O Beijo no Asfalto – A work of journalistic sensationalism | Review

I was browsing Instagram and came across a post from a fan profile of Nelson Rodrigues talking about his work “O Beijo no Asfalto”, I searched about the work and saw that Nelson Gonçalves wrote it in 1961 as a play .

Synopsis: The work is about an act of mercy (a kiss on the mouth given to a man by another man at the time of his death) and its repercussions on society. A sensationalist reporter and a corrupt delegate turn the act into a social scandal, shattering the reputation of Arandir, who claims to have complied with the dying man's request, leading to an exacerbation of feelings that leads to a tragic and surprising outcome.

I was interested in the work and as I didn't have the chance to buy the book quickly, I decided to watch the film 'O Beijo no Asfalto' (1981) by Bruno Barreto. The work has 3 films, the most recent being made in 2018.

Poster for “O Beijo no Asfalto” (1981)

What I would like to comment here is not even about the film itself, whether it is good or bad, but about the sensationalist journalism present in the work.

The Kiss on the Asphalt begins with a chilling opening and an excellent performance, a very melancholy atmosphere that gives us a thoughtful moment. Delegado Cunha is corrupt and, because of that, he is very badly talked about in the city, Cunha tries at all costs to “clean up his record” with society. Next to Cunha there is a sensationalist journalist who is little concerned about telling lies, the important thing is to sell the newspapers.

The journalist arrives at the police chief reporting having seen a being run over by a bus in which the victim was killed. Out of the crowd came a man who turned the victim, who was lying face down, and kissed her on the mouth. With these reports from the journalist, the police officer fills his eyes and sees the situation as an opportunity to be well seen in the city.

Image: Disclosure/The Kiss on the Asphalt

From then on, the police chief along with the journalist do everything they can to gain the spotlight on the case. They take the protagonist of the film, and the author of the kiss on the mouth of the accident victim, to a police station to provide “explanations”. When he arrives at the place, he is interrogated with questions such as: “Do you like men?”, “Who are you married to?”, “Did you know the guy who kissed where?” what you like!"

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Arandir (author of the kiss) tells the truth, he says that he did not know the run over boy and that he only granted him the kiss

at the boy's request. Arandir confirms that he never liked men, that he was married to a woman and that he didn't think anything wrong with kissing the boy.

Image: Disclosure/The Kiss on the Asphalt

And the kiss on the asphalt surfaces. The entire city quickly learned of the case, including Arandir's neighbors, his wife, his sister-in-law and his father-in-law. A simple kiss of mercy given by one man to another man ends up being debated as something wrong, a crime. The event is featured in newspapers, on television and being the subject of conversation among people. Arandir's family learns from a neighbor that when they read the printed newspaper they learned that the deceased had already visited the village where they lived and that he was looking for Arandir.

The lie has short legs?

Image: Disclosure/The Kiss on the Asphalt

Arandir is ridiculed by his co-workers, calling him “faggots” and “faggots” with the right to dances and effeminate gestures. Even by his boss he is questioned about his sexuality. Arandir learns from them that in the day's paper it says that the dead man had already passed by his place of work and that he was looking for him, but Arandir did not go to work that day. Arandir refutes the newspaper in front of his colleagues.

Does a lie sell more newspapers?

Image: Disclosure/The Kiss on the Asphalt

Everything the sensationalist journalist wanted he got. Inventing lies about the case to be able to sell more newspapers, get the spotlight and lower the corruption case of the delegate friend. Ah, let's not forget the sheriff! He was always present in the construction of this great case of “Kiss is Crime”. The newsroom of the newspaper, with the parameters of the journalist and the delegate, did everything to sell newspapers.

Is it worth doing everything to have a moment of fame? Is it worth creating fake news to trivialize something you don't like or practice?

The question here is not even if it is an event similar to the one in the movie but if it was something else, how would you react? At all costs being bombarded by false news that does not bring you any knowledge, repeating the same things, going against reality… is that correct?

We are talking about a work from the 60s, but today, do we have something similar? Yes, no doubt. Today, thanks to advances in technology, we have different ways of communicating to share news to anyone in the world in just a few seconds. That's good, but at the same time it's dangerous.

Today what we see most is a world full of people, websites and companies wanting views, likes and shares without an ounce of care not to spread false news. Even on television, we can find presenters doing everything they can to not lose the audience and keep them attentive on the channel, speaking the language of “Assumed”, for example. Did not understand? I'm gonna explain! In a high-profile case they always try to come up with new details without anything proven saying, "He COULD have done this before!", "He COULD be out of the country!" Got it? Today we have many communication vehicles that pass this type of message to the receiver.

The message I wanted to pass on to anyone reading this article is:

BEWARE OF YOUR SOURCES!

Be very careful with the sources you get news from, always try to see if it's really what they're giving you, investigate about the subject, even because each media outlet has a way of delivering news and many of them, in addition to passing it on the news you, it contains the writer's opinion built-in.

Don't spread false news. Beware of false news.

Image: Disclosure/The Kiss on the Asphalt

"But is the movie good, Matheus?" YES! Of course, it's not one of the best movies I've seen but it's without a doubt one of the best Brazilian movies. It's a movie with great performances, costumes, soundtrack and excellent scenery.

The film ends with a plot twist and respect. No, I won't tell you here because it wouldn't be funny, right? Watch the movie. Worth it!

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