Apocalypse in the Tropics

“There's one line here from the very successful television evangelist Silas Malafaia along the lines of why can't he politicise the teachings of Christ in the same way that others do with those of Karl Marx - and it's a point that is well illustrated in the documentary. For some he is a charismatic and dangerous rabble-rouser, but for many others he is the voice of Jesus empowering the ordinary and disenfranchised population to pray to God and seize control - democratically - of their congress and their presidency. It's Jair Bolsonaro who is the beneficiary of his support, but he is just the most recent in a long line of powerful Brazilian politicians who have benefitted from the patronage of this wealthy and characterful orator. The establishment is somewhat more resistant to his charms though, and their formerly imprisoned candidate Luiz Lula da Silva is not without the support of many influential senators and so what ensues here is an extensively archive intensive depiction of the forthcoming election and of the divisions caused by a result that history tells us was clearly manipulated. Talking of history, of course this is just the latest in a long line of nations that have found the hijacking of religion to further political agendas taking centre stage, but rarely can these activities have been so well captured by the camera and as this advances across a few years of real time in the life of it's citizens, we see a sea change in opinions facilitated by something of the divine - and thereby something unchallengeable. What's also interesting here is the district absence of the military in all of this. Whilst they were certainly involved on the periphery, there are no scenes of tanks on the streets or protesters being shot with rubber bullets. This is clearly a democracy that is undergoing turbulent times, but in a fashion that offers hope for many who are prepared to use the rules to change the rules - and so much the better if God is in their corner. It also goes to show just how potent a speaker can be when he tells a susceptible people what they want to hear - however intolerant and toxic that message me actually be.”