Col Alexei Posenatto, Brazil
Elective #1: “Close Talkers,” “Silly Walkers,” “Street Hawkers” and More:
Cross-Cultural Communication for Leaders in Global Contexts
Film/Novel Analysis
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION PROCESSES IN “RIO” ANIMATION FILM
In 2011, the Rio animated film was released, directed by Carlos Saldanha and produced by
Blue Sky Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Animation. The feature film, genre Musical
Adventure-Comedy, tells the story of the male Spix's macaw1 called Blu, which is brought from
Minnesota, United States of America, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to mate with a female Spix's
macaw, and so on, save the species from extinction.
Right in the first ten minutes of the movie, you can see Blu's domestication process: the
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Spix's macaw, also known as the little blue macaw, is a macaw native to Brazil.
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animal replaces its wild references to adapt to its pet condition. Several elements of North
American culture are presented in this context: the harsh winter, the hot chocolate with
marshmallows, and the daily routine of Blu and Linda, his tutor.
One day, both are visited by Tulio, a Brazilian scientist, who explains to Linda that her
bird is the last male of the Spix's macaw species and that they need to take him to Rio de Janeiro,
where the last female is to try mate and perpetuate the species. Despite the initial resistance,
Linda agrees and both head to Rio de Janeiro.
When they arrive in Brazil, exactly at the beginning of Carnival,2 the film begins to
present the cultural differences: climate, way of life, education, among others. Blu meets Jade at
the aviary where Brazilian scientist Tulio works.
What seemed like a peaceful date turns into a great adventure: the two blue macaws are
eventually caught by animal smugglers, and go through various challenges until they finally
achieve freedom. A gang that specializes in wildlife trafficking entices an orphan child from the
community, and this child manages to enter the aviary and kidnap the two macaws, delivering
them to traffickers, who even have a buyer for them.
A shocking and very realistic scene shows the moment when Fernando, the gang-lured
boy, opens the doors of a dark, dirty and poorly ventilated room. Inside are several cages, with
birds of all kinds, squeezed into small, unhealthy cages, awaiting their tragic fate.
The movie features several interesting characters, but we will highlight those that will be
used for application and analysis of the concepts of Intercultural Communication:
- Blu, the male Spix's macaw: protagonist of the story. He grew up in Minnesota – United
States of America, and absorbed the process of domestication, letting his wild instincts numb -
2
Carnival is the largest pagan famous festival in Brazil. The party takes place during the four days preceding Ash
Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). It is commonly referred to by Brazilians as the "Greatest Show on Earth."
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he could not fly, for example. Blu faces a great cultural shock when he arrives in Brazil because
his concept of freedom and security is completely different from birds that live in nature. On the
other hand, with domestication, Blu has developed a variety of skills: opening locks and
padlocks, climbing railings and window sills, and opening packages.
- The gang of marmosets:3 monkeys are the representation of the situations of violence in
Rio de Janeiro, which the media replicates to the world. Also convey the message of dishonesty,
lack of character and disrespect.
- Rafael, the toucan: this character translates the Brazilian when he comes across a culture
different from his own: kindness, patience, willingness to help, tolerance. Robust characteristics
in the Carioca's4 cultural identity; and
- Fernando: street boy, orphan, lives in the community. And he who kidnaps the blue
macaws and gives them to the animal dealers.
This film was chosen because it presents several elements that make up the Brazilian
culture - specifically the population of Rio de Janeiro, especially in terms of stereotypes and
generalizations.
In the movie Rio, the plot humorously projects Rio de Janeiro's image from Carnival,
samba5, natural riches, violence and theft - although in reality, the city is much more than that.
Rio is a city of gigantic socioeconomic differences, thriving cultural diversity and unique nature.
3
Marmoset is any of numerous species of small long-tailed South American monkeys. Similar in appearance to
squirrels, marmosets are tree-dwelling primates that move in a quick, jerky manner.
4
Carioca is the name given to those born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Samba is a typical Brazilian dance that has a vibrant, cheerful and partying rhythm.
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As indicated by several surveys conducted by Embratur,6 to the pride of Cariocas, those
who visit Rio de Janeiro are enchanted, those who know them do not forget. The thesis of the
present work is to identify the presence of the concepts of Cultural Intercommunication in the
Rio film, and to analyze the likelihood between the real culture and the image of the Carioca
culture conveyed by the film.
The first key concept we can apply to the Rio movie is Cultural Values, which form the
implicit standards by which we consider appropriate or inappropriate behavior.
In character Fernando, for example, it is possible to observe that the
individual life experience, popular culture, and intergroup contact had a
different influence on their value formation process. Despite being inserted
into the community, although initially contributing to the crime of animal trafficking, Fernando
does not have the same cultural values as the group in which he is inserted. This fact can be
observed from the scene in which he decides to help the blue macaws to be found, and for this he
collaborates with Tulio and Linda. This character is also observed in collectivist values such as
harmony (he tries to fix his mistake), pity (he ends up pitying when he comes across
advertisements around the city) and complying with the attention of others birds (he insists on
proving that he knows where they were), including offering to accompany them into the
community.
The character Blu presents the positive and negative aspects of experiencing a
culture shock. According to what Ting-Toomey & Chung describe, culture
shock is first and foremost an emotional experience. In the case of the Blu
character, he leaves a familiar environment and ends up in a completely hostile environment. The
6
Brazilian Tourism Company (EMBRATUR) is a governmental agency responsible for the development of Tourism in
Brazil.
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situation gets even worse when he has his wild natural abilities questioned by other birds. The
positive aspect of this culture shock was the character's increased self-esteem throughout the film
to the point where he could learn to fly (a skill he had not developed).
The gang of marmosets represents the concept of stereotypes discussed by
Ting-Toomey & Chung: too much generalization for a given group, without
attempts to perceive individual variations. Why should such a negative
image be attributed? Indeed, they are the imaginary of sociability and violence. It is continuously
disseminated in music, film and international news, by the global circulation of cultural goods
and services and local traditions, acquired or experienced abroad or by Brazilian news
broadcasted in other countries; thanks to the presence of Brazilians traveling or residing in these
places, who spread their culture through stories, attitudes, and habits.
Rafael, the toucan, is the Carioca's own cultural identity. As Ting-Toomey
& Chung describe, the character meets the characteristics of the Identity
Collectivism Value Pattern: by its accessible and friendly nature, he can
quickly establish friendships between himself and all other characters. Even in the face of
strangers, the feeling of trust, sorority, and tolerance prevails. Rafael seeks in various ways to
help the blue macaws get rid of the chain that holds them by their paws and tries to help Blu
throughout the movie learn to fly. At no time does Rafael exhibit prejudice behavior.
The film Rio, in fact, seeks to portray various aspects of Rio de Janeiro's culture, through
the characteristics of its characters and the beautiful photography of the spaces/places where the
story unfolds. Besides, it brings the context of Carnival - Brazil's most important cultural
manifestation into history. All of the characters in the movie Rio have Intercultural
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Communication feature sets, but the characters mentioned above do reflect the essence of the
concepts already described.
Situations of prejudice can be observed during the movie. Being domesticated, for
example, is the reason for Blu to be ridiculed several times by other birds. Bias is also present in
the way the Brazilian woman is presented in the film: all scenes with short clothing. Linda's
prejudice against Samba is also observed in the scene where she climbs into the float and
responds to the Carnival Manager: “In Minnesota no one moves like that!”
But the most important aspect is to note the way Rio de Janeiro is labeled: a beautiful city,
full of natural beauty but violent, with imminent risks of assault, population always ready to
exploit foreigners and who do not like to work. All scenes show the Carioca in moments of
leisure and relaxation: Carnival, beach and lots of sunshine. This negative scenario leads
foreigners to create an image that compresses and generalizes all Cariocas.
Nonverbal codes can be found in the opening scenes, where the film features Linda and
Blu's daily life. They have their own gestures designed to communicate with each other, not
common to other groups. In the scene where Tulio, the scientist, introduces himself to Linda and
Blu, there is strong criticism of the nonverbal language Tulio uses to introduce himself to the
bird, ridiculing the behavior among the birds he reproduces. The presence of nonverbal codes is
also very strong in scenes featuring the marmosets gang in action: apes do not exchange a single
word, but through gestures, looks, and whistles they know exactly when to perform each action:
as a marmosets performs a dance for tourists, one group watches the actions, and another group
loots valuables: watches, jewelry, and watches.
Each group featured in the film has its own cultural identity: the birds, the animal dealers,
the marmosets, the revelers. Each one with its own code of conduct and communication.
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It is questionable that, throughout the film, only one Brazilian human has been described
as a person of good character and moral values. All other humans who appear in the movie have
behavioral deviations.
This kind of representation ends up reinforcing the negative image that a country or city
gives to people who have not had the experience of knowing these locations.
In a survey released in 2005 by the Brazilian Tourism Company (Embratur), conducted
with 1,203 foreign tourists visiting Brazil, 98% of tourists leaving the country would indicate the
trip to friends and relatives and 52% of them took the best experience of Brazilians, understood
as kind, cheerful and tolerant of other religions and customs. And what most reminded them of
Brazil? Beach, people, music, and Carnival.
In short: the tourist who visits Brazil tastes and approves the country and, in particular, its
culture. The challenge is to make this culture reach people who have no interest in knowing
Brazil or, when they do, are still guided by stereotypes.
Thus, the image that the movie Rio presents about the culture of the city of Rio de Janeiro
to the world represents only part of the cultural reality of the place. The scenes, although very
elaborate, and the very stereotypical characters, contribute to reinforce the image that Rio is a
violent place and that people are devoid of character and respect for their neighbor. For many,
this is already enough to create a true defense barrier against the Brazilian - then the process that
Ting-Toomey & Chung call generalization.
The film is fascinating and rich in detail, but it could also have portrayed part of the social
and cultural plurality of Rio de Janeiro more emphatically. Two unique characters throughout the
film allude to this: Tulio, the scientist, and Rafael, the toucan. All the others contribute to
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reinforce the misrepresented and prejudiced image that has been built over Rio de Janeiro over
the years.
The present work concludes by observing that during the analysis of the film in question
the following concepts of Intercultural Communication were applied: culture shock, cultural
values, stereotypes, generalizations, cultural identity and collectivism value pattern.
Such characteristics are found in each of the characters mentioned above, and can also be
observed in the scenes described throughout this study.
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References
Saldanha, Carlos. Rio. 2011; Greenwich: Blue Sky Studios, 2014. Blu-ray.
Ting-Toomey, Stella, and Chung, Leeva C. Understanding Intercultural Communication. 2th ed.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Reis, Ana C. Fonseca, and Yudice, George. Culturas brasileiras no mundo. Do país do samba e
da caipirinha a um polo de inovações culturais contemporâneas. Nueva Sociedad, 2008.
Guedes, Bernardo, Schemes, Claudia, and Castilhos, Denise de Araújo. “O filme Rio e a
pluralidade cultural do Brasil.” Accessed 31 August 2019. https://www.epublicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/polemica/article/view/13204.
Oliveira, Scarlett M. “Aspectos culturais; estereótipos e generalizações no filme Rio.” Accessed
31 August 2019. https://prezi.com/lp78jzpmeyi6/aspecto-culturais-estereotipos-e-generalizacoesno-filme-rio/.
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