For those who may suggest that she, as a foreigner living in the US, has no business criticizing the United States and its institutions, as well as people, she is quick to point out a list of places, people and things all very much American that she loves unrestrictedly: blues, jazz and rock'n roll, New York bookstores, Groucho Marx and Martin Scorsese, the colors of New Mexico and the Mississippi Delta, just to name a few. And after 8 1/2 years in Los Angeles, this Carioca (Rio native) calls both cities home, and believes she understands Brazilian and American cultures well enough to appreciate and dislike them both.
Ana Maria's critical thinking, sharp and revealing, is in part the result of a lifelong career dedicated to journalism mostly covering culture and behavior. In Brazil she has worked for major newspapers (Jornal do Brasil and O Globo among others) and magazines like the Brazilian Rolling Stone. Today she is an international correspondent and, since 1992, the Los Angeles editor of the London-based magazine Screen International.
Here, Ana Maria gives News from Brazil readers an insight into America de A a Z.
When and why did you decide to write the book?
In fact, throughout the years I've always kept some notes about day-to-day life here. Then, while talking with Isa Pessoa, of Editora Objetiva (which published the book), she suggested that I wrote down my notes by using the old almanac style, which allows for the use of several other styles within it: essays, chronicles, dialogues... That's how it happened.
In the introduction of America de A a Z you hope the book fulfills Brazilians' curiosity about life in the US. Do you think they have a realistic idea about American culture and way of life? Or are there many myths?
I think there are lots of myths, but the essential one is that "here (Brazil) everything is bad; there (US) everything is good. Here nothing works; there everything works." Implicitly there is the notion that "They (Americans) are superior to us (Brazilians); they know things we don't know." That's totally false. What I tried to show in the book is that the human being is the same with the same needs, idiosyncrasies and desires. The chaos, the confusion is the same, only it's expressed in a different way, following different rituals. In many cases Brazil has found much better solutions than in the United States, and many things work much better in Brazil others don't.
Are Brazilians surprised by what you reveal in the book?
Very surprised... Although I've heard many people say they had a vague idea that things were not so perfect, but they refused to believe it.
Do you think you share the same perception of American culture with other Brazilians, or with other foreign groups living in the US?
I really couldn't say. This book was extremely personal. It's the closest I've come to writing a diary. There are stories in the book that happened to non-American friends of mine. And I guess some of my experiences are similar to others', but I didn't have that in mind when I wrote the book.
Have you had any feedback from Americans who have read the book?
Only two. One from this guy who reads Portuguese, knows a lot about Brazil and is married to a Brazilian: He loved it. The other was from a journalist (The Miami Herald correspondent in Rio) who was outraged. She wrote an article about the book, in which she just stopped short of demanding that Clinton send his troops to Brazil. The core of her article was: "How can someone who is from a country where everything goes wrong dare to criticize the US?
In your opinion, could more Americans read Portuguese, how would they react to America de A a Z? Do Americans have a sense of humor?
I think they have. It's kind of funny, a bit aggressive, different from our sense of humor. As for this reaction, I would think that , initially, they would be offended. Americans are not used to being criticized even if it is in a good-humored or loving way, like in the book. Those who have lived abroad, or who travel a lot tend to have a more open mind and would probably understand that.
In Brazil (see excerpt) Americans are depicted as being completely misinformed culturally, geographically and historically. Is that due to arrogance, or are they victims of their own education system that doesn't include geography (and barely touches World History) in its curriculum?
I think both things are interconnected. On one hand, the American education system is facing a very serious crisis. But even before that there was this attitude intrinsically arrogant of focusing all the knowledge, the education, around what happens in the US.
Do you feel this misinformation exists even in the big cities, like Los Angeles and New York, where there's such a great cultural diversity?
Absolutely. All those expressions and observations I mentioned were actually said to me, or I read them in newspaper and magazine articles about Brazil. They are not the fruit of my imagination. All I did was to edit the absurdities I've heard throughout the years.
Same with the 'Soccer' chapter?
Listen, I wrote that chapter during the World Cup. Again, all those things I either heard or read about including this business that hitting the ball with the head prevents normal growth. There was even a debate about it in the radio, and it went on for hours.
Based on what kind of observations did you write about the 'Race' chapter? (See excerpt)
That's something I wrote about not long after I had moved to this country. And it is not so much about racism which is despicable and exists everywhere, including in Brazil, as it is about the American obsession to classify. David Byrne once told me that the US is no melting pot, that in reality this was a big myth. Instead, he said, the US is like a "TV dinner." That's when I started to understand that by being classified, people are bound to a certain place in the social structure, which is determined by the label they carry.
What is incredible is that this divisive mentality is so strong that cultural groups quickly learned that in order to survive and to negotiate in this society, they had to set themselves up as an ethnic group. In Brazil, when we say we're a Latin culture, it means we share a common cultural heritage. In the US, when you say you're Latino, people immediately assume you have dark skin, a certain type of accent, and similar hair color. It becomes a definition of race.
That's why when Americans try to argue with me I give Americana (in the State of São Paulo) as an example: The city was founded by American refugees fleeing the civil War. To which race, then, belongs the Confederate's granddaughter, who was born and lives in Americana? People don't know how to answer that. Do you understand, now, where all this labeling fails?
Tell us briefly about some other chapters in your book. On "Election..."
We, Brazilians, had to struggle so hard to get what Americans take for granted!... They don't value what they have.
On "Religion..."
Americans are religious, but here religion seems to be more of a social contract than a spiritual experience. At the church they'll meet people who may be useful to their careers, or if the person is single, he may find a potential date, or even the future wife... It's essentially a social practice.
On "Family... "
It has to do with individualism, and it's opposite to Japan, for instance, where everything is determined by the family, not by the individual. It strikes me that here the family motivating factor lies in distancing. When I tell people that I grew up in a house shared by five generations, they think it's totally surreal.
Are there any plans to have the book translated into English?
There are two things I'd love to do: One is to write America de A a Z Part 2, and secondly, to have the book translated into English. I must admit it's my fault not having worked out the English version yet.
Few things define Americans better than the cars they drive... Generally, American cars... mean conservatism, patriotism or simply a good bargain... European cars can mean either status and sophistication (Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches), or total poverty: Volkswagen, any model, is a car driven by broke people. I know because, for six years, I drove a Golf brave and indestructible even after three crashes...
Volvo is for well-bred families. BMW's for yuppies it's like going around screaming, "I have money, but I don't have good taste."... The Korean Hyundai is a car for desperates, and it manages to have status coefficient even lower than American and Volkswagen cars together. Honda's and Toyota's basic models (Civic, Tercel, Corolla) send a `medium income' message: O.K., but no big deal. On the other hand, some of the most luxurious and snobbish cars around come from the elite line of the very same Japanese manufacturers (Lexus, Infinity)...
...It's located South of Mexico... Spanish is the spoken language there. Sometimes it's funny Spanish that sounds like Russian... Incidentally, Lambada is the country's national dance, although it was forbidden for many years because it had to do with the natives' fertility rituals... It's a very important thing... because it's with it that the natives are fighting the destruction of the Amazon Forest with the help of Sting and that guy who looks like Raul Julia: Chico Menendez.
People in Brazil... dance for months in a party named "Carnival," but, at the same time, they kill little children on the streets just because they beg. Really! In Brazil it's legal to kill little children; on the other hand, Lambada was forbidden. Are they crazy, those Hispanics?! When they are not dancing, destroying the Amazon Forest or killing little kids, Brazilians play soccer.
It seems I'm not sure that soccer is mandatory in Brazil... but it's a very aggressive thing, too: If a player scores against his own team, he is sentenced to death. That's what happened to that goalkeeper during... that championship which was held here in the United States... Waddya call it? World Series?...
Also, in Brazil people have only one name Xuxa, Romário, Pelé, Lula and everybody has sex whenever they feel like it, without fear of AIDS. All told, it's very, very, very dangerous to go there... And that's why I'm going to Ciudad Juarez, instead...
I'm holding the special edition of Miles Kimball's Christmas catalog... Here are some of the highlights... Page 2. Plastic fireplace. It's shipped disassembled... and includes a fake wooden mantel with a Christmas garland decorating it. The product's description warns that the contraption is useless for burning logs, and for Santa Claus' triumphant arrival... Page 16. My favorite: Elvis' Christmas ball ornament. Silver, with... his name and dates of birth and death. The description states, "It deserves a place of honor on any fan's Christmas tree."
(Editor's Note: This one you have to see for yourself.)
There are basically two races in the world: The white Americans who are obviously white and the rest who are not necessarily white. Sure, there are exceptions... the natives of Northern and Central Europe are, in theory, whites, too. In theory: Nowadays, with so much immigration and so much mixture, one never knows.
The Italians, French, Spaniards, Greeks and Portuguese are somewhat of a problem. The State Department says they are white, but nobody really believes that they are kind of dark, aren't they?... Oh, yes, anyone born in Latin America is Hispanic, no matter if the person is of German, Incan, Ioruba or Japanese descent it's Hispanic. Or, at best, Latino which is a race, O.K.? (And, obviously, it is not white.) Black is black...
Unfortunately, even with all the prophylactic measures taken by us there was some mixture in this country. So... If the family has or has had one black element, then the family is all black. And there are, of course, all those exotic races all over the world: The Orientals and the Arabs, and the Indians... It's very important to define, because it's very important to separate...
I'll tell you once and for all why this business of soccer will never work here in the United States I mean, never, ever, ever! First, because it's played with one's feet... A sport, to be considered human and intelligent, ought to be played with one's hands, which are noble and capable of complex achievements, like holding a baseball bat, or pushing all your opponents down into the mud. Secondly, because it uses one's head besides the feet...
That's why people from soccer-playing countries are so short and, frankly, so underdeveloped: Because they've spent their lives being hit in the head by that heavy ball... In third place, because, honestly, nothing happens, i.e., the purpose of the game is stupid: Twenty `fellas' running and trying to get a tiny little ball inside a net that big. And how many times does that happen in a game? Once? Twice? Three times?... It's nothing...
Incidentally... the fourth reason: How can there be a sport without statistics?... The guys run around for 90 minutes, one side wins, the other looses, or both tie. That's it. What a waste of time!... The fifth reason is very important: Soccer is harmful to the economy... Notice how soccer-practicing countries are forever troubled by the economy, recession, out-of-control inflation! And do you want to know why? Because soccer doesn't promote consumerism... How can one promote consumerism around such a miserable sport that requires only feet, ground and a ball?...
And finally, because it was not invented in the United States... If God wanted for Americans to play soccer, He would've enlightened our Founding Fathers so that they, in their wisdom, could include the game in this country's essential practices, along with the right to freedom, wealth, happiness and the right to carry a gun...
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