De passivas a heroínas, de órfãs a cangaceiras eróticas: um breve debate teórico sobre as mulheres sertanejas na pornochanchada

Abstract

The representations of cangaceirasin the national cinema is the center of this article. The objective of the work is from the feminist theory of cinema to problematize the female image as a passive object for the male subject's gaze. Such problematization and the contributions of the feminist theory of cinema will be used for the brief analysis of the film The Erotic Cangaceiras (1974), that in its narrative brought a counterposition to the hegemonic cinematographic model in relation to the definition of the masculine personages like the ideal ego of the spectator, the expression of virility and women as the regulators of tensions, the one that falls in love with the good guy and becomes the property of the same. The movie to be analyzed is a pornochanchada: The Erotic Cangaceiras. The playis considered a comedy and an adventure thriller, where the plot revolves around the daily life of a band of cangaceiros set with some elements of the Northeastern culture. The story takes place in the inhospitable environment of the hinterland in which agroup of women decide to enter Cangaço, motivated by revenge and not to become slaves of "businessmen or husband." These characters (the cangaceiras, the sertanejos (as)) are the object of analysis of the work. The brief theoretical discussion that will guide the film analysis started from the feminist movement's questioning of this model of cinema, which produced a dispute surrounding gender relations in cinematographic productions. The article will give a brief exposition of the historical context that these questions are highlighted, after May 1968, where skepticism in relation to totalizing theories has placed cinematographic production alongside issues that are aligned with sexual and reproductive rights, against racism and defense of free love.