Pese Latu Favelas Clare Labowitch
Long Form Journalism – The Favelas
Favela also translated into ‘slums’ is a low-income town in Brazils capital, Rio de Janeiro. “Beyond the Map” is an interactive online text that showcases the positive outlook of being a resident of the Favelas and with technology of today, the creators of ‘Beyond of the Map’ are able to give the audience an authentic perspective on what life is like living in the Favelas. The residents of Favelas are commonly perceived to be criminals because of their living and financial situation, nonetheless ‘Beyond the Map’ depicts day-to-day activities that the community partakes in, in order to divert themselves from trouble and their not so extravagant life that is their reality. The audience may relate to these interests and may even realise they are just regular people living in a corrupted town.
On the other hand, the article “Rio’s New Reality Show” is an informative text that delivers the readers facts and information on the aggrieved past of the Favelas, convincing the readers that living in the Favelas will only result in being involved in crime. The article targets a more mature audience as it covers the grim topics of theft, slavery and drug abuse, to also enlighten an audience who is not accustomed with the emaciated stories and scenes affiliated with the community. With the use of modern technology ‘Beyond the Maps’ uses a 3D camera in order to tell the story, giving viewers a front seat of what they are seeing as if they are there themselves. This feature definitely creates a better understanding for the audience. As the host talks it gives a visual understanding and representation. ‘Rio’s New Reality Show’ uses theoretical data and statistics throughout the article, even though it is more difficult to relate to the text, nonetheless it degrades the people of Favelas. The two pieces portray different views of life in the Favelas.
The story of a young dancer, named Luis, titled ‘The boy who dared to dance’. Luis was born and raised in the Favelas and at the age of 13 he was introduced to a game where you had to dance to defeat evil, from there this is where his passion and love for dancing grew serious. He expresses how classical music makes him ‘feel so much’ and when he listens to it, he imagines himself dancing. After finding a local ballet studio and a teacher where he could continue practicing and expanding his knowledge on the art of ballet, his mother says he would lie about where he was going because he was scared that she would judge him. Luis thought that his mother would tell him that ballet was a ‘girls thing’, but his mother had the opposite reaction. “Not every boy his age is able to handle that much prejudice”, so she supported his dream. However, after word got out to his classmates that he danced ballet, one of them picked up a pen...
