BRAZIL-CULTURE: Michael Jackson’s Favela Boogie Upsets Rio

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 8 1996 (IPS) - US entertainer Michael Jackson has caused a split among civic authorities in Rio de Janeiro with his plans to shoot a musical video in one of Rio de Janeiro’s notorious ‘favelas’ – slum neighbourhoods.

Jackson and director Spike Lee have split public opinion in Brazil, similar to the uproar in Argentina over the the filming of the movie “Evita” starring Madonna.

Jackson’s song “They don’t care about us” became a legal and political cause when Brazilian judge Luis Felipe Haddad banned filming for five days. He claimed the coverage would damage tourism and the local economy, and Governor of Rio de Janeiro State, Marcello Alencar, took the same line.

Lawayers, however, said an appeal by the producers could easily overturn the decision.

The Minister of Works, meanwhile, has made things difficult for the production team by demanding work visas and other beaurocratic transactions for all the members. This will delay the filming planned for Sunday and Monday in the Cerro Dona neighbourhood, one of the most notorious favelas, home to 12,000 people on a hillside behind the middle-class Botafago area.

Lee fueled the debate over the planned video by declaring Brazil had shown itself to be “ridiculous…a banana republic.”

“We are not trying to oust the government,” and the favelas are no secret, he said.

The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Cesar Maia agreed and has given permission for filming stating that it was equally “ridiculous” to try and stop the images being used in order to hide the poverty.

Even Pope John Paul II has toured the favelas on his visits to Rio, and no one considered themselves offended or degraded by the images of poverty broadcast to the world then, said Deputy Marcio Fortes.

Meanwhile, publicist Jerry Della Femina, contracted to promote the city of Rio de Janeiro in the United States, said Jackson and Lee were committing an “abuse.”

“Why doesn’t he go back to Brooklyn and show the poverty in his own neighbourhood there?” He asked.

This video will be seen by around 200 million people worldwide, and Femina claimed it would cancel-out all the promotional goodwill he has spread in the tourist industry.

President of the Dona Marta residents association, Jose Luis de Oliveira, said the whole argument was “pure stupidness…If the governor is concerned about the poverty, he should come and wipe it out.”

Oliveira is hoping the area would recveive payment from the video’s producers.

The area, which is not the poorest neighbourhood in Rio, hpowever does suffer from overcrowding, lack of sanitation, sporadic gun fights between drug dealers and other criminals and police.

Most of the local people hope Jackson’s presence will show up the poverty and attract government attention, claiming it is the officials who should be shamed by the dreadful state of affairs there and not the residents.

The lyrics of the song are also accepted as true by the people, and Oliveira said its statement that favela-dwellers are the victims of police brutality reflects real life just as much as the title does.

Jackson has also provoked strong reactions in the artistic media, with some critics calling the filming a demagogic act by someone who tries to denies his race, while most defend the right to freedom of expression.