Adventures of a Gringa

Novelas and Brazil's New Middle Class

Shoppers in Rio's Bangú neighborhood

Two of Brazil's recent primetime TV shows feature the country's rising star of the moment: the new middle class. Cheias de Charme, or Full of Charm, just concluded a five-month run in at 7 p.m., receiving an average viewership of 34 points, higher than recent novelas in the same time slot. Avenida Brasil, Globo's 9 p.m. novela, ends in several weeks and enjoys a large viewership, reaching up to 65 percent of Brazilian TVs. The fact that two of the most watched television programs on Brazil's most watched television network showcased this group is telling, with a number of interesting implications. 

Traditionally, novelas were aspirational, often starring wealthy characters. Now, with the two novelas this year, they're intended to be relatable, a reflection of the tens of millions from the C class, or the new middle class. "When we portrayed poor people, they were always dreaming of leaving their suburbs and striking it rich. But now we want to show a place that, in spite of being poor, is cheerful and warm, a place where there can be prosperity,” Ricardo Waddington, coordinator of Avenida Brasil told Folha de São Paulo. Showing members of the new middle class flourishing represents a new type of aspiration. "Here in Brazil, there's a real problem in understanding how the lower middle class thinks. This lower class doesn't hold up the elite as a model. The reference for these people is not the rich, but rather the neighbor who succeeded," Renato Meirelles, CEO of Data Popular--a marketing firm specializing in the middle and lower classes--told the AP.

 

In some ways, the novelas are glorifying parts of Brazilian culture long considered inferior by the upper class. The two novelas offer insight into what the new middle class is like: how they dress, speak, and consume--or at least, Globo's vision of these elements. The novelas prominently feature working class neighborhoods, as well as using types of music popular with the new middle class like pagode and forró. Avenida Brasil's costume designer went out to Rio suburbs Bangú and Madureira for inspiration, as well as incorporating what singers and soccer players from working-class neighborhoods wear.

 The shows have used aggressive marketing both during commercials and offscreen for the new middle class. Commercials during the show target the C class, with everything from electronics stores to what one could call shoe porn:

 

As with many novelas, the products used on the show become must-have items, particularly for women, and despite featuring new middle class styles, Avenida Brasil is no exception. Pants and jewelry worn by the Suelen character have been a hit across the country. Globo licensed six lines of products made up for 50 items from Avenida Brasil alone. Riding on the metro in Rio, you can spot an ad labeled "Da TV para você" (from the TV to you), advertising hair products featured on the novela. You can even see ads on some of Rio's highways advertising the Guadalupe Mall as featured on Avenida Brasil.

Targeting the new middle class is an important marketing strategy, given the group's buying power and what the new middle class is purchasing. A recent IBGE study found that the C class spends more money on durable goods like cars, home appliances, and medicine than on food, education, and culture. The C class also helped drive Brazil's credit boom, and in Rio, one can buy a coconut or a meat skewer from a street vendor with a credit or debit card in some cases. As a result, the new middle class is quickly racking up debt; a September Kantar Worldpanel survey found that of Brazil's five social classes (ranging from A, the wealthiest to E, the poorest), the C class is the only one in which people spend more than they earn.

But being the center of one of the country's most watched shows doesn't mean that the traditional middle class or the upper class are celebrating the ascension of millions of Brazilians into the C class.

In fact, there's evidence that some are uncomfortable with this social group--long considered relegated to the outskirts of large cities and outside of spaces frequented by the the well-off--suddenly having money and access. This conflict has been obvious, particularly in places like airports where members of the new middle class rarely set foot before. But now it's statistically proven: a Data Popular survey found that a large portion of the wealthier sectors of Brazil are unhappy with the new middle class. The study showed that 55 percent of upper class consumers believe products should have separate versions "for the rich and the poor"; 48 percent believe the quality of services declined with the rise of the new middle class; 50 percent prefer going to places occupied by members of the "same social class"; 16 percent believe "poorly dressed" people should be barred from certain places; and 26 percent believe subways would bring "undesirables" to their neighborhoods. You also need look no further than Classe Média Sofre, a blog that details some of these tensions the traditional middle class and upper classes have with the new middle class.

"You're seeing people going to the theater or taking a flight for the first time ever, and the first time is very important," Marcelo Neri, head of research institute Ipea and Brazil's new middle class guru told O Público. "But it's a class that isn't accustomed to reading. This creates prejudice from the upper class. There's class conflict at the airports, since the elite always had empty airports to themselves. The new middle class makes them uncomfortable. Culturally, there are a lot of things happening but it's not traditional culture. It's in the periphery of cities."

The novelas may also include less obvious subtext about new middle class culture. Avenida Brasil writer João Emanuel Carneiro described the so-called "poor-rich" characters on the show as those who are "simple people who became rich but maintained their suburban ways." In describing how these characters figure into the show, columnist Mauricio Stycer points out the protagonist's "more subtle objective is to...'civilize' the poor-rich." Será?

Photo: Luiz Fernando Reis

Interview with Chef Thiago Silva

At first blush, Thiago Silva seems like just another Brazilian immigrant in New York: a kind, soft-spoken, self-professed momma's boy from Goiânia who moved to the U.S. at age 8 and grew up in Astoria. But in reality, Thiago is a rising star in the New York culinary scene, and at just 28 is executive pastry chef at Catch, one of New York's hottest restaurants. Along with creating delicious desserts for the rich and famous, he also makes amazing cakes. He's made the most incredible creations, from a guitar cake to a Harley cake to a plane cake to a spinning globe cake. He's made cakes for numerous celebrities, from Sofia Vergara to Brooke Shields to New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony.

Thiago also represents the bridge between cultures, of living between Brazil and the United States, an American football fan who loves churrasco. Growing up, he found people had a hard time pronouncing his name, calling him things like Thee-ah-go and Chicago. So he began writing his name T-ago, which he now uses for his website. He confessed he hasn't been back to Brazil since he left as a kid, since much of his family now lives stateside. But it's his dream to go back for the World Cup.

He's also fiercely proud of being Brazilian. I noticed that in many of his interviews with the press, Thiago made a point to identify himself as such. "You always take with you where you came from," he said. He also attributes his work ethic to his Brazilian background. "I grew up with very hard-working parents, who are both Brazilian," he says. "That's what I always got from them." He also attributes the extravagance in his work to being Brazilian. Clients are suprised by the huge size of the cakes he makes. Thiago also tries to incorporate Brazilian elements into his desserts, sometimes using sweetened condensed milk. Of all Brazilian dishes, he especially enjoys churrasco and sorvete de milho verde.

While he loves Brazil, Thiago notes that coming to the U.S. put him on the path to becoming a chef. In Brazil, his mom was a single mother and decided to move to the States in search of a better life. In Goiânia, she worked at a supermarket, doing a little bit of everything, from unloading trucks to stocking shelves to dressing up as Wonder Woman to promote the store. She left Thiago and his sister with their grandparents for two years before bringing them to New York. Once in the U.S., she worked at restaurants and then started her own cleaning business, which she has to this day. She also remarried a Brazilian chef. Thiago's mom is incredibly proud of his accomplishments, and called crying the first time he appeared in the media.

Thiago credits part of his success to his mother. She didn't know how to cook and it was her dream to learn. At one point, she ordered a cake for his younger sister's birthday, but was disappointed with how it came out. She thought she could do better, and signed up for a cake-decorating course. Thiago, then age 13, tagged along to help translate for his mom. He soon discovered that he was a natural, and his mom signed him up for the class. Ever since then, he's been making cakes.

 

Becoming a chef was his destiny, Thiago believes. "I think it's kind of how God planned it," he said. Along with making cakes at home, he studied culinary arts in high school. He also got into the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), which teaches culinary arts to underserved high school students. This year, Thiago returned to serve as a judge at C-CAP's annual competition, which he himself participated in as a student, and to attend the annual scholarship ceremony.

In high school, Thiago's grades weren't the greatest, so he had some difficulty getting a full scholarship to college. But C-CAP helped him get his first job at Olives at age 19, as well as an apprenticeship with a cake decorator. Opting to work in the field instead of going back to school, Thiago spent three years at Olives and then got a job at EMM Group's Abe & Arthur. Less than ten years after starting his first professional chef job, he's now an executive pastry chef at Catch, which opened a year ago. He created all of the desserts on Catch's menu and works at two of EMM Group's restaurants. Thiago has 8 employees working for him but with more restaurants opening this year, he'll be working at 4 restaurants with around 20 employees. Thiago attributes his success to hard work, good timing, and taking risks. He explains to do his job, passion is a requirement, especially given some of the rough hours--sometimes up to 20 hours a day.

Thiago's cakes for the stars began at Abe & Arthur's. There, he offered to make a cake for the owner's father's birthday, creating a gift box cake. The owners then asked if they could start selling his cakes, deciding to invest in his talent. "Next thing I know they're asking me if I want to make Sofia Vergara cake. I said, 'Ok, sure.'" He's made cakes for rappers and rock stars, and NFL and NBA players. He admits he was a bit starstruck when he made a cake for the New York Giants after they won the Superbowl and got to meet some of the players. He told me he also made a cake for Scott Machado, a 22 year-old Brazilian-American who plays for the Houston Rockets. "He's my cousin!" he proudly explained. But regardless of the client, he puts hours and hours into each cake to "try to make the person's day."

Given the intricacy of the cakes he creates, Thiago's not afraid of a challenge. One of his hardest projects was a sweet 16 cake that had two spinning elements that were four feet tall, a fog machine and a confetti cannon inside the cake, and spotlights around the base. He did everything on his own, from baking to electrical work to woodwork, and then had to transport the cake to Long Island and finish putting it together. (You can see the final outcome here.)

While he's gone far in his career, he hasn't gone far from his roots. Thiago still lives in Queens, now in Jackson Heights, with his wife, who's a gaúcha who came to the States as an infant. They met at a Brazilian church and were high school sweethearts. They have a baby on the way, and Thiago hopes his first child will inspire him even more. In the future, Thiago imagines opening his own cake shop or bakery, having his own business to support his family. He also wants to make sure that his child will feel Brazilian, and plans to teach him or her Portuguese. "I'm Brazilian first, and I want my kid and his kid to be the same way," he told me.

Toward the end of our conversation, Thiago let me sample some his spectacular desserts, including a spin on the all-American apple pie with bourbon merengue and strawberry shortcake. This dessert, he explained, was inspired by his mother's três leites recipe and is one of his most Brazilian dishes. At the bottom of the delicious pastry is the três leites part, followed by a layer of strawberries and cream and crowned with an American shortbread biscuit. "So it's literally a Brazilian and American sandwich?" I asked. "Exactly," he said.

You can find Thiago on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, as well as his website. You can also taste his amazing creations at Catch in New York.

Favela Surveillance in Rio

In a bit of news that made only a small blip in the Brazilian media and virtually no impact in the international media, the special forces in Rio, known as BOPE, began testing drones over favelas citywide. Called UAVs in English and VANTS in Portuguese, the vehicles are being used to monitor drug trafficking groups and are also to experiment with a new security technique ahead of the upcoming mega-events. The military says this type of surveillance could save lives by avoiding fire from traffickers.

Mercopress reports:

So far three VANTS are on test surveillance and in the near future could be used for several tasks including monitoring and support operations in many of the favelas which remain under control or threat from the drug-related gangs that hide among the impoverished residents.

Folha spoke to the head of the project, Major Jacy Montenegro Magalhães Neto:

"You send soldiers into a favela, in alleys and back streets, and they can suffer an ambush...when you send the VANT ahead, it sees things the soldiers don't see. We think of the VANT as a way to save lives [of the soldiers]."

Earlier this year, the army began using high-definition cameras in a number of pacified favelas, both on the ground and from the air. An important advantage to using them on the ground was to provide more transparency following complaints from community members of abuses by the armed forces.

Rio Grande do Sul will also see the use of drones for public security, Folha reported. The state previosuly tested VANTS during large soccer games in 2010. There will also be drones on parts of Brazil's borders. Last week, Embraer announced a $1 billion project using VANTS on the border with Bolivia and Paraguay.

Photo: QinetiQ Group

Neighboring Sounds

Last month, the Brazilian movie O Som ao Redor, or Neighboring Sounds in English, premiered in the U.S. to rave reviews. Due for release in Brazil in November, the movie is being pegged as a turning point in Brazilian cinema.

 

The New York Times reviewed the movie, making it a critics' pick, and wrote: "The scope of his movie is narrow, but its ambitions are enormous, and it accomplishes nothing less than the illumination of the peculiar state of Brazilian (and not only Brazilian) society."

The Times separately profiled the film's director, Kleber Mendonça FIlho, who said:

“Brazilian film has to break the mold...99 percent of Brazilian filmmakers are middle class or upper middle class or bourgeois, as I am, yet most of the time they’re making films about people they don’t know that much about and subjects they haven’t mastered. We need more films that don’t take place in a favela or the backlands and aren’t about some guy who is really poor and living beneath a bridge. Maybe then we can talk about a new Brazilian aesthetic.”

First, let me say that while I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, it's not perfect. It's slow, and there are occasionally strange moments that defy explanation. That said, it really is a fantastic cross-section of modern Brazilian culture, and a fascinating reflection on how despite being a modern country, in some respects, some things haven't changed at all.

Right off the bat, this movie breaks the mold by taking place outside of the usual suspects for successful Brazilian movies: Rio, São Paulo, and the sertão. It takes place in one of Recife's wealthiest neighborhoods, with the large majority of the movie focusing on scenes on a single street. It's not about gangs, or drug trafficking (aside from two brief scenes involving a resourceful weed dealer), nor a quixotic adventure in the dry backlands. It really focuses on the lives of a number of families living on a block in Recife. As much as I love Rio, it's really refreshing to see a well-done Brazilian movie go somewhere else, especially a city as interesting as Recife.

One of the best things about the movie is the attention to detail and nuances of every day Brazilian life, from the row of shampoo and soap bottles on the window shelf in the shower to the old-fashioned cafeteira for an afternoon coffee to the unsweetened fresh fruit juice at a family meal. This is not Hollywood-ized; what you see in the movie is really a view of how things look. There's also a strange little detail I noticed in which one of the maids is wearing a donated American skiing tee-shirt, which reads "America Downhill" on the back. Subliminal message, perhaps?

The film has a number of really interesting themes. The overarching theme is a deep-seated anxiety about security that pervades the whole movie. Recife is one of the most violent cities in Brazil with high crime rates, and the residents of the block are all, in different ways, terrified by violence. But in the movie, it's the threat of violence that you see, rather than violence itself. It's important because this obsession with security is pervasive in many big cities in Brazil, where armored cars, armed guards, and paranoia are a way of life for some.

The next theme to note is the universal use of technology and consumer culture. Flat screen TVs adorn the characters' apartments while the guards watch videos on their phones; in one scene, a kid uses a laptop to show a video compilation he made of the doorman falling asleep. Characters reveal the need to consume; there's even an odd fight about who bought a bigger new TV. One character blows up when an imported electronic product is ruined.

There's also an interesting dynamic between a rua e a casa (the street and the home), something Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta has written about. So much of the movie takes place in people's homes or in their yards, so you really get a snapshot of what home life means. Plus, some of the characters you see in their homes are often quite different in the scenes in the street.

Finally, one of the most interesting concepts in the movie is that of class relations and their evolution (or lack thereof) since slavery ended. The relationship the characters have with servants and service workers seem to echo the relationship between slaves and masters, albeit in a modern world. Construction is ubiquitous and massive apartment complexes are taking over the quiet block in the city. Meanwhile, the plantation house in the nearby countyside that belongs to the local coronel is crumbling, and the small country town the house is in appears to be a relic of another century. But even though the forces of modernity are blazing ahead, can the characters--or Recife, or Brazil, for that matter--escape the past?

Seats for the Obese in Brazil

Obesity is on the rise in Brazil, with over half of the population now overweight and around 15 percent considered obese. With a growing public health crisis, what was the legislative response? Well, for one, to make bigger seats.

One of the places this trend began was in Rio Grande do Sul in 2005, when the state passed a law requiring adequate space on public transportation for the obese. São Paulo state followed suit with Law 12.225/06, passed back in 2006. The law reserves plus-sized seats for the obese on public transportation, as well as cinemas, movie theaters, and concert venues. The São Paulo city metro started installing these seats in 2009, with twice the length of regular seats.

Now, you can spot these types of seats in public transportation in São Paulo, as a friend of a friend found:

Similar laws were passed in the state of Rio de Janeiro. State law 5038 passed in 2007 requires hospitals, clinics, and medical labs to have adequate equipment for the obese. Passed in 2010, state law 5829 requires schools and classrooms for any type of course to have adequate seating for the obese.

Other states and cities also followed suit. A bill introduced in Cuiabá in 2009 called for a preferential line for the obese at banks, and a state law passed in 2011 in Mato Grosso do Sul set aside space for the obese on intercity buses (though the law also allows bus companies to charge more for those who take up two seats). State law 14.720 passed in Pernambuco last month allows the obese to enter public buses without going through the turnstyle, which can be a tight squeeze. Bus companies that refuse to comply face fines of up to R$100,000.

Federal law has similar protections. Decree 5296 requires theaters, stadiums, concert venues, and conference halls to have special seats for the obese. Now, a bill already approved by the Senate is under consideration in the House of Representatives, which would reserve seats for the obese on public transportation nationwide. Another bill under consideration in the Senate would combine all locations by setting aside special seating for the obese in centers of entertainment, sports, conferences, classrooms, and public transportation throughout Brazil.

Q&A With Christopher Gaffney

Will Rio be ready for the World Cup and the Olympics? It's a favorite question of many international media outlets, and a hot topic among Cariocas. But the more important questions include what will happen to Rio after the mega-events, and what the development for these events will mean for the city. Christopher Gaffney, an American geographer, writer, and professor living in Brazil, is perhaps among the most outspoken voices on these matters. A journalist and author, he writes a blog called Hunting White Elephants with analysis and observations on mega-events, as well as insight on what's happening with all of the changes taking place in Rio. Christopher is also a visiting professor at the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niterói, and he's researching the social and urban changes--as well as a variety of impacts--associated with the World Cup and Olympics in Rio and in other host cities in Brazil.

"These events need a massive restructuring, a dose of humility, and should attend to the demands of the places in which they are held. As it is, they are ever-larger, require ever-more public funds, and re-shape spaces and places to meet the exigencies of international sport federations and their corporate partners while stimulating real-estate speculation and re-enforcing false notions of 'progress' and 'social development'...But shouldn’t these projects have long-term urban and social planning as their foundation?" writes Christopher on his blog.

I spoke to Christopher about his work and his outlook for the mega-events in Rio. Have a read below.

What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?

It’s as much as a pressure release valve for me as it is a way to communicate the complexities of Rio de Janeiro to a wider audience. Some of the things happening in Rio are so frustrating and the actions of the “mega-event industrial complex” so maddening and nasty, that I need to write them down in order to process them. Fortunately, it also serves as a way for me to write about what is happening in Rio in a more accessible format than I do with academic writing. I’m also hoping that my blog will generate attention and educate people. It’s also a bit of fun to watch the dots light up on the globe when someone accesses the site. I’m getting around 2,900 hits a month and Hunting White Elephants has been accessed from 142 countries.

What are some of the possible "white elephant" projects that will result from Rio's mega-events?

It is easier to talk about the “non-white” elephants, and that’s a short conversation. Nearly everything under construction for the mega-events is being done with an urban plan that was created behind closed doors, and with little thought for the usefulness of the projects post-2016. I think they should actually paint everything white and put big ears on just to remind us. In the case of some stadiums like Maria Lenk, the taxpayers paid to build it in 2007, paid to maintain it and are now going to pay to reform it for tens of millions just five years later. Ditto Engenhão. Maracanã, pô. Ironically, the only way to make some of these things economically viable, and this is no accident, is to privatize them so that at the very least our taxes won’t go to maintenance. This was the case of the HSBC Arena but it too will need a nip and tuck before the Olympics.  If we look at the recent history of Rio’s mega-events and urban planning and then look at who is involved in the current administration of the World Cup and Olympics, we see a disturbingly familiar set of faces. The PAN 2007 left some small elephants for the city. They’ve grown up and are reproducing at an alarming rate.  With the same people, more money and more pressure to build grandiose projects, there is little hope for lasting benefit from the megas. So, let’s see, non-white elephant…BRT Transoeste? Unfortunately, people keep getting killed by the new buses as they use the bus lane for cycling and walking with children in strollers. It’s impossible to make things like this up.

What are your main concerns about Rio's preparations for the mega-events that could negatively impact the city?

I’m concerned about everything! Public transportation, militarization, privatization, cost of living, criminalization of basic civic acts, elimination of democratic institutions, the control of the public purse by parallel governments, the branding and marketing of everything in the city, the environmental degradation, traffic, access to sport and leisure, lack of transparency, short-term planning for long-term profit, exposure to unnecessary and avoidable risk, landslides, housing, education, health care, air quality, access to water, long term urban planning, etc.. All of these will be negatively impacted by the mega-events.

What's your take on the city's pacification strategy in the lead-up to the mega-events?

I recently published an article in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs about this and will have another article on security coming out in 2013. It’s insanely complicated and contradictory. What we can assert, without question, is that the pacification is explicitly and exclusively related to “securing the Olympic city”, that is, the Zona Sul, Barra, and the transportation lines for the Olympics. It’s about real-estate opportunities, making places and people transparent from the perspective of capital and control, re-asserting authority over territory, managing local populations to free urban space for the International Overlords of FIFA and the Olympic Family [sic]. While the UPPs have brought some very real improvements, they are not complete solutions. Rio’s very real problems of violence and oppression continue, but out of sight out of mind. People are very willing to be fooled by appearances when we know that the deep structural cleavages in Brazilian society will take generations to close. How could they not? My concern is that we aren’t changing the definition of security. To me, guns and boots and tanks are evidence of less-secure places. A Texan once told me, “Guns don’t kill people, they kill everything.”

What needs to be done to ensure Rio's mega-events have a constructive legacy for the city?

The word legacy needs to be erased from our vocabularies as quickly as it was introduced. Slavery is a legacy, is it not? These are impacts of varying intensity and duration. Taking the question literally a “constructive legacy” could be considered all of the concrete being poured on public projects right now. The Transcarioca project needs to be stopped as does the Transolimpica. The Metro project also needs to be stopped and the transportation plan for Rio 2016 completely and immediately re-evaluated by independent professionals.  This can only happen with a change of government. Then we can start to change the very idea of who these projects are meant to benefit. Without immediate, massive social action at the voting booth and on the streets, there is almost no way to ensure that the tens of billions spent on these investments will have social, economic, environmental, urban or cultural returns.


Based on your research, how do many cities ultimately fare after hosting large-scale sporting events?

Poorly. Beijing might be the best case example as they put through massive public transportation systems. They also forcibly displaced 2,000,000.  London 2012 seems to have accomplished some interesting objectives. Barcelona fine, whatever, good luck to the working class and nice going on a sterilized waterfront and Olympic Stadium Elephant.  Hosting mega-events is about selling what the local to an international audience while finding ways to keep the people who actually live there docile and off the streets during the event. The analysis of these events can get pretty dogmatic, academics talking past each other and a world of media-government-business-international sport federations. The cheerleaders are so cheerfully harmonious that a modicum of critical thinking reveals deep fractures in the joyous hullabaloo. Pointing out the obvious should happen before these projects get approved, not after they are revealed as public planning documents. It’s an easy solution but not as profitable in the short term. “Stronger, Higher, Faster” should not be the mantra of urban planners.

Read more from Christopher at Hunting White Elephants.