On Wednesday we posted about foreign celebrities who have weighed in on the Brazilian election, against Jair Bolsonaro.
Here again is a video recorded by British comedian Stephen Fry:
Ator britânico Stephen Fry diz que discurso de Bolsonaro contra negros, mulheres e a comunidade LGBTQ é "aterrorizante" pic.twitter.com/68iTyQNmGG
— BuzzFeedNewsBR (@BuzzFeedNewsBR) September 25, 2018
If you watch the video, you see “someone who loves the country and has visited it many times” asking Brazilians to “reflect on what it means to be Brazilian”. He cannot seem to wrap his head around how Brazilians can vote for a “scary” individual like Jaír Bolsonaro.
To try to help Mr. Fry and others explain this phenomenon, we posted the following thread on Twitter.
(Begin thread) Many people outside of Brazil seem perplexed as to how Brazilians could possibly support a man like @jairbolsonaro for the presidency… (01)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
…especially when he is consistently portrayed as some sort of unholy mixture of Hitler and Machiavelli, with some Donald Trump thrown in for good measure. How could he be gaining so much support…in Brazil of all places? (02)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
I want to try to explain his current popularity by telling a story, a true story, a very specific story, but one that repeats itself all over the country. It's the story of a guy I knew who ran a rotisserie chicken bodega. (03)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
I never knew his real name, everybody just called him "o irmão" (the brother) because he was an Evangelical Christian. He was the nicest guy you ever met, and he sold the best "galeto" (the word for that particular style of rotisserie chicken) that I have ever eaten. (04)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
For about a year, while we lived nearby, it was our family's Sunday tradition to go get "galeto do irmão" after church. But "o irmão" had a problem: his establishment had become a target for thieves. (05)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
The neighborhood was not that great (still isn't), and so he was constantly being robbed at gunpoint. It got to the point where he could not make a living. (06)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
He even went on the local TV station at one point to beg the authorities to increase the security in the area…to no avail. The robberies continued. (07)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
So "o irmão" decided that his self defense was up to him, and he acquired a firearm. And he acquired it basically the only way a firearm can be acquired in Brazil…illegally. (08)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
The next time the thieves broke into his establishment, he was ready, and in the gunfight that ensued he sent one of them to his reward. And when the police arrived, of course they arrested "o irmão" for illegal possession of a firearm. (09)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
I'm not quite sure how much time he spent in jail, if I'm not mistaken it was over a year. When he got out, he re-opened his rotisserie chicken stand. (10)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
He had learned his lesson, and was unarmed. The bandits that came into his establishment one morning, however, were armed to the teeth, and "o irmão" never stood a chance. He was killed where he stood, right next to his rotisserie pit. (11)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
By this time I had moved away from that neighborhood, and did not hear of his murder. One day I went back to visit friends, and happened to mention that I was planning on stopping by to see the "irmão" and get some chicken. (12)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
It was then that they sadly filled me in on what happened. I felt a mixture of deep sadness and great outrage. This man was a victim of a system that has created many such victims over the last few decades. (13)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
The authorities were unable to protect him, and when he tried to protect himself he was punished, and then the bandidos came and finished him off. Now the "irmão" is gone, and the bandidos still roam the streets. (14)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
Now, keep in mind that this story, with slight variations, can be told over and over again in every major city in Brazil… (15)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
…and you suddenly begin to understand why a candidate who promises to restore the right to bear arms, who says things like "the only good criminal is a dead criminal", and who sneers at the "human rights crowd" has such a huge following here. (16)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
You even begin to see why many Brazilians are open, at least in theory, to a return of military rule. In their two decades of power, the Brazilian military regime killed between 400 and 1000 people. Most will agree that this was bad. (17)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
But in 2017 over 68,000 people were murdered in Brazil. The police constantly admonish citizens to "not react" to a mugging, but the gang members have taken to killing people whether or not they react. (18)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
Whether or not Bolsonaro is the right candidate is not the point of the this thread. (19)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
The point is this, many, if not most Brazilians who support Bolsonaro do not do so because they are fascists, homophobic bigots. Rather, they are living a nightmare and the only one, in their minds, who has correctly identified it is @jairbolsonaro (end thread)
— BestofBrazilBlog (@BlogBestof) September 26, 2018
Around the time we posted this, another foreigner, a journalist working here in Brazil, published this thread, which is insightful:
Gotta say I don't think it is well intentioned British comedians or Brazilian artists using completely inaccessible language like "fundamental civilisational heritage” that is going to dent Bolsonaro's very considerable support…
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) September 26, 2018
Completely based on gut feeling (& contrary to what the polls are telling us) but having spent the last couple of weeks travelling through Brazil's less visited corners talking to voters I'm left with a very strong feeling that Bolsonaro really could win this thing …
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) September 26, 2018
Yesterday EVERY SINGLE person I met said or hinted v strongly they wd vote Bolsonaro on Oct 7. Some black, some white, some young, some old. I got to my hotel last night & just sat there thinking that Brazilian (& British) educated elite hasn't got 1st clue about what's going on
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) September 26, 2018
I left Brazil for China in 2011 when Bolsonaro was still a completely peripheral figure & only starting reporting here against this year. So perhaps that gap explains part of my shock at the level of support I've seen for him … But still…
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) September 26, 2018
A few days ago we tentatively predicted a first round victory for Bolsonaro. Our belief that this will happen has only grown stronger.
Follow our continuing coverage of the Brazilian elections here.
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