Mis-Leading Meritocracies: Segregation and Biopolitics in Brazilian Ustopias
摘要
Brazilian film and television have presented recent critiques of modern society by portraying oppression and inequity in futuristic narratives that depict control of the human body as explored by Discipline and Punish (1977, Michel Foucault). Both the Netflix series 3% (2016–2020), and feature film Medida provisória (2020, “Executive Order,” adapted from 2011 play Namíbia, não!) illustrate segregation of disempowered populations as fugitives, prisoners, or outcasts. A study of the two works in tandem offers a broader perspective on how Brazilian screen productions extrapolate social and political issues of equity and justice. Both productions studied in this chapter explore the problematic dimensions of equal opportunity, racial democracy, and media, as well as limits on freedom in the twenty-first century. 3% depicts a utopian paradise that thrives by exploiting the impoverished masses, while Medida provisória depicts a dystopic re-adoption of racist ideologies that historically sustained slavery and segregation in Brazil. These ustopic interpretations of the Brazilian near future will be explored in the context of panoptic surveillance, sexual politics, and cultural erasure.