Muniz Documentary Discussion Questions

  • Does having prejudiced views take away from the small good that Muniz’s project did?

This is a difficult question to answer because depends, I think on whether Muniz’s goals were met. I think that his project did good in the fact that his portrait of Tião raised $50,000 for the pickers’ union which allowed them to, after the closing of the landfill, open a library and help people transition. However, he also treated them very condescendingly almost the entire time which can skew the message that he was trying to convey (which seemed to be that they are all unwanted, so it may have helped his message).

  • How do personal relationships affect views overall?

In the film, we see that Muniz does not seem to have a very good relationship with his wife—he talks over her and it is stated that he is going to be in Brazil for three years, yet we only see her once—and his relationship with Fabio seemed strained as well, as though they barely know each other. This inability to be close to the people around him reflect his questionable treatment of the pickers.