Não quero lhe falar, minha crush mor

Das coisas que aprendi nas redes

Quero lhe contar como eu vivi

E tudo o que aconteceu comigo

Viver é melhor que sonhar

Eu sei que o amor é uma coisa boa

E, também sei que qualquer ficção (religião)

É menor do que a vida

De qualquer pessoa

Por isso cuidado, meu bem

Há perigo na esquina

Eles tem vencido

Deixando o sinal fechado prá nós

Que somos jovens

Para abraçar suas manas

E beijar suas menines na rua

É que se fez o seu braço,

O seu lábio e a sua voz

Você me pergunta pela minha paixão

Digo que estou encantada

Com uma nova invenção

Não quero ficar nessa cidade

Quero partir pro mundão

Pois vejo que há mais que aguardar o

Cheiro de uma nova estação

Eu sei de tudo na ferida viva

Do meu coração

Ainda hoje eu vou pra rua

Cabelo ao vento

Ver gente jovem reunida

Na parede da História

Esses encontros

São o que fazem mudar mais

Minha alegria é perceber

Que em consequência de terem

Feito tudo o que fizeram (mães, avós, bisavós…)

Nós não somos as mesmas

Nem vivemos

Ainda que, sejamos as mesmas

Vivas

Como as nossas Mães

Nossos ídolos não são mais os mesmos

Assim como as nossas aparências

Buscamos expandir a arte, luta, prazer e resistência

Sem excluir ninguém

Você pode até dizer

Que eu ‘tô por fora

Ou então que eu ‘tô inventando

Mas é você bombardeadx de fake news

Que não vê

É você que ama o passado

E que não vê

Que a mudança está em construção

Hoje eu sei que quem também me deu a ideia

De uma nova consciência e juventude

Está se informando

Criando e propagando um conhecimento

Que cria dependências tão terríveis quanto o vil metal

Minha esperança é perceber

Que por elas terem feito tudo, tudo

Tudo o que fizeram

Nós não somos as mesmas

Nem vivemos

Ainda que nos lembremos delas

Que viveram

Talvez até sejamos as mesmas

Mas, não vivemos como os nossos pais

Ontem percebi que Damares é uma grande fã e crítica da cultura de massa, dentro dos limites do seu arcabouço teórico. Em seu último depoimento público a ministra disse que Elsa é lésbica, pois termina sozinha em seu castelo de gelo em Frozen e que iria beijar a Bela Adormecida, ela conclui dizendo que o cão está articulado e que estamos alienados. Hoje acordei lembrando que na cena que finaliza o filme “A Bela Adormecida”, as fadas estão mudando a cor do vestido da protagonista de rosa para azul, rosa e azul… não pude deixar de pensar que Damares, na verdade, ligou seu discurso de ontem com um discurso próprio anterior, em que dizia que meninos vestem azul e meninas vestem rosa - o que me fez pensar que ela (assim como outras milhões de pessoas mundialmente) também deve assistir a saga Vingadores e compreendeu a deixa narrativa dos Easter Eggs, mas principalmente, que seu discurso segue uma linha mais embasada do que parece e que apesar dela ser uma figura já conhecida no meio dos memes e receber títulos como louca e psicótica, há uma linha de raciocínio muito clara por trás do que ela diz que está ligado a controle, tradição e regras muito bem estabelecidas, o que está muito mais ligado a alienação do que a escolha livre pelas próprias companhias.
Quando Damares fala do cão, ela está remetendo ao diabo, uma figura bastante difundida na nossa sociedade a partir da narrativa bíblica e instituições religiosas. A figura do diabo contrasta com a figura de deus, sendo que não só o “cão” encarna o mal mas ele é o oposto de deus e que a sociedade é dividida em duas únicas partes, bem e mal, deus e diabo, azul e rosa. Essa é uma linha de pensamento que inclusive ela já propôs que fosse utilizada na educação: o uso da bíblia como base para o ensino. O que já ocorre quando a base da educação não é a visão crítica, necessária para que os jovens e crianças percebam que todos nós somos parte constante da (re)construção de conceitos de cidadania, direito e política, primeiro recebendo esses conceitos nos anos iniciais depois participando como cidadãs e cidadãos. Todos os aspectos da nossa vivência como comunidade, seja em ambiente urbano ou rural é baseado em algumas lógicas como: ter um teto, água encanada, eletricidade, usar roupar, ter um emprego, usar dinheiro para trocas, ter onde guardar esse dinheiro, comprar coisas para consumir, ter opções de lazer… A forma como vivemos hoje é fruto de uma construção histórica, e qualquer aspecto mencionado pode ser contestado e colocado em disputa ( como válido para os dias de hoje, não como fato histórico). Aprendemos esses conceitos nas escolas, mas também observando outras pessoas, como nossa família, professores, colegas, outras pessoas com quem interagimos e pessoas que vemos como referências em narrativas que compõe a cultura - cultura essa que quando atinge um número significativo de pessoas é chamada de cultura de massa, que comecei falando que é do interesse da referida ministra brasileira.
Compreendi o que Damares falou porque tenho (igual muita gente) a cultura necessária para compreender sua linha narrativa, eu vi os filmes da Disney, e mesmo sem ser religiosa já recebi muito spoiler sobre as peripécias aprontadas pelos profetas, o povo pecador originário, o diabo e deus. Mas a minha leitura foi diferente da dela, pois Rosa é o nome que as fadas dão à princesa enquanto ela está disfarçada para que MALévola não a encontre em seu aniversário de 16 anos, mas seu nome real é Aurora, que é um momento do dia onde Rosa, Azul e diversas outras cores se misturam para gerar um dos espetáculos mais lindos da natureza.
A questão é que eu também acredito que há a possibilidade de que Elsa se defina como lésbica ou bissexual em algum momento de sua narrativa, mas não pelos mesmos motivos de Damares. Elsa percebe a extensão gigante de seus poderes, ela consegue criar mundos e mesmo criar vida (Olaf <3)! Seu primeiro impulso é fugir da interação com outros, que reconhece como inimigos, pois nas interações que teve foi desestimulada a se expressar e explorar suas possibilidades. Com a ajuda de Anna, porém ela vê que há outras formas de se relacionar com pessoas, que enquanto algumas podem ser nocivas, outras podem nos estimular, agregar, exponencializar nosso potencial ou, no mínimo, deixar nossas buscas mais agradáveis. Com a ajuda de Anna, Elsa decide compartilhar seu conhecimento e suas habilidades com a comunidade, na qual tem grande influência como rainha. Ela não termina sozinha, ela termina reaprendendo a se posicionar e interagir com outros, o que é uma lição constante e diária e não tem resposta certa. O que será feito disso já não sabemos. O que sabemos é que ela irá reivindicar seus direitos e que gosta de explorar e criar, o que inclui tudo e qualquer coisa que tiver em mente: expandir o reino, procurar outros espaços, ter um companheiro, ter uma companheira, ter multiplxs companheirxs, continuar como rainha, criar novas leis, aprender quais as relações que a fazem sentir bem, abdicar dos seus títulos e militar pelo anarquismo…
Na realidade, as princesas da Disney sempre buscaram aprender, crescer e alcançar seus sonhos, nunca esteve como objetivo principal de nenhuma delas encontrar um príncipe: Ariel queria conhecer outros mundos (o único que ela sabia que poderia alcançar até então era viver como humana), calhou de ver Eric de perto, tocá-lo e ainda guardar uma gigante estátua para lembrar dessa experiência. Quando seu pai destrói a estátua (a memória da experiência) ela decide que vai parar de guardar lembrancinhas e vai viver o que quer viver. Ela vai atrás do seu sonho, Eric é uma ferramenta, da qual, felizmente, ela passa a gostar. Em Aladdin, Jasmine vive dentro do castelo, controlada e não tem muitos amigos, sendo a única exceção um tigre domesticado e apático (apesar de muito carinhoso e fofo), ainda por cima seu pai vem com uma ideia que ela vai casar com um velho quem ela não vai com a cara. Aladdin é a primeira pessoa que ela encontra com quem vive aventuras e compartilha pensamentos comuns. Alladin tem um amigo, Abu, isso é algo que ela procura também e que vê como referência nele. E sorte que Abu é um macaco, senão haveria grande chances de um triângulo amoroso ou de um menage (porque não?). Igual a Enrolados, Rapunzel vive na torre com seu camaleão pouco expressivo e eis que chega Flynn. Não é a melhor companhia possível, se eu tivesse que apostar no primeiro divórcio de alguma princesa, seria nesse casal, mas é a primeira pessoa com quem ela compartilha sua história e que a compreende. Cinderela está sendo abusada na casa da madrasta e sabe que é bonitona, ela vê como possibilidade casar, ou pelo menos ver o que está rolando no mercado, chega arrasando no baile e já encontra logo o príncipe. Ela queria sair da casa da madrasta e não casar. De fato se a madrasta fosse uma pessoa melhor, Cinderela, a madrasta e as irmãs poderiam ter criado um grupo de mulheres e derrubado a monarquia, mas por causa dessa rixa boba por causa de beleza, Cinderela se casou com o príncipe e o sistema se manteve inalterado. Na real, o que esses filmes estão mostrando é que todo mundo está procurando por outras visões de mundo e afeto e aí quando encontram alguém que lhes compreenda, BAM! Casam! E pronto, não procuram mais por mudanças (Pocahontas, como exceção, no segundo filme não só arranja outro par romântico alem de John smith como larga esse segundo também, larga mao do mundo desses caras e volta para sua terra #arrasou, mas porque não foi procurar ainda outros espaços?) Cadê os sonhos? O que importa se a pessoa é homem ou mulher (o que quer que esses conceitos signifiquem)? Porque casar com a primeira pessoa (ou primeira demonstração de intimidade)? Isso é o que Elsa diz a Anna, que ela não pode casar com a primeira pessoa que vê pela frente assim - Anna também era uma solitária, pois Elsa não achava que era uma companhia e referência digna como irmã mais velha para ir brincar na neve. No fim, Anna e Elsa se ajudam mutuamente, além de irmãs, se ajudam a compreender e se apropriar de seu próprio potencial, servindo de referência uma para a outra. São amigas - Xs amigxs que faltaram para que as outras princesas também tivessem circulado e vivido mais, podendo trocar experiencias, apoiar nos momentos bons e ruins, suportar as barras e bola pra frente. Arranjar um príncipe não é a única alternativa, há muitas aventuras a serem vividas com diversas companhias igualmente agradáveis, românticas ou não, envolvendo sexo ou não, envolvendo compromisso ou não. Companhias que não precisam se bastar, ao contrário podem trazer novas perspectivas, que podem ser buscadas e vividas com essas mesmas companhias ou outras. O problema é que se nós não vemos essas outras possibilidades continuamos achando que só algumas coisas são possíveis, não sabemos como será sair da linha já desbravada por outros (que saibamos), mas a narrativas podem ser múltiplas e infinitas e decidir buscar diversas delas é uma liberdade maravilhosa que eu busco, desejo sempre continuar buscando e desejo que todxs possam buscar, inclusive Damares.

https://medium.com/@elmenezesdelbianchi/a-fun%C3%A7%C3%A3o-da-heterossexualidade-nas-narrativas-da-disney-6b4e412161a1?fbclid=IwAR1YcVBbuFEGeh8XW42II_nN9vpShWPYlkGVTN7ek1X3gprceOsH8OZkoMw

Crazy ex girlfriend is about Rebecca Bunch, a really successful lawyer that leaves everything behind when meets her summer camp sweetheart, Josh, by chance, in NY. He tells her to be going back home in California, a happy place and she also moves there.

What is interesting about the series is that Rebecca tells everyone she was unhappy and this was the reason for moving, it is really hard for her to admit it was because of Josh. But… did she really moved because of him? When Josh talks about happy places she reminds of the last time she was happy: with him during summer camp with 16 years old, but we learn through the series that it is not the first time she does something crazy for “love”, she leaves her passion — theater and singing — behind because of a guy and she had judicial problems because of other man, even going to a sanatorium for a while, where she would only be deep on her thoughts and sing.

We know that Rebecca was in a musical during summer camp, and we know she did not came back next year because of Josh. So the first time she left singing was also because of him.

Is Rebecca a crazy ex girlfriend or really desperate to be happy and don’t know how to do it alone? Which one is harder to admit?

There are some clues during the series that we are actually inside Rebecca’s head, which would explain all the singing and why lots of characters keep the name they are introduced by. It also can explain the openings and the name: Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Is this what defines her? Would her friends use this words from all her qualities and possibilities of representation? Or this is the way she sees herself? Are the story of sanatorium and arriving in the US by a ship real or she just transforms everything into a giant dramatic musical? What is real in her life? What is the meaning of ‘real’? What is the meaning of “happy”?

While Rebecca does everything to avoid facing her problems in therapy and focus all her strength on Josh and on involving everyone around her in her quest to conquer him, she actually ends up encouraging and empowering people around to overcome their fears, she builds strong friendships, a new career and life paths.

During the first day in West Covina she finds a job at Whitefeather’s law firm managed by Darryl, who is in the process of divorce, is really needy and a loving father. She also becomes friends with Paula, a hardworking very capable secretary that lives a passive life with her husband and children and becomes addicted to Rebecca’s adventures. There are also other characters at the law firm, such as Maya, the intern who becomes good friends with Darryl and grows confidence in herself, Karen, that I believe (along with Trent) is a character that represents that not everyone is able to be comprehended in their very VERY peculiar worlds, Nathaniel who is the male version of Rebecca and Mrs Hernandez who “never speaks” but who actually in a day of anger says she always speaks, it’s only Rebecca that choose not to listen (another point to the Rebecca’s head hypothesis).

She also re-encounters Josh. It turns out Josh had a long term girlfriend, Valencia and they were on a break when he and Rebecca had a summer love. He is a nice guy, his family is from the Philippines and gives him lots of possibilities although his lack of ambitions, he always searches for a relationship and work at a Hawaii store where he can play video game a lot. Valencia is a woman that takes very good care of her health and body, she is a Yoga instructor, very controlling and serious, but actually when Rebecca tries to be friends with her it does not take long for her to open. She sees other women as rivals on beauty and because of Josh. She did not searched for other relationships besides Josh and constructed her life plans around their future together.

Josh has his childhood friends: Greg, who has his ambitions and has potential to achieve it but stay at West Covina working at a bar because of his sick father (or because he is too scared to make a step), he and Rebecca have complicated affairs lots of times. White Josh (he looks like Josh but is white), who is a personal trainer and could be the typical gym dude, but he is actually very rational, caring and gay. Hector lives with his mom who is also his best friend and they do a podcast about relationships together and Father Brah, a very patient, calm and comprehensive priest who is always high with marijuana.

Well, Darryl finds out he is bissexual and loves telling this to everyone, he starts a relationship with White Josh. Paula starts Law school, makes new friends and is cheated on her husband right on the beginning since he was not happy with her being empowered and taking the reels of her life. Greg also goes to another state do university and get away from Rebecca. Josh and Valencia break up and after a lot of developments Josh asks Rebecca to marry him, also after a lot of developments Valencia helps Rebecca to plan the wedding, and she is really good at it.

What all this people have in common is that they all were accommodated, and they all changed, they had to be strong and they had people supporting them. They all want to be happy and they are all trying to find the meaning of this word.

I did not mentioned another key character, on purpose. Heather is Rebecca’s neighbor. She is a millennial and was in a junior college for 8 years where she did a lot of subjects and never graduated. When Rebecca puts fire on her own apartment by accident she moves with Heather for a while and meet her supporting parents. Heather’s parents are very comprehensive, they stimulate and respect all the decisions of their daughter.

When Heather win a contest and become spokesmodel for “Miss Douche” a brand for feminine products, she leaves home and blame her parents for taking so long on making this choice. She says that their support actually rewarded failure, so she never felt the need to stick to anything.

Heather is still a character under construction but… why did she needed to stick to anything before?

In one of the episodes, Heather tells Paula’s son that she is not rich, graduated or “successful” but she is a decent and cool person, and that is what matters. Heather is chosen as a face of a generation of young females because she doesn’t want to follow patterns.

We are said to live in a democracy, but we choose from a selected range of options everyday, we buy certain brands, we go to certain places, we dress in a certain way, socialize with certain people. We are recognized by our gender, colour of skin, financial status, ethnicity… given this labels all the options are there.

Heather didn’t want to choose one option, one way of contributing to society and perform everyday a task that would create the bigger picture.

In a way, we can compare formal education to a ford model of production. Everyone learns at school, everyone sitting while a professor tells all of the students the subject. Who understands better have a higher chance of getting better tasks. Better tasks to perform repetitively with narrow mind. Would Toyota works better? If everyone would learn how all the system works? It would be more fair….

This is confusing, right? why am I comparing our lives to production models?

Human being are not just products that can be produced in a way or another. This is what democracy and human rights should mean in the first place, to be free, to make life choices and to perform the roles and the plays they want in this open field called world (and soon, maybe, universe) where anything can be possible if we strive and make connections.

What Heather represents so well, but all the characters seek, in their way, is that she doesn’t want to be given an amount of choices and choose from it, she wants to create her own possibilities and she is doing it herself. With support, family, friends, interests and passions, but mainly herself… For me this is the biggest message being learned by Rebecca: there’s no one else responsible for our success in the path for happiness but ourselves.

SPOILER ALERT: If you really don’t like spoilers, read and watch ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Little Witch Academia’ before reading this text. But, if I were you, I wouldn’t mind since both are totally worth to watch, read and discuss more than once.

Once my dad told me he worried about the influence Harry Potter had over my generation, and most accurately, me. Harry Potter, he said, jumps into the broomstick and starts to fly, he soon becomes one of the best quidditch players. The “boy who survived” was born special but this is not how life works, you need to work hard to get anything. My father called it the Harry Potter Syndrome.

I love the Harry Potter Series, all the spin offs and I will defend it, but I can’t disagree with that. Harry had a sad and unsupported childhood but it was all because of his aunt jealousy of how special he was (or his mother), after he turned eleven, and fulfill his “destiny”, he has money, fame and people willing to sacrifice for him even though he did nothing to deserve it (initially). He has benefits for what his family had and done and he is the chosen one who will defeat Voldemort and evil.

What is interesting about the story though is that Harry knows he has been given privileges, he never asked for it or had it before, it was like flying in the broomstick: given. He could have chosen to settle and be comfortable but he wanted to do something with it, to create something of his own. He cultivates friendships, develop his own interests and dreams, start the Dumbledore’s Army to practice defence against the dark arts and later becomes an Auror.

He was the son of Tiago Potter, a wealthy boy from a traditional family with possessions who enjoyed his privileges. Tiago had his friends, fun and adventures but was kind of a prick, and would bully Snape, who was the only friend we know of Lily Potter although she is portrayed as popular, smart, kind and beautiful. Tiago changed during his years of school and, for all we know of, stopped being a bully, ending up with Lily (although the why-the-hell-she-did-that remains in the air)(Although we know that the answer is because, generally, good things happen to white, privileged, heterossexual man in media,literature and real patriarchal life).

Tiago had family money to support them both and Syrius while the three fought Voldemort. When Voldemort goes to kill them because their baby, Harry, have a good chance of being fated to destroy him in the future, Lilly puts herself in front of her newborn child, her power and love protect Harry allowing him to grow up and fulfill his predestination. So the successful provider man and the loving, strong, but friendless and storyless mother dies.

Harry is really disappointed with his dad when he learns his story, he is friends with Ron and his family who doesn´t have money but do all they can to provide the best for their children and raise good human beings. He is friends with Hermione, who comes from a Muggle family that supports her choices even though they don’t understand it and know she will be discriminated. He becomes friends with Luna, who people think is crazy for having her own way of looking at the world and with Neville who never had anyone to believe in him not even himself. He even manage to establish a relationship with Draco, the boy who thinks is better than others because of his privileges and who is counterpart to Cedric who also had everything and used it on his favour but would not judge anyone for their possessions and status.

JK Rowling based Hogwarts on George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, which was initially founded by King James VI as a school for orphan boys, as time passed it became a school for wealth students and for boys and girls but they still provide scholarships for orphans.

So, one possible interpretation would be that the story is about an orphan that actually belongs in the ‘powerful’ circles, but grew as a normal human being and returns to transform that world. Like Luke Skywalker who saves the galaxy after his father (from whom he inherited the Jedi Power) fucked up things or Simba who became a hippie, chilled, great lion/dude before returned to be king.

Tiago is not Darth Vader (or Mufasa), but he did not unite people, he fought for a selected group. And that is what Harry Potter does differently.

Well, for the more inclusive that Harry Potter can be (with the discussion of Hermione being black, Dumbledore gay and also Harry´s and Ginny’s son — although it is not formally written in the book) are the boys who save the day. Harry Potter is about white boys that grow up to great deeds and become better persons. That can be great for some white males, but as a woman I’m tired of seeing other girls and women in support roles, not being protagonists themselves.

All that being said, what a surprise it was when I checked this anime I found at Netflix: ‘Little Witch Academia”. My initial interest rose from the ‘Harry Potter only with women characters’ possibility. But it is much more than that.

‘Little Witch Academia’ is about Akko, a girl that as a child saw a show of Shiny Chariot, a powerful and independent witch that traveled the world performing with the intention of making everyone smile, believe in magic and themselves so to create a better world. Since that day, Akko’s dream became to meet Shiny Chariot and to be a witch like her.

She does not comes from a family of witches but since the magical school is going through financial hard times they accept her (she is not a muggle as would be called in Harry Potter because in the series world anyone can have power, they just need to put effort on it). But Luna Nova School of Magic doesn’t have a hogwarts express, there is a portal through which every witch needs to cross by broomstick. And guess what? Akko can´t fly.

So her first adventure starts there, she can’t even go to the school (which was really unfair from the board not to mention). This is when she meets her two best friends: Lotte, a bookworm-person who loves history and Sucy, a suicidal and depressed chemical genius obsessed with mushrooms. This is also when she gets the Grand Triskelion a bat that can be unlocked with the sincere pronunciation of 7 words and teachings.

Shiny Chariot was the last owner of the bat and disappeared without unlocking the last word, Akko sees the chance to find her and starts to unlock each word with the help of her friends and mentors: Ursula, an insecure professor who does not believe in her potential and who is actually Shiny Chariot that disbelieved her dreams after using her powers for bad purposes. Croix, Shiny Chariot best friends as young, who could not accept she was chosen to be the helder of the Grand Triskellinon in place of her and consumed by jealousy starts to work in her own projects to change the world. Amanda, a girl that does not agree with any type of rules and says what she thinks. Diana, very disciplined and smart, overachiever at every school subject and speak many languages, she was also a fan of Shiny Chariot but left her passions behind to adapt of what was expected from her. Constanze doesn’t like to speak and is an inventor and Jasminka focuses her life on food.

The thing about Little Witch Academia is that every girl and woman has (or had one day and have hidden or forgotten) dreams and passions and work hard on them. They have doubts and fears as well, and they learn to cope with them with the help of each other. The last message of the Grand Triskellion is: “connect with people and your dreams will grow”. Shiny Chariot was not able to unlock because she felt guilty for “stealing” the dream of her best friend, who never accepted it. They could have both worked together, but they competed and so none of them succeeded.

The girls fight the final battle together, and the world watch as they believe in themselves so, when there is no more options, the world starts to believe too.

Akko found her own voice with the help of her friends, she flew all over without wings and without power, her goal was never to save the world, was to meet her mentor and also take magic everywhere, the experiences she gathered and the friends she made transformed her, her path and the people around. In the end, young little girls saved the world against all the odds. But the biggest transformation was inside each of them. After a lot of attempts, strives, strugglings and challenges, surrounded by those who mattered, Akko could finally fly with her own inner power.

Maureen Murdock, extension professor at UCLA, wrote a book called “The Heroine’s Journey”. Which is an answer to “The Hero´s Journey” or the “Monomyth” of Joseph Campbell, a must read for anyone who studied storytelling for any type of media.

What she meant to write is that the journey of a heroine was a bit different, because the hero usually is meant to be the hero, while no one expects nothing from the heroine and she has all the odds against her.

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man” Says Campbell

The Heroine, if returning home will only find a new battle in a patriarchal society. So her strength and learning must be about herself. Harry Potter had everything on his favour, but he decided to do something good with it and he did it with the help of others, like Akko, who had nothing on her favour but he never gave up and inspired everyone around her to also believe in themselves.

The thing is that it doesn’t need to be a man or a woman to be a shero, or a heroine. To have an inside transformation and to fight imposed rules is something with no gender, color, sexuality or culture. The heroines are a new path and direction for people and we should keep making amazing sheros, but we should keep in mind to also think about the non-binary Queeros.

Some weeks ago at a bar table, after some beers a colleague mentioned a friend that would only watch movies that were directed by women. Him, as a male director and producer, was worried about the possibilities of other people making this decision.

The topic faded in between conversations but I kept thinking about it.

Lots of people watch only movies directed by man, as well as written and featured by males. Most of the time it is not intentional or conscient, but yep, it happens.

The most renowned film prize, the Academy Awards, this year had 0 woman nominated for best directing, like last year and most of the years before…. In fact only 4 women were nominated for best directing in the whole history of the prize that dates back to 1929. One won. YAY (?).

They were all white. There were also only 4 black people nominated for best directing, all man.

For screenwriters there are 93 female nominees during all the history of The Oscar. One of those women was black.

Why this is significant? Because those movies were in most or all cinema rooms around the world.

Yeah, but we live in the age of internet, there are many other quality stuff online, why still go to the movies and watch those craps we know are controlled by a white male patriarchal group that hesitates to open space for new voices, ideas and lose their representative power?

Isn’t it? I don’t know. But not everyone becomes aware of how misrepresented are most non-white-ocidental-male groups and how the stories repeat themselves with the same characters. I guess those are very strong bonds that were developed through time and repetition and which are being slowly changed by the digital revolution.

Let’s get to the point: women are not writing or directing movies widely screened. But they are writing and directing? for the first time it is possible for more people to have a voice outside of the small group of large companies that rules media in every country and even worldwide. Connected, young and digitally integrated people are watching and reading different opinions with youtube, medium and other more accessible medias. This is a small part of the population yet but it is a starter.

What is the problem on not having representation behind the cameras? My first impulse was to mention researches and datas of how the female representation behind the cameras affect what we see on the screen, and so what we understand from the message. But there is a lot of people who wrote about it already like this text, or this.

I´m gonna go with the most simple and obvious explanation: logic. Me as a white, university graduated, middle class woman with my personal interests have a harder time writing about a black person, or billionaires, gamers, punk rock fans or extremely conservative groups, why? Because that is not my life and reality. I can research about it, google it and the internet is there for this… I can interview people, I can ask for help… This is being a writer after all: showing your perspective over things that I may know well or may research. To be a writer is to have the possibility of creating a new world, that were possible only in your head before.

When we create worlds we do it based on our dreams, subconscious and what we learned from our life experiences and from what we heard from others.

A really good writer is the one who can put feelings and intangible things into words and it is easier when this feelings are our own. A director gets those words and transform it in in an audiovisual reality. When someone else tells a story, we have our own feelings and perspectives about it.

A while ago I watched “Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them” and I had goose bumps when there was a quick scene, about 2 seconds of a whole architectural structure changing in a complicated graphic design. It is really hard to do that, someone spend a long time to do those two seconds and lots of people saw it. But once it was only in someone’s head.

To be a director or writer is to have your dreams that once were so vivid for only you to be shown. It’s to play goddesses and kings, the power to realize your dreams through images and words.

And we’ve got to the point: To realize YOUR dreams.

When we get directors like Wes Anderson, Federico Fellini, Truffaut, Woody Allen, Polansky, Ridley Scott, Cassavetes, Werner Herzog, Jacques Tati, Pasolini, Tarantino, Cronenberg, Antonioni, Clint Eastwood, Fritz Lang, Eisenstein, Darren Aronofsky, Buñuel, Charles Chaplin, Jean-Luc Godard, Bergman, Kubrick and Hitchcock. What do we know about them? Besides the fact that they all have a very unique perspective and style and being at the IMDB list of 100 best directors of all times? (Besides Wes Anderson and Darren Aronofsky who are personal favorites). We also know two things: they are all men and white.

And again, I don’t mean to say that they should not be watched. But as human being we have limited time/earthly experiences and everyday between youtube videos, full lenght movies, tv series, books, internet articles and publicity, a LOT of audiovisual material is produced. It will be impossible to watch 1% of everything during your lifetime.

To watch a movie is to live and adventure in someone else’s head. Why don’t we try to get into more variety of people’s head? Why don’t we practice our empathy? A very popular and important word for our time — as well as any time.

When we watch someone’s perspectives or read someones text we are accepting them to contribute for our thoughts. We choose them over a real person sitting next to us, over a conversation with our friends and family, over a book or over any other many contributors that could be on the other side of the camera.

Why are we making media? Once was mainly about money and social control. But hey, we live in a digital revolution, we have much more access, information and power, why we are not using it and making our own choices? And demanding to have those choices? We now have on demand, streaming and people demanding more liberation of titles so that they don´t need to download it illegally. IMDB has currently more than 4 million titles computed and this number grows everyday.

There is a whole world of options over there to be chosen about any topics, if there isn’t a lot of options, then, lucky you, go ahead and create it, or suggest it to people who could create! You get to be a pioneer.

It is a time for changes, integration, debates, opportunities… and those are a few clicks away.

I chose to watch perspectives related to gender and transgression of social norms. To comprehend other women and queer perspectives on many matters so to think about my own position on society and what I want for the future. What about you? What is your choice?