Joel Zito Araújo’s women: subversion or reproduction of stereotypes?

Abstract

The cinematographic narrative it is characterized, among other aspects, for the intertwining among different languages, such as music, sound elements, verbal and non-verbal texts, what makes, in turn, the filmic plot endowed with its own language, addressing and problematizing social, cultural, historical and political themes. In this sense, this essay investigates the representation of black female characters in the film, Filhas do Vento (2004), the first feature film by Joel Zito Araújo, a filmmaker from Minas Gerais (BR). This aim was outlined from the following problem: How are the female characters represented in the work? Hypothetically, it is believed that the modes of representation of the black woman, in the current work under analysis, sometimes subverts the stereotypes crystallized about her, sometimes ends up reproducing them, reinforcing them. Therefore, the structure of the discussions permeates the considerations about the seventh art and its characterization in Martin (2013), Aumont (1995); as well, the New Brazilian Cinema, with propositions by Gomes (1980), Ramos (2000), Xavier (1983); and Black Cinema, for the ideas proposed in Prudente (2018, 2019), Rocha (1963); despite the representation and images of black subjects, it is anchored in Hooks (2019), Hall (2016), among others. In the film under analysis, the filmmaker problematizes that, while seeking to demystify stereotypes, it is revealed that the media, in a way, masks the protagonism of these women, masking, denying the existence of the paradigms that structure the relations between whites and blacks.