of big-budget Hollywood musicals," they still had a sense of Brazilian culture and ideas. How were these aspects captured by the chanchada?
2) As Carmen Miranda's popularity grew in the United States, views on her persona and what she represented varied greatly. Compare/contrast how she was viewed in Brazil versus the United States.
2) As Carmen Miranda's popularity grew in the United States, views on her persona and what she represented varied greatly. Compare/contrast how she was viewed in Brazil versus the United States.
posted by Lindsey at
11:07 PM
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Carmen Miranda's popularity in the United States held far greater significance for Brazilian audiences than it did for Americans. In the American press and Hollywood films, Carmen was portrayed as a generic Latin floozy, primarily interested in "money and men." (67) She came to represent a stereotypical South American exotic femininity through her flamboyant costumes and heavy accent, but was rarely associated with a specifically Brazilian identity.
In Brazil, she was simultaneously loved and hated, alternately seen as a tool of North American cultural imperialism by way of Hollywood productions, and as a force of nature that was "beyond good and evil." (67) The Brazilian opinion of Carmen Miranda was noticeably divided along class lines: the elite were highly critical of her generic Latina posturing, revealing their awareness of and preoccupation with international views of Brazil. In contrast, the masses were drawn in by Carmen's charismatic charm and popularity as an affirmation of the possibility of Brazilian success on an international scale, and immune to the subtleties of the image that she projected.
For American audiences, Carmen Miranda represented a familiar caricature of latinidad that had little to do with Brazilian culture. Brazilian audiences were divided in their reaction, alternately criticizing and adoring her.
1. Some aspects of Brazilian culture and ideas were captured in chachada by using Brazilian radio performers and musicians.The genre of films themselves originated as carnival films and grew from there because they were recognized by businessmen as having mass appeal across the country. The films incorporated depictions of everyday issues in Brazil icluding "water shortages, the failings of public transport, and political corruption." And in the film batucada, the director chose to discuss the effects of World War II on Brazil as well as the issue of United States tourism in the Latin American country.
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