When the Olympic Games finished in Rio, social media was blowing up in Brazil alerting people of the fact that very few tickets were sold for the Paralympics, which will start next month, despite them being much cheaper and using the same facilities. Many people were sharing news headlines on Facebook, urging others to go, trying to start a movement for people to appreciate and cheer for the Paralympian athletes just as much as they did the Olympic ones. And let’s be honest, they deserve to be appreciated and celebrated and cheered for.
Vogue Brazil launched a campaign about two days later with famous Brazilian actors - Cleo Pires and Paulinho Vilhena - who were posing as Paralympians, having had parts of their bodies removed by computers. The slogan of the campaign is “We Are All Paralympians.” And though the intention behind the campaign, which probably was to increase people’s awareness of the Paralympic games and motivate them to attend the games, is commendable, the problem with how it was conducted has overshadowed its real purpose.
In summary, people are mad, and they have every right to be. The problem with this campaign is the same problem which is found when white actors are cast in African American, Asian, or other ethnicities’ roles: representativity. This issue is found in many other spheres of the entertainment world as well, and it honestly has to stop. What’s so wrong about it is that, by having people whose characteristics fit right into society’s twisted standards of beauty represent those who have been removed from and probably oppressed by the spotlight, you’re essentially ignoring their existence and the fact that they are just as, maybe even more, qualified to play these roles. That strengthens the growth of a close-minded, oppressive, and limited society where only very few people are privileged enough not to be hurt on a daily basis. And I’m coming from a privileged position myself by writing this, but I feel like if I can use my voice to raise even the smallest awareness to something, I will.
At the end of the day, back in Brazil, the campaign was heavily criticized on social media, Cleo Pires (the actress in the campaign) spoke out telling people that the Paralympic athletes had approved of it, and ticket sales for the Paralympic Games skyrocketed. This puts some rest to the chaos, but it does not erase the problem. And this problem has been making headlines for far too long for something not to change soon.
