On October 1st, 2020, Netflix premiered a Brazilian series called “Good Morning, Verônica” (Bom Dia, Verônica). It is directed by José Henrique Fonseca and inspired by a book of the same name by Raphael Montes and Ilana Casoy, which together used the pseudonym Andrea Killmore.
Verônica Torres (Tainá Müller) is a police secretary that works at a homicide police station in São Paulo City. One day at the office she witnesses a suicide of a young woman and also, in the same week, an anonymous woman called her asking for help, both facts involve abused women.
Before I start describing some topics to pay attention to, I’d like to point out how amazing was seeing Camila Morgado and Eduardo Moscovis acting, Janete and Brandão on the series. Their characters’ performances were absolutely perfect! And also, I don’t recommend watching this series if you are a sensitive person, or you don’t like seeing strong and cruel scenes.
Below, check it out five topics you should pay attention to!
FROM THIS POINT THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS!
- Be careful on who you trust!
-
We see how Janete approached Brandão’s victims at the bus station and also that Giorgio – a character that is a catfish- drugged women to satisfy his fetish. So, specially us, women, we must take double care!
- Abusive relationship
-
One day Brandão beat Janete and she appears with bruises all over her body, then he says how much he loves her and will never do that again because he is gonna change.
He forbids her from going out of their home, she doesn’t have a cellphone, she can’t really go out, she is not allowed to talk to her family and as mentioned before, she is forced to participate in the crimes.
- Gaslighting
-
Janete is forced by Brandão to go to the bus station and ask women to work for them as a cleaning lady but in fact they were gonna be tortured by Brandão.
He makes her believe that she is guilty of his tortures because she lost their babies during all the pregnancies and she is the one that approaches women, so that’s why she sometimes thinks it is not his fault but hers.
- Chauvinism
-
In some scenes we can hear in their dialogue the rooted machismo in our society, for example, when Anita (Elisa Volpatto) asks Tania (Aline Borges) “So you’re used to dating men you meet online?” blaming her for her sexual and personal life.
- People don’t believe in the victims
-
The chief of police dismisses cases and blames victims and Veronica tells him “I can’t believe you’re going to paint her as deranged and bury this” after Tania shows all the proof that she was deceived and drugged, and he also says “Women who’ve been abused by their husbands will make stuff up to get revenge”.
Besides the topics mentioned before, there is also aesthetic pressure in preadolescents, corruption, trivialization of depression and many more.
Unfortunately, what we see happens a lot in Brazil and the world. According to Instituto Maria da Penha (Brazilian organisation named after a survivor of domestic violence), every two seconds a woman is subjected to attack (verbal or physical). From 2015 to 2018, about 483.000 cases of violence were registered ONLY in the state of Rio de Janeiro. This is such a huge number and we must fight for our rights and warn people to report any case of violence against women.
In the ending of each episode it says “If you or someone you know experiences violence and abuse, and needs help finding crisis resources visit www.wannatalkaboutit.com”.
——————————————————————-
The article above was edited by Laura Ferrazzano.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Casper Libero!