Today I attended the very last of University of Oklahoma’s Latin Americanist Luncheons. My fellow Global Engagement friend attended with me and we were welcomed with delicious fancy sandwiches and French desserts. We sat at one end of the table. On the other end was the guest speaker: Ms. Bianca Freire-Medeiros. She gave us a presentational lecture on favela tourism in the global south.

 

I chose to attend this lecture, since I have a general understanding of Favela tourism in Brazil and how it has become a global commodity spectacle. For some sick reason, we are entertained by suffering. In this case, we see these slums being advertised as a beautiful touristic spot, filled with violence, drug-dealing, and poverty. The media has distorted our perceptions on how favela life is like; it shows us what the businesses want us to see and therefore makes us fetishize the life.

This makes me wonder how the other favelas in the south are being commodified. Why is Brazil one of the most popular? Even in the opening ceremony to the Olympic Games of 2016, there was a Favela set with beautiful dancing women, masking the poverty with aesthetic.