Last May, when Brazilian comedian Rafinha Bastos made an utterly offensive joke about rape victims (they should be glad for the "opportunity," he said during one of his stand-up routines), people from all aspects of society were outraged by his remarks. Bloggers, celebrities, politicians, tweeters and, above all, feminists, promptly asked for Bastos' sacking from the television show he hosted, 'CQC,' a weekly news roundup that takes a humorous, thought-provoking look at current affairs.
Although he didn't lose his job at the time (Bastos was later dropped by the show's producers, Band TV and Argentine production company Eyeworks, due to another offensive joke, this time directed at Brazilian pop singer Wanessa Camargo), the comedian was accused of going too far with his stage banter and was officially charged with 'apology of sexual assault and rape.' The investigation is still ongoing. Should Bastos be plead guilty, he faces up to six months in prison.
Now, several months later, the alleged rape on live television of a contestant in Brazil's version of the Endemol-produced Big Brother, aired last Saturday night during an episode of the reality-series, has brought attention to the touchy subject of non-consensual sex yet again. According to media reports, contestant Daniel Echaniz may have forced himself on housemate Monique Amin while she was passed out in bed following a booze-fueled party. The scene was captured by Globo TV, which airs Big Brother in Brazil, with a night vision camera, and has already been removed from the station's official website.
On Monday, police officers in Rio de Janeiro confirmed they were probing allegations of a 'suspected rape that allegedly took place in the Big Brother house,' which is situated in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, where Globo's production studios are based. Later on the same day, the producers of Big Brother announced that Echaniz had been booted off the show, because he had 'broken the rules,' briefly stating that his behaviour was 'gravely inadequate,' a cause that was considered 'too vague' by Sao Paulo's Public Ministry, which is also on the case.
From a commercial standpoint, the incident has been resolved, as the show is still on air. Currently in its 12th season, the Brazilian version of Big Brother is one of the most successful in the world. The show's audience is the advertiser-preferred group of viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, while its ratings are still generally positive. Companies such as Unilever, Fiat and Anheuser-Busch InBev are among the advertisers who ponied up an average of $11.4 million to promote its products during the show's three-month run.
The way Globo handled the PR in this case, though, is nothing short of bizarre, appalling, authoritarian and irresponsible. Under the lead of Big Brother's director, Jose Bonifacio Brasil de Oliveira, more commonly known as 'Boninho,' the network first opted simply not to mention the incident during Monday's broadcast of Big Brother, leaving viewers (and advertisers, for that matter) feeling rightly disgruntled, and bringing to mind what is perhaps Globo's most unfortunate moment. On the 25th of January of 1984, in a time when Globo was accused of being the mouthpiece of the dictatorship because of its omission in covering the 'Diretas Ja' (Direct Now) movement, thousands of Brazilians gathered on a public square in Sao Paulo to demand a direct election for President, only to be ignored by the network, which reported the protest as being part of the celebrations for the city's anniversary.
To make things even worse, Boninho even said that Echaniz was being a 'victim of racism,' as the dark-skinned male model is of mixed race. The issue was only addressed on the following day, due to public pressure but mostly because of a warning by authorities, who reportedly threatened to take the show off the air.
The rape scandal also came in a really bad time for Endemol. The Netherlands-based company, which is owned by Goldman Sachs, Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset and investment firm Cycle, is reportedly in debt of more than $4 billion, and although it just reached an agreement with more than two-thirds of its lenders on a restructuring plan of its capital, as a result of the negotiations, the three shareholders -- who own a third of the company each -- are expected to relinquish control of the production giant with their combined stake reduced to below 50%.
Sexual assault is a complicated topic in Brazil, where matters of sexuality remain fraught, despite the country's international reputation for sexual liberation. Globo, as the largest television network in Brazil, and also as a public concession, has a social responsibility to its viewers. By airing a scene with alleged rape and subsequently treating it as a violation of its internal rules, instead of a crime, and not reporting it, the network caused serious damage to itself. The right thing to do would have been to fire Boninho and issuing a public statement apologizing for the whole Big Brother mess. Neither of which was done.
Better yet: for a network that has a history of award-winning scripted productions that includes the 1976 telenovela 'Isaura the Slave Girl,' an instant hit in more than 80 countries, and the 2002 series 'City of Men,' created by the Academy Award-nominated director Fernando Meirelles, this would be the perfect moment to take off the air a show that has done nothing but stain its image, and go back to creative mode.
