Cover story: Oh, Brazil!
What is it about this country that sets the heart racing? Paulo There are bodies beautiful on Ipanema beach. But they are not the only attraction, says Alex Bellos
Trendsetters, if you’re searching for this year’s Next Big Thing, look no further. It’s Brazil. From design to music, via fashion and film, the country that spawned the bossa nova, the G-string and the world’s first footballing superstar is more “in” than ever before.
Take movies. Hot on the heels of the Oscar-nominated City of God, this month sees the release of two Brazilian films, Carandiru and Bus 174, both tipped for the big time. Or fashion: in May, the Brasil 40° exhibition, a month-long Brazil-themed event at Selfridges, will see the department store given the feel of a Rio street market. Brazilian design is also making waves: in June, London’s Design Museum will stage the first UK exhibition of work by the trailblazing furniture designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. And as for music: the Brazilian rap song from the Nissan X-Trail advert, remixed by Fatboy Slim, is filling dancefloors; sampa nova (electronica mixed with bossa nova) is the chillout music de nos jours; London’s two most exciting drum’n’bass DJs are the Brazilians Marky and Patife; and Bebel Gilberto’s Tanto Tempo album recently became the bestselling Brazilian record of all time.
Why all this buzz now? Brazil’s new-found confidence can be attributed to two things: last year’s inauguration of a bearded former shoeshine boy, Lula, as president (Lula is the first Brazilian leader in a decade to attract high levels of international attention); and an increasing interest from the outside world in the Brazilian way of life. Why are we so attracted to it? Because it’s different. Large, self-contained and isolated enough to have developed a parallel society with particular attitudes towards important issues such as religion, race and sexuality, Brazil is the “other”: a tropical new world of freedom, musicality and exoticism, bubbling with energy and promise. Carnival is not just about dressing up in drag, but about breaking down social barriers.
Brazilian culture also fosters an inclusivity and diversity that is highly attractive to an Old World looking for inspiration, a refreshing reminder that there is an alternative future to the one with a Starbucks on every corner. Sure, the fact that Gisele Bundchen is the world’s leading supermodel, and that Brazil are World Cup champions, means the country still has a reputation for exoticism. But Brazilian culture is about so much more than that.
In 1914, an expatriate German writer called Stefan Zweig published a book called Brazil: Land of the Future. Land of the Future? Perhaps not quite yet, but it’s certainly on its way.
THE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BRAZIL
SEX
The rules of courtship are different in Brazil. When a guy chats up a girl, the first question she will ask is: "Are you married?" It is easy to have affairs because there are love hotels — saucy playrooms where you pay by the hour — on every other block. Most middle- class Brazilians lose their virginity in love hotels, the best of which come with flashing dancefloors, hot tubs and a wide variety of television porn. Also, before a relationship gets serious, Brazilians will insist on a "beach date" so they can have a look at a prospective lover's body before making up their minds. Men are most interested in women's bottoms: the larger and more rounded the better.
THE BEACH
Nobody reads at the beach. Why would they? Instead, they flirt, pose and check out the talent. The female fashion rules are: wear as little as possible, but come with hair done and make-up on, decked out in earrings, necklaces and ankle bracelets. The girls who modelled the swimwear for these photos were actually rather distressed that the bikinis we provided were not skimpy enough. Competition is fierce: you want to look as good as possible. The beach is divided up into invisible sections — pot-smokers here, gay men there, surfers over there, and so on. Every 800yd, there is a post with a number written on it to help identify locations. (Just after Post 9 is the trendiest spot on Ipanema Beach.) Women bring sarongs to lie on, but spend more time standing up, chatting and posing. Men never bring sarongs. They sit together on the sand or approach women with the line "Can I sit on your sarong?", which is the local equivalent of "Do you come here often?".
MEAT CULTURE
Meat is a religion here, and its churches are churrascarias, or traditional Brazilian barbecues. Ostensibly a type of restaurant, the best churrascarias are like meat theme parks. Once you've paid your entrance fee, you are allowed to eat as much flesh as you like.
PLASTIC SURGERY
Brazilians are devoted to the plastic surgeon's knife. Every year, 400,000 operations are performed in Brazil — the highest rate per capita in the world. Of these, half are done for aesthetic reasons. Brazilians used to like small breasts, but in recent years, there has been a fad for silicone implants. Brazilian surgeons are considered the best in the world (the wide racial mixture here gives them practice with all shapes and sizes) and, happily for them, they get lots of free advertising: people wear hardly any clothes, so their handiwork is always on display.
FILM
It's boom time in the Brazilian film industry. First, City of God broke domestic box-office records. Then the prison flick Carandiru (on release this Friday) became the most successful Brazilian movie of recent times. Both are epics that engage with the violent, dysfunctional, neglected side of urban life: City of God with Rio, a hot, glamorous, anarchic city; Carandiru with the hard-working, claustrophobic concrete metropolis that is S‹o Paulo.
FASHION
In Brazil, millions do not even earn the £50-a-month minimum wage. Yet, at Daslu, São Paulo’s favourite fashion store, the world’s most expensive fashion labels sell like bikinis on a hot day. Daslu is a way of life, not just a clothes shop. Located in a residential street, it comprises 11 houses next to each other, with interconnecting doors. With men forbidden from entering, and Brazilian women’s lack of self-consciousness being what it is, Daslu’s extremely rich clients stroll around in a state of virtual undress as they take their pick of 50 international labels.
SOAPS
The daily evening schedule of Brazil’s main channel, TV Globo, is three hour-long soap operas, or telenovelas. Their audience share is about 65%, and their stars are Brazil’s biggest celebrities. The subjects are almost always the same — forbidden love, betrayal, family feuds — and the actors are excessively rich and gorgeous, yet the soaps distinguish themselves from their South American neighbours with high production values. They may be pure cheese, but they’re quality cheese. Telenovelas usually last for about nine months; in the final week, when all loose ends are tied up, the story line is front-page news and the streets are noticeably emptier during broadcast times. Globo telenovelas have been sold to 130 countries a world record.
MAID CULTURE
Few middle-class Brazilians can cook, and not many more know how to make a bed. Luckily, they have domestic servants do these jobs for them. Slavery ended in Brazil in 1888 — later than anywhere else in the western hemisphere — and one of the legacies is that the difference between rich and poor is greatest in the world. Middle-class Brazilians can earn as much as Britons, but the poor, as mentioned above, earn very little. Maids can earn well, so there is no shortage of people willing to do the job — there are an estimated 3m servants in Brazil, and most middle-class homes are still built with maid’s quarters, with a windowless chamber for her to sleep in.
What is it about this country that sets the heart racing? Paulo There are bodies beautiful on Ipanema beach. But they are not the only attraction, says Alex Bellos
Trendsetters, if you’re searching for this year’s Next Big Thing, look no further. It’s Brazil. From design to music, via fashion and film, the country that spawned the bossa nova, the G-string and the world’s first footballing superstar is more “in” than ever before.
Take movies. Hot on the heels of the Oscar-nominated City of God, this month sees the release of two Brazilian films, Carandiru and Bus 174, both tipped for the big time. Or fashion: in May, the Brasil 40° exhibition, a month-long Brazil-themed event at Selfridges, will see the department store given the feel of a Rio street market. Brazilian design is also making waves: in June, London’s Design Museum will stage the first UK exhibition of work by the trailblazing furniture designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. And as for music: the Brazilian rap song from the Nissan X-Trail advert, remixed by Fatboy Slim, is filling dancefloors; sampa nova (electronica mixed with bossa nova) is the chillout music de nos jours; London’s two most exciting drum’n’bass DJs are the Brazilians Marky and Patife; and Bebel Gilberto’s Tanto Tempo album recently became the bestselling Brazilian record of all time.
Why all this buzz now? Brazil’s new-found confidence can be attributed to two things: last year’s inauguration of a bearded former shoeshine boy, Lula, as president (Lula is the first Brazilian leader in a decade to attract high levels of international attention); and an increasing interest from the outside world in the Brazilian way of life. Why are we so attracted to it? Because it’s different. Large, self-contained and isolated enough to have developed a parallel society with particular attitudes towards important issues such as religion, race and sexuality, Brazil is the “other”: a tropical new world of freedom, musicality and exoticism, bubbling with energy and promise. Carnival is not just about dressing up in drag, but about breaking down social barriers.
Brazilian culture also fosters an inclusivity and diversity that is highly attractive to an Old World looking for inspiration, a refreshing reminder that there is an alternative future to the one with a Starbucks on every corner. Sure, the fact that Gisele Bundchen is the world’s leading supermodel, and that Brazil are World Cup champions, means the country still has a reputation for exoticism. But Brazilian culture is about so much more than that.
In 1914, an expatriate German writer called Stefan Zweig published a book called Brazil: Land of the Future. Land of the Future? Perhaps not quite yet, but it’s certainly on its way.
THE BEGINNERS GUIDE TO BRAZIL
SEX
The rules of courtship are different in Brazil. When a guy chats up a girl, the first question she will ask is: "Are you married?" It is easy to have affairs because there are love hotels — saucy playrooms where you pay by the hour — on every other block. Most middle- class Brazilians lose their virginity in love hotels, the best of which come with flashing dancefloors, hot tubs and a wide variety of television porn. Also, before a relationship gets serious, Brazilians will insist on a "beach date" so they can have a look at a prospective lover's body before making up their minds. Men are most interested in women's bottoms: the larger and more rounded the better.
THE BEACH
Nobody reads at the beach. Why would they? Instead, they flirt, pose and check out the talent. The female fashion rules are: wear as little as possible, but come with hair done and make-up on, decked out in earrings, necklaces and ankle bracelets. The girls who modelled the swimwear for these photos were actually rather distressed that the bikinis we provided were not skimpy enough. Competition is fierce: you want to look as good as possible. The beach is divided up into invisible sections — pot-smokers here, gay men there, surfers over there, and so on. Every 800yd, there is a post with a number written on it to help identify locations. (Just after Post 9 is the trendiest spot on Ipanema Beach.) Women bring sarongs to lie on, but spend more time standing up, chatting and posing. Men never bring sarongs. They sit together on the sand or approach women with the line "Can I sit on your sarong?", which is the local equivalent of "Do you come here often?".
MEAT CULTURE
Meat is a religion here, and its churches are churrascarias, or traditional Brazilian barbecues. Ostensibly a type of restaurant, the best churrascarias are like meat theme parks. Once you've paid your entrance fee, you are allowed to eat as much flesh as you like.
PLASTIC SURGERY
Brazilians are devoted to the plastic surgeon's knife. Every year, 400,000 operations are performed in Brazil — the highest rate per capita in the world. Of these, half are done for aesthetic reasons. Brazilians used to like small breasts, but in recent years, there has been a fad for silicone implants. Brazilian surgeons are considered the best in the world (the wide racial mixture here gives them practice with all shapes and sizes) and, happily for them, they get lots of free advertising: people wear hardly any clothes, so their handiwork is always on display.
FILM
It's boom time in the Brazilian film industry. First, City of God broke domestic box-office records. Then the prison flick Carandiru (on release this Friday) became the most successful Brazilian movie of recent times. Both are epics that engage with the violent, dysfunctional, neglected side of urban life: City of God with Rio, a hot, glamorous, anarchic city; Carandiru with the hard-working, claustrophobic concrete metropolis that is S‹o Paulo.
FASHION
In Brazil, millions do not even earn the £50-a-month minimum wage. Yet, at Daslu, São Paulo’s favourite fashion store, the world’s most expensive fashion labels sell like bikinis on a hot day. Daslu is a way of life, not just a clothes shop. Located in a residential street, it comprises 11 houses next to each other, with interconnecting doors. With men forbidden from entering, and Brazilian women’s lack of self-consciousness being what it is, Daslu’s extremely rich clients stroll around in a state of virtual undress as they take their pick of 50 international labels.
SOAPS
The daily evening schedule of Brazil’s main channel, TV Globo, is three hour-long soap operas, or telenovelas. Their audience share is about 65%, and their stars are Brazil’s biggest celebrities. The subjects are almost always the same — forbidden love, betrayal, family feuds — and the actors are excessively rich and gorgeous, yet the soaps distinguish themselves from their South American neighbours with high production values. They may be pure cheese, but they’re quality cheese. Telenovelas usually last for about nine months; in the final week, when all loose ends are tied up, the story line is front-page news and the streets are noticeably emptier during broadcast times. Globo telenovelas have been sold to 130 countries a world record.
MAID CULTURE
Few middle-class Brazilians can cook, and not many more know how to make a bed. Luckily, they have domestic servants do these jobs for them. Slavery ended in Brazil in 1888 — later than anywhere else in the western hemisphere — and one of the legacies is that the difference between rich and poor is greatest in the world. Middle-class Brazilians can earn as much as Britons, but the poor, as mentioned above, earn very little. Maids can earn well, so there is no shortage of people willing to do the job — there are an estimated 3m servants in Brazil, and most middle-class homes are still built with maid’s quarters, with a windowless chamber for her to sleep in.
