The Wasteland Discussion Questions

  1. In what way did socioeconomic class completely shape the art that Vik Muniz planned?

Throughout the film, Muniz seemed to make many comments relating to both his own class standing, whether in his childhood or now, and about the class of the individuals he was working with. These comments really rubbed me the wrong way many times and I think is important for understanding the drive to complete this art project.

2. Other than monetary gains, what do audiences perceive are the benefits that were given to the workers through art?

In the film, Muniz really stressed that this art project would change the lives of all of the pickers, but I really am interested if others who saw the film really thought that the project made a difference as a whole.

Brazil’s Indigenous March in Brasilia for Rights and Land

This article Goes over the different indigenous groups in Brazil are going to march to the capital and hold protests and camp out in the Brasilia. They are camping out in Brasilia to try to push the government to uphold the constitutional and protect the land of the indigenous people of Brazil. The indigenous people have said this is a huge topic because the land they posse is what helps them leave their legacy for their children. The indigenous people started their protest on Monday of this week and there will be meeting between the government and the native people to decide if the decision by Michel Temer’s government and their policy over indigenous people and their lands will be upheld. FUNAI or the National Indigenous Foundation as it is also is known as, the organization put in place by the government to help regulate and over see that business’s and the government it self does not go into the native peoples land and take it from them. The FUNAI also makes sure that the rights are also recognized and withheld within Brazil. With President Temer cutting the funding of FUNAI he has cut off a major asset to the native people in making sure that there land with remain theirs. As of right now the government and private organizations have gone in and started to claim lands from the indigenous people of Brazil.

Brazil’s Indigenous March in Brasilia for Rights and Land

Institution Protecting Indigenous Rights in Brazil Under Attack

The Wasteland Questions

Q1: How does social entrepreneurship function in helping underprivileged people to mobilize their socioeconomic statuses?

A1: In the film, workers of Jardim Gramacho participated in an art project with a supervisor, utilizing recycles and litters to create portraits of its members. After they finished the project, the pieces created through the art collaboration were auctioned and sold at a high price, which the profits were distributed to the workers of Jardim Gramacho. Here, social entrepreneurship played a crucial role in helping those in need to get back on their feet or start a new chapter in their lives with the income they earned from selling the art pieces. Although the money wasn’t significantly large, it was sufficient enough to support the workers in pursuing their dreams. Brazil has one of the largest gaps between the rich and poor in the world. However, it is almost impossible to allocate monetary resources directly to underprivileged people in Brazil, but Wasteland reveals how those in need can be financially supported for minimum investment to pursue their visions.

Q2: How does Wasteland reveal the social construction of Brazil?

A2: During watching this film, there were several features I noticed that reflect the social construction of Brazil. Those working at Jardim Gramacho were predominantly non-whites, whereas the film director (or the project supervisor) was white. Similarly, the film captures a scene at the auction where the ones purchasing art works were, again, white. From my understanding, the auction represented a rich high urban social life that was practiced and enjoyed by white Brazilians. Moreover, a female worker at Jardim Gramacho (I forgot her name) says in the film that she doesn’t want to go back to the garbage land, but she must go back to support her children and mother. This was inevitable for that Brazilian woman because working there was the only option in the society she can utilize to financially sustain her life. This further reflects how, in Brazil, social construction is deeply systematized that those in need possess limited opportunities and resources within the society.

The Wasteland Questions

Q1: From a moral standpoint, do you think Vik’s project was acceptable?

Throughout the film, I struggled with the morality of the project that Vik was pursuing. While he did end up giving the money he raised to the people he photographed, I couldn’t get over the sense that they were being exploited to some degree, and that the project was more important for Vik than it was for the subjects, and to a degree, he was doing it to prove to himself he had moved past being that poor kid growing up in a Sao Paulo favela. To that end, it still felt exploitative despite the positive effects that it had on the subjects.

Q2: What do the subjects of Vik’s photographs reveal about how class interacts with race and gender in Brazil?

Looking at his subjects, they were largely non-white and female, with several of the women experiencing some sort of gender-violence. As such, it is clear that poverty in Brazil is disproportionately felt by non-white individuals and women.

Wasteland discussion questions

Wasteland on Vik Muniz’s journey to Rio de Janeiro was about people who worked on trash picking, which they recycled those reusable materials and reassembled the waste. In Brazil, the problem of decomposing garbage has been a problem, as they took up the land available and were hard to decompose. Those trash pickers in the documentary are from the Brazilian working class and make a living through this job.
To reflect on the documentary, I would like to raise two discussion questions: How did the trash picking job change the people in the documentary? What is the impact of Vik Muniz’s photography project domestically and internationally? The participants of the documentary are from working class and live in favelas outside of Rio de Janeiro. Some of them experienced unemployment in the whole family, and this job gave them a way to support their daily life as their job. Some of them were in poverty as single mothers, and this job provided an opportunity to change their lives, as they did not need to be involved in prostitution. For the head of the organization, reallocating the waste and recycle the materials would help the environment and make use of more land available, so it would not be taken by the trash. The trash picking job overall granted the characters opportunities to change their environment, and their life, which they could make a living through the job and this career gave them another option over drug trafficking or prostitution.
Vik Muniz’s photography utilized trash for aesthetic values initially as most of them went into waste. Nevertheless, by taking pictures of trash pickers, they revealed their struggles and raised audiences’ awareness of reallocating waste. The organization started for this was doubted by the mass on the effectiveness of the environmentally friendly behavior, but after the photos and artworks were displayed in Brazil and even globally, waste allocation and working class people were more present in the media, which as a result brought more attention to the Brazilians. Vik Muniz also gained higher recognition in art internationally.

Wasteland Discussion Questions

One question I have about the film Wasteland is about Vik. While I thought the project he pursued doing was admirable, there was something about him which rubbed me the wrong way, that I couldn’t really pin down while watching the film. I don’t know if it was his ego per say, but perhaps something along the lines. I guess the question I’m asking is if other people who watched the movie also picked up on the vibe I’m attempting to convey. Perhaps more specifically it seemed like he didn’t want to entertain or hear potential criticism about the project.

Another question I have about the film is the scope of the project. While we saw Vik help a handful of the workers at the landfill, there were multitudes of those who were not focused on. How do you think the people who were left out of the project help? and do you think that the lasting effects of the project for the few benefitted the whole?

The Wasteland Question Post

1.) How many of the children (percentage) of the pickers come back and support their families in the Picker Operations? I recall that the one guy at the beginning (I forget his name) wanted his future child to be a lawyer to help protect their rights.

2.) In the art produced by Vic Muniz, how did it improve the morale of the Pickers at the landfill? It didn’t really touch on it a whole lot in my opinion.

Wasteland Discussion Questions

What role did race play in Wasteland?

Although race was not really mentioned in Wasteland, the majority of the pickers had darker skin. I think that the issue of race should have been addressed in Wasteland since it most likely played a role in the poor conditions the pickers were living and working in.

Is art the best way to help people in poverty?

I think that art is helpful for people in poverty as an outlet and to recognize other aspects of life. However, I do think it would have been helpful if Vik gave the pickers advice or education on how to get a new job and overcome obstacles that exist in everyday society.

Waste discussion questions

In waste land how did the art of Vic Muniz raise the happiness and confidence of the pickers at the Jardim Gramacho landfill?

IN the painting that Vic Muniz made and sold for the pickers of the Jardim Gramacho Gramacho landfill, how do you think this money benefited the community?

Living With The Effects of Zika: Culture Post

Though the spread of Zika has decreased significantly since its initial outbreak in 2015, many Brazilians are still struggling with supporting children born with disabilities due to the illness, especially in favelas. In Recife, Maria De Fátima dos Santos cares for her one and a half year old daughter Eduarda Vitória. Though efforts by the Brazilian government greatly curbed the spread of Zika, some mosquitoes still survived, one biting Maria during her pregnancy. Eduarda was born with various disabilities, including microcephaly, digestion issues, reoccurring seizures, and impaired vision. Her medication is stored in a plastic bag within a bottle, tied to a pole. This prevents rats from stealing it.

Both Maria and her husband Paulo Rogério Cavalcanti de Araújo are unemployed, and receive 880 reais (about $225) monthly from the government. Welfare programs in Brazil lack support to Brazilian families in favelas, as formula was no longer sent to the family once Eduarda turned a year old. Clinics took months to schedule an appointment to get Eduarda glasses, but then failed to provide her with braces that fit her arms and legs. Physical therapy for the child is hard to get, as it is a two-and-a-half-hour walk, or thirty minutes by paying the bus fare. Maria still struggles to get the support needed to take care of her child, but is hopeful for the future.

Coverage of this event by The New York Times, though in a through attempt to be objective, still somewhat sensationalizes the problems faced by those in favelas. Emotional terms such as “cope” and “struggle” are used throughout the article, and a section on Maria’s past focuses on her time as a drug addict and prostitute. Though it’s all factual, it feels as though the issues she faces are somewhat glorified for an American audience. Though this may be an attempt to draw international attention to the issues faced by millions living in Brazilian favelas.

In combination with Waste Land / Lixo Extraordinário and Ben Penglase’s Living with Insecurity in a Brazilian Favela, this article provides a current example of the poverty many Brazilians face. Penglase’s work provides a more indepth look at what goes on beyond Maria’s household. Both discuss the issues of drug trafficking and inequality impacting those living in favelas, but Penglase furthers this discussion by examining the friendships and support systems formed around communities with shared struggles. Waste Land continues this exposure of communities in favelas and the hope for a better future by interviewing workers at Jardim Gramacho. These interactions between those in Brazil’s discarded communities add to our own analysis of how Brazilians form their own identities in their communities, race and class inequality, and the socioeconomic structure of Brazil’s welfare systems.

Source + 360 video of Maria’s home:

www.nytimes.com/2017/03/11/health/zika-virus-favela-360-video.html