More than starring in a simple comedy film, Mazzaropi portrayed a bumpkin different from the one described by most Brazilian men of letters. Fulfilling a social function before the public, he distinguished himself by being combative when the elite prejudice attacked him; by his wit in the face of common and complex issues of his daily life. The bumpkin he played was unique because, even though he was poorly dressed and with a clumsy walk, he was not the bumpkin, whom society usually conceived of as stupid and ignorant. Mazzaropi has got audience because people wanted to see a bumpkin who, contrary to what everyone imagined, did well in the end. He was an anti-hero who turned into a hero.

Foreign travelers who arrived in Brazil at the end of the 19th century described the natives of the land as poor, miserable, and ugly people. In contrast, the elite was outnumbered and did not see themselves as a part of the national culture. The Brazilian heterogeneity imposed an impasse: who could be called as the Brazilian people? 

The ones who are alive witnessed history being made on 6th January 2021. On this day, one of the eldest and stable democracies in the world was shaken up to the core. The U.S. Capitol was viciously overrun by pro-Trump rioters who stopped the joint session of Congress that had taken place to count the votes of the 2020 election and officially declare who is going to be the next president of the United States of America. Chaos and a tragedy unfolded due to a violent mob’s invasion of the U.S. Congress, a symbol of the American democracy.

The first round of the upcoming municipal elections in Brazil will take place on 15th November of this year, with over a one-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic[1]. Both the public and scholars will need to wait a little bit to unfold the many expectations that come with these elections. Of course, each election entails some degree of expectation, especially in a country such as Brazil, where there is a high party fragmentation and an unstable party system, and thus a high degree of uncertainty about who the winners will be. However, two contextual facts make these elections more interesting to both the public’s and scholars’ eyes.