o Herói - Jamie Hughes

While watching o Herói, there were several ideologies I noticed in terms of social class that struck me as not only being relevant in native countries, but also in our everyday lives. Throughout the film each character was part of a certain social class: Vitorio and Judite were all in the lower social class while Joana and her boyfriend were upper class. The ways in which they interacted were particularly interesting because I felt it reflected a lot of what I see day to day in our society.

To start, Vitorio went from being the top dog to poor post-war solider that only had his badge to his name. Sadly, I am sure many war heroes feel this way when they go back to their homes. It must be a strange feeling to at one point be a hero in the eyes of your people and respected by so many, and then to return with high hopes of welcome but instead receive a hard time making a living with only stories to tell. Vitorio ends up almost poor and spends the money he does have on having sex with prostitutes, which is ironic but I will get to that later.

Judite, the prostitute that Vitorio begins to date, is fighting for a living through prostitution at a nearby club. She is part of the lower class and falls in love with Vitorio, who is also in the lower class. Not to make a sweeping generalization, but in many cases people tend to gravitate towards other who are of equal social class as themselves; it makes people feel comfortable and almost as if they are matching up or getting what they deserve.

Joana on the other hand is on the wealthier side and dresses nicely with beautiful skin and hair. She is sweet and innocent with a heart of gold, also ironic. She has a boyfriend but is not completely satisfied with him because he always wants to have sex and is not really into what she feels or wants (sound familiar?) As she is waiting outside the hospital to make sure Manu is OK, she begins to talk to Vitorio. Joana finds him intriguing because he actually listens to her and is infatuated by her beauty. As the story usually goes, the less wealthy man is appealing to a richer woman because of their sensitive and kind heart BUT they do not want to pursue them because they do not fit in with their lifestyle. This story stayed alive as Joana and Vitorio end dinner on a sour note because he knew she pitied him and Joana went back to her wealthy boyfriend.

Is it just me, or do these ideas sound similar? Our world is based on judgment and order. We are taught at a young age there we need to fit into a group and we are not to venture far from it. For example, in high school whether you want to admit it or not there were social groups, from jocks to nerds to the slutty cheerleaders, they were always there. Yes, they may not be as poignant as the teen movies make them, but I for one know that I was a ‘jock’ and the majority of my friends were jocks. I did not hang out with anyone from the math or sciences clubs even though I loved both of those subjects, simply because that did not follow the social order.