"Manda Bala" makes a very interesting comparison between the corruption in Brazil and the corruption in the United States. It is very easy to just say, "Oh, Brazil is infinitely more corrupt than here," because we are accustomed to our enviornment. When you're inundated with the idea of American crime and corruption from Fox News and CNN, you become a little numb to it. It takes an unconventional film looking at a foreign country's problems with violence to even begin to self examine America with honesty.
However there are certain key differences that also become apparent through the documentary. For instance, the population density for Brazilian cities (or mega cities such as Sao Paulo) tends to be higher. Sao Paulo itself hosts 10,886,518. Favelas in Rio have an unrecorded but immense population as well. I analyze these because they are the strongest examples of what we have been studying- there are other sections of Brazil that have these problems, but they are not the archetypes that Sao Paulo and Rio are. This increased population density is something that even New York (8,143,197) can't rival. Also, Sao Paulo has it's population for a reason: the profits of the city make up 12.26% of the Brazilian GDP. It is considered the 19th richest city in the world. Well, of course there are going to be a high separation between the rich and the oportunity seeking poor. Wherever this gap exists, there is going to be violence on a massive scale. Those on the poverty level naturally want to catch some of the economic crumbs and in the process become hungrier. The crumbs then escalate to kidnapping, randsom, and murder. No one is outside of the powers of envy. Because of this discrepancy in population density and class struggle, it is very understandable that some of the violence is higher in Brazil than the US.
Still, America is no shining example of moral prosperity either. "Manda Bala" reminds us of the government corruption {Enron, The Iran-Contra Affair, Watergate}, and social violence {Crips and Bloods, Organized Crime in NYC, L.A. Riots of the early 90's} that exists as a widespread obstacle in the US. Furthermore, it illustrates the fact that all worldwide governments have certain trends of violence. That just happens in any society. The scale of violence is what changes- and that is all dictated on population size and density. "Manda Bala" creates a intrigueing model of society and more importaintly, places a mirror up to the United States.
I don't know about my other classmate(s), but I sympathized pretty well with the Frog Farmer. Here's a guy with an impressively weird business that seems to be doing very well for himself, just caught up in the midst of some silly little 2 billion dollar laundering scam.
Hows does corruption in Brazil and the United States differ? It doesn't. Corruption is corruption.
Juxtaposing the kidnapper against the city's own kidnapper was downright clever.
The most powerful editorial juxtaposition in "Manda Bala" and, in a way, manifested the theme the filmmakers were shooting for was the last shot of the countless tadpoles being sucked into a drain. Cinema is a visual medium and despite the compelling 80 plus minutes prior, that shot adds an unnameable strength to the them of human condition against existence that the Brazilian people face.
Manda Bala
3 comments:
"Manda Bala" makes a very interesting comparison between the corruption in Brazil and the corruption in the United States. It is very easy to just say, "Oh, Brazil is infinitely more corrupt than here," because we are accustomed to our enviornment. When you're inundated with the idea of American crime and corruption from Fox News and CNN, you become a little numb to it. It takes an unconventional film looking at a foreign country's problems with violence to even begin to self examine America with honesty.
However there are certain key differences that also become apparent through the documentary. For instance, the population density for Brazilian cities (or mega cities such as Sao Paulo) tends to be higher. Sao Paulo itself hosts 10,886,518. Favelas in Rio have an unrecorded but immense population as well. I analyze these because they are the strongest examples of what we have been studying- there are other sections of Brazil that have these problems, but they are not the archetypes that Sao Paulo and Rio are. This increased population density is something that even New York (8,143,197) can't rival. Also, Sao Paulo has it's population for a reason: the profits of the city make up 12.26% of the Brazilian GDP. It is considered the 19th richest city in the world. Well, of course there are going to be a high separation between the rich and the oportunity seeking poor. Wherever this gap exists, there is going to be violence on a massive scale. Those on the poverty level naturally want to catch some of the economic crumbs and in the process become hungrier. The crumbs then escalate to kidnapping, randsom, and murder. No one is outside of the powers of envy. Because of this discrepancy in population density and class struggle, it is very understandable that some of the violence is higher in Brazil than the US.
Still, America is no shining example of moral prosperity either. "Manda Bala" reminds us of the government corruption {Enron, The Iran-Contra Affair, Watergate}, and social violence {Crips and Bloods, Organized Crime in NYC, L.A. Riots of the early 90's} that exists as a widespread obstacle in the US. Furthermore, it illustrates the fact that all worldwide governments have certain trends of violence. That just happens in any society. The scale of violence is what changes- and that is all dictated on population size and density. "Manda Bala" creates a intrigueing model of society and more importaintly, places a mirror up to the United States.
-Morgan
I don't know about my other classmate(s), but I sympathized pretty well with the Frog Farmer. Here's a guy with an impressively weird business that seems to be doing very well for himself, just caught up in the midst of some silly little 2 billion dollar laundering scam.
Hows does corruption in Brazil and the United States differ? It doesn't. Corruption is corruption.
Juxtaposing the kidnapper against the city's own kidnapper was downright clever.
-strittmatter
The most powerful editorial juxtaposition in "Manda Bala" and, in a way, manifested the theme the filmmakers were shooting for was the last shot of the countless tadpoles being sucked into a drain. Cinema is a visual medium and despite the compelling 80 plus minutes prior, that shot adds an unnameable strength to the them of human condition against existence that the Brazilian people face.
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