Let's All Go To The Movies. Pt.8.

To be read as a continuation of Part 7; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt7.html

I'm Still Here (2024): Within the discussions surrounding The Oscars 2025 this is, primarily, another movie about the challenges women face in the Entertainment Industry as they age. The title being a response to the way that women used to disappear from the Entertainment Industry the moment they hit 50. 

It tells the story of Eunice Paiva at three stages in her life; Aged around 40 in 1970, aged around 67 in 1996 and aged around 85 in 2014. In 1970 the 40 year old Eunice Paiva is played by Fernanda Torres, an actress nearly 20 years older than the character at the time. The 59 year old Fernanda Torres also plays Eunice Paiva in 1996 when the actress is nearly 20 years younger than the character. Aged 86 Eunice Paiva is played by Fernanda Montenegro who was born in the same year as the character but now a decade later is playing a character 10 years younger than her. Fernanda Montenegro is Fernanda Torres' Mother. Unlike in The Brutalist (2024) I'm Still Here drew the line at having an actress playing a role old enough to be her own Mother. Instead using her actual Mother.

The movie looks at Eunice Paiva's life at key points following the disappearance of her husband, Rubens Paiva at the hands of the Military Dictatorship which ruled Brazil during the time of The Fifth Brazilian Republic (1964-1985). I've found that in order to understand the Military Dictatorship of The Fifth Brazilian Republic you have to understand Brazil's political history from the time that it was a Portuguese Colony.

Brazil has always had a very rich and diverse population of Aboriginal or Indigenous tribes whose roots have been traced back over 11,000 years. Within Brazil's interior there are still hidden tribes who are only now making contact with the outside world for the first time. However the first Portuguese to discover Brazil was Pedro Álvares Cabral in April 1500. It was the Portuguese who gave Brazil its modern name after finding to be abundant with a species of tree that could be used to make a reddish dye; "Pau-brasilia (Brazilwood)." From the Latin; "Pau" meaning; "Wood" and; "Brasil" meaning "Ember-like glow." A detail that is probably worth remembering at an Awards Season overshadowed by the Wildfires which devastated parts of Los Angeles, such as the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, at the start of January 2025.

Initially The Portuguese Empire (1415-1999) had little interest in Colonising Brazil. While it had an abundance of interesting trees you could make dye from The Portuguese Empire saw Brazil's main importance as nothing more than a trade route from Asia. However they realised that they needed to establish some sort of presence there in order to keep the trade route open. 

The Portuguese Empire set about establishing that presence by turning to what using modern terminology would be considered the Private Sector. In 1534 it established 15 land parcels, The Captaincies of Brazil, essentially by drawing horizontal lines across Brazil. Private individuals were then able to bid for these land parcels. The winning bidders became the; "Donatário" (Endowed One) or; "Captain" of that parcel of land and were allowed to run it, more or less, as they wished. It was actually The Portuguese Empire which pioneered the use of Slave Labour on Sugar Plantations. Its influence in The Americas diminished as other European Colonial Powers, particularly Britain and The Netherlands, started bringing large numbers of African Slaves to Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean via The Atlantic Slave Trade, rather than using Slaves captured locally.

So you could certainly describe The Captaincies of Brazil as extreme, idealised versions of; "Totalitarian Capitalism" even if they were established slightly before Capitalism as we know it came into being. They could also be likened to the Feudal System in place in Europe in The Middle Ages (5th Century A.D to 15th Century A.D) where the land was owned by the Nobility and the Peasants worked it for the benefit of the landowners. Although in the European Feudal system the land was owned by the Monarch and control of it was divided up between their relatives while The Captaincies of Brazil were donated to private bidders, supposedly on the basis of merit.

Alongside The Oscars the other big event of America's Awards Season is The Super Bowl and its Half-Time Show. This year the Half-Time Show was performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA. It took a detailed look at the Urban Geography of Los Angeles. How when the US took control of Los Angeles from Mexico at the end of The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) it did so as much with Engineers, Map-Makers and Urban Planners than it did with Infantry and Cavalry. It mapped the area for the first time, dividing it up into land parcels. Many of these land parcels were given away by California Governor and later Senator Leland Stanford. Either to himself or his friends Collis Potter Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr and Charles Crocker. This was a common practice across America at the time with California's; "Big Four" being just some of the; "Robber Barons" who dominated during America's; "Gilded Age." The era of America's Robber Barons came to an end with The Teapot Dome Scandal (1923-1929). The way that The Captaincies of Brazil were established and run is very similar to the way the Robber Barons of America's Gilded Age operated.

For a variety of reasons the Captaincies of Brazil were not particularly successful. In 1548 the Captaincy of Bahia (Baía de Todos os Santos) was overrun by an indigenous tribe of cannibals who ate the Captain, Francisco Pereira Coutinho, and his settlers. This forced the Portuguese Empire to deploy its troops to Bahia, placing it under the control of a Royal Governor. Bringing the Captaincy of Bahia into what we would now consider the Public Sector and turning it into an example of State-run Totalitarian Capitalism. Eventually this model was extended to all of the Captaincies of Brazil turning them into what would now be considered Federal States. However the culture continued with each State being considered the private fiefdom of its Strongman Captain or; “Gaucho.” Even the Portuguese term; Donatário or; “Endowed One” is dripping with the Machismo toxic masculinity that women still face in the Entertainment Industry.

Brazil’s journey from European Colony to independent nation was also an unusual one. I think that we all know by now that the European Settlers in North America fought a war against their Colonial masters to become an independent nation; The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). European Settlers in Mexico also fought a war against their Colonial masters to become an independent nation; The Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). While the majority of European Colonies were granted independence after their Colonial masters had bankrupted themselves during The First World War (1914-1918) and The Second World War (1939-1945) and were no longer able to afford Colonies.

In 1808 the Napoleonic Empire of France invaded Portugal, The Peninsular War (1808-1814). This saw the Portuguese King and Royal Court travel to Brazil and establish Brazil as part of the Kingdom of Portugal, rather than a mere Colony of The Portuguese Empire. By all accounts the King, John VI, would have been happy to remain in Brazil and rule his entire kingdom from there for the rest of his life. However by 1821, 12 years after the end of the Peninsula War, the people of Portugal were restless at their King’s absence and demanded his return. King John VI left his son, Pedro, as Prince Regent of Brazil.

The following year Pedro announced Brazil’s succession from the Kingdom of Portugal. Establishing himself as Emperor Pedro I and Brazil as a Constitutional Monarchy. A system of government similar to modern day Britain’s. Where there is a Monarch as Head of State but the running of the country is left to the government. In 1826 King John VI died and Emperor Pedro I’s brother, Miguel I, claimed the Portuguese throne. Intent on maintaining Portugal as an Absolute Monarchy, where the Monarch runs absolutely everything. In 1831 Emperor Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne in order to return to Portugal and support his daughter, Maria II, to take back the Portuguese throne and establish Portugal as a Constitutional Monarchy.

Emperor Pedro I abdicated in favour of his son, Emperor Pedro II, who was only 5 years old at the time. When Emperor Pedro II came of age in 1840, at 14 years old, he set about turning Brazil into a Parliamentary Monarchy. In which he was Head of State but the running of the country was left to a government made up of a Parliament, as opposed to a confederacy of Captains or Donatário. 

In 1850 Emperor Pedro II’s only son died leaving only his daughters as potential heirs. There was a widespread feeling throughout the country that Brazil’s very macho, misogynistic gaucho cultural would not tolerate a female Monarch. Rather like how some would say that the American Entertainment Industry still won’t tolerate women in positions of power. Like his father Emperor Pedro II never seemed that keen on being Monarch or the idea of a Monarchy, both working throughout their lives to reduce the power of the Monarchy. With the death of his son Emperor Pedro II seemed to give up on the idea of Brazil continuing as any form of Monarchy. The next 40 years were really spent waiting for the current Monarch to die so Brazil could become a Republic. Including by the Monarch himself.

It was really The Portuguese Empire which pioneered the business model of using Slave Labour on Sugar Plantations which came to dominate the Americas during the European Colonial Era. Part of the price that Emperor Pedro I had to pay for British support for Brazil’s succession from the Kingdom of Portugal, alongside trade concessions, was an end to its participation in The Atlantic Slave Trade in 1825. In 1888 Emperor Pedro II went one step further, ending slavery in Brazil entirely. That outraged the Captains or Donatário who were not compensated for what they saw as their property being seized by the Monarch. That added to the outrage that they felt over Emperor Pedro II reducing their power by introducing a Parliamentary system of government. Conversely reformists were outraged that Emperor Pedro II had taken too long to abolish slavery and wasn’t going far enough in reducing the power of the Captains or Donatário.

By 1889 almost all sections of Brazilian society had got fed up with waiting for Emperor Pedro II to die, so Brazil could become a Republic. On November 15th a group of Brazilian military officers led by Deodoro da Fonseca took matters into their own hands. Staging a Coup d'état; The Coup of 1889 or The Coup of the Republic. Enjoying widespread support, even from the Emperor himself The Coup of 1889 was short and bloodless. Deodoro da Fonseca paraded troops through the then capital Rio de Janeiro, deposed the Monarch and its government and proclaimed Brazil to be a Republic. Emperor Pedro II died two years later in exile in France.

The Coup of 1889 established The First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930). It also established the Brazilian Military, particularly the Army, not as servants of the government and people of Brazil but as an integral part of the government of Brazil. What people familiar with nations such as modern Egypt would recognise as a; “Deep State.” 

At around 15:30 on 18/7/25 (UK date) there's still a long list of facts and dates to come.

Edited at around 16:55 on 21/7/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

The initial plan for The Coup of 1889 is that there would be a five year transition period. During which Deodoro da Fonseca would rule with absolute power by Executive Order or Diktat while a new system of government was devised. Due to both domestic and international pressure this; "Republic of the Sword" came to an end after just two years with a new Constitution being adopted in 1891. 

In establishing the First Republic Brazil very much tried to emulate the United States. Adopting a system of government where States were given autonomy over their own affairs united under a Federal government. That Federal government was a Constitutional Republic with three branches; Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Essentially a President, a Congress and Courts. The First Brazilian Republic even adopted the Stars & Stripes as its flag. Only with a Green, Gold and Blue colour scheme rather than Red, White and Blue.

Due to the rush Brazil didn't do a particularly good job of establishing itself as a Federation of States within a Constitutional Republic. Unless it was specifically mentioned in the Constitution then all powers remained with the States rather than the weak Federal government. At the time it was common for Europeans to refer to; "The Brazils" rather than; "Brazil." Viewing the States as separate countries all doing their own thing at their own pace rather than parts of a single country. As a result the Captaincy or Donatário system continued, only now known as; "Coronelismo." 

The First Brazilian Republic was only ever nominal in its Democracy with voting being limited to only the literate at a time when only 5% of the population was literate. Although there was no law saying that women couldn't vote there was also no law saying that women could vote. So, in practice, women didn't vote. Voting was also not secret meaning that the people who could vote voted for the candidate their local Captain, Donatário or Colonel told them to vote for. If people voted against the way they were told to vote then the results of the vote were simply changed by either the Donatário or the Federal government.

During this time the two wealthiest States or Captaincies in Brazil were São Paolo, which was a centre for Coffee production, and Minas Gerias, which was a centre for Cattle and Dairy farming. So throughout the First Brazilian Republic it was the Donatário of São Paolo and Minas Gerias who chose the government of Brazil, alternating the Presidency between them. An arrangement which was known as; "Café com Leite" or; "Coffee with Milk."

During The First Brazilian Republic the economy remained almost exclusively agricultural, based around Cash Cropping. The Donatário would use their fiefdoms to grow crops like Coffee, Sugar and Rubber which were then sold to the Industrialised World - the European Colonial Powers along with America. Some of the proceeds were used to import small amounts of things like machinery from the Industrialised World. 

This changed with the outbreak of The First World War (1914-1918). Initially Brazil tried to remain neutral, continuing to export its Cash Crops to both the Entente Powers; France, Britain, America, Russia etc and the Central Powers; Germany, the Ottoman Empire etc. However with both sides trying to blockade each other Brazil was forced to trade much more with the near-by America. When America joined the Entente Powers Brazil also joined the Entente Powers, earning itself a place at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) which resulted in the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Brazil was also forced to shift its economy away from Cash Crop based exports and towards domestic production and consumption. As a result the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century finally arrived in Brazil in the 1920's. Bringing with it the population shift from the country to the city and the conflict between Capital and Labour.

Through the Super Bowl Half-Time Show and The Brutalist (2024) success at The Oscars this year's Awards Season has looked extensively at "Metropolis" (1927). Arguably the most influential movie ever made. Metropolis was made during The Weimar Republic (1918-1933), the Germany which existed between the Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles and the rise of Nazi Germany, leading to The Second World War (1939-1945). It is all about Urbanisation and the conflict between Capital and Labour which emerged during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century. It was intended as a Communist warning about Fascism fuelled by rising public anger.

During The First World War and the subsequent Interwar period a lot of people decided to get the hell out of Europe. Fleeing to America and The Americas, including Brazil. So this global polarisation between the radical politics of Communism and Fascism most certainly affected Brazil, particularly the Brazilian Military. The Coup of 1889 established the Brazilian Military as a sort of Deep State, an integral part of the Brazilian government rather than servants of the Brazilian government and the Brazilian people. The polarisation between Fascism and Communism lead to a split within the Brazilian military. The officer class supported Fascism while the enlisted ranks, sergeants and below supported Communism. 

Industrialisation weakened the Donatário significantly. Ahead of the 1930 Election the Coffee with Milk coalition broke down. The incumbent President Washington Luís from São Paolo announced that his successor would be Júlio Prestes, also from São Paolo. Seeing itself as being robbed of its turn Minas Gerias threw its support behind the Liberal Alliance coalition led by Getúlio Vargas. 

Júlio Prestes was declared the winner of the 1930 Election while the Liberal Alliance refused to accept the result. In July 1930 Vargas' running mate, João Pessoa was killed. The Liberal Alliance used the killing as justification to launch a revolution; The Revolution of 1930, to depose Prestes' government and replace it with Vargas. With battles breaking out across Brazil the Brazilian Military intervened to prevent a Civil War. Mounting a Coup d'état to depose Prestes' government and placing Brazil under the rule of a Military Junta; The Pacification Junta. Bringing an end to The First Brazilian Republic. After 10 days The Pacification Junta installed Getúlio Vargas as Head of the Provisional Government and establishing The Second Brazilian Republic (1930-1937).

As Head of the Provisional Government Getúlio Vargas followed Deodoro da Fonseca in ruling by Executive Order of Diktat. One of the first Executive Orders he issued was Decree No. 19.398. This dissolved Brazil's Congress and all of its State Legislatures and Municipal Councils, giving Vargas the power to appoint officials at all levels by Executive Order. It suspended the 1891 Constitution, expect for Habeas Corpus for common crimes and placed Vargas and all members of the Provisional Government above the law and review by the Courts. Essentially suspending the Judicial Branch of the government alongside the Legislative Branch.

By giving himself all power Getúlio Vargas stripped the Donatário of any power. In 1932 the Donatário of Minas Gerias and Rio Grande do Sul, which has backed the Liberal Alliance, along with Paraíba joined forces with São Paolo to launch The Constitutionalist Revolution (1932). First to force Vargas and the Provisional Government to adopt a new Constitution and return to civilian rule or, failing that, overthrow Vargas and the Provisional Government. The Constitutionalist Revolution was defeated in a little under three months.

A new Constitution was adopted in 1934 and Brazil returned to civilian rule with Getúlio Vargas being elected President with a single term ending in 1938. However one of the first acts of Vargas' civilian government was to introduce the so-called; "National Security Law" (Law No.38) which allowed it to suppress opposition under the guise of protecting political and social order. In 1935 the launched the government news/propaganda radio program; "Horo do Brasil (Hour of Brazil)" which later became; "Voz do Brasil (Voice of Brazil)" which continues to be broadcast to this day.  

Throughout The Second Brazilian Republic the polarisation between Fascism and Communism which gripped much of the World also affected Brazil. In 1932 Plínio Salgado formed Brazilian Integralist Action (Ação Integralista Brasileira/AIB). Sometimes known as; "Greenshirts" the AIB was Fascist paramilitary organisation in the mould of Benito Mussolini's "Blackshirts" in Italy and Adolf Hitler's "Brownshirts" in Germany. They're said to be particularly similar to Eoin O'Duffy's "Blueshirts" in Ireland. While the Brazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro/PCB), founded in 1922, grew in strength. In 1935 sergeants of the Brazilian Military who were members of  the Brazilian Communist Party, backed by the Soviet Union, staged a short, four day, uprising in Brazil's North-East (Natal, Recife) with some limited support in the capital, Rio de Janeiro. The 1935 Communist Uprising.

At around 17:25 I'll try and finish this list of facts & dates then start analysing it tomorrow.

Edited at around 18:30 on 22/7/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

In response to the 1935 Communist Uprising the Communist Party of Brazil was banned. Getúlio Vargas introduced the National Commission for the Repression of Communism and the National Security Tribunal to suppress opposition under the guise of fighting Communism outside of the normal police and Courts system. In March 1936 Congress was raided and five members of the National Liberation Alliance were arrested. 

In December 1935 a 90 day State of Emergency was introduced and renewed five times, suspending the 1934 Constitution. Under Justice Minister Francisco Campos the government of Getúlio Vargas set about drafting a new Constitution. "A Real Pain" (2024) looked at the history of Poland, both as part of Nazi Germany during The Second World War and The Second Polish Republic (1918-1939) that preceded it. The Second Polish Republic being the first Fascist Dictatorship in Europe, before Italy and German. Getúlio Vargas was particularly inspired by Poland's Fascist Dictatorship, to the point that the Constitution it eventually introduced in 1937 often referred to as; "Polaca" or; "The Polish One."

Prior to the 1935 Communist Uprising the Officer class of the Brazilian Military had increasingly embraced Fascism. In the wake of the 1935 Communist Uprising they saw their role within Brazilian politics as defending the nation against Communism and Fascism as the best defence against Communism. Amid a wave of anti-Communist sentiment Getúlio Vargas saw a way to stay in power beyond 1938 and Brazilian Integralist Action saw a way to seize power for the first time. 

In 1938 the head of Brazilian Integralist Action, Plínio Salgado, instructed his Chief-of-Staff, Olímpio Mourão Filho to devise what became known as; "The Cohen Plan." Borrowing heavily from; "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (1903) and steeped in the Anti-Semitism of European Fascism this portrayed Communism as a Jewish conspiracy to enslave non-Jews. It then detailed an elaborate plan for this Jewish-Communist conspiracy to seize power in Brazil, rather like the 1935 Communist Uprising. Taking the form of a letter being written by a foreign Jew to Brazilian Communists Mourão signed the plan as; "Béla Kun," a Hungarian Jewish Communist who led the 1919 revolution which established The Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919-1919). This was then changed to the fictional; "Béla Cohen" as; "Cohen" was seen as a more obviously Jewish name.

Olímpio Mourão Filho believed he was being tasked with writing a discussion document. A sort of war-game imagining a scenario so people could discuss and imagine how to respond to the scenario. This is something he detailed in the first chapter of the plan. However the second chapter and only the second chapter was then fraudulently presented as a genuine piece of intelligence, a communication between a foreign Jew and his Brazilian Communist co-conspirators. Being presented as evidence of a real plot this 'letter from Béla Cohen' was widely circulated amongst the Brazilian Military, the Brazilian political class and the general public. In re-printing it the typesetter made a mistake and changed; "Béla Cohen" to simply; "Cohen."

Getúlio Vargas used the Cohen Plan to convince Brazil's Congress to go beyond a State of Emergency and declare a State of War on October 1st 1937 (1/10/1937). This cancelled the scheduled 1938 Election and gave Vargas absolute power over all of Brazil's Military and Police Forces. Due to the Donátario culture Brazil's State Police Forces have always been heavily militarized. It was only an agreement from The First Brazilian Republic which prevented them from having heavy artillery. On November 10th (10/11/1937) Getúlio Vargas used that absolute power over the police and military to overthrow the Brazilian Congress in a coup d'état. The 1937 Brazilian Coup d'état.

The 1937 Brazilian Coup d'état brought an end to The Second Brazilian Republic and ushered in the start of The Third Brazilian Republic (1937-1945). A Fascist Dictatorship Getúlio Vargas named The Third Brazilian Republic the; "Estado Novo (New State)." Copying the Fascist Dictatorship which had been established in Portugal in 1926. People talk about the end of The Second World War bringing about the defeat of Fascism in Europe. Yet rather like how they find it convenient to forget that Poland was the first Fascist Dictatorship in Europe they also seem to find it convenient to forget that Spain remained as a Fascist Dictatorship until 1975. While Portugal was a Fascist Dictatorship until 1974, when Marcelo Caetano was deposed with a little bit of help from ABBA and the Eurovision Song Contest.

Inspired by and modelled on European Fascist Dictatorships Brazil's Estado Novo would have been a natural ally from the Axis Powers of Germany and Italy during The Second World War. However Getúlio Vargas was driven only by his desire for power rather than any wider ideology. His alignment with Brazilian Integralist Action was merely a marriage of convenience. Following a failed Brazilian Integralist Action coup attempt against him in 1938 Vargas probably felt that a closer alliance with European Fascists would bring an end to his regime. The Second Polish Republic certainly wasn't opposed to accepting German Nazism, merely having to accept a German leader. Also Estado Novo came into being due to Vargas' fear that he lacked popular support ahead of the cancelled 1938 Election. There were certainly plenty of Brazilians who were more sympathetic to Europe's non-Fascists and Soviet Russia than they were to Vargas and Brazilian Integralist Action.

On December 7th 1941 (7/12/1941) Japan attacked America at the Pearl Harbour naval base. This saw Japan join The Second World War on the side of the Axis Powers and forced America to join The Second World War on the side of the Allied Powers. Japan's rapidly expanding control of South-East Asia saw the Allied Powers cut off from their vital supplies of Rubber. Making them almost wholly dependent on Brazilian Rubber. If Brazil had also joined the Axis Powers then America would have invaded Brazil under; "Plan Rubber." This threat of American invasion along with a huge bribe to build a massive Steel plant saw Brazil's Estado Novo join the Allied Powers in January 1943. The Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) went on to serve in Italy from 1944 until 1945.

With Brazil having fought Fascism during The Second World War Fascism very much fell out of favour within Brazil following the end of The Second World War on August 15th 1945 (15/8/1945). Many of those who had served as part of the BEF had been conscripted as punishment for political opposition to the Vargas regime. The wider Brazilian Military certainly didn't see heroically serving in the Brazilian Military as a punishment for being anti-Brazilian. So the Brazilian Military deposed Getúlio Vargas in a popular Coup d'état on October 29th 1945 (29/10/1945) bringing an end to The Third Brazilian Republic. At the earliest opportunity an election was held on December 2nd 1945 (2/12/1945) which saw Eurico Gaspar Dutra elected President and the establishment of The Fourth Brazilian Republic (1945-1964).

At around 19:10 on 22/7/25 (UK date) I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to extend this long list of facts and dates. 

Edited at around 16:50 on 28/7/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

As President Dutra brought Brazil much closer to the US. Breaking off diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union and helping the US bring 20+ nations of The Americas together under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (1948). On paper this so-called; "Rio Pact" is similar to NATO, seeing members guarantee each other's security by viewing an attack on one as an attack on all. In practice though it is just a formalisation of The Monroe Doctrine (1823) - The US views Latin America as its property. The US will view any interference in Latin America as an act of war against the US. In support of the Rio Pact President Dutra established the Superior School of War (ESG) within the Brazilian Military which would come to be very important in subsequent years.

At the time the US was obsessed with Infrastructure Development as a driver for Economic Growth. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" was seen to have lifted the US out of The Great Depression (1929-1945) and into The Second World War. The Second World War gave way to the Marshall Plan or; "Foreign Assistance Act of 1948" to rebuild Europe's war ravaged infrastructure. President Dutra was particularly taken with the US' obsession with the car as king which led the Federal Highways Act of 1956 and saw Los Angeles develop as a patchwork of neighbourhoods linked by Freeways. So Dutra opened Brazil's markets to the US' Big Three Auto companies and built over 500km (300 miles) of Freeways during his five years in office. Including the BR-116 Freeway which he named after himself, Rodovia Presidente Dutra.

At the 1950 Election Getúlio Vargas, the dictator deposed in the 1945 Coup d'état, returned to power as elected President. Vargas' second term was really dominated by trying to convince everyone that he was no longer a dictator and would give up power when his term ended. However he inherited a lot of economic problems from Eurico Gaspar Dutra who had funded much of Infrastructure Development through foreign debt. In response President Vargas undertook a large program of Nationalisation. Taking businesses which had previously been in the Private Sector into the Public Sector. For example he created the Brazilian State Oil Corporation Petrobras in 1953 and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).

On August 5th 1954 (5/8/1954) two members of Getúlio Vargas's personal security team shot and killed Brazilian Air Force Major Rubens Florentino Vaz and wounded anti-Vargas journalist Carlos Lacerda. It is not clear if Vargas authorised the assassination attempt, it's reported that upon hearing about it he said; "Carlos Lacerda was shot in the foot. I was shot twice in the back." However it certainly didn't help convince people that Vargas wasn't a dictator who would give up power when his term ended in 1956. Amid calls for his resignation Vargas declared that he would only leave the Presidential Palace dead. Fearing that the Brazilian Military would again overthrow him on August 24th 1954 (24/8/1954) Vargas committed suicide in the Presidential Palace.

Following Vargas' death Vice President Café Filho took over as President until he suffered a Stroke and had to resign on November 8th 1955 (8/11/1955). Filho was replaced by Speaker of the Lower House of Congress Carlos Luz. Brazil's 1955 Election had been held in October and at the time of Carlos Luz taking over the Presidency the results were hotly contested. Amid fears that he would overturn the Election results and establish another dictatorship the Brazilian Military removed Carlos Luz as President on November 11th 1955 (11/11/1955). The Preventative Coup of November 11th. Vice President of the Upper House of Congress Nereu Ramos became interim President until the new President was inaugurated in January 1956.

The new President Juscelino Kubitschek had been elected on a mandate of; "Fifty Years of Progress in Five!" Upon taking office he laid out his; "Plano de Metas" establishing 30 development goals across 6 areas such as Energy and Transportation. As with President Dutra President Kubitschek saw the US model of Infrastructure Development as key to Economic Development with the car as king. It was President Kubitschek who ordered the building of Brasília, Brazil's new and current capital. Built in the Modernist style of Oscar Niemeyer Brasília was planned in the Brutalist style by Lúcio Costa. Its key feature is two Freeways intersecting in the shape of a cross.

The US model of Infrastructure Development as key for Economic Development is built around the Public Sector. Both the New Deal and the Marshall Plan were paid for using public money and largely carried out as public works, using State Owned Enterprises (SOE's) similar to Petrobras. Again as with President Dutra President Kubitschek instead made the Private Sector central to his program of Infrastructure Development. Ironically one of the main reasons Carlos Luz gave for trying to stop Kubitschek from becoming President was that he was secretly a Communist. An economic system which excludes the Private Sector entirely.

Alongside foreign loans President Kubitschek massively loosened the rules of foreign investment, offering land grants, tax breaks and profit remittances for foreign companies willing to invest. However these incentives were dependent on the foreign investors finding Brazilian partners (associated capital). As the predominately American foreign Multinationals were much larger than their Brazilian counterparts they simply absorbed the Brazilian companies. Reversing the industrialisation Brazil underwent in the 1920's. 

So while Brazil's industrial sector grew by some 80% and its GDP by 7% during this period very little of that money stayed in Brazil. Instead being taken out as profits of the predominately American foreign Multinationals (profit remittances). With the Multinationals treating Brazil as a workshop to make things for them to sell in other countries, a sort of industrial cash-cropping, Brazil's domestic market was forced to rely heavily on imports the cost of which massively drove inflation, while wages were stagnating. The result of all this US investment in Brazil was Brazil being forced to accept an absolutely massive US$300m from the US.

President Kubitschek reached his term limit in 1961 and peacefully transferred power to his elected replacement, Jânio Quadros. The first time in Brazil's history that a President peacefully transferred power to an opponent. 

Jânio Quadros had been elected by a landslide to undo the economic damage done by Juscelino Kubitschek. In part he set about doing this by distancing Brazil from the US. He re-established diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in order to achieve a Neutralist position. Making Brazil an ally of neither the US nor the Soviet Union but, at the same time, an ally to both. However while President Quadros had been elected in a landslide he did not have control of either Houses of Congress meaning that his Presidency stalled amid political deadlock. At the peak of this deadlock, on August 25th 1961 (25/8/1961) Jânio Quadros sensationally resigned. To this day no-one is exactly sure why Jânio Quadros resigned. However there is a large body of opinion that it was a strategic move, part of a cunning plan which failed.

Going all the way back to the Captaincies and Donatário of the Colonial Era Brazilian politics has been dominated by its own form of Popularism, Brazilian Popularism. Policy and Ideology don't matter, all that matters is the personality of the leader and the relationship they have with the masses, typically the poor and disenfranchised. The leader convinces the masses that they're in a sort of conspiratorial relationship with each other, battling the people who are trying to oppress them. That can be the Capitalists, the Communists, the Colonialists, the Deep State, the Military, the Establishment. The slogan and the shared enemy can easily be changed as suits the dear leader. Having been elected in a landslide Quadros was probably thinking that the masses wouldn't stand for their dear leader being forced to resign by the oppressors in Congress.

The Second World War gave way to The Cold War (1945-1990). This saw the Capitalist First World pitted against the Communist Second World. The battle ground was the Third World. Nations which weren't economically developed enough to have any real political system and nations that were only arriving at the Industrialisation that was taking place in Europe around the time of the 1917 Russian Revolution. 

When the Cold War began the Capitalist First World was dominant. The Communist Second World was really only made up of Soviet Russia. Then the Capitalist First World took two big, early, losses. First in 1949 when China became part of the Communist Second World. Alongside Soviet Russia this gave the Communist Second World control over all of North-East Asia. The second came in 1959 when Cuba joined the Communist Second World following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. This brought the Communist Second World into The Americas, which the US, as leaders of the Capitalist First World, saw as its property. In 1961, under Democrat President John F. Kennedy the US unsuccessfully invaded Cuba in an attempt to return it to the Capitalist First World. The Bay of Pigs Invasion.

So weak was President Quadros' position that even his Vice-President, João Goulart, was from an opposition party. Only July 28th (28/7/1961), around a month before his resignation, Quadros dispatched João Goulart on a trade mission to newly Communist China. Probably the most terrifying place that supporters of the Capitalist First World could imagine at the time. To give you an idea of how long international travel took back then João Goulart didn't actually arrive in China until August 18th (18/8/1961), a week before Quadros resigned.

Knowing how long it would take for Goulart to return from China to replace him Quadros seems to have been thinking that Congress would hesitate in accepting his resignation. Even if they only hesitated for a couple of days over a weekend that would bring his supporters, the masses, out in protest against the dear leader being forced to resign by the Establishment. At the same time the Brazilian Military would be so worried about João Goulart's links to Communism that they would not stand for him becoming President. So Quadros' resignation would not be accepted and he would be able to stay on as President enjoying greater power amid the weakened power of Congress, breaking the political deadlock.

Like Getúlio Vargas before him Jânio Quadros quickly discovered that either Brazilian Popularism wasn't as strong as it used to be or he didn't enjoy as close a relationship with the masses as he thought. They largely did not come out in protest against his resignation. Any attempts at a popular mobilisation certainly weren't helped by Congress not hesitating to accept Quadros' resignation, accepting it in two hours. Seeming to give Jânio Quadros the dubious honour of being a President who resigned by accident.

At around 17:10 on 28/7/25 (UK date) I'll try to continue the long journey to Brazil's 1964 Coup on Wednesday.

Edited at around 16:30 on 4/8/2025 (UK date) to copy & paste;

Fears over João Goulart's links to Communism were not enough for the Brazilian Military to block Jânio Quadros' resignation. However they were enough for the Brazilian Military to try and stop João Goulart becoming President. With Goulart out of the country when Congress accepted Quadro's resignation and therefore unable to be inaugurated the Speaker of the Upper House of Congress, Pascal Ranieri Mazzilli, was appointed Interim President. The Brazilian Military then demanded that fresh elections be held and threatened to arrest Goulart when he returned to the country to prevent his inauguration.

This all happened just eight months after Brazil had reached the milestone of having a President peacefully transfer power to an opponent for the first time in the country's history. So regardless of their feelings towards João Goulart an overwhelming section of Brazilian society wanted to see power peacefully transferred in accordance with the law laid out in the 1946 Constitution; In the event of a President's resignation the Vice-President becomes President.

The main captain of this; "Legality Campaign" (Campanha da Legalidade) as it became known was Leonel Brizola, Governor of Rio Grande do Sul State, emulating the role of Donatário or Gaucho. One of the main aspects of the Legality Campaign was the so-called; "Legality Chain" in which 150 shortwave radio stations across Brazil formed a rely-chain to broadcast Brizola's speeches and news of the campaign across the country. At a time when people across Brazil can read this the moment I publish it on the World Wide Web that almost seems absurdly quaint. However with the technology available at the time it was an inventive and impressive thing.

Crucially Machado Lopes, commander of Brazil's 3rd Army, broke away from the Brazilian Military and joined the Legality Campaign. Fearing Civil War with Brazil's 3rd Army facing off against its 1st, 2nd and 4th Armies a compromise was reached. João Goulart would be inaugurated as President. However Brazil would shift from a Presidential Republic to a Parliamentary Republic. Meaning that Executive Power would lie with a Prime Minister chosen by Congress rather than the elected President. Despite this compromise a faction within the Brazilian Military still tried to prevent João Goulart's inauguration by shooting down his plane as he flew from Rio Grande do Sul to the capital Brasília; "Operation Mosquito."

In 1961 the US under Democrat President John F. Kennedy moved medium-range Nuclear Missiles to Turkey. This wasn't so much American placing Nuclear Missiles on Soviet Russia's doorstep as placing them inside Soviet Russia's front porch. The Soviet Bloc at the time included East Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Ukraine all of which were to the West, behind the Nuclear Missiles the US had placed in Turkey. In response the Soviet Russia placed medium-range Nuclear Missiles in Cuba, right on America's doorstep.

Obviously the US' decision to deploy Nuclear Missiles to Turkey was calm, rational and sensible. While Soviet Russia's decision to deploy Nuclear Missiles to Cuba was dangerous, reckless and unacceptable. So the move triggered a 13 day crisis in which the US threatened to attack Soviet Russia if the missiles were not removed from Cuba. This; "Cuban Missile Crisis" is still considered the closest the World has ever come to all out Nuclear War. 

At the height of the crisis John F. Kennedy requested that Brazil join an American invasion of Cuba. Perhaps being mindful of the US failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion João Goulart refused to join America's war. Ultimately João Goulart was right, the crisis ended with both the US and the Soviet Union agreeing to remove their respective missiles. However John F. Kennedy seemed to take João Goulart's refusal to support, let alone join, an American invasion of Cuba as a personal insult his ego never recovered from.

The compromise which saw Brazil become a Parliamentary Republic and allowed Goulart to become President was dependent on it being confirmed by a Public Referendum scheduled for 1965. Actually during the Cuban Missile Crisis Goulart got this Referendum moved forward and in January 1963 won it with voters rejecting the idea and Brazil returning to being a Presidential Republic. Gaining full Executive Power João Goulart was able to press ahead with his policies, his; "Base Reforms" (Reformas de Base).

Like his predecessor Jânio Quadros João Goulart's Base Reforms were focused on undoing the economic damage caused by Juscelino Kubitschek which saw Brazil being forced to take on a then absolutely massive US$300million loan from the US. This particularly involved reversing Kubitschek's rules on profit remittances which allowed, typically American, Multinationals to take their profits out of Brazil. Alongside reversing the land grants that Kubitschek handed out taking unproductive Private land back into Public ownership. Like Getúlio Vargas during his second, elected, term Goulart also undertook a large program of Nationalisation, taking companies in the Private sector and bringing them into the Public sector. Including the creation of the Brazilian Public energy company Electrobrás.

Although not strictly speaking an act by President Goulart in February 1962 Goulart's strong supporter Leonel Brizola decided to nationalise the Companhia Telefônica Nacional (National Telephone Company), a subsidiary of the ITT Corporation. ITT Corporation being an American Multinational that in the 1960's was paid US27million in compensation by the US government for the damage Allied bombing did to ITT Corporation factories in Nazi Germany building fighter aircraft for the Nazi Luftwaffe to use to shoot down Allied bombers. At the time ITT Corporation's CEO Harold Geneen was a close personal friend of CIA Director John A. McCone.

In response to John F. Kennedy having his ego bruised and Brazil's economic policies making life more difficult for US corporations the CIA established two Think Tanks dedicated to overthrowing the Goulart government; The Instituto Brasileiro de Açã Democrátia (IBAB/Brazil Institute for Democratic Action) and The Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Sociais (IPÊS/Institute of Research and Social Studies). Pressure from these two CIA Think Tanks saw the political right abandon the Goulart government, forcing it from the centre to increasingly rely on the political left for support.

In 1948 President Eurico Gaspar Dutra had established the Superior School of War (ESG) to serve the Rio Pact. The ESG was closely linked to the CIA through the School of the Americas. Through the ESG officers in the Brazilian Military were taught; "Revolutionary War Doctrine" which saw the Communist takeover coming in five stages. The first being propaganda, the second being the formation of local groups and the infiltration of state apparatus, the third being guerrilla warfare, the fourth being the creation of rebel zones beyond the government's control. The fifth and final stage being the violent seizure of power by the revolutionaries.

Brazil inherited an economic crisis from President Kubitschek, inflation was running at some 92% in 1964 and there were food shortages in many rural areas. With CIA pressure through the IBAB and IPÊS blocking President Goulart's Base Reforms there was no sign that things would improve any time soon. As a result there were a lot of very unhappy people in Brazil at the time. There were some 430 strikes between 1961 and 1963, compared with only 180 between 1958 to 1960. The rural poor organised themselves into the Peasants Leagues, groups similar to Trade Unions, and started demanding the promised land reforms by any means.

Through the IBAB and IPÊS the CIA promoted the Revolutionary War Doctrine that it had been teaching through the ESG to the wider public. It then used President Goulart's reliance on the political left for support along with the strikes and the Peasants Leagues as evidence that the Communists had reached the second stage of their takeover of the country. Action was needed to be taken before the guerrilla warfare began and rebel controlled zones began to emerge. 

In early March 1964 President Goulart had grown tired of Congress blocking his Base Reforms. So he issued a series of Executive Orders which brought all land within 10km (6 miles) of highways, railways and dams into the Public sector. It also brought five of Brazil's largest oil refineries into Public ownership. In response the CIA, through the IBAB and IPÊS organised the; "Marcha da Familia com Deus pela Liberdade" (March of the Family with God for Liberty), a series of marches calling for President Goulart to be overthrown to protect Brazil from Communism. The largest gathering of the March of the Family with God for Liberty was scheduled for April 2nd (2/4/1964). At which point the Brazilian Military would mobilise in a Coup d'état overthrowing the Goulart government.

However on March 25th (25/3/1964) the Association of Sailors and Marines of Brazil (AMFNB), a sort of Trade Union for enlisted ranks in Brazil's Navy, staged a revolt in Rio de Janerio. The revolt and President Goulart's failure to properly punish those responsible was quickly likened to the 1905 "Potemkin Incident" in which enlisted sailors aboard the Russian warship the Potemkin mutinied and become heroes of both the 1905 Russian Revolution and the 1917 Russian Revolution. Events immortalised in the 1925 movie; "Battleship Potemkin," a contemporary of "Metropolis" (1927).

With Brazil appearing to be in the grips of a Communist Revolution the Brazilian Military moved forward its Coup d'état launching operations in Minas Gerias on March 31st (31/3/1964). Expecting resistance to the point of Civil War the Brazilian Military had coordinated its Coup d'état with the US at the highest levels. Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson provided US military support to the Coup d'état in the form of the USS Forrestal Aircraft Carrier battlegroup and a fleet of 26 combat and transport aircraft under the name; "Operation Brother Sam."

Rather than plunge his country into Civil War, or more realistically war with the US, President Goulart instead resigned and went into exile the following day (1/4/1964). Allowing the US-backed military coup to be successful and bringing an end to The Fourth Brazilian Republic (1945-1964).

At around 17:00 on 4/8/25 (UK date) I've got to pause just as a point seem to be emerging.

Edited at around 16:50 on 6/8/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

The Fifth Brazilian Republic (1964-1985) was established on April 9th (9/4/1964) with the issuing of the First Institutional Act. Essentially an Executive Order this suspended many of the civil rights of the 1946 Constitution, gave the President the power to remove elected officials and civil servants at all levels and suspend the political rights, such as voting and holding public office, of those found guilty of poorly defined; "Subversion." Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco was appointed President by the Brazilian Military on April 11th (11/4/1964).

Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco saw his role as similar to previous military appointed Presidents going back to Deodoro da Fonseca and the Regime of Swords which established the First Brazilian Republic in 1889. He would simply be an interim President for the remainder of João Goulart's term, making the moderate changes needed to get the country back on track before returning Brazil to civilian rule.

However others within the Brazilian Military thought that Brazil needed to undergo much more substantial changes. So they blocked the implementation of Castelo Branco's moderate changes. Meaning that the Brazilian Military were able to replace Castelo Branco with another military appointed President, Artur da Costa e Silva in January 1967. Much more hardline that Castelo Branco as President Costa e Silva issued the Fifth Institutional Act which suspended the 1946 Constitution, dissolved the Brazilian Congress, introduced widespread censorship of all forms of media and gave the President absolute power.

In August 1969 Costa e Silva was incapacitated by a Stroke. Rather than allowing power to transfer to his Vice-President the Brazilian Military appointed the even more hardline Emílio Garrastazu Médici as President. Under Emílio Garrastazu Médici Brazil's military dictatorship was and its most repressive with the kidnapping, torture and murder of political opponents becoming widespread amid growing armed opposition to the dictatorship. The majority of I'm Still Here is set during these so-called; "Years of Lead" (1969-1974).

It is still a matter of much debate over exactly how close Brazil was to a Communist takeover in 1964, how much of it was simply an American excuse for a military takeover. However there had been the Communist Uprising in 1935. The Peasants Leagues which became widespread under João Goulart were established by the Brazilian Communist Party. They were particularly influenced by the Chinese Communist Revolution (1927-1949) led by Chairman Mao Zedong which had also heavily influenced the Cuban Revolution (1959). This really fetishised the role of the Peasant Class organising armed rebellions of peasants in rural areas and, eventually, leading them in an armed takeover of the country. 

Whatever the situation had been like before it massively intensified in response to the 1964 Coup. Student protesters soon formed into armed Communist urban guerrilla groups such as Ação Libertadora Nacional (National Liberation Action/ALN) and a faction of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) which would rename itself Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro (8th October Revolutionary Movement/MR8) following the capture of Cuban Revolution leader Che Guevara in Bolivia on October 8th 1967 (8/10/1967). The Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) launched a Peasant Class led Revolutionary War around the Araguaia River in what is now Tocantins State, The Araguaia Guerrilla War (1966-1975). These armed groups were variously supported by the Soviet Union, Communist China and Cuba.

In 1952 Egypt had a revolution; The 23 July Revolution (1952), which expelled its British Colonial Occupiers and established the nation as a Republic with Gamal Abdel Nasser as President. As part of a global movement by the Third World to establish itself as independent in the wake of the European Colonial Era in July 1956 President Nasser brought the Suez Canal in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula into the Egyptian Public Sector, Nationalising it. 

In response to Egypt outrageously exerting control over Egyptian territory Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula, officially to prevent a build up of Egyptian forces on its border with Israel. However this was always a ruse. Israel had agreed with Britain in advance that Britain would respond to Israel's invasion by dispatching a British 'peacekeeping' force to the Sinai Peninsula. Allowing Britain to seize control of the Suez Canal from Egypt. Particularly in the face of American opposition this plan failed with; "The Suez Crisis" (1956) as it became known bringing down the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. 

The crisis was eventually resolved with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overriding Britain and France's Security Council (UNSC) vetoes and ordering the creation of a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), the first UN Peacekeeping mission. Alongside Canada the bulk of UNEF was provided by Brazil and Soviet Yugoslavia with Brazil and Yugoslavia rotating leadership between 1964 and 1966. Something which no doubt raised concern about Brazil's growing closeness with the Communist Second World.

The UNEF came to an end in 1967 with the outbreak of The Six-Day War (1967). This saw a coalition of five Arab States attempt to wipe the State of Israel from existence by attacking it on multiple fronts. Israel defeated this coordinated attempt to destroy it in just six days. When people talk about Israel returning to; "The 1967 Borders" they mean the territory the Arab States forfeited by launching their war of aggression. At the time not even the Arab States recognised Palestine. The Gaza Strip where the UNEF had been based was considered part of Egypt and the West Bank (of the Jordan River) was considered part of Jordan.

The Six-Day War gave way to The War of Attrition (1967-1970). It was only at this point that the notion of a Palestinian State was invented. With the Arab States using terror groups to launch attacks on Israeli interests in the name of; "Palestinian Liberation!" The Soviet Union and particularly Cuba were more than happy to assist the Arab States in conducting terror attacks on Israeli interests in the Capitalist First World.

Early in The War of Attrition the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Communist group founded in Syria in late 1967, hijacked El Al Flight 426 en route from Italy to Israel taking 45 civilians hostage. In response Israel decided to make concessions, releasing 16 Arab prisoners in return for the hostages. This was seen as a massive success for the Arabs so the kidnapping of civilian hostages to bargin with emerged as the main tactic during The War of Attrition as Israel had made it clear that it would surrender in the face of the tactic. 

The tactic then spread to all the groups being supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. Such as the Red Army Faction/Baader-Meinhof and the Red Brigades in Europe along with the ARN and MR8 in Brazil. Throughout the World these groups backed by the Communist Second World took to signing the screeds claimining their attacks with the slogan; "For Palestine and the Third World!" 

The real events of I'm Still Here begin in response to the real-life kidnapping of the Swiss Ambassador to Brazil, Giovanni Enrico Bucher in December 1970 and the January 1970 hijacking of Serviços Aéreos Cruzerio do Sul Flight 114. Both carried out by the Communist Vanguard Armanda Revolucionária Palmares (Palmares Armed Revolutionary Vanguard/VAR Palmares). Common events during Brazil's Years of Lead.

At around 17:10 on 6/8/25 (UK date) this is going to have to drag into another week now.

Edited at around 17:00 on 11/8/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;

Also nominated at The Oscars 2025 was; "September 5" (2024) which deals with one of the most famous kidnappings carried out in the name of Palestine and the Third World. The kidnapping which was carried out at the 1972 Summer Olympics by the Black September faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), founded in Jordan in 1970. Germany's mishandling of negotiations over Israeli concessions in return for the civilian hostages resulted in it turning into a massacre with 11 civilians and one German police officer being murdered.

However the movie is really about the ABC Sports team's coverage of the attack. The ethics of chasing viewers by trying to tell other people's stories when you really know nothing about the topic. A dilemma which is called into sharp focus when the sports reporters realise that the terrorists are watching their coverage and using it to thwart attempts to rescue the hostages. Not only that ABC Sports coverage was encouraging the terrorists to execute hostages on the platform ABC Sports was providing them with.

This is always a valid topic of discussion for a professional association of storytellers. However it is particularly relevant to the current war which Hamas has imposed on Israel by committing multiple Crimes Against Humanity by kidnapping hundreds of civilians in the hope of securing concessions from Israel. This is something which I think was particularly badly handled by the other big event of the US Awards Season 2025, The Super Bowl. 

Typically the Super Bowl deals with American issues, if those issues are also relevant to other countries then that's really just an incidental side-effect. However the 2025 Super Bowl went in really hard on the war Hamas is currently inflicting on Israel. Particularly the Philadelphi Corridor which marks the current border between The Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The people directly affected by those issues had no way to join in the discussion, essentially leaving them being shouted at by America. This forced them to find other, inappropriate, ways to express their right to reply. Hamas became particularly fixated on the use of the song; "Bodies For Bodies" in The Half-Time Show. Disrupting the exchange of bodies of civilians Hamas had murdered in return for concessions from Israel. Forcing Israel to violate the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979 by leaving the Philadelphi Corridor being one of the main concessions Hamas was trying to secure. The inclusion of September 5 allows the Super Bowl decision to be much discussed.

In October 1973 a coalition of 10 Arab States attempted to wipe the State of Israel from existence in The Yom Kippur War/October War (1973). On this occasion they were supported by combat troops from Communist Cuba and the Communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North). Again Israel routed the forces combined against them in less than three weeks. It was only the threat of Soviet Russia deploying Nuclear Weapons which prevented Egypt from losing territory West of the Suez Canal in response to its aggression. Israel didn't cede the Sinai Peninsula back to Egypt until the 1979 treaty. 

Almost immediately the Arab States reverted to their tactics during The War of Attrition. Using 'Palestinian' front groups to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli interests in the Capitalist First World. The change came in June 1976 when the PFLP and the German Baader-Meinhof gang hijacked Air France Flight 139 from France to Israel. They diverted it to Entebbe in Uganda from where they hoped to force Israel to make concessions in return for the 260 civilian hostages they had kidnapped. On this occasion Israel did not negotiate with them. Instead launching an audacious military operation which freed all but one of the hostages and killed all the terrorists.

With Israel making clear that it would no longer surrender in the face of this tactic the tactic fell out of favour globally. There were 67 hijackings of aircraft globally between 1967 and 1976. There were only 27 between 1976 and 1983. Only one of which was connected to the Palestinian case; the 1977 hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181, again by the PFLP and Baader-Meinhof. With Israel still not negotiating this time the Germans conducted a military operation killing all of the terrorists and rescuing all but one of the hostages.

At around 17:25 on 11/8/25 (UK date) I really can't say when I'll be picking this up again.

Edited at around 16:05 on 15/8/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

Although Brazil's Years of Lead are synonymous with Emílio Garrastzau Médici arguably it really began under Artur da Costa Silva with the introduction of the Fifth Institutional Act in December 1968. This coincided with Brazil suddenly becoming fashionable across the Capitalist First World through The Tropicália Art Movement. Although spanning many fields this is really best remembered as a musical movement with the Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto's version of; "The Girl From Ipanema" probably being the most widely remembered Tropicália song. Work in the Tropicália movement is defined by portraying Brazil as a glamourous, sexy, tropical paradise.

The Tropicália movement is celebrated by many as opposing Brazil's Military Dictatorship. However it was really disliked by the Communist factions which made up the bulk of opposition to Brazil's Military Dictatorship at the time. They particularly disliked Tropicália's embrace of Carmen Miranda, a Brazilian-Portuguese singer and actress who was used by the dictatorship of Getúilo Vargas to promote Brazil's Third Republic internationally, particularly in America. Carmen Miranda is someone who continues to be widely parodied as the scantily clad woman dancing with fruit balanced on her head. The Communists saw Carmen Miranda and the Tropicália movement that embraced her as an inauthentic caricature of Brazil and Brazilian culture. They also saw Tropicália's embrace of American and British 1960's Psychedelia - The Beatles of the "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" era were a huge influence while the original B-side for The Girl From Ipanema was a cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin In The Wind" - as selling out to Capitalist Imperialism.

During the Years of Lead the arrest, kidnapping, torture and murder of even mild critics of the Military Dictatorship was widespread. However, despite their reputation as subversive opponents of Brazil's Military members of the Tropicália movement weren't particularly aggressively censored. All most none were arrested, let alone kidnapped, tortured and murdered. Instead they voluntarily went into exile in the Capitalist First World where the Tropicália movement was seen as the height of fashion. In I'm Still Here, as in life, Eunice Paiva is first told that Rubens has gone into voluntary exile like their eldest daughter Vera who had left Brazil for Britain. Probably one of the worst treated Tropicália artists was Gilberto Gil who was imprisoned for just three months before voluntarily going into exile in Portugal, France and Britain. Which is really exactly where you'd want him to be if you were trying to promote Brazil as fashionable within the Capitalist First World.

So it's my contention that the Tropicália movement weren't opponents of Brazil's Military Dictatorship. Instead they were its allies, although perhaps unwitting ones, conducting a Soft-Power Propaganda operation to boost Brazil's reputation amongst its international allies and stave of international criticism and opposition. This was an era where shortwave radio stations had to connect their crystal transmitters in relay to spread news across Brazil. So it's much more likely people in the rest of the Capitalist First World would remember the feeling of Brazil as a tropical, sexy paradise where critics of the government are able to top the charts that the Tropicália movement gave them. Rather the facts about kidnapping, torture and murder hidden deep in the inside pages of some dusty broadsheet newspaper.

A big theme of The Oscars 2025 has been actors as sex-workers. That has involved looking at how sexual content has been regulated in the Entertainment Industry and society more generally over the years. During the era of Metropolis (1927) and "Salomé" (1923) there was absolutely no regulation whatsoever. Rather like the Internet in its early days it was such a new technology that not enough people knew about it to think to regulate it. The first attempt to regulate the US Movie Industry was the voluntary Motion Picture Production Code, known as; "The Hays Code" which was introduced in 1930. In 1934 the Production Code Administration was established, requiring movies released in the US to be certified as being in compliance with the Production Code.

Almost immediately filmmakers started pushing back against the Hays Code. Particularly through the; "Exploitation" genre of movies which were shown at; "Grindhouse Cinemas," so named because they ground out their profits by selling lots of low-cost tickets to cheaply made movies. Surge-Pricing being a big part of their business model. One subgenre of Exploitation was; "Blaxploitation" which featured predominately Black actors playing Black characters. Something the Hays Code expressly banned was; "Miscegenation" - the showing of interracial relationships. A nominated movie at The Oscars 2017 was; "Loving" (2016) which told the story of the US Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia which overturned the ban on interracial marriage in the US. In 1967.

Another Exploitation subgenre was; "Sexploitation." This pushed back against restrictions on portrayals of nudity and sexual content. What the Hays Code considered; "Licentious or suggestive nudity" and; "Sexual perversion" by which it primarily meant Homosexuality. The first concession made was that nudity itself was not inherently sexual or licentious. Allowing for lots of movies set in Nudist camps. For some reason they seemed to all have to be Swedish Nudist camps. 

Another concession was that nudity and sexual content is not licentious it is being used for educational purposes. Allowing for movies which showed sexualised nudity and even depictions of Homosexuality. Provided they had an introduction performed by someone dressed as scientist of Doctor. The tradition of these so-called; “White Coat Movies” lives on in the UK Channel 4 show; “Naked Attraction.” In which a singleton is presented with five potential suitors whose fully nude bodies are revealed to them, bit-by-bit, from the feet up. It’s just an excuse to show full frontal nudity on TV for salacious, licentious reasons. However because they include the occasional pseudo-scientific fact or results of a sub-Buzzfeed quality survey it’s considered; “Educational!”

“The Substance” heavily referenced the TV show; “The Deuce” (2017-2019). Eventually Sexploitation movies grew into the Porn movies and Grindhouse Cinemas grew into the Porn Cinemas shown in The Deuce. A show which then follows the evolution from Porn Cinemas to VHS Home Video Porn movies. These days we’ve progressed to Home Internet Streamed, AI generated DeepFake Porn movies of famous actors and other celebrities.

Brazil’s Tropicália movement made a significant contribution to Sexploitation movies. Probably the most famous is Oswaldo de Oliveria’s “Bare Behind Bars” (1980). When VHS Home Video emerged as a new technology in Britain it was also completely unregulated. Demand for regulation began with a tabloid media moral panic over so-called; “Video Nasties” which saw a number of movies banned. “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) probably being the most high profile. Bare Behind Bars was another of the movies banned in response to the moral panic. Giving it something of an illicit lustre and Cult status. However Oswaldo de Oliveria had already directed some 40 similar movies by that point, having begun his career just before the Years of Lead.

As far as I can tell all Brazilian Sexploitation movies have the same plot; Sadistic Lesbian prison guards sexually torture female prisoners. One particularly sticks in my memory although the fact that I can’t tell you its title or its plot, beyond female prisoners being sexually tortured, is a big part of why it sticks in my memory. It was shown on an obscure UK Satellite channel called; “Movies4Men.” A channel dedicated to showing the type of action movies which prove to you that all those Steven Seagal and John-Claude Van Damme action movies are actually quite good movies. Well, certainly not that bad. I assume this Brazilian Sexploitation movie was a three-reel movie. The first third was dubbed into English, as was the final third. However the middle third was all in Portuguese, no-one had bothered to dub it into English. A seeming admission by the broadcaster that no-one was watching this movie for its plot. No-one is watching it all the way through.

Although I can’t say I’ve felt the need to watch many of them the sexual torture and sexual violence in all these Brazilian Sexploitation seems to be particularly sadistic. Very far removed from the sort of BDSM sex portrayed in movies like “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015) where it’s clear that the sexual violence is being done for mutual pleasure as part of a consensual, respectful, loving relationship. In these Brazilian Sexploitation movies the main point seems to be that the victims of the sexual torture are not enjoying it and definitely not consenting to it. Although the movies are clearly all being made for the sexual gratification of the viewer. Some, like Bare Behind Bars, are even portrayed as comedies.

So it is also my contention that Brazil was making and exporting all of these Sexploitation movies as part of the Tropicália movement to get viewers other Capitalist First World nations to, almost subconciously, think of Brazilian Torture as sexy and fun. So if they did read any reports of Brazil’s Military Dictatorship torturing people in those dusty broadsheet newspapers. Then they’d be conditioned to be excited and enjoy them rather than being outraged by them.

At around 16:40 on 15/8/25 (UK date) the weekend awaits.

Edited around 16:30 on 25/8/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

During the Fifth Republic Brazil's Military Dictatorship was almost all consumed by battling Communism and repressing the Brazilian population. The running of the economy was left to a small faction within the Brazilian Military which had both studied at the Superior School of War (ESG) and were members of either the Instituto Brasiliero de Açã Democrátia (IBAB/Brazil Insitute for Democratic Action) or the  Instituto de Pesquisas e Estutdos Sociais (IPÊS/Institute of Research and Social Studies). 

Both The Superior School of War and the IBAB/IPÊS were closely linked to America's CIA. So having complete control of the Brazilian economy during the Fifth Republic this small faction of, essentially, CIA agents set about reversing the policies of President Goulart and President Quadros, returning to the pro-American policies of President Kubitschek. So rules on foreign investment were loosened again, allowing large, mainly American, multinational corporations to absorb Brazilian companies, almost turning them into local franchises as Associated Capital. Restrictions on how much tax-free profits these large multinationals could take out of Brazil were also scrapped. Brazil also returned to embracing Infrastructure Development as a driver of Economic Growth. During the Fifth Republic Brazil undertook a massive program of Infrastructure Development, building pretty much everything you could think of. Such as housing, bridges, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants and those all important Freeways. Particularly the Trans-Amazonian Highway.

A good example of the type of Infrastructure Development Brazil underwent during the Fifth Republic is the Rio-Niterói Bridge, which at the time it was completed in 1974 was the second largest bridge in the World. It continues to be the second largest bridge in Latin America. Officially the Rio-Niterói Bridge was built by the Brazilian construction consortium Camargo Correa SA. However they were really only the Associated Capital for the two British corporations which actually built the bridge; Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company and Redpath Dorman Long. Construction of the bridge was symbolically begun by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in November 1968. Such was Britain's support for the military dictatorship of Brazil's Fifth Republic that it was just at the start of the Years of Lead that a British Monarch made their first and only State Visit to Brazil.

Within Economics there are so-called; "Leverage Effects." This holds that if I have $1 and then give it to you then I haven't lost $1 and you have gained $1. Instead there are now $2. While we can observe the existence of Leverage Effects we're still not quite sure why they exist. In much the same way we didn't all float away before Isaac Newton did his work on Gravity. However they seem to be based on the concept of Value Exchange. I'm not simply giving you $1. Instead I'm giving you $1 and in return you're giving me something which we've both agreed has the value of $1. So we both left with $1. Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson actually won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Economics for their work on Value Exchange. So if you've got a better explanation it's probably best you let the Nobel Committee know.

Different economic activities have different Leverage Effects or Leverage Factors. Large construction projects like building dams, bridges or whole new cities have the one of the highest Leverage Effects, a Leverage Factor of 8. Meaning that every $1 spent on this type of project $8 are created. 

Again it's not particularly well understood why this is. However large construction projects tend to rely heavily on migrant labour. I don't mean people crossing international borders I mean people moving around the same country to where the construction is being done. Construction projects also tend to bring in different types of labour at different times. So you'll start with all the excavation workers travelling from the across the country to the construction site. Then you'll have all the concrete workers coming in to do the foundations. Then you'll have all the steelworkers come in to do the frame work and so on until you finish with all the painters and decorators. The length of time that each group of specialised workers is needed for isn't really long enough to justify them relocating their families and setting up new homes. So they tend to live in hotels, eat in restaurants and drink in bars. This forces them to pay a premium for basic necessities like shelter and food. Meaning that every $1 of their wages tends to get spent 8 times over. Also different specialities need different materials and equipment so money spent of construction projects tends to flow through large and diverse supply-chains.

In writing about "A Real Pain" (2024) I briefly mentioned the TV Show; "Industry" (2020-204), using it as an example of a show which really didn't cope with the Pandemic shutdown. It's a show about young stockmarket traders as they start out in the industry. One thing which really showed that it wasn't coping in its second season is it took to just blasting you with technical jargon. In such a way that if you understood the jargon it made it really clear to you that the show really didn't. It particularly kept repeating the fact that none of the prospectors got rich during the California Gold Rush (1848-1855), in fact most of them ended up bankrupt. The only people who got rich during that California Gold Rush were the people of controlled the supply-chains. The store owners the migratory prospectors had to buy their food, housing, tools and materials from at a premium. That was actually one of the first economic booms Los Angeles experienced. Providing the Ranches which provided the Cattle which provided the Beef being sold to prospectors in Northern California. It was part of the economic boom Brazil experienced during the First World War and Second World War, providing Beef to the Entente and then Allied Powers. Brazil continues to be the World's main supplier of this Beef preserved with corns of Salt, Corned Beef.

Due to its very high Leverage Effects these sort of large Infrastructure construction projects are great for producing big, beautiful Economic Growth numbers. If a government orders a new road to be built then it's instantly got 8% GDP growth. Again being allowed to absorb Brazilian companies as Associated Capital large multinational corporations again started using them for a sort of Industrial Cash-Cropping. Getting the Brazilian government to build them factories then using those factories to cheaply make things which are sold for a large profit in richer countries. Again this is really useful for producing big, beautiful Economic Growth numbers. One of the main measures of Economic Growth is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is mainly calculated by combing the value of all the goods being produced in a country with the income they generate when they are sold. If cheaply produced goods are sold for a large profit in a foreign country than that produces larger GDP numbers. Exports also bring in foreign currency, US Dollars normally. Not having large reserves of such convertible foreign currency has long been a problem for the Brazilian economy.

So the Fifth Republic, particularly the Years of Lead, are sometimes referred to as; "The Brazilian Miracle." On paper it produced really impressive Economic Growth figures. In 1968 Brazil's GDP was US$28.28bn rising to US$237.39bn in 1980, an annual 9.8% GDP growth with 14% GDP growth in 1973. Britain is currently ridiculously proud of its 1.1% GDP growth in 2024.

However the impressive Economic Growth of The Brazilian Miracle was always more of an illusion than real Economic Growth. For example if you take the day's wages you've earned on a construction site and spend them in your hotel's restaurant and bar then what you wake up with the following day is normally something you want to get rid of, rather than hold onto as something to be valued and treasured. Likewise the share of Industrialised Goods as a share of Brazil's exports may have jumped from 20% in 1968 to 70% in 1980. However the money from these sales wasn't going into the Brazilian economy like sales of Beef would. It was going into the profits of the large multinationals which were then able to take those profits out of their Brazilian subsidiaries and out of Brazil entirely without having to pay any tax on them.

So despite the big beautiful numbers of The Brazilian Miracle most Brazilians actually ended up getting poorer. By 1974 the minimum wage had dropped in real terms to 70% of what it had been in 1940 and 50% of what it had been in 1960. In 1960 the poorest 20% of Brazilians shared in about 4% of the nation's wealth. By 1980 that share had dropped to 2.8%.

Although the majority of them were getting poorer the Military Dictatorship of Brazil’s Fifth Republic was genuinely popular amongst a large section of the Brazilian population. It was just a regime propped up by violence and repression.

At around 16:45 on 25/8/25 (UK date) I'll have to explore the reasons for that popularity at another time.

Edited at around 17:35 on 28/8/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

One thing that helped the Military Dictatorship's popularity is the way that it tackled Inflation. In 1964 Brazil's inflation rate was around 100%. What you brought today would cost double tomorrow. By around 1970 the inflation rate had fallen to 19%. So although people's wages were falling in real terms the rate at which prices were rising slowed dramatically. Giving people the impression that they were getting richer or, at the very least, not getting poorer as fast as they once were. Although the drive towards Industrial Cash-Cropping was done to benefit foreign multinationals it did have the effect of creating lots of jobs, as did the massive program of Infrastructure Development. A falling minimum wage is still worth more than a wage you're not receiving.

The drive towards Industrialisation also massively drove Urbanisation, people moving from the rural countryside to cities for the first time. Arguably the Donatário system continues in Brazil to this day, over half of Brazil's land is owned by just 1.7% of the population. However prior to the Fifth Brazilian Republic the Donatário was still almost as strong as it had been when Brazil was a Portuguese Colony. The Industrialisation of Brazil's Fifth Republic weakened the Donatário system more than anything before or since. It saw Brazil become an Urban Society with a majority of the population, 67%, living in cities rather than in the rural countryside.

The Brazilian Donatário system is similar to the Feudal system which existed in Medieval Europe. Under the Feudal system Peasants existed as; "Serfs," that is to say that they were the property of the Lord who owned the land they lived on. Serfs are different from Slaves, however the differences are subtle. For example Slaves could be sold individually whereas Serfs could only be sold as part of the land. During this time Germany had the legal principle; "Stadluft Macht Frei" (City air makes you free). If a Serf left the farmland where they were considered property and lived in a city for a year and a day it ended their Serfdom. Although still Peasants they were no longer considered the property of their Feudal Lord and were able to go where they please and do as they please. Although the Feudal system ended hundreds of years ago city life is still associated with freedom.

Farming is an utterly insane gamble. At the start of the year you take all of you money and plant it in the ground. You then spend the months long growing season completely at the mercy of the weather. If you lose the gamble and your crops fail then you are wiped out. If you're doing subsistence farming, growing food only for you and your family to eat, then crop failure creates a real risk of starvation. If you win the bet and have a good harvest you could still be wiped out. If everyone else has a good harvest, flooding the market with supply and collapsing the price. It's much less stressful and therefore freeing to go to work in a factory and collect your guaranteed paycheque at the end of the each week. Although Marxists hate to have it pointed out to them it's the Capitalists who take on all the risk on behalf of the workers. If the products the workers make don't sell then it is the Capitalists who will be wiped out.

Cities also bring large numbers of people together in a small space. This massively increases the Freedom of Choice. If you fall out with your boss and lose your job at a factory you can just go and get another job at another factory further down the street. In a way that you can't if your Donatário's farm is the only employer in your entire State. More people means more potential customers which means more shops. If there is only one shop within a hundred miles of you then you have to make do with what that shop stocks and the price it is selling it at. In a city you can walk between multiple shops comparing what they have in stock and their prices. This freedom of choice even extends to things which aren't measured as part of Economics but massively increase people's quality of life, such as dating. In the countryside your choice of potential partners who you are not related too is probably one or two people. You have to make do with them regardless of whether you're compatible with them or not. In a city you get to meet hundreds of potential partners, making it far more likely that you'll find someone who is right for you.

Much of the Developed world has now fully moved from rural space to urban space and into Cyberspace. The Internet has further massively increased this Freedom of Choice. Dating Apps have almost made it possible to meet too many potential partners, making it impossible to choose. Recently I had to buy a bathroom sink tidy, a simple little thing you put things like your toothbrushes in. Before the Internet I would have had to make do with the ones the shops in my local area were selling at the price they were selling them for. Thanks to the Internet I was able to lose something like half a day going through hundreds and hundreds of examples being sold by people all across the World to find one that perfectly fitted my needs.

This Industrialisation driving Urbanisation coupled with huge Infrastructure Development also massively improved many Brazilians quality of life despite them getting poorer in monetary terms. For the very first time people were starting to live in modern buildings with modern amenities like running water, indoor toilets and electricity. In the 21st Century these are things that people across the Developed world take for granted. However if you can imagine experiencing them for the very first time the way in which they improve your life would seem absolutely miraculous. In remote rural areas if you want water then you have to dig a well and pull it up bucket by bucket. If you want to use the toilet you have to dig a hole and manually bury all of your waste in it. If you want to cook or just not freeze to death you have to go and collect wood to make a fire each and every time. You can't have electricity because there's no power station anywhere near you. Without electricity you can't have lighting or refrigeration. Without refrigeration you can't have fresh, cheap, safe food.

Rather like Los Angeles' development in the 1940's Brazil's development both under President Kubitschek and during the Fifth Republic was driven by the concept that the car is king. Similar to how ITT Corporation CEO Harold Geneen definitely had the ear of CIA Director John A. McCone America's Big Three car makers definitely had the ear of the small group of military officers running Brazil's economy. To encourage Brazil borrow American money to build seemingly endless Freeways America's Big Three agreed to sell Brazilian consumers discounted American cars. Again, if you've only ever walked everywhere for your entire life imagine travelling in a car for the very first time. If the city you're now living in doesn't provide you with enough choice you also have the freedom to drive to another city in a completely different part of the country.

So while the majority of Brazilians got poorer during The Brazilian Miracle the Military Dictatorship did provide them with a lot of almost payment-in-kind. In the form of lots of modern amenities which significantly improved their quality of life. Along with the massively falling inflation and increased employment this made the Military Dictatorship of the Fifth Republic genuinely popular amongst many Brazilians. It continues to be popular amongst many Brazilians to this day.

At around 17:45 on 28/8/25 (UK date) I'll pick this up on Monday now.

Let's All Go To The Movies. Pt.7.

Best read as a continuation of; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt6.html

The Substance (2024): This tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkles, played by Demi Moore. Once a popular Hollywood actress as she's aged Elisabeth Sparkles has been reduced to being an Aerobics instructor on Daytime TV. When she reaches her 50th birthday Elisabeth Sparkles is fired from even her Daytime TV show. She is then introduced to a mysterious blackmarket drug known only as; "The Substance." 

After injecting herself with the drug Elisabeth Sparkles, essentially, gives birth to a younger version of herself known as; "Sue" and played by Margaret Qualley. Sue then goes on to replace Elisabeth Sparkles on the Daytime TV show, essentially getting Elisabeth Sparkles her job back. However Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue cannot exist in the World at the same time. They need to alternate every seven days with one body remaining unconscious for that week. Elisabeth Sparkles much prefers her younger, popular, Sue body so she stops alternating every seven days. After three months this causes both bodies to deteriorate.

The Substance is a movie that explores women aging in the Entertainment Industry. How their careers were seen to be coming to an end by the time they turn 40 years old and are certainly over by the time they're 50. The mysterious blackmarket drug serves as a metaphor for all of the anti-aging cosmetic treatments that women in the Entertainment Industry will try to keep themselves looking young and in work. Botox, Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, Peptides, Salmon sperm facials. The list seems to be endless and ever growing with a hot new fad seeming to emerge every day. 

Although strictly speaking a weight-loss rather than an anti-aging treatment the injectable nature of the mysterious substance seems to particularly reference the current fashion for Semaglutide (Ozempic). Weight being another example of how women in the Entertainment Industry are judged on their looks. Back in the 1970's and 1980's, prior to the invention of weight-loss drugs, women were expected to control their weight with rigorious Aerobic exercise routines. Often being commanded by TV presenters such as Jane Fonda, Olivia Newton-John and Richard Simmons.

The movie almost seems like a call for women to reject all of these substances and fads. Making the argument that the only substance actresses should need is the substance of their character; their talent, their skill. Assuring us that true talent will win out despite the Entertainment Industry's misogynistic and ageist attitudes towards women.

The Substance is far from the only movie to explore the Entertainment Industry's attitude towards aging women during this year's Awards Season. 

In "Challengers" (2024) Zendaya plays two versions of her character Tashi Duncan. In the movie's present day Tashi Duncan is around 40 years old, yet was being played by the 27 year old Zendaya. This is a common practice in the Movie Industry with characters of women in their 40's and 50's being played by female actors in their 20's and 30's. Sometimes they're even playing the mothers of male actors who are also in their 20's and 30's. However in the flashback sequences of Challengers Zendaya also plays a version of Tashi Duncan who is around 18 years old. This is also a common practice in the Entertaiment Industry; actors of both genders in their 20's playing teenagers. Something Zendaya herself is famous for from her role in the TV show; "Euphoria" (2019-Present). 

Challengers seems to be asking the Entertainment Industry what is the mysterious point where it is no longer acceptable for actresses to play characters younger than they are and have to switch to playing characters which are much older than they are? The answer seems to be when they turn 18 and become adults in terms of labour laws and their ability to consent to nude and sex scenes.

In "The Brutalist" (2024) Raffey Cassidy plays Zsófia Tóth. She also plays Zsófia Tóth's own, unnamed, daughter. Essentially giving birth to herself. Raffey Cassidy also worked with The Brutalist director Brady Corbet on; "Vox Lux" (2018) in which she also gave birth to herself. Playing Celeste Montgomery and then Celeste's daughter Albertine Montgomery. Both The Brutalist and Vox Lux involve substantial time jumps. So while Raffey Cassidy plays her own daughter she is doing so at the age the mother had been and that Raffey Cassidy herself is. However it does touch on how actresses are given roles so much older than they are they sometimes find themselves playing the mothers of actors who are pretty much their own age.

Stacy Martin worked with Brady Corbet and Raffey Cassidy on both The Brutalist and Vox Lux. A big theme of this year's Awards Season is how her career has been impacted by the very sexually explicit; "Nymphomaniac" (2013). 

I think that Stacy Martin was around 22 years old when she made Nymphomaniac. However she plays the character Joe through a range of ages, from a young looking 15 through to 35. When Charlotte Gainsbourg takes over the character of Joe at 35 it's noticeable how much older the character suddenly appears. Despite Charlotte Gainsbourg only being around 42 years old. Only 7 years older than the character but almost twice the age of the actress who'd played the character in the previous shot. Despite a time jump significant enough for Raffey Cassidy to play her own daughter in Vox Lux Stacy Martin plays Eleanor Montgomery throughout. Apart from drawing everyone's attention to Stacy Martin's ability as an actor this also touches on how far you can go and how far you should go in terms of getting, particularly, actresses to play roles older and younger than themselves.

While many aging actresses must think that the Movie Industry still has a long way to go it really has improved in the last 20 years or so. It used to be that actresses would literally just disappear when they turned 40. Now it is common to see actresses not only continuing to work but also having successful careers into their 50's and 60's. Of the Best Actress Oscar winners of the past 15 years nine of them have been over 40. Making that the normal, with younger actresses like Mikey Madison, Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence the exception, rather than the rule.

Obviously it would be nice if that change was simply the result of the people who make up the Movie Industry undergoing personal growth and becoming better people. However I think that much maligned Social Media and the Internet in general has been a significant driver of this change. It used to that once an actress hit 40 no studio would cast them in a movie. With them not being cast in any movies no TV talkshows would book them as guests, no newspapers and magazines would bother interview them. Now actresses are able to communicate with their community of fans via Social Media without having to go through the gatekeepers of traditional media. 

As a result they don't disappear, even if they're not working. Being able to show studios that they still have large fanbases who want to see them in movies helps actresses to convince studios to put them in movies. Demi Moore's fanbase has been particularly vocal on Social Media during this Awards Season. Keen to see the 62 year old win her first Oscar for playing the 50 year old Elisabeth Sparkles.

As, predominately, a visual medium the Entertainment Industry is particularly harsh of women as they age. As is the Fashion Industry. However the issues that are acute within those industries also affect women in all walks of life. So rather than just looking at physical appearance The Substance also addresses other challenges that women face. 

In the workplace one uniquely Female challenge is Motherhood. At what would be considered the peak of a man's career women have to take a break of up to a couple of years in order to give birth and raise their children at a time when they need constant care. Demi Moore herself took a similar career break at the age of 35 to raise her daughters between 1998 and 2007. Her nomination at The Oscars 2025 could be seen has her career finally overcoming that break to catch up with her Male contemporaries in the; "Brat Pack" of 1980's. Sean Penn received his first Oscar nomination in 1996 and his first win in 2004. 

In The Substance Elisabeth Sparkles, essentially, gives birth to Sue. While they are supposed to be the same mind spilt between two bodies Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue think of themselves as two different people. They rapidly come to hate each other, fighting constantly. Something which is, no doubt, familiar to every mother of a teenage daughter. Or anyone who has ever been a teenage daughter.

In an interesting piece of casting Margaret Qualley is something of a Nepo Baby. Her actual mother is Andie MacDowell, one of Demi Moore's Brat Pack contemporaries. So a lot of the causes of conflicts between Elisabeth Sparkles and Sue represent the sort of Bourgeois rich people problems specific to the Hollywood elite and their Nepo Baby offspring. Things like excess illegal drug use, partying and casual sex.

At around 17:10 on 28/4/25 (UK date) it's highly unlikely I'll be able to pick this up tomorrow.

Edited at around 16:50 on 1/5/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste; 

I'm not part of the Bourgeoisie. I'm not even part of the Proletariat. However if you are a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), the Hollywood elite, watching the movie in your private cinema with your dreadful Nepo Babies. Then I think you're likely to find The Substance to be an intense Psychological Horror. The sort of movie that's constantly seeking out your private, inner-self and trying to stab you in it, repeatedly.

Of course it is not just the Entertainment Industry nor wider society that starts to lose interest woman by the time they reach 40 or 50 years old. It is also Biology, their own bodies. 

Women's reproductive cell is the Ovum or; "Egg." Each woman is born with all the Ovum she will ever have. At the onset of puberty, normally around 13 years old, woman experience the; "Menarche." The Ovaries start releasing one of these Ovum a month into the women's Uterus. If the Ovum is not fertilised by a man's reproductive cell, the Sperm, then it is expelled from the woman's Uterus via the Vaginal Canal. The release of each Ovum to the Uterus is accompanied by the release of the Hormone Oestrogen. The release of each Ovum from the Uterus is accompanied by the release of the Hormone Progesterone.

Between the ages of 40 and 50 years old most women have expelled all of the Ovum they have. So this monthly cycle comes to an end. The; "Menopause." The end of the release of Oestrogen has a massive impact on many aspects of women's bodies. One of the most immediate is that the Vaginal Canal stops producing lubrication, making it easier for it to be penetrated during sex; "Vaginal Dryness." The tissue of the Vaginal Canal also weakens, shrinking the size of the Vagina; "Vaginal Atrophy." It is almost as if at the age of 40-50 the doors to a woman's primary sexual organ, literally, slam shut.

The drop in Oestrogen also causes women's bones to lose density and weaken (Osteoporosis), making them easier to break. Oesterogen is essential for the production of Collagen so the drop in Oestrogen also causes a loss of Collagen which weakens the soft-tissues which protect the ends of bones within joints. Making them more susceptible to joint pain (Osteoarthritis). A lack of Collagen also causes hair to thin and skin to loosen and wrinkle. The drop in Oestrogen also affects the way that the body stores fat. Typically leading to more of it to build up in places like the belly and less of it to build up in places like the Breasts.

The monthly process of each Ovum itself is rarely regular and uniform. So the Menopause is not a single event, like flicking a switch on and off. Instead it can take around a decade. 

During this process around the Menopause - the; "Perimenopause" - Oestrogen levels spike and vary wildly. This can have a range of other impacts on women's bodies, alongside the effects of Menopause. These Perimenopause impacts are primarily related to the way the body regulates the flow of blood though vessels (Vasomotor Function). They include things like the inability to regulate body temperature (Hot Flashes), flushed skin, dizziness, heart palpitations and a loss of energy. Although the relationship between Perimenopause, Emotion and Cognition is not well understood it has been linked with impacts such as Depression and extremely mild Dementia (Brain Fog). They though could just be the effects of other impacts, such as not being able to sleep through the night due to Hot Flashes for example.

The Menses, the Perimenopause and the Menopause itself are all normal bodily functions. Rather like how breathing, eating and your hair growing are all normal bodily functions. However there are some bodily functions which make us more squeamish than others. Particularly sticky, smelly ones like going to the bathroom. People often use humour to distract themselves from those uncomfortable, squeamish feelings. So toilet humour is funny, wherever you go in the World.

Particularly amongst men the squeamishness around the Menses and associated bodily functions is particularly high. Something which is reflected by the shocking horror of all the blood, gore and bodily fluids in The Substance. 

Modern science is perfectly capable of synthesising chemicals which replicate naturally occurring Hormones; Synthetic Hormones. So the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause can be mitigated through the use of Synthetic Hormones, typically Oestrogen and Progesterone. A similar combination of Synthetic Hormones can also be used to regulate the Menses and act against Conception (Contraception). Oestrogen to trigger the release of the Ovum to the Uterus then Progesterone to expel the Ovum from the Uterus before it has a chance to meet a Sperm and become fertilised.

A similar type of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is also used in Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment; changing a Transgender person's outwards appearance from Male to Female. However there are a number of differences. The most important being the dosage used. In Gender Confirmation Treatment much higher doses of Synthetic Hormones are used. 

The mix is also a little different. Sometimes Testosterone is used to mitigate the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause, primarily to counter a drop in sex drive. Progesterone actually produces Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which I'm tempted to describe as; "Testosterone on Steroids." Except that Oestrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone and DHT are all Steroids. In Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment much of the Synthetic Hormone Therapy revolves around DHT Inhibitors; chemicals which either prevent DHT from being produced in the first place or stop it having an effect.

It has long been an argument by women that even a Transgender person who has completed full Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment still cannot be considered a woman. Due to them lacking the experience of being a woman. The experiences of Gender-Based Violence and Menstruation being the most often cited. Both which sound like a massive nuisance to me, probably the scariest man most of you will ever meet. By the Menstruation benchmark there is certainly an argument that a Transgender person can be a post-Menopausal woman. 

Over the years I think I've got to know around half a dozen Transgender people who completed full Feminising Gender-Conformation treatment. Which, when you consider how rare Transgenderism actually is, is a pretty massive sample size. However these were people I just knew socially rather than was interviewing for a research project. I still got the general impression that they'd all spent their entire working lives saving up in order to afford Feminising Gender-Confirmation Treatment. In order to allow them to retire as non-sexual, post-Menopausal women.

The caveat being that on that Grand, Operatic, Crayola - or if you're so bad at science you decided to become a Biologist instead; "Micro" - scale a Transgender person who has fully completed Gender-Confirmation Treatment will still be tied to their original Biology. 

One of the most commonly used DHT Inhibitors has the generic name; "Finasteride." In very small doses Finasteride is sold as part of a snake-oil solution under brand-names such as; "Propeica" and; "Proscar" to convince men it combats hair loss. However I think it's just their shrinking genitals which convince them their pubic hair is growing longer. In much higher doses Finasteride is used to treat enlarged Prostates and cause Prostate Cancer, if you're that way inclined. Due to them not having much DHT to inhibit at those doses Finasteride causes Liver Failure in women. So they have to wear latex gloves, even while handling film-coated tablets. Meaning that if Elliot Page were to ever to end up as a minimum-wage care worker. That's something he would have to inform his employer about.

Menstruation and its phases; Arche, Pause, Peri-Pause are all normal bodily functions. However many of the impacts of, particularly, Menopause, can result in abnormal bodily functions. The sort of thing you want treated as a Medical Problem. The fractured and dislocated hips and crumbled spines associated with Osteoporosis are definitely the sort of things you want to have treated by a Doctor who actually knows what they're doing. So there is this constant conflict between whether Menopause and Perimenopause should be treated as a Medical Problem or just accepted as part of life. I don't think any of us enjoy having to wipe our own asses, yet we don't call an ambulance every time.

The term; "Menopause" was actually coined by the French Medical Student Charles-Pierre Louis de Gardanne in Paris in 1812. He and his contemporaries observed that although they experienced a permanent pause to their Menses Menopause wasn't a disorder or disease which affected women of the Peasant class; the Proletariat. It only affected rich women; the Bourgeois. Menopause is, literally, a Bourgeois affliction or; "Bougie Disease." A similar divide was found in Japan; Menopause is a Luxury Disease which only affects rich women. 

One possible explanation being that Bourgeois Trophy Wives are seen merely as; "Arts Décroatifs" where working women have a purpose beyond being pretty little sex toys. So are likely to suffer fewer adverse Emotional impacts to the gates slamming shut on their sexual organs. In an age before widespread contraception it was probably something to be welcomed by women who couldn't afford a; "Nanny" - etymologically an older woman who cares for her children's children. 

So in The Substances the mysterious blackmarket drug also serves as a metaphor for all the lotions & potions, Vaginal Lubricants, Vaginal Balms, HRT's and magical healing crystals that can be used to alleviate the impacts of Menopause and Perimenopause. 

It is the Menopause which causes the drop in Oestrogen which causes the loss of Collagen which causes saggy skin and wrinkles. So, technically, all the anti-aging skin-creams are actually treatments to alleviate the impacts of Menopause. Definitely not the sort of thing that should be used Premenarche. Not that anything that can be found between the crystals and the snake-oil on a lifestyle guru's Ecommerce platform is going to have much effect, negative or otherwise.

At around 17:20 on 1/5/25 (UK date) I am going to have to pause this now, in order to address a different phase in my life. I hope this pause will last less than a month.

Edited at around 15:15 on 23/6/25 (UK date) to refresh myself on the above and copy & paste; 

This issue of whether Perimenopausal women should be reduced to only being thought of as a Medical Problem doesn't just apply to the Menopause. It runs through the medical profession and wider society. I'm sure we can all still, just about, remember 2020. When we entirely reduced our societies to this clade and that strain, PCR and lateral flow tests. Just as I'm sure we all know that the lockdowns did not work. The vaccines did not work. Covid-19 is still very much with us. The only thing that's changed is our attitude. The people who spent their lives dreaming of the day there's a deadly Pandemic finally got it out of their systems and we're back to accepting Covid as just a part of life. Just as we did back in 2019. 

If we were to apply that reductionist attitude to Selena Gomez then we wouldn't be able to talk about her billion dollar Rare Beauty cosmetics company, the Rare Impact Fund Mental Health charity it supports. The acting awards she won for her role in; "Emilia Perez" (2024), the most nominated movie at The Oscars 2025 or her TV show; "The Only Murders in the Building" (2021-Present). We wouldn't be able to talk about Selena Gomez's successful music career that she seems able to dip in and out of as she pleases. We'd only be able to consider Selena Gomez as Bipolar Disorder and a Kidney Transplant as the result of Lupus. Likewise we wouldn't be able to talk about Elliot Page in terms of his acting career and accolades. Only the fact that he is Transgender makes him susceptible to Liver Failure from contact with  DHT inhibitors.

If you reduce Transgenderism in that way then you have to talk about it in terms of being a Birth Defect. Interestingly during pregnancy the Female Hormone Progesterone transforms into the Male Hormone DHT. It is this very powerful form of the Male Hormone Testosterone which drives the formation of Male genitalia in foetuses. So a lack of either Progesterone or DHT could be what causes a foetus which has Male DNA to develop into a child which has Female genitalia. The type of Transgender that Elliot Page seems to be. Likewise too much Progesterone or DHT could be what causes a foetus with Female DNA to develop into a child with Male genitalia.

The 2025 Awards Season has looked extensively at the Totalitarian Social Engineering central to The Brutalist school of Urban Planning, likening it to traditional computing. Along with its opposite, the Libertarian Social Ecology of the likes of Murray Bookchin. Something which actually contributed to the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing.

Murray Bookchin's first book was; "Our Synthetic Environment" (1962) which was originally published under the pen-name; "Lewis Herber." This looked at how environmental pollutants affect the Human Endocrine System - the system which governs Hormones like Oestrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone and DHT. How those pollutants' effects on the Endocrine System can cause Cancers and Birth Defects. Later that year Rachel Carson published; "Silent Spring" which took a less politically radical look at the same issue. 

Combined these books had such a massive impact on the public consciousness that they totally changed the way that the public thought about pollution and how their environment shapes their lives. Leading to the removal of Dioxins from most consumer products and a total ban on the Pesticide DHT. They ushered in the birth of the Environmental Movement which continues to be common place in discussions over politics and the Social Contract across the globe.

Back in early January, around the start of The 2025 Awards Season the US Congress received an official report showing that 1 in 1000 American adolescents are undergoing Hormone based Gender-Confirmation treatment for Transgenderism. Which works out as 1 child in every High School in America. At the same time only 1 in 10,000 American adolescents are being treated for Cancer.

While it's far from the only way to think about it Transgenderism can certainly be considered as a Birth Defect, likely caused by environmental factors affecting the Endocrine system. When Murray Bookchin and Rachael Carson showed that environmental factors affecting the Endocrine system were causing childhood Cancers there was a first national, then international outrage. Huge public demand insisting that the pollutants be banned. We are now being asked to believe that Transgenderism is ten times more common in the US than Cancer. Yet rather than there being national outrage and demands that the pollutants causing it be found and banned people actually seem to be celebrating it.  

One likely explanation is that no-one really believes that the majority of people claiming to be Transgender are actually Transgender. They're just making it up for attention. Transgenderism is really significantly less common than Cancer in America. Rather than being the result of some pollutant the tiny handful of cases of Transgenderism are likely being caused by something going a bit wrong within the Endocrine system itself. Something as random and impossible to predict and guard against as the mother being annoyed by someone doing something small in some supermarket checkout queue or another. Causing the exactly the wrong level of a stress Hormone to be released at precisely the wrong moment during pregnancy.

If that's the case then America is facing another scandal. That one child in every US High School is being subjected to completely unnecessary, life-long and life-changing medical treatment. A national epidemic of Munchausen's Syndrome. Yet there's no mass outrage. Demands that the US government, America's Sovereign, protects America's children from these unethical, unscrupulous medical professionals who, no doubt, would perform Kidney Transplants on any child who wanted and was prepared to pay for one.

At around 16:00 on 23/6/25 (UK date) I'll pick this up on Wednesday, amateurish jump-scares permittting.

Edite at around 16:30 on 25/6/25 (UK date) to copy & paste;

Perhaps showing how the Entertainment Industry is changing for the better Demi Moore has worked pretty consistently since returning from her career break in 2007. 

In 2020 she appeared in the NBC/Peacock adaptation of; "Brave New World" based on the 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley. Playing "Linda," the mother of the gifted storyteller from the Savage Lands the futuristic, Socially Engineered Utopian city was trying to tame and intergrate. As with George Orwell's later, 1949 novel; "1984" Brave New World is an attempt to warn about the Totalitarian Social Engineering that was inspired by; "Metropolis" (1927) and went onto inspire both Nazism and The Brutalist School of Urban Planning. In its visual style the 2020 adaptation of Brave New World borrows heavily from Metropolis.

The female lead in Brave New World (2020) is played by Jessica Brown Findlay who is probably best known for her role in the TV show; "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015). However people who only know Jessica Brown Findlay from Downton Abbey will probably be unaware that she's an actress who seems very comfortable with onscreen nudity. 

In 2014 Jessica Brown Findlay had nude photos and videos of her stolen by hackers and leaked on the Internet. I cannot remember if this was part of the same massive leak of celebrity nudes that included Jennifer Lawrence as I didn't pay it much attention at the time. Although I remember reading it as a headline in a newspaper and flamboyantly turning the page without reading the story while thinking; "That seems like a waste of effort. Downton Abbey's the only thing I've seen her in where she's kept her clothes on!"

As I was watching Brave New World (2020) I increasingly came to regret not paying more attention to Jessica Brown Findlay's leaked nudes as it became obvious that they were a big subtext to the show. Part of wider discussion about the increasing blurring of the line between actor and sex-worker. Then through hacks, leaks and Internet Porn sites, now through AI. Along with how to minimise the negative impacts on the people who appear in nude and sex scenes. That big theme of The Oscars 2025, one which disproportionately affects women in the Entertainment Industry.

A particularly notable sex scene in Brave New World (2020) involves Hannah John-Kamen playing "Wilhelmina - "Helm" - Watson." A character who, very deliberately, shares the same first name and initials as Richard Wagner's first wife. The sex scene is notable for the way in which it doesn't show Hannah John-Kamen's nipples, in a show which features a lot of nipples, nude and simulated sex scenes. 

If you've seen really any US network TV show regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) then you'll know how it is possible to do even very graphic sex scenes without showing nipples in such a fluid and natural way you don't even notice. 

This sex scene from Brave New World (2020) was different from that. It was as if a censor or the actress' agent had forced their way onto set and was holding a metal bar in place to stop the camera panning down to show her nipples. In order to protect either our morals or her modesty. It felt very unnatural and forced, really drawing attention to the fact that they weren't showing Hannah John-Kamen's nipples. All the while you're sitting there thinking; "That we can't see her nipples doesn't change the fact she's fully nude in a vast warehouse-like room surrounded by a gang of, essentially, scaffolders!" Although you could argue that it protected her modesty from having footage of her nipples appearing all over the Internet, alongside Jessica Brown Findlay's nipples.

Margaret Qualley's previous work also touches on that big theme of actors as sex-workers. Her breakthrough role came in the US TV show; "The Leftovers" (2014-2017) where she played; "Jill Garvey." In the first season her best friend was played by Emily Meade, a very sexually precocious character who is constantly trying to seduce her best friend's middle-aged father into an inappropriate relationship. I can't remember if Emily Meade actually appeared nude in The Leftovers but not being regulated by the FCC it is certainly a show which has nude and sex scenes in it.

One particularly memorable nude scene involves Jasmin Savoy Brown's character and her group of female friends, who are all around the same age as Emily Meade's character, running fully nude through the woods. For reasons the show doesn't even begin to attempt to explain. The Leftovers being the sort of show that takes a great deal of pleasure in not explaining its many mysteries. 

US law defines Pornography as material which depicts nudity or sexual acts for the sole purpose of exciting lascivious feelings. In order to not be classed as Pornography nude and sex scenes in movies and TV shows need to serve some purpose other than exciting those lascivious feelings. They need to contribute to the plot in some way, for example. Not only did this nude scene in The Leftovers not contribute to the plot and felt completely unearned it made absolutely no sense. The only explanation I can think of is that it was a deliberate reference to a similar scene in the 2013 movie; "How I Live Now."

How I Live Now revolves around the "Daisy Rybeck" character played by Saoirse Ronan. A teenager of about 17 or 18 years old Daisy is visiting Britain from America and falls in love with "Eddie" played by George Mackay. The two are then separated amid the aftermath of a Nuclear Terrorist Attack. The early part of the movie, before the attack, is almost all building towards a sex scene between Daisy and Eddie. 

Aged just 13 Saoirse Ronan was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at The Oscars 2008 for her breakthrough role in; "Atonement" (2007). How I Live Now was really the cute 13 year old actress' first role since turning 18 and being able to appear in nude and sex scenes. So as the movie builds towards the inevitable sex scene you find yourself sitting there, almost praying; "Please don't be creepy! Please don't be creepy! Please don't be creepy!" 

When the sex scene comes it is very tastefully done in a way that even the FCC would allow. It's just enough to establish the nature of Daisy and Eddie's relationship. Making it clear that they're more than just good friends, they're each other's all important first true love. Then later on in the movie there's a dream sequence in which Saoirse Ronan is running fully nude through the woods. It's the Horror movie using her full-frontal nudity as a jump-scare. Which has got to be a rather dubious thing to have said about yourself.

Following The Leftovers Emily Meade went on to have a rather central role another HBO TV show; "The Deuce" (2017-2019). Arguably The Deuce is a show about Urban Geography. It tells the story of the section of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue in New York City in the 1970/80's, how all the characters interact with and are defined by that small piece of a city. Many of the characters being shaped by The Deuce at that time are sex-workers, including Emily Meade's "Sarah/Lori Madison." So it includes many examples of actors as sex-workers, such as in; "Anora" (2024).

Initially the sex-workers are drug addicted street prostitutes. However some of them gradually also become Porn actors. First in movies shown in Porn Cinemas and then in movies released on newly invented VHS tapes, which people can own and watch at home. What allows this journey into Porn to begin is the relaxation of New York State's Obscenity Laws. I can't remember the exact quote but a lawyer describes the change by saying something like; "The Courts are increasingly finding that New Yorkers don't have any morals to outrage!" Rather like how the German public didn't seem to have any morals left to outrage during The Weimar Republic, allowing it to become the gay capital of the World for a time.

Particularly for Emily Meade's character her Porn journey is driven by the rise of the new technology of VHS tapes. This sees her become a Porn Star, crossing into the mainstream appearing in music videos for rock bands in the 1980's. Margaret Qualley's spandex clad scenes in The Substance seem deliberately similar to her The Leftovers co-star Emily Meade's spandex clad scenes as a 1980's Porn Star in The Deuce.

At around 16:45 on 25/6/25 (UK date) I should be able to pick this up tomorrow.

Edited at around 15:25 on 30/6/25 (UK date) to substantially tidy the above and copy & paste;

Invoking Emily Meade's journey from Prostitute to Porn Star in The Deuce enables The Substance to discuss how Public Morals towards, particularly, sex and nudity shift. Compared to the wider world of movie making The Oscars seems to have extremely prudish and restrictive Public Morals. Only movies which are very safe, very tame and very mainstream seem to get nominated. Through things like the nomination of; "Poor Things" (2023) at The Oscars 2024 there seems to be a feeling that The Oscars should be more open-minded in the type of movies it considers. After all the movies aren't actually shown during the televised ceremony. The idea of the ceremony is to encourage you to go to a movie theatre to watch the movies, if you can prove that you are of an appropriate age. 

Obviously sex and nudity isn't the only area in which The Oscars is restrictive in the type of movies it considers. However it's been said so many times that it's almost a cliché to point out that American audiences seem to be fine with any level of violence, yet are utterly terrified by sex. While it does have some sexual themes and sex scenes they are really only a small part of The Substance which is, primarily, a Horror movie. Much has been said around its nomination that Horror is genre The Oscars normally tends to avoid. Despite the Horror genre being one of the big money makers for movie theatres. People want to go and be scared in part of a collective group, rather than alone at home. The visual style of The Substance also seems to reference; "Base-moi" (2000). A movie which turned sex-workers into actors and features very erotic violence and very non-erotic sex scenes.

Referencing The Deuce also allows for discussion about what Pornography is and how it's regulated. Serving as a metaphor for how to better protect the people who have to appear in nude and sex scenes. Questions such as while it might be acceptable to ask people, particularly women, to do nude and sex scenes which are genuinely essential to the plot is it acceptable to demand nude and sex scenes simply to boost ticket sales by appealing to those salacious, lascivious feelings we all have? Should it be a rule or industry "law" that intimacy coordinators be compulsory for nude and sex scenes?

The Deuce also allows for an exploration of how technology changes the way in which nude and sexual content is consumed. You suspect that the nude and sex scenes in The Substance, or any other movie mentioned, are consumed differently by viewers in a packed public movie theatre to how some viewers are consuming them when they are streaming them in the privacy of their own homes. Particularly if they're streaming them on Internet Porn sites. Thanks to AI the, mainly actresses, don't even have to have consented to the creation of the nude and sex scenes which are being streamed on Internet Porn sites in that way. Further contributing to the questions over regulation, such as the use of Copyright to prevent genuine and AI generated nude and sexual content appearing on Internet Porn site. Should it be an industry "law" that studios have to enforce the removal of that content on behalf of the people featured?

Using former co-stars Margaret Qualley and Emily Meade to draw the comparison between The Substance and The Deuce is actually rather clever. Since making The Leftovers Emily Meade has gone on to appear in a lot of nude and simulated sex scenes, which are probably all over Internet Porn sites now. Whereas The Substance features Margaret Qualley's first nude and simulated sex scenes. In a lot of the coverage surrounding The Oscars 2025 that I skimmed, rather than read Margaret Qualley did comment on how she didn't enjoy doing the nude and simulated sex scenes and is hoping to avoid them in future. Maybe Emily Meade feels the same way but doesn't have the luxury of being a Nepo Baby with powerful parents in her corner?

Following The Leftovers Margaret Qualley had a small role in; "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019). While I don't mean it as an insult I should mention that Quentin Tarantino's work has always left me cold. In my opinion he seems far more interested in the nerdy, technical processes of movie making rather than making movies. Such as when he used 65mm film to shoot; "The Hateful Eight" (2015). Then was forced to transfer it to standard 70mm film as all the movie theatres turned round and said; "Yeah, we're not going to buy new projectors just to show your movie." As the words; "You pretentious tw*t!" hung in the air, unspoken.

In Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood Margaret Qualley appeared alongside Mikey Madison, who won Best Actress for her role in Anora. Mikey Madison appeared in; "Scream" (2022) alongside Jasmin Savoy Brown. Who appeared alongside Margaret Qualley in The Leftovers. Which is the sort of full circle moment which made me smile.

Some of you may remember that back in 2021 the CIA tried to shock the World into submission. Putting around the twin rumours that Miley Cyrus is bisexual and maybe, just maybe, she menstruates. The storyline of Miley Cyrus' journey from naive good girl into a bisexual punk-rock chick seems to have been lifted directly from The Deuce. The journey of the "Abigail - "Abbi" - Parker." Played by Margarita Levieva, a Russian-born Jew who first migrated to the "Little Odessa" area of New York City.

Following The Deuce Emily Meade went onto appear in Amazon MGM's "Dead Ringers" (2023). This centres around Rachel Weisz playing twin, female gynaecologists. It immediately gets very graphic in its portrayal of female reproductive health, including menstruation and menopause. Then just stays there for six hours. Emily Meade plays the lesbian wife of "Rebecca Parker," played by Jennifer Earle. The benefactor of the non-lesbian twin.

So you do have to wonder who the CIA thought it was going to shock with its Miley Cyrus prank. Presumably someone who has never seen a TV show, movie or read an Elementary School biology textbook. The Great American Bell Ringing of October 2021 really seemed inevitable.

In real life Rachel Weisz is, essentially, married to Daniel Craig. The outgoing James Bond. Although we were almost supposed to mistake her for a body-double Margaret Qualley performed as part of a musical tribute to James Bond during The Oscars 2025 ceremony. Wearing a menstrual red dress.

Dead Ringers (2023) can also be used to provide something of a cautionary tale about binge-watching. It was the first series or serial that I streamed on Amazon Prime Video. I realised there were six instalments and I had six days left on my subscription. So I decided to binge-watch them day-after-day. Something rather crucial to the plot happens right at the end of the fourth instalment. Having over-indulged by that point I was no longer paying the right amount of attention. Which made it quite hard to understand the remaining two instalments.

Of course some streaming serials are now intended to be binge-watched. Running the instalments together of several hours, let alone days. Rather like how movies used to be in serial form. Until they started running the instalments together over the course of many hours. Such as ridiculous number of hours that they need an intermission, in the case of; The Brutalist (2024).

At around 16:25 on 30/6/25 (UK date) I've just got one more movie to research and write about now.

To be continued in Part 8.

13:02 on 18/7/25 (UK date).