Marking the Moment

In relations to Nascimento's case, this week in class we focused also on the poorer side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with train surfers.
Our task was to create a short but effective performance based on the preparation for train surfing, the actual journey and the ending with a cliff hanger. Divided up into groups of 5 or 6 our teacher talked about what the cliff hanger should be based upon. It was about a new recruit to a "gang" of train surfers where he/she has little to no knowledge about train surfing gets stuck on top of the train without his gang who leaves him and the police surrounding area. Wether the police was corrupt or not they would either charge or fine them or sentence them to jail. In our case as the train surfers were poor and generally young or teenagers they didn't care that they were putting their life at risk just for some adrenalin and fun. So what the new recruit or the one who gets caught by the police does is that he sees one of the electricity power lines running along the roof of the train station and reacher up to grab for it. The area around him is in no shock as they are used to this kind of scenarios but the cliff hanger is that we don't know wether he or she actually touches the power cord.

 

This is the ending for our performance. The way we built up to this scene was by showing from the very beginning that Aryaman was nervous and uncertain of what he should be doing. Once all of us on the train (gang of train surfers) jumped off and Aryaman was left standing Josiah (the police officer) came around pointing his gun at Aryaman. Unclear of how he should defend himself, Aryaman immediately reached for the power cable and very promisingly sad he would touch it only if Josiah wouldn't lower his weapon.  With a hesitant look on his face hi took a breath in got higher on his tippy toes but suddenly Josiah dropped his weapon and Aryaman climbed down the train. Josiah warned him and told him off not to do this every again, gave him a little nudge and walked away. 

What we could have done to create a better performance could have been to have a louder atmosphere when the gang was surfing and together and really brought down the tone when it was only Aryaman and Josiah left. I don't think we should have continued when Aryaman said his last words where Josiah brought down his weapon to keep the cliff hanging more alive and to mark the moment clearer. And for the picture their facial expressions could have been a lot more prominent and clear. Their stance could have been stronger but I like the way Aryaman is reaching his hand up to the power cable yet still out to the police officer. To create a better atmosphere maybe the rest of the gang could have been around in different places looking shock to see what he would do next. 

Is Sandro Rosa to Blame for the Murder of the Primary School Teacher?

Sandro Rosa do Nascimento was the perpetrator of the Bus 174 hostage crisis in Jardim Botânico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nascimento boarded a public bus with the intention of robbing a bus because he needed the money. However, the incident then developed into a hostage situation, which was broadcasted live by most Brazilian national television channels. He wanted to rob the passengers because he was poor and needed to survive. 


In the documentary Sandro hops on the bus like a normal person would. Minutes later something triggers him and he grabs a woman hostage. At this moment the driver flees the vehicle running for his life. Someone from the bus calls the very under developed police of Rio de Janeiro. Since the authorities couldn't close the roads the entire incident was live on television. Cameras rolling, police shouting and cars honking created a massive catastrophe. With the first hostage that Sandro had he faked her death. He missed whispering in her ear that he wouldn't shoot to kill. This conveyed that he didn't want people dead he just wanted attention and a big scene. He took another woman which was the Primary School Teacher and walked out the bus. The police had Sandro at point blank range aiming his gun to end the issue. He missed and shot the teacher causing Sandro to flinch and pulling the trigger on his own gun also shooting the teacher, resulting in her death. Later on when we was arrested he suffocated or was suffocated and died. 

Some of the economic reasons for Sandro's crimes are that Rio de Janeiro's police and departments are corrupt where they can easily take advantage and since they don't have much to loose (living in favelas with little to no money) they turn to crime.

Some of the social reasons for Sandro's crimes could be that he witnessed his mother being stabbed to death (when he was only 6 years old) which could have damaged him in many other levels too. Street kids or homeless people have a reputation of discrimination due to their lack of education and mannerisms. Also since there is a lot of poverty and crime in Rio de Janeiro, Sandro could have adapted to those actions in a very young age and the results would be his hostage holding in bus 174. 

Some links between social and economic reasons would be the segregation between rich and poor. Even though they live just inches apart there is a huge difference in their lifestyle. There is a lack of social support and also a lack of government assistance programs.

Overall I think Sandro is not to blame for the murder of the Primary school teacher because all he did was drag attention of the media to himself, and maybe to prove a point or just to be noticed. I know this because he had 2 people hostage at gunpoint where the first one he pretended to shoot while he whispered into her ear saying he wouldn't shoot.  The murderer of the primary school teacher was the police who missed close range shot striking the teacher. The terror made Sandro jerk causing him to pull the trigger in act of fright. 

If some of these factors were different the death of the school teacher, Sandro or this whole incident wouldn't have happened. If everyone had proper shelter with access to clean water and food there wouldn't be a huge division between rich and poor. With that people wouldn't need to sell unnecessary items for money causing less reality deprived humans wondering the streets. Which would lead to less poverty therefore improving the police department in more important ways.