Wonderful to see a Brazilian actor getting the Be Kind Rewind treatment. Despite her impact as a pop culture icon, I've always felt that Carmen is still sadly underappreciated as an artist, even though the extent of her success was largely influenced by the racism and anti-black policies of both Brazilian and American societies.
@@deathdoor Cara, eu lembro de você da seção de comentários do Elfen Lied Brasil hahaha. Até o período que a Roberta parou de escrever lá, eu lia as postagens do blog regularmente. Estranho pensar que já faz tanto tempo. E é verdade, *uma raridade inclusive entre brasileiros, infelizmente. Entre nós, isso também se deve muito a não termos construído uma memória cultural da história do nosso cinema - e aí entram uma multitude de tragédias, desde a desvalorização da arte nacional à perda de importantes obras e registros históricos. *Editei porque apaguei uma parte da frase por acidente
Interestingly, in the 1930s the very idea of an ultimate Brazilian culture was artificially crafted as well. The modernist movement here sought to find the true Brazilian everything, but instead of recognizing the many different aspects of our culture, they jumbled everything up and came up with an answer that pleased them, much like these movies did in regards to the whole of Latin America. That's when our institutes for architectural preservation were created, and they decided on colonial architecture being the style worthy of it, and eclectic buildings in colonial towns were torn down in order to create a "cohesive look". They chose to elevate music with African/Afro-brazilian roots, while African religions suffered persecution. The way Carmen's image was crafted and used was entirely in line with what was happening in Brazil when it comes to many different branches of art.
You're right. Same thing with regards to Meso/Central America becoming the conflation referred to as Mexican in parts north of the border. The wonderful thing is that there are people now doing independent scholarly research that is replacing these stale stereotypes and helping to restore the rich and unique spendor of these nations who have been virtually unknown nations unknown outside their regions. The whitewashed histories that stood as truth for so long are receiving a long over due bath.
I think that's an unfair assessment of the role of brazilian modernism and also of how brazilian culture in general operates. The idea of an ultimate anything is artificial, but while the modernist movement was trying to steer away from Europe and towards Brazil's native culture, it doesn't mean that what they did was artificial, much on the contrary. They were trying to reporduce here the natural local culture-high culture relationship that existed in Europe, instead of only importing european standards.
@@FOLIPE still, they elected what was "ultimately Brazilian" and that's what I mean by artificial. You see the perfect example of this in architecture: the historic and artistic heritage institute was created in the 1930s, and they worked hard to preserve what they saw as the true expression of Brazilian architecture. They elected the colonialist style, and so in historical cities, lots of buildings received protected status, while eclectic buildings (recently built at the time) remained neglected and were even torn down. A lot of historical towns had guidelines on how things could be built, to preserve the historical, colonial style, so you have buildings that do not date from the 18th century but mimic that style. All the while, the real, 19th and early 29th century buildings were lost, thus creating a false narrative of cities "stuck in time". *That's* what I mean by artificial. At the same time, in music and in art, the version of brasilidade that's promoted is heavily sanitized, and overwhelmingly white. I would never dare say it's an overall bad thing, because moving away from imported European culture and developing national culture, art, and music is wonderful and very necessary, but it's naive to think that it wasn't crafted.
@liv97497 I'm no fan of modernism (and even less so of post-modernity), but I do believe the "Brazilian identity" is one that at least strived towards a "good" identity, in contrast to the identity that had been crafted outside their borders. Today, the Brazilian identity is relegated, ironically, to aesthetics. Yes, in Brazil, this is not solely the case, as it has political implications (Southerners are whiter, wealthier, and more conservative, Nordestinos are poor, leftist, and darker, and all othe other generalisations that come with that), but, externally, Brazilians are not identified by their internal identity, but by Brazilian Butt Lifts, Brazilian tan, Brazilian bikini wax, Brazilian etc..... The men are relegated to soccer/football lovers and Latino sleazy lovers. If you're lucky, Brazilians may get identified with Churrasco, IF you're lucky. I'm personally married to a Brasileira, and she has some stereotypical Brasileira qualities (the fogo, tan, and very beautiful), but she has a lot of contradictions to the "Brazilian identity" as well. Post-modernism has relegated many identites to the least important qualities, and the Brazilian identity is a prime example. The Brazilian is sexualised in the worst fashion, the Brazilian Butt Lift is a term many Brasileiros detest, and something many expect to see when you say Brazilian woman. Then on the opposite side, the man is seen as a "good lover", but a terrible man (sleazy, cheater, etc.). The architects of Brazilian culture are, unfortunately, the Brazilian media and celebrities. Anitta comes to mind, along with her song Vai Malandra, and all the funk songs that come out to the West. And, as long as there is money to be made out of the sexualisation of Brazilians, that's all the media and celebrities will relegate their identity to.
That's quite the simplification, the creation of a Brazilian identity and cultural history didn't start in the 1930s but in the 1830s with the Indianista movement and the creation of the IHGB, the 1930s was a culmination of 100 years of the creation of this identity, it was the consolidation actually, also it was a reaction of to the Europhilic cultural aspect of the Old Republic, as it was only in the 1930s that the black contribution to the Brazilian mixture was recognized after half a century of persecution, as of the likes of Casa Grande e Senzala de Gilberto Freyre. The mordernits just cemented many ideas that were already spread, and with the nationalist government of Vargas it was very important to foster the pride in the unique Brazilian aspects.
During 1930s 40s Franklin Roosevelt had Good Neighbor Policy, stopped attacks on C + S America, Mexico, Caribbean, but this the ONLY exception,,from the gov..that produced the Monroe Doctrine and worse.
I'm so happy you did a video about Carmem Miranda. In Brazil she is still very famous and I hear her name since I was born even though I'm 16!! Thank you very much love your channel♥️🥰
Só que não, né. Comparado com contemporâneos como Dorival Caymi, Cartola e Adoniran Barbosa, Tom Jobim, Vinicius(músicos que, sabendo o nome ou não, tenho absolute certeza que já ouviste a música)... O legado dela e mínimo, e sempe manchado pelo desmercido escárnio de "ela nem é brasileira" e "produto de propaganda gringa". Isso não tira o mérito dela como artista, é claro. É como Roberto Carlos, duvido muito que a música dele vai ser ouvida daqui a 50 anos, mas o impacto dele na geração do yeyeye é inegável. Not, she isn't. Compared to contemporaries of her, as Dorival Caymi, Cartola e Adoniran Barbosa, Tom Jobim, Vinicius(musicians who, you know the name or note, I'm 100% sure you know ther music).... Her legacy is minimal, and always, stained by the undeserved scoff of "she isn't even brazilian" and "product from US propaganda". This doesn't take away from her artistic merit, of course. It's like Roberto Carlos, I doubt people will be listening to his stuff in 50 years, but his impact to the yeyeye generation is undeniable.
Hello, great comment. Good to know. I grew up in the USA. As a kid in the 1970s she was still very well known. I teach dance and as and adult I sought out some of her music to use in my classes with my elementary school students. This is a link to the song "Mama Yo Quiero" which the students are very responsive to: ruclips.net/video/Zt0ZhPaveRw/видео.html
@Luiz Valério How about your "I'm better than everyone else even tho I have nothing to show for it" bubble? Wanna prove me wrong prove me wrong, don't just disparage me
As a Brazilian, thank you for making a video about Carmen, I think she's still our greatest international movie star. Your portuguese pronunciation is very good. You even worn a brazilian shirt, so, iyou're already invited to come to Brasil and have some fun around here.
Like everyone else in the comments, I clicked so fast when I saw the title of the video haha. I really like Carmen, I think she didn't take a totally passive role in the making of her persona, but movie studios were not keen to the idea of her branching out. The racial dimension of this era is so important to acknowledge, not only the baiana represents black women but also nurtures a deep connection with afro-brazilian religions like Camdomblé/Umbanda. I don't know how Carmen personally viewed this dimension, but sadly it took a lot of time for a big black star to rise in Brazil, specially among women. I can think of a few earlier examples of male black singers famous here, but the first two black women I recall are Dolores Duran (who was white-passing for a lot of the audience) and Elizeth Cardoso (who faced backlash for singing more classical/elite songs, instead of only samba), and both of them only really got famous in the late 50s.
Carmem lived in the working class areas of Rio at the time living among poor immigrants and poor blacks , she always tried to support her black colleagues in the ways she could.
I'm so happy to see you talking about brazillian history and culture but what made me jump with joy was the use of the word latine by you instead of the horrible american term latinx. Muito Obrigado!
No se quien te dijo que latinx es yanqui pero te cuento que no es, aca en argentina lo usamos mucho. De hecho es mejor que "e" para usar en escritos. saludos
@@LynnHermione I don't speak spanish and I don't know if you understand portuguese so I'm gonna answer in english. Here in Brazil is widely hated as an anglicization of a latin word.
As a brazilian this makes me very happy! When it comes to Carmen I think it truly was a combination of her looks and her persona that cut her career short, she couldn't just go through a makeover like Rita Haywoth and stop looking latina (and yes I know Carmen was white but her features were ethnically ambiguous by hollywood standards) and the over the top persona she had truly did have a short shelf life. Although we all still love her over here, and still sing her songs to this day, I feel that the lack of distinguishment between the nationalities of her characters is still one of the main reasons americans have misconceptions about our country. The propaganda truly had impact, I cannot tell you the amount of americans I've spoken to that think we speak spanish and walk around in ethnic clothing (lol). But Carmen's movies were a true vehicle to get our culture in people's lips and prompt them to visit our country, though most foreigners still seem to think Brazil consists only of Rio, the colorful joy of her movies is still one of the reasons americans come here every year. Carmen truly laid the foundation for all future latin superstars who seeked international success, she was the first one to make latin culture palatable to foreigners and we need to give her credit for that. She faced many limitations and many obstacles, as do all pioneers, but she made a legacy for herself and her name will still be remembered for many decades to come :)
Portugal has been invaded many many times throughout history by various ethnic groups. Although someone like Carmen is considered 'white' and many Portuguese identify this way there's a dominance with those other ethnically ambiguous traits as a result of those invasions AND Portugal's own expansion. Her DNA profile was probably quite a few things mixed up! Just like most of us today!
@@HigherSelfTarot He's still a white guy. Only 15% of his dna is of color the rest is white. I'm not trying to be insensitive to you or your hisband I just wanted to point that out.
@@cornishpasty4344 it’s true. Portuguese are the Iberians that have the highest North African DNA in the whole Iberian peninsula(it’s the Portuguese, Galegos, and Extremedurans). Carmen and Aurora Miranda both are Brazilians of fully Portuguese descent but they both have North African influence on their facial features especially Aurora. I also see the North African influence on Brazilians due to this.
Omg! I'm such a huge Carmen fan! Can't believe someone is doing a video on her! My mom was a tween in the 40's, so was a huge fan and introduced me to her.
i'd love to watch a part 2 that focuses on Carmen the person - what were her thoughts on the direction her career was taking, what was she going through personally while she was involved in all these productions, was she being adequately being compensated for all her work, did she try (and probably fail) at branching out into more diverse roles/characters, etc. incredibly informative video as always!
Carmen never gets enough credit as a master of comic acting. Her timing, delivery, expression and good naturedness are infectious. Even though a lot of the Hollywood humor is based on corny language butchering, I still find myself laughing with her and not at her. She's too good to let the ignorance of the time destroy her evident skills.
An excellent documentary on the complicated career of Carmen Miranda. It's interesting how proximity to whiteness carries so much weight to those tokenized to assimilate, just to suffer for it later. U.S. foreign policy is so fickle in how it exploits countries for their measure. One would also think that if the United States wasn't anti-Black, what would it have done to better represent Black people on film had the United States had a vested interest in Africa?
It’s called africom, now they are shifting from the Middle East to the African continent, and this is going to bad unless African Americans can have a bigger say in their domestic politics, it might turn out to be another disaster, people will not be happy with having another Afghanistan and Iraq in the African continent after all that they had to endure through capitalism. We need to help fund education in Africa, and let them decide how it will be taught, it can’t be imposed on them, just as it shouldn’t with natives in the Americas.
Thank you for always doing an awesome job on talking about the accurate history of Hollywood projects, including race relations. As someone who is afro Puerto rican, it is sad how few people know about afro Latin culture, or for that matter, the discrimination that unfortunately has taken place within the Latin community against Afro Latin people. The white washing of old Hollywood's Latin films by wanting to remove representation of Afro Latin people it's just one example of this discrimination. And unfortunately, this has been a problem to this day.
Sadly that is a problem in every country in the Americas and Europe for that matter. It's crazy because African cultures have contributed so much to all the Nations of the Americas especially in Latin America. One example that I find funny is how people from the Dominican Republic who have a Majority of African DNA yet still to this day are more likely to think of themselves as Latinos and Hispanics, which they are. But in contrast in the US people with the same ancestry would define themselves first and foremost as Black. A few people come to mind like Sammy Sosa who used Skin bleaching to appear whiter, Or Cardi B who is obviously an AfroLatina woman yet when she first came out as a rapper she considered herself as different from other Black Americans. When describing her relationship with Rapper Offset she described herself as being in an interracial relationship. Now that she has been educated more on the subject she considers herself an AfroLatina. I think that that also has to do with modern attitudes that are more open to Afro Culture with Reggeton music and other aspects of Dominican Culture that have become popularized.
@@migue24Why should we use foreign ways to describe ourselves? we have a whole different culture and ways to see ourselves. This almost feels like you americans are trying to colonize and change the way we view ourselves. And btw most of us have a mixture of both african and spanish blood, with a small amount of indigenous taino blood, it is false that we have a majority african dna.
nossa eu fiquei mt feliz quando eu vi, a história da Carmen é muito interessante e merecia um vídeo com o nível de pesquisa que esse canal geralmente faz
Just attended a cultural diplomacy symposium in DC hosted by Meridian International and the National Endowment for the Arts. This would have been one of the better talks of the day! Really hope you will consider applying to some conferences 🥰 and someone needs to give you an honorary masters degree - you have done the work!
Probably not! I don't think I was taught anything about South America until college (unless it had to do with the Catholic Church bc....Catholic school smh)
It's also important to add that being a Baiana is also related to religion. Afrobrazilian religion is tightly associated with the Baiana's clothes. They don't dress just because of their culture, this is their religion (the Candomblé), which is why it is so much more disrespectful that a white woman just made it into a funny costume.
It comes from the religion, but it also has secular elements. We cannot forget this was the normal way of clothing of women who sold food on the streets back then, which is why even today its used by "baianas do acarajé". According to Carmen, that was her inspiration for the gown. But of course, religion, culture and economics were and are always conected. So I think we cannot limit this dress to religion or, in religion, to afro-brazilian religions, as represented in syncretic traditions such as the lavagem do Bonfim.
13:57... as a latin america, i'd love to see them bring this back. honestly "speak proper Spanish in your movie also not everyone is from mexico" is such a low bar
Wait this is so weird. Before I opened RUclips (about 1 minute ago), my dad and I just finished watching the movie Gangster Squad (it was meh) and there was a scene where they were at a bar and an actress portrays Carmen Miranda and sings Chica Chica Boom Chic. How odd that you upload this not even 10 minutes after I finished the movie.
Clearly. And not only that... an immediate link comes to mind as to the use of the term "fruity". There's another big fruit bowl wearing elephant in this room. Can we all maturely agree that the trans/cross dressing "phenom" is not a new thing. It's glaringly apparent. @29:24 ... somebody in costumes and/or continuity forgot her falsies.
This is so weird, because I just listened to a podcast about Carmen Miranda the day before you posted this (The Stuff You Missed In History Class, in case anyone is interested). I was aware of her, but I didn't know anything about her. Great video. :)
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. would love an episode on last years best actress race and chastains win. i feel like it was completely over shadowed by the slap, both in the public discourse and literally in the show as it happened right after.
What an amazing episode. To learn that Miranda more or less single-handedly salvaged the 1939 Broadway season is the sort of nugget I come to @Be Kind Rewind for.
I watched a documentary on Carmen and she’s so much like other star like Dorothy Dandridge. She didn’t fit in to any other role than what they made her to be. It’s just sad that there were so few roles for Latin American actors at that time. Today it’s still in need of more representation.
Phenomenal video. You did a perfect job in explaining the various elements related to Carmen Miranda and her meaning to our culture. Your portuguese pronunciation was also perfect, congratulations
Carmen was an intelligent woman and it’s a shame no one utilized her talents well enough to give her full potential. Her and Eva Peron are the most influential South American women during that particular time in history
its so interesting to think how these women who both began their public career in radio shows did so much to both create a national identity and then represent that image of the South American Woman abroad... carmen was earlier and in another stage than eva, but by her sheer popularity and iconography, especially outside south america, it still could be seen as a rather fascinating if not curious comparison
I’m impressed with the quality of you work! ❤️ i always loved carmen miranda, but i’ve learned a lot today. Especially about the impact of international relations politics on the movie industry at that time.
Thank you for this brilliant and insightful examination of Carmen Miranda. She was such a singular icon, and she's always been a compelling cypher to me. Knowing the combination of influences that created her image gives her even more texture. I'm glad I caught this on the sidebar!
Okay - our whole house became a Helix house in 2021 and are huge fans (3 beds)! I was not expecting them to be a YT sponsor! The Birch mattress topper is heavenly 😍
CM was not a topic I would normally explore but within just a few minutes I was taken by the context and then needed to watch and re-watch for the research and depth. Fascinating how the industry has a way to move public opinion and consciousness but illuminating stars and characters. Well, fascinating and sad and sobering. I learned so much here, Kudos.
Wonderful, thank you. When I see Carmen Miranda interviews it always strikes me how much her demeanor is like that of the woman in the north of Portugal (where her family came from).
Your videos are excellent, BKR, as I've stated before. One small language correction on this one: At 8:10 you made what is becoming an increasingly common error. It's very EASY "to UNDERstate how popular she became and how quickly." What's hard to do is OVERstate the rapid spread of her enormous popularity.
Thanks for another excellent Be Kind Rewind. I now have a much greater admiration for Carmen Miranda. I shall be looking for a film starring this most intriguing Brazilian entertainer to watch ASAP.
Wonderful video -- so happy to see Brazil discussed on the channel. Definitely filling a gap in popular discussions surrounding film history and US foreign policy! The timing is spectacular as well, since there is an upcoming presidential election AND the bicentennial of Brazil's independence is about a week or two from when you posted (on the Sept. 7th). So happy to see all the love from other Brazilians in the comments too!! Great timing for me as well -- the inclusion of your sources and your succinct, informative, and elegant delivery inspired me to finally start my historiography paper on Brazil, gender, and vampires!
I've seen most of her American films, except Springtime in the Rockies. My favorite is The Gang's All Here, combining the excesses of her image with those of Busby Berkeley for some truly surreal extravaganzas. Kudos for your detailed video on this underappreciated talent and the times she dealt with.
Fascinating. I had never considered the political and cultural aspects of Miranda's career. Hope a part two that dives even deeper might show up in the near future. LOVE your channel!!!!!!!!
I know you get criticism for it but I love it when you get into topics that have nothing to do with the Oscars. Really opens the scope up to learning new wonderful things. I’d only see all the cultural imitators of Carmen Miranda and honestly didn’t realize the political and social impacts of her popularity. You’re the best channel on YT: BKR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS
I’m sure not many people know about it, but having been to Rio almost 25 times, I found treasures to visit that locals would have not known and those “unworthy” of being in guide books. However, I loved the city, and started looking for lesser known interesting places. Somewhere, now closed for renovations, there was a flying saucer shaped building in the middle of a park that was a great tribute to this great actress.
Your videos are exceptional. I'm super curious how long it takes you to write the essay, find the perfect clips, all the recording and editing, etc. They are so thorough that I can't understand how you produce so many in a given year!
Fantastic video as always, I’ve seen Carmen Miranda parodied for years but have never seen her in action! Will definitely be doing a deep dive on her, thank you!
So interesting! I love Carmen Miranda and think she was so talented. Thank you for the in depth analysis of the context of her films and performances! Love the channel!
Wow, I cant believe you referenced that I Love Lucy episode. As a little kid, it never occurred to me until my Cuban parents pointed out how dumb, and kind of insulting it was that she blended Mexican and Brazilian culture with no recognizable Cuban elements. You kind of expect Ricky to point it out, but he never does. Desi Arnaz had to have thought about it and let it slide. An inside joke that only he and other Cubans got.
“Even Bosley Crowther noticed how these films combined every latin culture” WAIT, Bosley Crowther had an actual good take that wasn’t completely tone-deaf even for his time for once? “though he didn’t note it as a major issue.” Oh well, split the difference? 😅
Love your videos and this one is top notch. It would be nice to continue with other Latin-American actresses of this era, like Maria Montez (I’m Dominican and she is, if I’m not mistaken, the first big Dominican star to make it in Hollywood)
This is super well researched and insightful! I'm a retired Spanish teacher obsessed with South American culture. I risked my career every year by showing students life changing movies such as: El Norte Hombres Armados Carla's Song Many years later my old students tell me these movies taught them perspective and empathy. The eighties showed us how The Good Neighbor thing played out. What kind of propaganda is used to bring truth to a culture rife with jingoism? Is there a word for that?
This was a fantastic essay on an actress I was vaguely familiar with for as long as I can remember. I didn’t realize how her career in the US was imbedded with politics and WWII.
I wonder if she speaks Portuguese or if she just did some good research for the video? Either way, I'm just happy to not hear Portuguese pronounced like Spanish
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Wonderful to see a Brazilian actor getting the Be Kind Rewind treatment. Despite her impact as a pop culture icon, I've always felt that Carmen is still sadly underappreciated as an artist, even though the extent of her success was largely influenced by the racism and anti-black policies of both Brazilian and American societies.
Sempre me surpreende quando lembram que ela já era bem grande por aqui antes de ser "descoberta" lá fora.
@@deathdoor Cara, eu lembro de você da seção de comentários do Elfen Lied Brasil hahaha. Até o período que a Roberta parou de escrever lá, eu lia as postagens do blog regularmente. Estranho pensar que já faz tanto tempo.
E é verdade, *uma raridade inclusive entre brasileiros, infelizmente. Entre nós, isso também se deve muito a não termos construído uma memória cultural da história do nosso cinema - e aí entram uma multitude de tragédias, desde a desvalorização da arte nacional à perda de importantes obras e registros históricos.
*Editei porque apaguei uma parte da frase por acidente
@@TheCountOrlok Brazilian cinema is very important to the world.
Latinex again being racist against themselves, their own people..self hatred! (Im guatemalan)
@@TheCountOrlok I do not know of her nor her work, but I need to check it out. I’m going to see what Be Kind Rewind says about the actress :)
Interestingly, in the 1930s the very idea of an ultimate Brazilian culture was artificially crafted as well. The modernist movement here sought to find the true Brazilian everything, but instead of recognizing the many different aspects of our culture, they jumbled everything up and came up with an answer that pleased them, much like these movies did in regards to the whole of Latin America. That's when our institutes for architectural preservation were created, and they decided on colonial architecture being the style worthy of it, and eclectic buildings in colonial towns were torn down in order to create a "cohesive look". They chose to elevate music with African/Afro-brazilian roots, while African religions suffered persecution. The way Carmen's image was crafted and used was entirely in line with what was happening in Brazil when it comes to many different branches of art.
You're right. Same thing with regards to Meso/Central America becoming the conflation referred to as Mexican in parts north of the border.
The wonderful thing is that there are people now doing independent scholarly research that is replacing these stale stereotypes and helping to restore the rich and unique spendor of these nations who have been virtually unknown nations unknown outside their regions. The whitewashed histories that stood as truth for so long are receiving a long over due bath.
I think that's an unfair assessment of the role of brazilian modernism and also of how brazilian culture in general operates. The idea of an ultimate anything is artificial, but while the modernist movement was trying to steer away from Europe and towards Brazil's native culture, it doesn't mean that what they did was artificial, much on the contrary. They were trying to reporduce here the natural local culture-high culture relationship that existed in Europe, instead of only importing european standards.
@@FOLIPE still, they elected what was "ultimately Brazilian" and that's what I mean by artificial. You see the perfect example of this in architecture: the historic and artistic heritage institute was created in the 1930s, and they worked hard to preserve what they saw as the true expression of Brazilian architecture. They elected the colonialist style, and so in historical cities, lots of buildings received protected status, while eclectic buildings (recently built at the time) remained neglected and were even torn down. A lot of historical towns had guidelines on how things could be built, to preserve the historical, colonial style, so you have buildings that do not date from the 18th century but mimic that style. All the while, the real, 19th and early 29th century buildings were lost, thus creating a false narrative of cities "stuck in time". *That's* what I mean by artificial.
At the same time, in music and in art, the version of brasilidade that's promoted is heavily sanitized, and overwhelmingly white. I would never dare say it's an overall bad thing, because moving away from imported European culture and developing national culture, art, and music is wonderful and very necessary, but it's naive to think that it wasn't crafted.
@liv97497 I'm no fan of modernism (and even less so of post-modernity), but I do believe the "Brazilian identity" is one that at least strived towards a "good" identity, in contrast to the identity that had been crafted outside their borders.
Today, the Brazilian identity is relegated, ironically, to aesthetics. Yes, in Brazil, this is not solely the case, as it has political implications (Southerners are whiter, wealthier, and more conservative, Nordestinos are poor, leftist, and darker, and all othe other generalisations that come with that), but, externally, Brazilians are not identified by their internal identity, but by Brazilian Butt Lifts, Brazilian tan, Brazilian bikini wax, Brazilian etc..... The men are relegated to soccer/football lovers and Latino sleazy lovers. If you're lucky, Brazilians may get identified with Churrasco, IF you're lucky.
I'm personally married to a Brasileira, and she has some stereotypical Brasileira qualities (the fogo, tan, and very beautiful), but she has a lot of contradictions to the "Brazilian identity" as well.
Post-modernism has relegated many identites to the least important qualities, and the Brazilian identity is a prime example. The Brazilian is sexualised in the worst fashion, the Brazilian Butt Lift is a term many Brasileiros detest, and something many expect to see when you say Brazilian woman. Then on the opposite side, the man is seen as a "good lover", but a terrible man (sleazy, cheater, etc.).
The architects of Brazilian culture are, unfortunately, the Brazilian media and celebrities. Anitta comes to mind, along with her song Vai Malandra, and all the funk songs that come out to the West. And, as long as there is money to be made out of the sexualisation of Brazilians, that's all the media and celebrities will relegate their identity to.
That's quite the simplification, the creation of a Brazilian identity and cultural history didn't start in the 1930s but in the 1830s with the Indianista movement and the creation of the IHGB, the 1930s was a culmination of 100 years of the creation of this identity, it was the consolidation actually, also it was a reaction of to the Europhilic cultural aspect of the Old Republic, as it was only in the 1930s that the black contribution to the Brazilian mixture was recognized after half a century of persecution, as of the likes of Casa Grande e Senzala de Gilberto Freyre. The mordernits just cemented many ideas that were already spread, and with the nationalist government of Vargas it was very important to foster the pride in the unique Brazilian aspects.
"The US won't intervene in southern america" Good lord how long did this policy last, 2 weeks?!
me, an argentine: *cries in 'Plan Condor'*
4 years, while we were busy in WW2! 😟
During 1930s 40s Franklin Roosevelt had
Good Neighbor Policy, stopped attacks on C + S America, Mexico, Caribbean,
but this the ONLY exception,,from the
gov..that produced the Monroe Doctrine
and worse.
as long as it took to say those words, and not a second longer
It's called double speak...
I'm so happy you did a video about Carmem Miranda. In Brazil she is still very famous and I hear her name since I was born even though I'm 16!! Thank you very much love your channel♥️🥰
How wonderful, thank you for sharing that!
Só que não, né. Comparado com contemporâneos como Dorival Caymi, Cartola e Adoniran Barbosa, Tom Jobim, Vinicius(músicos que, sabendo o nome ou não, tenho absolute certeza que já ouviste a música)... O legado dela e mínimo, e sempe manchado pelo desmercido escárnio de "ela nem é brasileira" e "produto de propaganda gringa".
Isso não tira o mérito dela como artista, é claro. É como Roberto Carlos, duvido muito que a música dele vai ser ouvida daqui a 50 anos, mas o impacto dele na geração do yeyeye é inegável.
Not, she isn't. Compared to contemporaries of her, as Dorival Caymi, Cartola e Adoniran Barbosa, Tom Jobim, Vinicius(musicians who, you know the name or note, I'm 100% sure you know ther music).... Her legacy is minimal, and always, stained by the undeserved scoff of "she isn't even brazilian" and "product from US propaganda".
This doesn't take away from her artistic merit, of course. It's like Roberto Carlos, I doubt people will be listening to his stuff in 50 years, but his impact to the yeyeye generation is undeniable.
Hello, great comment. Good to know. I grew up in the USA. As a kid in the 1970s she was still very well known. I teach dance and as and adult I sought out some of her music to use in my classes with my elementary school students. This is a link to the song "Mama Yo Quiero" which the students are very responsive to: ruclips.net/video/Zt0ZhPaveRw/видео.html
@@ghfudrs93uuu of course she is.
@Luiz Valério How about your "I'm better than everyone else even tho I have nothing to show for it" bubble?
Wanna prove me wrong prove me wrong, don't just disparage me
As a Brazilian, thank you for making a video about Carmen, I think she's still our greatest international movie star. Your portuguese pronunciation is very good. You even worn a brazilian shirt, so, iyou're already invited to come to Brasil and have some fun around here.
Her father is Brazilian
O pai dela é brasileiro - o nome dela é Isabel Custódio, nome mais brasileiro que esse só se for Maria da Silva
@ esses nomes sao Portugueses e Carmem tambem era
Like everyone else in the comments, I clicked so fast when I saw the title of the video haha. I really like Carmen, I think she didn't take a totally passive role in the making of her persona, but movie studios were not keen to the idea of her branching out.
The racial dimension of this era is so important to acknowledge, not only the baiana represents black women but also nurtures a deep connection with afro-brazilian religions like Camdomblé/Umbanda. I don't know how Carmen personally viewed this dimension, but sadly it took a lot of time for a big black star to rise in Brazil, specially among women. I can think of a few earlier examples of male black singers famous here, but the first two black women I recall are Dolores Duran (who was white-passing for a lot of the audience) and Elizeth Cardoso (who faced backlash for singing more classical/elite songs, instead of only samba), and both of them only really got famous in the late 50s.
Carmem lived in the working class areas of Rio at the time living among poor immigrants and poor blacks , she always tried to support her black colleagues in the ways she could.
I'm so happy to see you talking about brazillian history and culture but what made me jump with joy was the use of the word latine by you instead of the horrible american term latinx. Muito Obrigado!
No se quien te dijo que latinx es yanqui pero te cuento que no es, aca en argentina lo usamos mucho. De hecho es mejor que "e" para usar en escritos. saludos
@@LynnHermione I don't speak spanish and I don't know if you understand portuguese so I'm gonna answer in english. Here in Brazil is widely hated as an anglicization of a latin word.
@@diegocalderon5190 That's strange because it's used in the American latina/o community as a way to embrace all differences, esp LGBTQ
@@2degucitas Here in Brazil most people hate it, we find a exploration of our language by americans, the letter e is used here for neutral pronouns
@@2degucitas Why is it weird that Brazilians don't like a term used by americans?
I love all bkr videos but the thing about brazilians watching anything that mentions brazil never been more accurate lol I clicked on this SO fast
😅😅😅 yep
One of those famous people I'd heard of, but knew nothing about. Now thanks to the soothing tones of BKR, I've learned something this morning.
As a brazilian this makes me very happy! When it comes to Carmen I think it truly was a combination of her looks and her persona that cut her career short, she couldn't just go through a makeover like Rita Haywoth and stop looking latina (and yes I know Carmen was white but her features were ethnically ambiguous by hollywood standards) and the over the top persona she had truly did have a short shelf life. Although we all still love her over here, and still sing her songs to this day, I feel that the lack of distinguishment between the nationalities of her characters is still one of the main reasons americans have misconceptions about our country. The propaganda truly had impact, I cannot tell you the amount of americans I've spoken to that think we speak spanish and walk around in ethnic clothing (lol). But Carmen's movies were a true vehicle to get our culture in people's lips and prompt them to visit our country, though most foreigners still seem to think Brazil consists only of Rio, the colorful joy of her movies is still one of the reasons americans come here every year. Carmen truly laid the foundation for all future latin superstars who seeked international success, she was the first one to make latin culture palatable to foreigners and we need to give her credit for that. She faced many limitations and many obstacles, as do all pioneers, but she made a legacy for herself and her name will still be remembered for many decades to come :)
Portugal has been invaded many many times throughout history by various ethnic groups. Although someone like Carmen is considered 'white' and many Portuguese identify this way there's a dominance with those other ethnically ambiguous traits as a result of those invasions AND Portugal's own expansion. Her DNA profile was probably quite a few things mixed up! Just like most of us today!
I wish we walked more in traditional clothes ahaha
@@HigherSelfTarot He's still a white guy. Only 15% of his dna is of color the rest is white. I'm not trying to be insensitive to you or your hisband I just wanted to point that out.
@@HigherSelfTarot lol me too, I'm brazilian but I have italian, lebanese, native brazilian, african, portuguese and spanish dna in my genes 😂😂😂
@@cornishpasty4344 it’s true. Portuguese are the Iberians that have the highest North African DNA in the whole Iberian peninsula(it’s the Portuguese, Galegos, and Extremedurans). Carmen and Aurora Miranda both are Brazilians of fully Portuguese descent but they both have North African influence on their facial features especially Aurora. I also see the North African influence on Brazilians due to this.
And thats why people from EUA believed Buenos Aires was the capital of Brazil! Anyway, amazing video, so excited as a baiano and fan of your work.
Omg! I'm such a huge Carmen fan! Can't believe someone is doing a video on her! My mom was a tween in the 40's, so was a huge fan and introduced me to her.
i'd love to watch a part 2 that focuses on Carmen the person - what were her thoughts on the direction her career was taking, what was she going through personally while she was involved in all these productions, was she being adequately being compensated for all her work, did she try (and probably fail) at branching out into more diverse roles/characters, etc.
incredibly informative video as always!
Hey! Brazilian here and I really appreciate a video about Carmen Miranda 🤩
Carmen never gets enough credit as a master of comic acting. Her timing, delivery, expression and good naturedness are infectious. Even though a lot of the Hollywood humor is based on corny language butchering, I still find myself laughing with her and not at her. She's too good to let the ignorance of the time destroy her evident skills.
An excellent documentary on the complicated career of Carmen Miranda. It's interesting how proximity to whiteness carries so much weight to those tokenized to assimilate, just to suffer for it later. U.S. foreign policy is so fickle in how it exploits countries for their measure.
One would also think that if the United States wasn't anti-Black, what would it have done to better represent Black people on film had the United States had a vested interest in Africa?
It’s called africom, now they are shifting from the Middle East to the African continent, and this is going to bad unless African Americans can have a bigger say in their domestic politics, it might turn out to be another disaster, people will not be happy with having another Afghanistan and Iraq in the African continent after all that they had to endure through capitalism. We need to help fund education in Africa, and let them decide how it will be taught, it can’t be imposed on them, just as it shouldn’t with natives in the Americas.
Thank you for always doing an awesome job on talking about the accurate history of Hollywood projects, including race relations. As someone who is afro Puerto rican, it is sad how few people know about afro Latin culture, or for that matter, the discrimination that unfortunately has taken place within the Latin community against Afro Latin people. The white washing of old Hollywood's Latin films by wanting to remove representation of Afro Latin people it's just one example of this discrimination. And unfortunately, this has been a problem to this day.
Hello 👋how are you doing?
@@franklinstephen3268 I don't think she saw your comment, if she did she response gratefully.
Sadly that is a problem in every country in the Americas and Europe for that matter. It's crazy because African cultures have contributed so much to all the Nations of the Americas especially in Latin America. One example that I find funny is how people from the Dominican Republic who have a Majority of African DNA yet still to this day are more likely to think of themselves as Latinos and Hispanics, which they are. But in contrast in the US people with the same ancestry would define themselves first and foremost as Black. A few people come to mind like Sammy Sosa who used Skin bleaching to appear whiter, Or Cardi B who is obviously an AfroLatina woman yet when she first came out as a rapper she considered herself as different from other Black Americans. When describing her relationship with Rapper Offset she described herself as being in an interracial relationship. Now that she has been educated more on the subject she considers herself an AfroLatina. I think that that also has to do with modern attitudes that are more open to Afro Culture with Reggeton music and other aspects of Dominican Culture that have become popularized.
@@migue24Why should we use foreign ways to describe ourselves? we have a whole different culture and ways to see ourselves. This almost feels like you americans are trying to colonize and change the way we view ourselves.
And btw most of us have a mixture of both african and spanish blood, with a small amount of indigenous taino blood, it is false that we have a majority african dna.
People making fucking good content about brazilian music/culture it's the BEST THING on the internet ♥
Thank you for this video ♥
when i saw the notification my immediate reaction was like *the oprah gif* from when she met mary tyler moore. VERY EXCITED. much love from brasil!
Meu deus eu tô muito feliz, meu canal preferido falando do ícone
Pensei o mesmo!
nossa eu fiquei mt feliz quando eu vi, a história da Carmen é muito interessante e merecia um vídeo com o nível de pesquisa que esse canal geralmente faz
Eu gritei aqui😍
ahhhhh por essa nós brasileiros não esperávamos
Exato! Vinha pedindo esse vídeo há um tempão!
Just attended a cultural diplomacy symposium in DC hosted by Meridian International and the National Endowment for the Arts. This would have been one of the better talks of the day! Really hope you will consider applying to some conferences 🥰 and someone needs to give you an honorary masters degree - you have done the work!
We study the Good Neighbor Policy (Politica da Boa Vizinhança) in schools in brazil and i think americans probably never heard of it. haha
Most really haven't.
Probably not! I don't think I was taught anything about South America until college (unless it had to do with the Catholic Church bc....Catholic school smh)
@@bkrewind you don't give any evidence of being someone who attended college
@@Marcel_Audubon huh? What's that supposed to mean?
so what I'm getting from this is in terms of cultural sensitivity Hollywood has never really changed.
The fact that they tried to include non white people in movies since 2011 is already impressive.
I think it definitely improved...
serving us something I didn't know I needed, thank you!!!!
This was super interesting..I knew the famous image of her but never knew her history...really great content mam..
It's also important to add that being a Baiana is also related to religion. Afrobrazilian religion is tightly associated with the Baiana's clothes. They don't dress just because of their culture, this is their religion (the Candomblé), which is why it is so much more disrespectful that a white woman just made it into a funny costume.
It comes from the religion, but it also has secular elements. We cannot forget this was the normal way of clothing of women who sold food on the streets back then, which is why even today its used by "baianas do acarajé". According to Carmen, that was her inspiration for the gown. But of course, religion, culture and economics were and are always conected. So I think we cannot limit this dress to religion or, in religion, to afro-brazilian religions, as represented in syncretic traditions such as the lavagem do Bonfim.
13:57... as a latin america, i'd love to see them bring this back. honestly "speak proper Spanish in your movie also not everyone is from mexico" is such a low bar
Wait this is so weird. Before I opened RUclips (about 1 minute ago), my dad and I just finished watching the movie Gangster Squad (it was meh) and there was a scene where they were at a bar and an actress portrays Carmen Miranda and sings Chica Chica Boom Chic. How odd that you upload this not even 10 minutes after I finished the movie.
So, let me guess this: Carmen Miranda gave Drag Queens across the world some inspiration? Her outfits and the original outfits are so cool! 👏🏽
Clearly. And not only that... an immediate link comes to mind as to the use of the term "fruity". There's another big fruit bowl wearing elephant in this room. Can we all maturely agree that the trans/cross dressing "phenom" is not a new thing. It's glaringly apparent. @29:24 ... somebody in costumes and/or continuity forgot her falsies.
Could it be the opposite? That she was given a look that was not aceptable anymore for men in drag to play for broad audiences.
This is so weird, because I just listened to a podcast about Carmen Miranda the day before you posted this (The Stuff You Missed In History Class, in case anyone is interested). I was aware of her, but I didn't know anything about her. Great video. :)
omg. gonna listen this podcast for sure
BKR You are always serving to us Brazillians
SIM
That's true
O pai dela é brasileiro!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.
would love an episode on last years best actress race and chastains win. i feel like it was completely over shadowed by the slap, both in the public discourse and literally in the show as it happened right after.
What an amazing episode. To learn that Miranda more or less single-handedly salvaged the 1939 Broadway season is the sort of nugget I come to @Be Kind Rewind for.
I watched a documentary on Carmen and she’s so much like other star like Dorothy Dandridge. She didn’t fit in to any other role than what they made her to be. It’s just sad that there were so few roles for Latin American actors at that time. Today it’s still in need of more representation.
Carmen Miranda was always the bright spot, in those cheesy musicals with Betty grable or Alice Faye.
Your pronunciation of Portuguese words is impressive, great work!!
I've never heard of her, thanks for showcasing!
Same here, thank you!
Phenomenal video. You did a perfect job in explaining the various elements related to Carmen Miranda and her meaning to our culture. Your portuguese pronunciation was also perfect, congratulations
Excellent commentary on and contextualization of an iconic figure!
Wow thank you for featuring her. I feel she’s not talked about too much in the U.S
loved your comprehensive dissertation. I remembered the song from the T&J show and was looking for it when I found this jewel of a video
Carmen was an intelligent woman and it’s a shame no one utilized her talents well enough to give her full potential. Her and Eva Peron are the most influential South American women during that particular time in history
its so interesting to think how these women who both began their public career in radio shows did so much to both create a national identity and then represent that image of the South American Woman abroad... carmen was earlier and in another stage than eva, but by her sheer popularity and iconography, especially outside south america, it still could be seen as a rather fascinating if not curious comparison
Gente, que orgulho ver meu país em um dos melhores canais do RUclips. Vai Brasil! #forabolsonaro #lula2022
I'm glad u made a vid on her. I always saw women with fruit hats but never knew where it came from.
It's sad that she ended that way
Just leaving a comment to once again say you're one of the best creators on this website. Thank you for your service.
I’m impressed with the quality of you work! ❤️ i always loved carmen miranda, but i’ve learned a lot today. Especially about the impact of international relations politics on the movie industry at that time.
YAY! Loved the video, as always! Thanks for feeding your Brazilian followers. Amei o sotaque meio brasileiro, meio gringo
Thank you for this brilliant and insightful examination of Carmen Miranda. She was such a singular icon, and she's always been a compelling cypher to me. Knowing the combination of influences that created her image gives her even more texture. I'm glad I caught this on the sidebar!
Love the Helix ad, ngl. Now to watch the rest of the video :o
Wow, what a fascinating woman & such skilled analysis of the topic. Amazing!
I'm a simple guy. I see a new BKR video, I press like.
Okay - our whole house became a Helix house in 2021 and are huge fans (3 beds)! I was not expecting them to be a YT sponsor! The Birch mattress topper is heavenly 😍
CM was not a topic I would normally explore but within just a few minutes I was taken by the context and then needed to watch and re-watch for the research and depth. Fascinating how the industry has a way to move public opinion and consciousness but illuminating stars and characters. Well, fascinating and sad and sobering. I learned so much here, Kudos.
Recommending Amanda Hallay Heath's YT vlog on the good neighbor policy on her Ultimate Fashion History!
Wonderful, thank you. When I see Carmen Miranda interviews it always strikes me how much her demeanor is like that of the woman in the north of Portugal (where her family came from).
Your research is so well thought out, always contextualizing your subject but pairing it with heart and real empathy
Your videos are excellent, BKR, as I've stated before. One small language correction on this one: At 8:10 you made what is becoming an increasingly common error. It's very EASY "to UNDERstate how popular she became and how quickly." What's hard to do is OVERstate the rapid spread of her enormous popularity.
Thanks for another excellent Be Kind Rewind. I now have a much greater admiration for Carmen Miranda. I shall be looking for a film starring this most intriguing Brazilian entertainer to watch ASAP.
Wonderful video -- so happy to see Brazil discussed on the channel. Definitely filling a gap in popular discussions surrounding film history and US foreign policy! The timing is spectacular as well, since there is an upcoming presidential election AND the bicentennial of Brazil's independence is about a week or two from when you posted (on the Sept. 7th). So happy to see all the love from other Brazilians in the comments too!!
Great timing for me as well -- the inclusion of your sources and your succinct, informative, and elegant delivery inspired me to finally start my historiography paper on Brazil, gender, and vampires!
I've seen most of her American films, except Springtime in the Rockies. My favorite is The Gang's All Here, combining the excesses of her image with those of Busby Berkeley for some truly surreal extravaganzas.
Kudos for your detailed video on this underappreciated talent and the times she dealt with.
Fascinating. I had never considered the political and cultural aspects of Miranda's career. Hope a part two that dives even deeper might show up in the near future. LOVE your channel!!!!!!!!
I know you get criticism for it but I love it when you get into topics that have nothing to do with the Oscars. Really opens the scope up to learning new wonderful things. I’d only see all the cultural imitators of Carmen Miranda and honestly didn’t realize the political and social impacts of her popularity. You’re the best channel on YT: BKR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS
I rewatched a few of your videos in the meantime. I really like your channel.
do we have a Fernanda Montenegro video coming?! don't need to be soon, but just saying...
Amazing video, very well researched !
I’m sure not many people know about it, but having been to Rio almost 25 times, I found treasures to visit that locals would have not known and those “unworthy” of being in guide books. However, I loved the city, and started looking for lesser known interesting places. Somewhere, now closed for renovations, there was a flying saucer shaped building in the middle of a park that was a great tribute to this great actress.
Going into my "favourites" playlist immediately. Thank you for your hard work 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I visited her museum in Rio back in 1982. Got to see many of her gorgeous costumes and other memorabilia.
" weaponize the film industry "
That phrase gave me the chills.
Anyway, this is a great channel. Educational entertainment.
Thank you!
Your videos are exceptional. I'm super curious how long it takes you to write the essay, find the perfect clips, all the recording and editing, etc. They are so thorough that I can't understand how you produce so many in a given year!
You did an amazing job in this video, fantastic research.
Thank you for the great video! Always enjoy watching yours!
Fantastic video as always, I’ve seen Carmen Miranda parodied for years but have never seen her in action! Will definitely be doing a deep dive on her, thank you!
So interesting! I love Carmen Miranda and think she was so talented. Thank you for the in depth analysis of the context of her films and performances! Love the channel!
Your videos are next level: thank you for another great addition!
Wow, I cant believe you referenced that I Love Lucy episode. As a little kid, it never occurred to me until my Cuban parents pointed out how dumb, and kind of insulting it was that she blended Mexican and Brazilian culture with no recognizable Cuban elements. You kind of expect Ricky to point it out, but he never does. Desi Arnaz had to have thought about it and let it slide. An inside joke that only he and other Cubans got.
I LOVE that you made a video about Carmen Miranda. ♥️
There's also the terrific documentary about CM: Bananas Is My Business (1995).
Thanks for this video. I love your channel and Carmen Miranda so I was really excited to see this!
This was so interesting and so well researched, thanks for sharing!
Great video.
Thank you for giving this criminally underrated woman the respect she deserves.
Fascinating. It is great to watch a video that shows you that there's some much complexity to a figure you never bothered to think about.
Thank you so much for doing a video on Carmen being Brasilian mix I’ve always adored her. And btw you and your cats are gorgeous 😍
I saw the name of my country and got so excited!!
Greetings from Chile😁
The politics that surround her career make me feel so uncomfortable, but knowing how talented she was is a positive
Thank you for this post!
“Even Bosley Crowther noticed how these films combined every latin culture”
WAIT, Bosley Crowther had an actual good take that wasn’t completely tone-deaf even for his time for once?
“though he didn’t note it as a major issue.”
Oh well, split the difference? 😅
Lots of love from Brazil 🇧🇷❤️
Helena Solberg's documentary about Carmen Miranda is amazing!
Yahoo! A new video!!!
Wow....as an afro-latino...I am extremely impressed and did NOT expect the honesty. thank you
Love your videos and this one is top notch. It would be nice to continue with other Latin-American actresses of this era, like Maria Montez (I’m Dominican and she is, if I’m not mistaken, the first big Dominican star to make it in Hollywood)
Yes!!
This is super well researched and insightful! I'm a retired Spanish teacher obsessed with South American culture.
I risked my career every year by showing students life changing movies such as:
El Norte
Hombres Armados
Carla's Song
Many years later my old students tell me these movies taught them perspective and empathy.
The eighties showed us how
The Good Neighbor thing played out.
What kind of propaganda is used to bring truth to a culture rife with jingoism? Is there a word for that?
Obrigado Izzy
Fabulous!!!
This was a fantastic essay on an actress I was vaguely familiar with for as long as I can remember. I didn’t realize how her career in the US was imbedded with politics and WWII.
What I wouldn’t give for a modern movement towards Pan-American democratic solidarity 🇧🇷🇦🇷🇲🇽🇺🇸🇨🇴🙏
I wonder if she speaks Portuguese or if she just did some good research for the video? Either way, I'm just happy to not hear Portuguese pronounced like Spanish
BKR is (half???) Brazilian. She mentioned it in a previous video.
Brilliant episode, really interesting!