Us and them

           

Obama came to Brazil for the first time this week, which made us think about the relations between us and them. When I was a teenager I used to say I hated North Americans because of their imperialism, but I loved their music, their cinema and their literature. In this sense, things haven’t changed much: they are still arrogant and like to mess with other countries’ businesses, and they still produce wonderful and influential culture and entertainment.

            My own perceptions have changed, though. I still love The Doors and The Velvet Underground, just like when I was 17, but the bitterness and resentment are gone. Now I just enjoy the things they can offer, like I do to other nations. From the pop culture to jazz to the literature of people like Paul Auster or the underground cinema of Jim Jarmusch, they have a complex and varied culture to which we cannot help responding.

Of course they have the republicans, the tea party and all that conservative crap, but here in Brazil we have our Sarneys, Barbalhos and Malufs, and many unresolved social issues, so I think we’re even. No country can be perfect, not even Sweden. Time has shown that we do not exactly hate the USA: we hate conservatives and imperialists, wherever they come from. As far as I’m concerned, they might even be our neighbours.

We must take advantage of our economical relations with the USA, and try to establish a productive dialogue with them in all levels. Obama and Dilma have made beautiful speeches about democracy and cooperation, and, not being naïve, but I do hope they meant every word they said and that the conservatives of both countries do not stand on the way. This might be a new beginning for us and them, the two giant nations of the Americas. To me, it is just a new approach to an old and complex relation that will certainly last, and whose new chapters are about to come. 

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I want new bands

Some time ago I always selected the best albums of the year, the best songs and best singers. Now we all seem to be so busy we just don’t have time to keep up with what’s going on. I simply don’t know what the greatest albums of 2010 were. Before I just try to google it, I am asking for the help of some friends. I want to know the coolest albums, the surprises that rocked last year, especially in the fields of rock, pop, folk and world music (Not very interested in electronic or hip hop, sorry about it). I suppose the last two bands I really liked – The Strokes and Interpol - are old nowadays, and there must be new sounds I must know. Where are they?

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Here's what you missed on Glee

I might be intellectually lynched, but let’s go. This is why “Glee” is one of the best shows on TV nowadays: on a superficial level, it’s just another series about American teenagers, and many people are really sick of them. I understand that, and I also usually find this kind of TV show tedious at times. Also, critics say they destroy great pieces of music which would be better off untouched. It might be, and it is the case sometimes. But there is much more to it.  

            The narrative is peculiar, the rhythm is fast and there is too much information at the same time, so when we first watch it, it is easy to get tired. The teenage characters are not all likeable at a first impression, they need their time to seduce us. The grown ups are just wonderful: Sue Silvester is one of the most memorable characters in American TV nowadays, and Mr. Shue does it well enough.

            When I was a teenager the stereotypes were not so strong. People mingled with each other in the classrooms without much labeling or segregation. That was post-dictatorship Brazil. Nowadays things are getting different, and we are becoming more like the Americans. Once you get a label you have to stick to it or suffer the consequences. High school for many people is basically hell. Bullying is not something people discuss vaguely on TV, it’s a brutal reality. This is the world of Glee. This is becoming our world too.

            In spite of that, the tone is not dramatic. It is ironic, sarcastic, with no concessions to self-pity. There is music, and more: there are great dialogues about pop music, about its influence in society and its great achievements and disasters. (from The Beatles to Justin Bieber, for example). The development of the characters is brilliant, and usually deludes you. When you think a cliché is about to come, they twist the narrative in a way that makes you curious and interested again. They discuss sexuality, religion, ethics and music in ways that rarely appear on TV, and with the advantage of humour. And the music itself is not only pop. They visit jazz classics, rock’n’roll, hip hop, soul and others that are part of the great tradition of American music.

Got some spare time? Take a look at two or three episodes, try to catch the tone and feel the mood. And, of course, “don’t stop believing”!

Dogtooth

The Greek film “Dogtooth” is nominated to best foreign language film, a category which deserves more attention. It is an astonishing statement about power, oppression and parents-children relations. The basic idea is intriguing: the parents of three young adults keep them imprisoned at home, living a kind of Truman Show. The outside world is totally filtered to suit the conveniences of the parents, and the children never leave the house. The manipulation of language is a very interesting aspect of every oppression. In this particular case words like “telephone” ‘keyboard” or “cunt” acquire different meanings.

            The film is rich in metaphors like the dogtooth itself, which in the strange code created by the parents represents the time to leave the house, which never arrives. Be careful, weak souls: in this film there is strange sex and violence in a way that to me is more shocking than the normal one we see in American films.

            A film with a thesis, like “The White Ribbon”. A film that is worth watching and discussing with friends, and for those brave enough, with parents. Also, a great opportunity to hear the beautiful Greek language and to get to know that “example” in Greek is “paradigma” and shotgun is “carabina”.

True to life?

I’ve been reading some criticism about “Black Swan” by real ballerinas and professionals of the area. They say it is not true to ballet, it fails to portray the pleasure one feels dancing, and it sticks to clichés. It might be true, but there is a trouble, an old one: art does not need to “mock” reality necessarily. A work of art is always free to grab elements from reality and model them according to the convenience of the moment. Every time a work of art deals with a specific activity, there is the risk of not being faithful to it and its proud members.

            Then, how can a film or book or play reach a balance and please both the specialised audience and the general public? Hard task, isn’t it? For whenever we propose to take a look at a place or activity, we have the great opportunity to cast some more light on it and make the non-specialised audience more aware, respectful or at least wondering. If I write a book about Nicaragua, I want people from there to say it is a decent portrait of their society. It makes the artists proud. However, as strange as it may sound, it is not the only condition to make a great work of art. I mean, we can fail to be true to reality, to enlighten the general audience about a specific aspect of the world, and still have a masterpiece as the final result.

            Which “Black Swan” is not. Natalie is wonderful, of course. The production, the photography, the caustic atmosphere are very well done, and the fact that it was not true to ballet does not reach me because I am not from the area. It just fails to engage me thoroughly as a film. Not that it is a bad one: it is totally worth watching, it is stylish, sexy, and again it is a pleasure to see Natalie Portman at full capacity and beauty. There are some unforgettable scenes, and a little exaggeration in the tone, maybe necessary to the plot, but which does not suit me.

            I could have talked about the shadow and the double, yes, I could…

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Arab Revolutions

I see chaos in the streets of Cairo while I write this. I remember an old song by The Cure, “Fire in Cairo”. What will be the outcome? The dictator supported by the USA falling, who will lead the country? We tend to hope that our notion of democracy is the best for all countries, but many people over there don’t think so. There is always the risk of religious fanatics imposing their ways, and being right beside Israel as Egypt is, you can imagine what next. The “peaceful dictator” may be the least tragic solution, ironically. But the people are fed up, they want change, and change they will have.

            It all started in Tunisia, now the feeling of revolution is spreading through many Arab countries. Let’s hope they take the opportunity to rethink the way they treat women. It is ridiculous that in Saudi Arabia women can’t go anywhere or do anything without a male guardian, no matter how old she is. They can’t even drive at all, and many are forced to marry at a very young age, like ten! That is one among many things that really needs a revolution. It is a shame for us, men, that this kind of situation still exists in the world.

            Here in this blog I found great insights from a woman who lives under such conditions. Her voice deserves to be heard. http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/

Getting started

Explanations, not now. Cheerful confusion instead. This is about wanderings of the body, the eye and the mind. This is about us in the world, and the world within us. Have you read Yeats? Do you know the meaning of Curupira? Go for it. I’m going somewhere else, please follow me while I follow you.