Title: Cinematic Portrayals of Teen Girls in Brazil’s Urban Peripheries
Abstract: While many famous Brazilian films featuring poverty and crime tend to focus more on the perspective of teen boys (such as Cidade de Deus [City of God] and Cidade dos homens [City of Men], some provide an alternative focus on the desires and dreams of teen girls—as well as their nightmares. Sandra Werneck's Sonhos roubados (Stolen Dreams 2010) takes a realist perspective on the everyday lives of three teen girls living in the favelas, or urban slums of Rio de Janeiro. Werneck portrays many serious problems related to urban poverty: child abuse, the drug trade, and related violence and prostitution. However, she makes a special effort to demonstrate that her protagonists, amid this lawless landscape of dangerous obstacles, continue to pursue the dreams they have for a more normal life and to try to care for their nascent families as well. Yet it should be understood that realism is not the only stylistic approach taken by Brazilian filmmakers when dealing with teen girls in a setting of urban poverty. Heitor Dahlia's Nina (2004), described by the director as a loose adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, takes a much more subjective approach. The film overall focuses on the mind-set and emotional state of its protagonist Nina (Guta Stresser), exploring this teenaged girl's passion for her manga-inspired art and gothic subculture as well as her often tenuous grip on reality.1 KeywordsTeen MotherFemale DirectorTeen GirlUrban PovertySurrogate MotherThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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