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I didn't want to "expose" (or exploit) Rio like the photo shoot, so this is a picture of a protest against the violence in Rio de Janeiro.
O Globo, a large Brazilian newspaper, declared in its headline a few days ago, “It’s War: The Magazine The New Yorker Publishes Material About the Violence in Rio de Janeiro Four Days Before the Vote for the 2016 Olympic Headquarters.”
They responded to the New Yorker’s piece about Gang Violence in Rio de Janeiro that portrays Rio as a city of “Parallel Powers.” (If anybody is a reader of my blog, you know how I feel about the use of this phrase. “Parallel Powers” is a tricky one, mostly shunned by academics.) It is an interesting photo shoot, but a rather typical lets “expose the real world of Rio.” Photo shoots like these, those that are “exposing” the violence that occurs, always make my stomach turn. How much do they actually create a “better awareness?” How much to the “artists” exploit the violence for their own benefit?
Honestly, hearing what this guy has to say makes me think that he knows very little about what actually goes on. (Not to mention the fact that it annoys me how he tries to talk with a Brazilian accent and fails miserably.) He talks about the Militia while showing a symbol of the BOPE; however, the BOPE is not the militia. The BOPE is actually a special police force, and not necessarily part of extra-legal right wing milita groups. (However, some of these police could be taking part in the militias, as well). He talks about the Ilha do Governador as if there was just one favela, when in fact there are various favelas (as well as other neighborhoods). Last, but not least, the fact that his last words spoke, “there was a lot of fresh graves in that cemetery,” just put the icing on the cake for me. First, he was trying to be poetic by ending with a cemetery, making the city of Rio de Janeiro look like one graveyard. Second, and worst of all, is that it’s true that a lot of people are killed by the violence in Rio de Janeiro, but the sad thing is they probably don’t even get proper respect and graves in a graveyard like the one he showed in his photo shoot. So not only did he exploit the deaths in order to end really artistically, but he got the story wrong.
There are photography projects in Rio de Janeiro that try and paint an image that goes directly against this sort of portrayal of the city and the violence in the favelas. I would love to know what an organization like Observatório de Favelas‘ Imagens do Povo would have to say about this exhibit.
Shortly after O Globo released the article, they were appalled about the portrayal of Rio in The New Yorker. O Globo, then, released another article with the headline, “Three days before the vote on the 2016 Olympic Headquarters, Youth is Beaten to Death by Gangs in Chicago.”
The magazine, Foreign Policy, released an interesting blog post about the whole journalism affair. You can read it here.
Hi Amanda,
I’m an English teacher from the United States and I’ve been living in Rio for a long time, so I was very interested to follow this whole story. (I just discovered your blog today because I’m reading Bryan McCann’s book on the recent history of Brazil.)
I think you’re referring to the audio slideshow the New Yorker put up on its website, but I was much more interested to read the article itself. Anderson was here in June or July doing the research and interviews for his story, and he was interviewed by O Globo, which ran the interview on the front page of its culture section. So it wasn’t like they didn’t know the article was coming. I don’t think the timing was intentional, but even if it was, I don’t think that’s the writer’s decision.
The article overall seems pretty accurate, although it can’t go into as much detail as needed about the complexities of the problem. It’s more like a snapshot of what’s going on, focusing on just one favela and on just a few people’s personal stories, to try to make a far-away problem real for Americans.
The numbers on violence in Rio are always different, depending on which source you consult. Anderson says that there were “just under 5000″ murders last year in Rio; I’ve read elsewhere that it was around 2000. In any case, it’s obviously a serious, serious problem, and one that I wish Brazilians and the “international community” would pay more attention to. What bothers me most is that these deaths simply don’t count, here or abroad, because it’s mostly residents of poorer neighborhoods being killed. But no one appears to be very concerned if those people are killed, so it’s allowed to continue. It’s of such little importance that no one is even sure exactly how many murders there are.
I can only hope that with Rio being more in the international spotlight now, with the World Cup and the Olympics, politicians here will be forced to come up with something more than the usual “solutions” to truly make the city safer for all its residents (not just the rich) — if only because the continued level of violence will make for bad public relations and could become really embarrassing for them.
The usual “solution” I’m talking about is, of course, a police crackdown. Two weeks before Rio hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, the police killed 19 people and wounded a lot of others in a “mega-invasion” of one favela. That didn’t get much attention from anybody, however — except the people who lived there. Just a blip on the radar screen; that sort of thing happens here all the time. Hopefully, that kind of “solution” won’t be possible in the period leading up to the Olympics.
I guess in the process of writing this comment, I’ve formed my own opinion about the article and the Brazilian response: Brazilians should be ashamed of themselves for getting more upset about the article than about all the murders they have here. I wish more articles like this would appear. I wish magazines and newspapers from all over the world would send reporters down here and give some space to this story. Because only then will Brazilians actually do something about it.
If Brazilians want to show off their country on the world stage, they can’t complain when the world comes looking at what’s happening here on a daily basis: a permanent low-intensity civil war that’s being waged in the poorest urban areas of their nation, killing hundreds of their fellow citizens. The usual Brazilian knee-jerk defensive response, pointing to violence in the United States or other countries, just doesn’t cut it anymore. They have to really address this issue, not just fall back on “pot calling the kettle black.”
Here’s a link to the full Anderson article:
www. flip. org. br/ upimages/ Anderson%20Rio%20Gangster. pdf
Now that I guess I’ve come out on the other side of this subject & disagreed with your opinion about the article, let me try to make up for it by saying thanks so much for your blog. Please keep it up!
Thank you so much for your comment!
With that said, I really agree with what you’ve had to say. I think it is a shame that politicians from Rio de Janeiro try to glaze over their problem of violence. I have lived off and on in Rio for quite some time (although I don’t know if it is anywhere near your “very long time.”)
I especially liked this:
“I guess in the process of writing this comment, I’ve formed my own opinion about the article and the Brazilian response: Brazilians should be ashamed of themselves for getting more upset about the article than about all the murders they have here. I wish more articles like this would appear. I wish magazines and newspapers from all over the world would send reporters down here and give some space to this story. Because only then will Brazilians actually do something about it.”
Of course Rio de Janeiro does have a lot of serious problems with violence. I guess my negative feelings about Anderson’s piece in the New Yorker come from the fact when the favelas of Rio de Janeiro get any attention at all, it is purely because the violence. On the other hand, we can’t deny that many of these communities have to suffer from the effects of violence on a daily basis. Many people living in the favelas aren’t involved in the drug trafficking, or militias. There are even some favelas that don’t have trafficking, thus they aren’t on the politicians radar, thus they don’t get as much investment as favelas such as Rocinha.
I guess the way I see it is that there is a huge catch-22 in how to approach ways to improve the lives of people living in those communities. I think that people need to be really careful not to stereotype the communities as violent areas run by “parallel powers,” yet, on the other side, the solutions can not deny the fact that the violence exists and deny the chance to let the people speak up against the violence in their community.
In other words, I don’t disagree with what you said either. I think you are very much right on the money. If sometimes I seems contradicting in what I feel about the situation, I think it is because what I feel about the situation sometimes is contradicting!
I also don’t know if you have read this book, but it is absolutely fabulous and I would recommend it: Vida Sob Cerco, organized by Luiz Machado da Silva. Also, Bryan McCann is writing another book right now, and in the next few years you should look out for it! It is about the evolution of Rio de Janeiro’s politics, both formal and informal, from 1969 to the early 90s. To mention some other of my favorites: As Cores de Acari by Marcos Alvito; Enrique Desmond Arias has both a great book and some good articles; Teresa Caldeira wrote City of Walls, it is about São Paulo and it’s really good. All the books by Alba Zaluar. Márcia Pereira Leite has some great articles and works with Luiz Machado da Silva.
Also, if you’re interested in ensuring that Rio de Janeiro’s favelas aren’t treated like they were during the Pan American games, you should check out the work of Theresa Williamson at http://www.catcomm.org. She is also in the running for $10,000 for a project that will help community leaders play a more direct role in making sure the Olympics has better outcomes for their communities.
Thanks so much for your comments!
Hi! I just found your blog myself today–I live in Rio de Janeiro and I am an American from Cleveland OH originally. Love the blog name and design…super cute.
Todd mentioned he wanted to read the “full” New Yorker article, and I thought I’d share it in case you guys haven’t read it yet. It’s too much. Lately since I’ve been here, I’ve been disappointed by how the U.S. media often unfairly and inaccurately portrays Rio and Brazil.
http://www.flip.org.br/upimages/Anderson%20Rio%20Gangster.pdf
Whether in little or huge ways, it seems there is a lot of fear-mongering going on, even with “reputable” news sources…this New Yorker article is no exception. I read an MSNBC article recently comparing crime in future Olympic cities where crime statistic numbers for Brazil (country) were referenced with statistics about Vancouver (city).
Hey Tricia!
Thank you for your comments! I’m glad you like the blog! Yes, I understand where you are coming from. Thank you for posting the article on my blog.
My friend is actually in the running to win 10,000 dollars so that she can teach community leaders social media techniques which can amplify their voices and allow them to have a better say in what is going to happen with the Olympics in 2016. Right now, 19 communities are slated for removal. If your interested in knowing more information, you can go here: http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/6590-Rio-Olympics-Ensuring-a-Powerfa
I hope you stay tuned. Although ever since I started graduate school, I’m so busy and can’t post as much as I like. What are you doing in Rio?
Thanks again!
Amanda
Hi! I just found your blog myself today–I live in Rio de Janeiro and I am an American from Cleveland OH originally. Love the blog name and design…super cute.
Todd mentioned he wanted to read the “full” New Yorker article, and I thought I’d share it in case you guys haven’t read it yet. It’s too much. Lately since I’ve been here, I’ve been disappointed by how the U.S. media often unfairly and inaccurately portrays Rio and Brazil.
This comment form won’t allow me to post the link but the full article is on the blog called Eyes on Brazil under the heading Economist & The New Yorker in a PDF.
Whether in little or huge ways, it seems there is a lot of fear-mongering going on, even with “reputable” news sources…this New Yorker article is no exception. I read an MSNBC article recently comparing crime in future Olympic cities where crime statistic numbers for Brazil (country) were referenced with statistics about Vancouver (city).
Hi Amanda,
I was searching for the New Yorker piece and your blog came on the top of the list.
You do an amazing job on your blog!
See you at lunch,
Renata