Natalia Pinazza's Blog

���It���s better late than never��� they say. This post will focus on a debate that was long, long long overdue and which has ��� fortunately ��� taken the Brazilian media by storm in the past couple of weeks. It all kicked off with the shocking results of a survey by IPEA that indicated that 66%…

Ola Ola We Are One���that was the song performed at the appalling World Cup opening ceremony in S��o Paulo. Although it had nothing to do with our colourful Carnival or the grandiose Parintins Folklore Festival, we lived that one down quickly cause we thought that our football would compensate for it. Right? It is still…

Ola Ola We Are One…that was the song performed at the appalling World Cup opening ceremony in São Paulo. Although it had nothing to do with our colourful Carnival or the grandiose Parintins Folklore Festival, we lived that one down quickly cause we thought that our football would compensate for it. Right? It is still hard to believe that the most shameful thing about the World Cup was not Pitbull nor Jennifer Lopez nor the people dressed as trees, which left Brazilian and internationa�l audiences puzzled. But in a country with a short memory, where people started blaming all our history’s problems on the World Cup, it was easy to undertake national amnesia. This approach was also adopted when Brazilians citizens booed the president in the stadium, when a bridge fell down and killed people and when we pretended that social movements against the event were all in the past. Let’s use our skills to neglect what is important for the sake of fun…we do that constantly with the Carnival. If you look at Chico Buarque’s song A Banda or Vinicius de Moraes’ A Felicidade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCPjp4qTmsM in which they sing about the illusion of happiness created by the Carnival, you will see that leaving things aside to celebrate is embedded in Brazilian culture. Oh and I cannot be hypocritical here, just like the Carnival, the World Cup has been a lot of fun! Going to pubs with friends of different nationalities and enjoying the vibrant celebrations have been priceless. Even yesterday when Brazilians were trying to get to grips with the debacle, there were so many funny memes and posts that I did not know if I wanted to laugh, cry or hide with shame. It was collective national catharsis on social media and that helped me to feel the emotions of other Brazilians even if I was away. I was in a pub in London surrounded by people from other nationalities, including Germans who looked as surprised as I did at the television. In fact, it was precisely this shared sense of shock between Brazilians and Germans yesterday that made me think that the line between tragedy and comedy is indeed a thin one. Now let’s wait for the Olympics. Have a look at Brazil’s performance at the medals table and you will see a reflection of the poor infrastructure for sports in schools and communities across the country. But we are good at forgetting, and it will be in Rio, and there is the beach, and we are great at partying and yes Brazil despite all of its problems has a unique vibe…Bring on another shameful (but nonetheless fun!) event in 2016! Parties are guaranteed regardless of the corruption or national performance…ole ole we are one hell of a mixture of comedy and tragedy.

 

http://www.the-platform.org.uk/2014/06/12/celebrations-and-denunciations-will-there-be-a-world-cup/

Whenever I go back to Brazil or think of the months I lived in Canada and my visits to places like Australia and the US, I have a feeling about these countries that I never have in European countries. It is a sort of empowering naivet�� that makes you think that you can build things…