Go in Faith bets on good representation and hits the target!

“go in faith” premiered on TV Globo in mid-January this year and, since then, has been conquering an ever-growing and more loyal audience. Among so many successes already highlighted in the plot of Rosane Svartmanone of them stands out and “teaches”: the representativeness present in the telenovela!

BLACK PROTAGONISM

Right away, we must emphasize how the telenovela brings a good ethnic-racial representation, mainly in relation to the black population, being marked by a large number of black actors in its cast, whose characters are extremely varied.

There are black people who are poor, rich, nice, boring, well-intentioned, with bad character, of all the possibilities you can imagine. It is common within structural racism to place non-standard groups as “all being equal”, but this is the biggest lie invented by humanity, because we are all diverse and different and to some extent, even with our similarities.

However, the above paragraph should not become synonymous with the black population denying their blackness and the challenges that come with being black in a racist society and the telenovela knows this very well, dealing with issues related to the subject in a delicate and accurate way, quite natural and intrinsic to society as it really is!

LGBTQIAPN+ COMMUNITY RECORD

The members of the LGBTQIAPN+ community present in the soap opera also all have their own individuality, whether their personal characteristics are positive or negative, whether they are people within a “stereotype” or who flee from it, as each one has their own way of living and expressing themselves.

However, this author who writes to you needs to highlight one detail: I don’t remember another Brazilian soap opera shown on open TV with so many LGBT characters. It could be a big mistake on my part, of course, but “Vai na Fé” gets it right again, that nobody can deny.

Vitinho (Luis Lobianco) is assumed, as well as Anthony Verão (Orlando Caldeira), Naira (Tati Villela), whose fast speech also assumed Ivy (Azzy), William (Diego Montez), Vini (Guthierry Sotero) and Helena (Priscila Sztejnman). . Highlight for the last two mentioned, who are in one way or another helping Yuri (Jean Paulo Campos) and Clara (Regiane Alves), respectively, to discover themselves in relation to sexuality, all in a spontaneous and realistic way.

FAITH ON MANY FRONTS

And the name of the novel? It is also being masterfully represented! Christianity needs no comment in its representation in the soap opera, receiving more focus due to the fact that Sol (Sheron Menezzes), the main protagonist, as well as her family, is evangelical, attending weekly worship and participating in Church activities.

However, this did not prevent “Vai na Fé” from exposing other religions with respect and care, as when Ben (Samuel de Assis) participated in a Candomblé ritual, or even when Fábio Lorenzo (Zé Carlos Machado) and Dora (Claudia Ohana ) shared the tenets of Buddhism and its philosophies.

Religious intolerance does not exist here, and all faiths are respected, even those who are not practicing or have no religion, as with several characters.

ETARISM

It is undeniable how society tends to practice a lot of ageism, prejudice marked by prejudice against people because of their age, being very common among elderly and/or older people, and the soap opera also deals with it with great care and delicacy.

Sol’s mother, Marlene (Elisa Lucinda) for a long time ended up appearing on screen as a housewife, until a conversation with Horácio (Francisco Salgado) made her realize that she was not living life, making her decide to sell takeaways alongside Bruna (Carla Cristina Cardoso) every day.

Also noteworthy is the speech of Wilma (Renata Sorrah), who, a renowned actress in the past, ended up being ostracized for many years, suffering virtual bullying after having a test exposed on the internet, with people saying that they thought she “was dead from so much forgotten”.

REMEMBER WILMA’S SPEECH IN THE NOVELA ABOUT ETARISM

“My name is Wilma Campos and I am an actress. If you haven’t seen me acting, it’s not your fault. Ask your mother. Your father has certainly seen one of my films. I was very famous. A star! But recently I discovered that I committed a terrible crime: I grew old”, she began.

“In today’s world, being young is no longer a phase of life, but a definite state of mind. Anyone who grows old is an outlaw. And being a woman, as my lawyer says, is an aggravating factor. Every wrinkle adds to the pain. They expel us from the world because of flaccid skin”, said the artist.

“I have aged, yes. The marks on my face carry passion, sadness, joy. It’s my life and I’m very proud of it! That’s what I can show on stage and screen. But they don’t let me work and show my talent. Those who lose are those who ‘accuse’ of being old and condemn me for being alive. Offenses do not bring me down. On the contrary: they give me the strength to fight more”, concludes, concluded Wilma.

DISEASE CHALLENGES

Speaking of Marlene, she conquered Brazil recently by revealing why she wore a wig in the plot: she has alopecia, a condition that reduces an individual’s capillary density, often caused by a psychological factor.

The matriarch of the family was ashamed of her hair being less dense, and her wig was essential, but an accident with the dog made her talk to Bruna, who noticed the disease and helped her to know more about the subject and seek treatment, making Marlene assume your natural hair.

We also need to highlight the delicacy with which Rafa’s (Caio Manhente) depression is shown, in which we notice not only by what others say about him, but also by the way the boy acts and the things he thinks, mainly because of his difficulty to relate and interact with people, preventing him from leaving the house or even his room.

Gradually, the character began to progress in relation to the subject, returning to study at ICAES and creating very strong bonds with Kate (Clara Moneke), but still with some points of difficulty, as he does not feel well and is extremely in crowded places of people.

WOMEN CAN DO AND BE WHEREVER THEY WANT

We talk about many female characters throughout the text, just proving how each one has their individuality, strengths and difficulties to be overcome, but they all want to be happy and fulfilled, like Sol in being on stage, for example. Clara was away from her own company for years, but wanted to go back to work and even went out more often.

Marlene wanted to sell takeout with Bruna, who is a great friend of the family and never abandoned them. Kate has always wanted to meet, and she’s doing pretty well selling her own sandwiches at ICAES. Speaking of college, Jenifer (Bella Campos) studied from an early age to enter the institution and graduate in law, being a milestone in the family for her to study at a college.

We cannot fail to mention Lumiar (Carolina Dieckmann), a teacher who appears most in the ICAES soap opera, who defies social obligations when she decided that she does not want to have children throughout her life, a role that is often attributed to adult women.

Lumiar went to the big city because he didn’t identify with his parents’ lifestyle, and he felt like a fish out of water until he started dating Ben, seeing him as his base in the world. Who has never felt the same way, or relied on someone special in times of difficulty?

The lawyer’s attitudes are being questionable, but practically all the female characters mentioned here, as well as male characters as well, had good and bad attitudes in general (Theo is perhaps a separate case and a negative extreme of the balance), because that is what human being, a constant personal evolution!

IMPORTANT COMPLAINTS

A good representativeness is not only marked by the beauty of diversity and moments that make us sigh with joy, and it is often accompanied by unpleasant moments and actions, mainly linked to prejudice.

Knowing this, “Vai na Fé” denounces several prejudiced and retrograde behaviors of society in the plot, whether in a subtle and delicate way or even opening the issue wide, but without losing the realistic basis that originated the scene in question.

Who wasn’t moved by Wilma’s speech, quoted earlier, about ageism? How much did people defend Sol on social media being judged for wanting to fulfill her dream? It was also mentioned how Lumiar is often judged for not wanting to be a mother.

Yuri’s two unjust arrests, the cursing of Ben in his youth and the graffitied wall at university games have exposed how racist society is. The subject also shows the ethnic reality of the country when there are few black students at ICAES, a high-cost college, with the majority of those who receive scholarship scholarships. Ben didn’t have a scholarship, but he was the only black student in the place at the time.

Speaking of scholarships, the plot that Otávio (Gabriel Contente) defrauded the system to be a scholarship holder and took the vacancy of people who really needed to be able to study, and him watching the video of the reports, was another way of debating social inequality

Machismo is wide open in Theo (Emilio Dantas), who considers himself Clara’s owner because he is a man and works, just as Fred’s arch (Henrique Bandeira) went through this, when he created a profile called “macharada” and kissed Guiga (Mel Maia) by force, showing in the novel the impacts of sexual harassment and the consequences, making the student change his thoughts and evolve.

EXPOSED SERIOUS BEHAVIORS

Speaking of Guiga, she exposes the negative side of fame on social networks, how thinking only of herself or followers is harmful to herself and others around her, not to mention that she lives in a bubble because of her financial condition, generating several balls out in some comments.

Lui Lorenzo had his sexuality questioned, and even though it was suggested that he used the LGBTQIAPN+ community and pretended to be part of it to profit from it, the soap opera not only made the acidic criticism, but also made the singer take another path that was truly ethical.

Going back to Theo, he was a way of exposing how an abusive relationship works, whether the aggressive, cold and exclusive way he treats Clara or even the way he acted with Kate being his lover. We must not forget that all of his erroneous ideology led him to rape Sol in the past, and the impacts on the victim are shown in every possible way.

Another way that Sol suffers from machismo is that she cannot be a dancer and wear flashy looks because she is a “mother of the family”, even if this does not interfere with her character at any time. Incidentally, religious hypocrisy is also displayed with this subplot, when churchgoers judge her or make invasive comments about her life.

Let’s close with a good-natured denouncement: the retreat for men to “find their manhood”, showing prejudiced young men exuding their toxic masculinity as if it were a virtue, in addition to acting like “savages”. But Vitinho outwitted all of them, invalidating the homophobia of his own cousin, who organized the event.

And you, do you remember another representation in “Vai na Fé”? Was there anything that marked you or made you reflect?