Core Post #4: Carmen Miranda

In the 1930s, Brazil witnessed a new phase in the construction of its national identity, in which various elements of the working classes were incorporated into it. It was an intense moment of renegotiation of national identity. In this context, a popular idol was of great importance to the reformation of the country's culture. Carmen Miranda, who, besides becoming the most famous Brazilian singer of those times abroad, brought to light a number of representations that were eventually incorporated into the country’s national identity. In this sense, while Carmen was trying to present herself as a synthesis of Brazil, she was identified as such by broad segments of her audience and even counted, to some extent, with state support for the representations that she promoted.

The period extending between the First World War and the end of World War II marked an extreme wave of nationalism around the world. In Brazil, national identities, as they were being built, had to be related to other previously existing identities such as African-Brazilian. Among the Brazilian population there was an ethnic identity with which national identities had to dialogue, in order to build a homogeneous representation of the population.

In this context, there were artists that emerged and became national idols, and their songs widespread in various geographical areas, between different ethnic groups, especially through the new mass media of the time: radio, cinema, etc. Some of these artists, precisely because they circulate between different cultural environments, participated as mediators in the process of construction of a new national identity synthesis for Brazil. Carmen brought, in her artistic career, representations of ethnic identities. Early in her career, the songs showed that the issue of ethnicity was extremely strong within the ideas circulating the groups for which she performed. This was manifested in a common ethnic distinction in her songs, like when she affirmed who was white and who was black and assigned adjectives to each of these different groups, as in “Por Amor a Este Branco” (which means For love for this White) recorded in 1933.

 Carmen Miranda was an important influence in the “formation of Brazil’s multiracial self identity as it was conceptualized in the 1930s” since she marked the “acceptance of the music and dance traditions of samba” (Roberts, 1993, 12). However, Roberts explains that there was a disagreement in the reception of Miranda’s image for the country in Brazilian and American news report. After Miranda came to the US, Brazilians often viewed her negatively, claiming that America made her loose “her voice, change her style and her soul” and become “Americanized” (Roberts, 1993, 13). However, in the US, she was still viewed as a representation of the exotic Latin and Brazilian culture’ the ultimate “South American Bombshell”. Miranda was so appealing to many Americans because of her 'excessiveness' that made her so enjoyable and theatrical in a good way. This contradiction highlights how the star image can differ depending on the audience and their cultural background and knowledge. Therefore, even though Miranda played a role in shaping Brazil’s national identity, I believe she might have lost some of her roots as she climbed the ladder to success in America.

Carmen Miranda is often associated what was called Roosevelt’s Good-Neighbor policy, undertaken by the US in the 40s, in Latin America, to seek allies for the US in World War II. Even though Carmen obtained success in the US long before the implementation of the Good Neighbor policy, she turned out to be the most successful model of the project. Her exotic and lush style captivated the American public, who were delighted with a woman that came from a tropical country, had fruit on her head, wore lush costumes, sang a rousing rhythm and danced frantically. Carmen Miranda became a hit in the US. She appeared in cartoons like Tom and Jerry (in the video below) and Popeye. She was imitated and caricatured by Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and Mickey Rooney. 

In order to understand Miranda’s place in her historical time it is necessary to look at the stereotypes that she connoted of Latina women and culture. The Technicolor aspect of the movies strongly emphasized the vibrant colors of her outfits – which were often characterized as typical of Latina women. It was very stereotypical, but also very vital for her success among Americans, that she was categorized as Other, especially because of the way she talked and her songs in Portuguese. The fact that what she was saying (when she sang in portuguese) could not be understood was appealing because it made her that much more exotic and her body language that much more significant to her performance.

However, the image manufactured by the Fox films ended up creating an inconvenience for Carmen: she became trapped in the image of a "Latina girl" forever. Since she was hired by Fox, Carmen was a gold mine for the company, which means she had to force a caricature Latin accent, even already speaking English perfectly. In the movies, luxurious musicals in Technicolor, Carmen could interpret a Brazilian in That Night In Rio (1941), a Argentine in Down Argentine Way (1940), Cuban in Week-end in Havana (1941), Puerto Rican or even a gypsy. But she was always a Latina girl. She was always confined to a stereotypical role that depended on certain aspects of her background that weren’t even relevant anymore to her life in America.

As Roberts points out, Latina actresses in Hollywood films often correspond to one of two stereotypes of foreign Other “the exotic sex object or the ignorant comic actress” (Roberts, 1993, 11). What is interesting about Carmen Miranda is that she can fit within both of those stereotypes by presenting herself as sexual and sexy at the same time as comical. This contradiction embodied through her “hypersexualized visual presence” and “comic oral presence” point out to the challenges of the time for a Latina to find her place in this society that often tried to characterize outsiders to distinguish them from mainstream Hollywood people (Roberts, 1993, 11). This contradiction was taken further with her female sexuality that was frequently described as being excessive and explored beyond her film roles. The video below of her performance in That Night In Rio, shows this contradiction of her comic accent conveyed on her singing that is blended with her sexual visual appeal and body language.

Here's a photo of me younger dressed as her during carnival in Brazil: